Minimum tow rating fo sx230

[BlkGS]

Why not just a 4dr truck? The new Ford Rangers are pretty slick.

Have a v8 Colorado now. None of the light trucks interest me. If there was a performance minded full size truck I'd be interested, but the manufacturers keep making these stupid off-road trucks. My goal was to find something for my better half to drive that could tow the boat and also be her DD. A 4runner or the Lexus version seems like our best option now, or rolling the dice on a German diesel product.

If she can't be convinced to drive the tow vehicle, I'll likely get another 5.0 15+ f150, but this one will have to have a belltech suspension upgrade so it doesn't drive so poorly. Maybe a hemi ram with a belltech suspension.

 

[anmut]

Have a v8 Colorado now. None of the light trucks interest me. If there was a performance minded full size truck I'd be interested, but the manufacturers keep making these stupid off-road trucks. My goal was to find something for my better half to drive that could tow the boat and also be her DD. A 4runner or the Lexus version seems like our best option now, or rolling the dice on a German diesel product.

If she can't be convinced to drive the tow vehicle, I'll likely get another 5.0 15+ f150, but this one will have to have a belltech suspension upgrade so it doesn't drive so poorly. Maybe a hemi ram with a belltech suspension.

Go put her in a Ram Limited with air suspension - you'll have to fight her to ever drive it again. Ask me how I know.

 

[2kwik4u]

Have a v8 Colorado now. None of the light trucks interest me. If there was a performance minded full size truck I'd be interested, but the manufacturers keep making these stupid off-road trucks. My goal was to find something for my better half to drive that could tow the boat and also be her DD. A 4runner or the Lexus version seems like our best option now, or rolling the dice on a German diesel product.

If she can't be convinced to drive the tow vehicle, I'll likely get another 5.0 15+ f150, but this one will have to have a belltech suspension upgrade so it doesn't drive so poorly. Maybe a hemi ram with a belltech suspension.

Oof......you can do better than Beltech. They make decent hard parts, but I would shy away from those shocks and springs. They never seem to get the rates and damping right, it's always overly stiff.

Eibach springs and QA1 shocks are a far better setup IMO.

I'll be dropping my '15 Sierra this winter after 3 years with A/T tires and high altitude, I'm over it. I miss my performance trucks

 

[BlkGS]

Oof......you can do better than Beltech. They make decent hard parts, but I would shy away from those shocks and springs. They never seem to get the rates and damping right, it's always overly stiff.

Eibach springs and QA1 shocks are a far better setup IMO.

I'll be dropping my '15 Sierra this winter after 3 years with A/T tires and high altitude, I'm over it. I miss my performance trucks

What I liked about them was they offered bigger sway bars too. But yeah, if I end up going that route, I'll have to do more research. Or just say screw it and get the srt jeep and hope for the best with towing.

 

[Manic Mechanic]

For what it's worth, you need to make sure you're paying attention to payload capacity. Everyone seems to focus a lot on towing capacity...but you have to look at the sticker in the driver doorjamb to see what your payload capacity is. You can often figure about 10%, at least, for the trailer/boat weight as being the tongue weight on the hitch. Add that and any cargo you have in the vehicle along with passengers and you have your total payload. The more loaded a vehicle, often, the lower the payload because there is more weight the chassis is dealing with. That's why often times the vehicles that have the highest payload are the no frills 2WD trucks. Make it a Limited with 4WD, leather, etc. and you will lose some payload.

So even if you can technically pull the weight due to the towing capacity limit, you will often exceed the payload capacity to do it.

 

[bobholthaus]

I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland with the Ecodiesel (which you can once again get). Tows like a dream. Have not a single complaint about it. Have owned it since new; tows my new 242SE at 75 mph without issue. Just returned from 1500 mile trip and didn’t even know it was back there.

 

[AZMark]

Have a v8 Colorado now. None of the light trucks interest me. If there was a performance minded full size truck I'd be interested, but the manufacturers keep making these stupid off-road trucks. My goal was to find something for my better half to drive that could tow the boat and also be her DD. A 4runner or the Lexus version seems like our best option now, or rolling the dice on a German diesel product.

If she can't be convinced to drive the tow vehicle, I'll likely get another 5.0 15+ f150, but this one will have to have a belltech suspension upgrade so it doesn't drive so poorly. Maybe a hemi ram with a belltech suspension.

4runner won’t tow that size boat well. I did that for a couple months and it’s just not got enough power with the 4.0 liter. The Lexus with the 4.6 V8 would do much better.

 

[BlkGS]

Well, I figured I would bump this up since in in BASICALLY the same boat again.

Short updates, I bought a TBSS AWD, which can tow the boat fine in theory. I haven't towed it anywhere yet because we also had our first child. That means the wife needs a larger vehicle, and while it doesn't "technically" have to tow, it'd sure be nice. She also wants space, and is... Particular. We also rebuilt our galvanized trailer vs buying an aluminum one, so I think we are over the 5k pounds mark now.

