Unfortunately my tow is not available for basically the rest of the summer, and I'm getting the itch again. I'd like to make it to GCFR if I can, but I think at this point I need to get a tow package of my own.

I'm sure tons of people here have experience on what works and what doesn't, but basically:
- I'm on a tight budget still unfortunately. So I'm probably looking at 8 year old + vehicles at a minimum.
- I think I want to start off with a car dolly, but hopefully get a vehicle that could maybe handle a full trailer in the future. The Swift is fairly light.
- Pickup truck or SUV is the preferred option. I don't have to worry about driving it to work/gas, I take the TTC every day. And my wife has a fuel efficient car.
- I would like to be able to recce with it if I can.

So at this point, I guess an SUV is the option I'm leaning towards or a 4x4 pickup.

I started by searching Kijiji for 1K to 6K SUVs/pickups, and my oh my there are a lot of decent options out there. Can anyone recommend something that stands out?

My immediate thoughts for SUVs:
- Nissan XTerra
- Ford Explorer (I'd rather not have such a big SUV, but they're everywhere though)
- Jeep Cherokee 4.0L

Pickup thoughts:
- Ford F-150, they seem to be everywhere
- Ford Ranger, a bit small, can it handle a dolly? A full trailer?
- Dodge Dakota, again, is it big enough?

If a pickup truck is the better option, then renting a car for recce may be a possibility. I've inquired with a few teams about possibly sharing a tow, but that hasn't worked out so far.

Can anyone give a bit of help here on what may be best? Are there any options I'm missing?

TIA!  

Andrew my service guy tows his in-progress race car with an XTerra without issue. I know he bought it used, as he was in largely the same boat you are, couldn't really afford to drive a larger truck full time, etc. AFAIK he's been quite happy with it.

I towed a 2300 lb car on a large dolly behind a FWD V6 escape. Now I do not recommend a FWD V6 - go 4WD. You will have decent power and reliability. It is also a decent vehicle as a daily driver. It can tow 3500lbs and there are class 3 hitches made by everyone.

As a DD it will use less fuel bay far over typical "framed" SUV's like the Explorer and Cherokee.

Does it have their torque and HP? No. but pulling only 3000lbs max you will make it up any hill.

Just a thought....  

Alexei, we are using a GMC Safari van... old school 1999 I think...  it is built on the truck platform so it's towing capacity is about 5500lbs...  We currently tow the car and use a U-Haul trailer which is fairly heavy (2000lbs itself) plus have the van packed with gear (tires, tools, parts) and it does an ok job...

We have had some issue with it but the good thing is they made about 100 million of them and most of those reside rusting on the side of roads or junk yards so parts are easy enough to find... The one thing I would recommend which made a huge difference was we had a 4th leaf spring put in the back... sits a little high unloaded but hauls so much better... Plus they tend to be cheap! we found ours for about $500..

We have done recce with it and will likely again (did Pines Recce last year)... They do seem to have used special care and design to make the seats as ergonomically uncomfortable as possible I will warn you...

D.

I have a 02 chevy van with hitch for 3500 We have used it off and on for a few years but isint really needed ,\Used for black rollaway ,and remote services,and sprongles have a trailer for 1200 or so

as long as you maintain both they will never be worth any less
that is the BEST pkg.....unless you wanna buy a 40 ft motorhome with a brand new $9200 turbo

call if ya want
613 328 6253
you can try it out for GCFR
Ian

I think I'm going to start the search for an Astro/Safari, as they do appear to be a great option.

The trailer, I wish I could make that work, but I'm on thin ice with the wife as it is asking to buy another vehicle to tow with. I'm not sure how she'd react to both a van and a trailer permanently in the driveway