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Old 02-20-2016, 10:45 PM   #81
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Thanks, both of those trucks were so nice! So many rebates available till the end of February saves about $9000 on a new truck!
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Old 02-20-2016, 10:45 PM   #82
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandyb12 View Post
The Chevy Silverado that I looked at today was a v-8 so no power problem, as also with
the Ford 150 v-6 3.5 engine. The problem with both trucks was the bed. Only 5 foot bed.
That does not give much wiggle room for the 5.0 TA Would it work? Both dealerships did
not think so.
Are you sure about the 5 ft. box? I just got done looking at the Chevy specs and they show the crew cab truck with the standard box having a floor length of 78.87 inches. My GMC crew cab has the short box which is about 5 ft. 9 inches long. With the standard box, you would have more than enough room for the 5.0TA, but that longer wheelbase would be a little harder to park at the grocery store. You can get the same length box with the double cab which would give you a slightly shorter truck. I haven't seen that many standard boxes on Chevy trucks which means you might have to special order. But they are out there. I'm sure the other makes would have a longer box too. Loren
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Old 02-21-2016, 12:16 AM   #83
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Thanks, both of those trucks were so nice! So many rebates available till the end of February saves about $9000 on a new truck!
one other tidbit of new vehicle info..this buyers perception was dealers wanted to sell what they had on the lot, not what I necessarily wanted...found one salesperson to work with who was willing to find the vehicle I wanted with the specs and price I wanted somewhere within the state and get it to me at little or no additional cost. Ended up with a 6'4" bed which helped raise the max towing and vehicle specs a bit vs short bed . If a gas TV full size truck is what you are looking for , finding one of the few remaining new 1/2 ton 2015 models with longer warranty and heavily discounted price might be a good solution for you. Even the 3/4 ton of the same model year which might be overkill for the trailer, have been discounted in some cases to as little as $2k delta, ironically this is what happened about two weeks after deciding on my TV! Regardless of whether you buy the horse before the carriage or vice versa...once its all done the fun is supposed to kick in! This camper has to wait for the 2017 production line if an Escape is the final decision for the carriage.
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Old 02-21-2016, 02:04 AM   #84
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandyb12 View Post
The Chevy Silverado that I looked at today was a v-8 so no power problem, as also with
the Ford 150 v-6 3.5 engine. The problem with both trucks was the bed. Only 5 foot bed.
That does not give much wiggle room for the 5.0 TA Would it work? Both dealerships did
not think so.
I have the Ford 3.5L EcoBoost, and it is available in either a 5.5', or 6.5' box. The 2.7L EcoBoost is only available with the 5.5' box.
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Old 02-21-2016, 02:58 AM   #85
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Couldn't have said it better my self I agree with Jim. We all have different opinions.
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Old 02-21-2016, 05:02 AM   #86
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I have a Ford F-150 with the 5.5 box. Works just fine
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Old 02-21-2016, 05:40 AM   #87
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Thank you all very much for this very helpful information! I will get back out there tomorrow with confidence and knowledge!
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Old 02-21-2016, 07:16 AM   #88
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These tow vehicle sizing "discussions" are getting worse than the tire ones.

And these now seem to have a "bash the volunteer moderators for no apparent reason" component....

I've been getting our new Highlander ready for our Southwest trip next week and haven't been here lately. But apparently, to be "safe" towing our 17B, I'd better trade it back in for a F350 diesel dually with an exhaust braking system. I wonder though, maybe I should just go straight to a semi?
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Old 02-21-2016, 09:54 AM   #89
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These tow vehicle sizing "discussions" are getting worse than the tire ones.

And these now seem to have a "bash the volunteer moderators for no apparent reason" component....

I've been getting our new Highlander ready for our Southwest trip next week and haven't been here lately. But apparently, to be "safe" towing our 17B, I'd better trade it back in for a F350 diesel dually with an exhaust braking system. I wonder though, maybe I should just go straight to a semi?
To be completely confident, you really must ship your tug and trailer by train to and from your destination. Those locomotives have plenty of power to make it up even the steep mountain grades.
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Old 02-21-2016, 10:19 AM   #90
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Of course the trails have to make several loops to get up the mountains, here is the famous horseshoe curve in Pennsylvania......also the famous Tehachapi Spiral in California
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehachapi_Loop
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Old 02-21-2016, 10:20 AM   #91
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I think we all like to think we've made the best choices -- and in the end we all have different priorities so there usually isn't a "best" choice. However, when Terry and I started looking at tow vehicles we were truly clueless -- didn't understand for example, that there are Highlanders and there are Highlanders -- and folks picked up on that and set us straight for which we were very appreciative.
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Old 02-21-2016, 10:25 AM   #92
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Jim, I'm working on organizing the photos my mother had and recently came across an unused horseshoe curve post card she must have saved when she lived in Harrisburg. My Dad shipped out for England in Early September 1943. He was stationed at Indiantown Gap, after training in Louisiana and the Mojave desert. Nothing a lot prettier than parts of Pennsylvania in the fall.
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Old 02-21-2016, 10:31 AM   #93
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We need to hold a rally in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania....Tioga County, PA Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania and Rail Trail
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Old 02-21-2016, 10:40 AM   #94
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I have mixed feelings about tow vehicle discussions. I have never seen anyone's mind changed, and they seem a bit like "mine is bigger than yours" discussions. I do appreciate the discussions where folks have asked about experiences with specific tow vehicles and specific trailers. When we got our 17, 4 years ago, I asked about towing it with a Sienna van. I got two or three replies that were helpful to me from people who actually had 17 trailers and towed them with a Sienna. Similarly, when we got our 21, and were deciding on a tow vehicle I contacted two or three people who towed 21s with a Highlander, and got the benefit of their experience.

