Current top picks for tow vehicle for 21'

[Greg A]

How many miles you got on the old girl, Pat?

[Iowa Dave]

In the last couple of days someone posted regarding their rig which included a six speed stick shift transmission. I thought at the time how interesting and “rare” it was to be using a stick shift vehicle but at the same time how effective and positive it could be. Point being in the mix and match world of trailers and tow vehicles combinations while not infinite no doubt number in the tens of thousands. When folks ask us about our tow setup, we answer them honestly but I do not pass judgement on other setups unless it is to analyze a failure. And I keep that opinion to myself unless asked. If you can’t be with the one you love, Honey love the one you’re with. Remeber that pick to click from stacks and stacks of golden wax?
Iowa Dave

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

If we needed to replace the old girl with her 5.8 engine , it would be another Ford for sure . Did own a small Toyota for 12 years once . But our 26 year Ford F-250 gets a little over 15 mi to a gal , not towing , and 9-11 mi to gal towing our 19 .For us no reason to change .Pat

26 years on a Ford Truck , she's just getting broken in.
It's nice when a vehicle is capable of doing what you want and need.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Greg A

How many miles you got on the old girl, Pat?

Almost 130,000 Greg . She carried a 9 1/2 camper on her back for 12 years before the trailer . I am the second owner from 2003 . The previous owner towed his boat and bought a new Ford when he sold her to me . I would be sad if she needed to be replaced . I have owned other Ford trucks too in the past a 1956 and a f100 1963 . Of course this one has air bags and abs brakes so she's not too far behind the new ones . Pat

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

26 years on a Ford Truck , she's just getting broken in.
It's nice when a vehicle is capable of doing what you want and need.

Hi Steve she was originally bought for the camper and at first I thought too big for the trailer but she's doing what she needs so that is all I can ask . Pat

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by richardr

When I was looking at new trucks to tow our Escape 21, my top priority was reliability. I checked Consumer Report and saw the top two trucks were the Tundra and the F150 with the Tundra being significantly above the F150. When I checked with the dealers, the Tundra and F150 with the large V8s were about the same price. I then checked KBB for 5 year old trucks and I was surprised that the Tundra was valued at about $4000 more than the F150.

We bought a Tundra 5.7. We have been very happy with it, although it doesn't get the best gas mileage. We get 13 to 14 when towing the Escape 21, on highways.

Richard I didn't mean any disrespect on your choice of vehicle and if there weren't any more Fords around , your Tundra would be my choice next . Pat

[Eggscape]

If you are comparing vehicles with normal gas engines, then let’s call them apples. If your talking about trucks with state of the art engines like eco boost or eco diesel, then lets call them oranges.
6 or 7 years ago when all engines were basically the same (except the Mercedes diesel I had in my Grand Cherokee) they were all apples and you could compare on common ground. Today this is not the case unless you are comparing apples with apple and oranges with oranges.
Eco boost is not just a decal ford stuck on the side of the vehicle...it is a technology they developed that simply puts 470 foot pounds of trailer towing torque available to you from a 6 cylinder engine.
I was not a Ford buyer before, but the ecoboost engine has made me very happy with my last two trucks. The only reason I purchased the second ecoboost was due to the very high resale value I got for the first one. We liked it so much we also bought an ecoboost Ford Sport for the wife.
If there were no oranges available or if I was not towing...then I would check out all the other apples.
I will be clear in saying that all manufactures put out great trucks...so if you decide that you do not need that much torque and want to stick with a normal engine, then you may want to look at things like leg room. We found many vehicles had a very large transmission hump that intruded into the passenger side foot area. This would make the passenger sit with the left leg in an uncomfortable position to the right for long days of towing.
Good luck with your selection.

