[VAC] Re: Cart before the Horse

[RJ Dial <rj.dial@xxxxxxx>]

         Reply to:   RE: [VAC] Cart before the Horse
We use the new large Mitsubishi Montero SUV (the one that tips over in 
Consumer's "accelerate while swerving like a maniac" test) to tow a 17' 
Caravel all through the West. I figure that a '50's 22 footer is as 
heavier and as long as I would feel comfortable with.  I would not be 
able to routinely tow a newer 23 footer with it.  Since the Explorer is 
smaller and lighter than the bigger Montero, you see where I'm heading 
with this. 
On the other hand, if the trips will be occasional, and mostly on flat 
land and good weather, the Safari is within the Explorer's tow capacity. 
 As you can see, this topic isn't black & white.

For casual trailer use for families, I've never been a big fan of 
getting a large expensive tow vehicle - it's a waste of your and the 
earths resources.  A good compromise might be one of the newer large 
SUV's (small trucks really) with fuel efficient engines - Tahoe's, 
Navigator's, Expeditions, Jimmy's & LandCruisers and their brethren. 
 This way you have a use for the vehicle when it's not used for towing. 
 Their about town mileage is upper 'teens thanks to computers.  That's 
about the same as the little SUV's, a little better than a standard 
equipped large truck or 'Burb/Excursion, and 8-10 MPG worse than a car.

As an interesting sidenote, the larger vehicles are actually more fuel 
efficient than the smaller V-6's when towing by about 2-4 MPG.

And you thought finding an Airstream was hard....

RJ
'65 Caravel
'57 Flying Cloud