We have about 20,000 miles on our 21, and about 26,000 miles on the Highlander. If there has been one surprise, it is that a greater percentage of the Highlander's miles are towing than I anticipated. Chalk it up to being retired and the extra comfort of the 21 for two people when on long trips. We have been out about month and could stay out a lot longer.

Most of the miles have been west of the Mississippi, and we have spent a lot of time in the mountains. We have gone over a lot of passes now. More than DW, who doesn't like mountain driving, would like. We go up all the mountain roads as fast as I wish to go up them. The limiting factor isn't the horsepower, but how fast I am willing to go around corners on narrow roads. If I am holding up traffic, I use one of the pullouts that one often finds on long grades. Similarly, we have come down a lot of roads, and have never felt any sort of brake fade. I do put the transmission in "S" and understand that the Highlander gets peak HP and torque in the the 4-5K rpm range. My dealer tells me that brake wear etc. is normal for a car with our mileage. We are about 3000 miles into our current trip and the dashboard tells me the average mpg is 14.1 -- a bit less than some of our previous trips where we have been closer to 14.5 or 15. I chalk it up some big headwinds we have had this trip.

I have a few quibbles with the highlander. you can't put road bikes in the back unless you lay them down. In the winter, there are often times when the sun shines on the GPS and the glare makes it hard to see. Even with the Andersen WDH there is a bit more squat on the back than I would like. but amazingly enough the Toyota Manual tells me there is no need to use a WDH with a trailer less than 5000 lbs. If I had to do it over again I would get a AWD, but we chose FWD because it gets slightly better mileage and there are fewer things to brake. The only time it has made a difference is getting the trailer out of storage in the winter when the aisle in the storage lot is covered with compacted snow/ice and the trailer is a bit stuck to where it is sitting.

There. I have said too much on my experience, but you all have the benefit of whatever insight there is to be had.
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Old 02-21-2016, 12:07 PM   #95
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We need to hold a rally in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania....
Last couple of trips down south we have stayed at "Leonard Harrison SP". Beautiful vistas, great cycling on the rail trail along the Pine River.
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Old 02-21-2016, 12:14 PM   #96
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If one feels the need for a full size 3/4 or one ton truck to tow an Escape then what do they feel they need to tow one of the SOB monsters out there?

One thing that hasn't been brought up though is wind resistance. If you read the fine print in the towing specs of smaller vehicles this usually comes up. With my Ford Ranger the maximum frontal area allowable for the trailer is 50 Sq. Ft. so right away this limits what can be towed even though the maximum allowed tow weight is (apparently) 5600 lbs. I usually take the manufactures tow limit and half it for the dry weight of the trailer I want to tow ie. 2800 lbs dry weight for the Ranger and find that this gives me a comfortable margin to work with. My Classic 5.0 is about 2650 dry (3600 lbs ready to camp) and the frontal area is within the specs for the Ranger. I have my trailer brakes set up so that the trailer does the braking it needs and leaves very little impact on the tow vehicle braking. This setup leaves the trailer brakes "jumpy" in town so I just back off the boost when towing in town for any length of time and put it up when on the highway. After towing over 30,000 km with my Ranger have encountered zero problems even though living in the Fraser Valley means that I usually have to drive a mountain pass to go camping.

With the 21 and the 5.0 TA the extra width and height, and therefore larger wind resistance, of these trailers is going to limit what you can tow with it with more than the weight of the trailer and if I had one of these I would defiantly go with a full size truck but a 1/2 ton is suffice in my mind. One reason I bought my 5.0 Classic when I did is that Reace had mentioned that he was going to build a bigger 5.0 and I wanted the smaller frontal footprint.

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Old 02-21-2016, 12:18 PM   #97
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Excellent Post Leon! Much Appreciated.
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Old 02-21-2016, 12:52 PM   #98
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Jim,
Let me know when you get the Grand Canyon of the East rally organized and we'll be there. I checked out the link and I am very interested in taking the Ole Covered Wagon Ride. However I'm only going if they are pulling with any combination of Percherons, Belgians and Clydesdales. A Six Horse Morgan Hitch in the mountains is insanity, not near enough horsepower. Shires would be marginal.
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Old 02-21-2016, 02:56 PM   #99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
We need to hold a rally in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania....Tioga County, PA Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania and Rail Trail

Sounds like an excellent idea!
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Old 02-21-2016, 03:08 PM   #100
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I've been getting our new Highlander ready for our Southwest trip next week and haven't been here lately. But apparently, to be "safe" towing our 17B, I'd better trade it back in for a F350 diesel dually with an exhaust braking system. I wonder though, maybe I should just go straight to a semi?
No, the semi-tractor wouldn't have the right weight distribution between the axles while towing a 17B... you should just carry the Escape on the back of the truck!
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