[Rossue]

Ok, did it with a leap of faith. Thought the new 2020 Explorer could be the one with the new rear wheel drive. This was after being fat-car shamed by an unnamed relative. So that got the ball rolling yet those new Explorers are very expensive and I'm part Scottish! So was perusing the web and saw on Edmund's their pick for the Expedition was the XLT with 202A equipment group to make an XLT nearly like the Limited for way less. Kind of a Eureka moment and saw that right now there is almost $10K in rebates plus dealers are discounting up to $3K on top so I got a nice deal- and $10K less than a 2020 Explorer. Mileage for Explorer with 3.0 EcoBoost: 18/24. Mileage for Expedition with 3.5 EcoBoost: 17/24. Huh? Might be the Expedition went aluminum in 2018(300 lbs. lighter) like the F150, whereas the 2020 Explorer gets only an aluminum hood. Susan liked the Explorer(I loved the Aviator-only $15K more than Expedition), however the fact is the Expedition isn't that much longer or wider than the Explorer.

[cpaharley2008]

But I'm confused Ross, which model did you finally buy, Expedition or Explorer? Expedition is is like that Chev Suburban, did not know there was an even bigger model, Aviator or is that Lincoln's Expedition?

[Rossue]

Jim- lots of choices out there. Got the Expedition, which is similar in size to the Tahoe. Expedition Max is like the Suburban. Aviator is on a similar new platform as the 2020 Explorer.

May be overkill, yet opted for the HD Tow Pckg which has the 3.73 ELSD axle(limited slip). Max tow weight 9,000 vs. 6,000 lbs.

Expedition is 12" longer than Explorer(202")and width is 1/10" wider (80 vs. 79.9"). 3" taller.

[Rossue]

Also- like AZ Jack I did not want 4 WD. With the 2019 Expedition I could do that, however the 2019 Exolorer is a FWD platform so would have almost had to get the AWD version. Even with the 2020 Explorer, to get the 3.0 EcoBoost you have AWD with no option for RWD only.

[cpaharley2008]

Understood, thanks for clarifying...

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

But I'm confused Ross, which model did you finally buy, Expedition or Explorer? Expedition is is like that Chev Suburban, did not know there was an even bigger model, Aviator or is that Lincoln's Expedition?

Hi: cpaharley2008... It doesn't matter whether it's an Exhibition or a Subdivision they're both BIG!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Rossue]

Hey Alf- will probably be trading in when they release the "Sectional" with optional Jet Off Take like in the song No Money Down

[jennykatz]

We bought the 2018 expedition XLT with the 202A option package and 3.5 eco-boostwitha 3.30 rear end 6000lb tow rating .It was a used vehicle with 15k on odometer but got the 7 yr 100,000 warranty on the drive-train CPO car
Supposedly we saved 15-18k ? but with all these rebates who knows?
Anyway long story short we get consistently 25mpg at 70 mph and 18-20 around town . So far very happy with our decision ,we get 14-15 towing at 65 mph a E21

BTW we traded in a 07 Toyota Sequoia with a 4.7 v-8 with a 130 k on odometer .

[Gary737]

Nice looking rig. I’m a newbie still in the research phase, no trailer or TV. . Looking specifically at a 21 and a Sequoia to tow it. This is for two adults and are planning on towing all over the States including high elevations. How has your experience been towing with the Sequoia?

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

But I'm confused Ross, which model did you finally buy, Expedition or Explorer? Expedition is is like that Chev Suburban, did not know there was an even bigger model, Aviator or is that Lincoln's Expedition?

The Expedition is based on a shortened F150 chassis, much like the Tahoe is a shorter Chevy 1500 pickup.

fyi, the larger ford was the Excursion, based on the SuperDuty F250/F350 chassis, but those are, AFAIK, no longer produced.

The Aviator is indeed Lincoln's 'pimped out' version of the Expedition.

[Rossue]

Navigator is Lincoln version of Expedition. Aviator is Explorer variant.

[Greggo]

There are a bunch of happy 4.0L Tacomas owners, like me. Tow's great, right size. Can't speak for the newer slate of sub-4.0L engines but anecdotal comments seem less than satisfactory.

[John in Santa Cruz]

From what I gathered on the tacoma-forum, the new V6 gets better fuel economy when cruising empty but has significantly less low end torque and develops its HP at much higher revs, neither of which is very much good for towing.

our 4.0L 4x4 6-speed Taco pulled a mostly empty Escape 21 from Dallas to Reno to Santa Cruz, and then I went shopping for a bigger truck and sold the Tacoma.