That sort of has short listed us to a smaller group. Explorer I looked at a year ago and thought they were too cheap inside for the price. Pathfinder is a new option, and likely a good one, but we haven't seen any to go look at, but 6000 pounds towing, 25 mpg highway, no cvt are all good marks. Durango is out for her, but a GCL is a maybe, we haven't looked at those to see if they're sized large enough. Bummer on them is no high altitude model yet, so too much chrome for me. We looked at a gx460 and while we liked it, the space just wasn't there for its size, the super high load floor really does it nonfavors, and why they didn't make the swing door an option is beyond me.

Tahoe and armada are potentials, but it feels disingenuous to say that. We have been trying to go see a Tahoe for 6 months or so now, none have been around to see. Armada is still an option, and we haven't gone to look at one, but kinda feels like a last resort, on account of being priced like Tahoe but not as nice.

We haven't sat in a Sequoia, maybe we should. Again it's one of those things where it feels weird to spend Tahoe money but not get as nice a vehicle. Expedition is a no from me, I'm not messing with the Ecoboost in them. Lx570 is out of our budget (I assume land cruiser is priced basically the same and so is as well.

Wife REALLY liked the palisade we drove, I like the Telluride more, but both are only 5k pounds, so likely not enough. My wife is concerned about something being too big for her so that's an added thing. I wouldn't own any of the Germans without a warranty, and she wants to keep the vehicle 10 years, so they're kinda out of contention. Wagoneer I think is just too much money for us, but admittedly I haven't looked into them that much.

So really, am I overthinking the 5k pound tow rating thing? Am I missing a standout option, or are we stuck between a pathfinder, or a Tahoe/armada type thing?

 

[2kwik4u]

Well, I figured I would bump this up since in in BASICALLY the same boat again.

Short updates, I bought a TBSS AWD, which can tow the boat fine in theory. I haven't towed it anywhere yet because we also had our first child. That means the wife needs a larger vehicle, and while it doesn't "technically" have to tow, it'd sure be nice. She also wants space, and is... Particular. We also rebuilt our galvanized trailer vs buying an aluminum one, so I think we are over the 5k pounds mark now.

That sort of has short listed us to a smaller group. Explorer I looked at a year ago and thought they were too cheap inside for the price. Pathfinder is a new option, and likely a good one, but we haven't seen any to go look at, but 6000 pounds towing, 25 mpg highway, no cvt are all good marks. Durango is out for her, but a GCL is a maybe, we haven't looked at those to see if they're sized large enough. Bummer on them is no high altitude model yet, so too much chrome for me. We looked at a gx460 and while we liked it, the space just wasn't there for its size, the super high load floor really does it nonfavors, and why they didn't make the swing door an option is beyond me.

Tahoe and armada are potentials, but it feels disingenuous to say that. We have been trying to go see a Tahoe for 6 months or so now, none have been around to see. Armada is still an option, and we haven't gone to look at one, but kinda feels like a last resort, on account of being priced like Tahoe but not as nice.

We haven't sat in a Sequoia, maybe we should. Again it's one of those things where it feels weird to spend Tahoe money but not get as nice a vehicle. Expedition is a no from me, I'm not messing with the Ecoboost in them. Lx570 is out of our budget (I assume land cruiser is priced basically the same and so is as well.

Wife REALLY liked the palisade we drove, I like the Telluride more, but both are only 5k pounds, so likely not enough. My wife is concerned about something being too big for her so that's an added thing. I wouldn't own any of the Germans without a warranty, and she wants to keep the vehicle 10 years, so they're kinda out of contention. Wagoneer I think is just too much money for us, but admittedly I haven't looked into them that much.

So really, am I overthinking the 5k pound tow rating thing? Am I missing a standout option, or are we stuck between a pathfinder, or a Tahoe/armada type thing?

Q7 will get you there. 7700lb tow rating. Similar exterior dimensions to your SS. Has a 3rd row if you want it, although we rarely use ours. @Julian regularly tows his 242X with his so it's got some proven capability IMO.

Have the wife test drive one. Overnight if possible. The Germans have some odd features and you have to be a very detail oriented person to drive and enjoy them. My wife HATES to drive out Q7, but LOVES the way it looks and rides. It's my car not hers, so it works out OK.

Finding one in this stupid market is gonna be tough. Hell finding anything in this market will be tough.

 

[BlkGS]

I think q7 will be too small honestly. Her rogue is about the same size as the tbss outside, and we're out of space in both of them. Tbh the palisade and Telluride are like "we can make this work" space level. I don't think she would be convinced on a German AR without warranty, frankly I'm not sure that I would be either, haha.

That said, I saw an sq7 the other day and thought it was sharp. Maybe for me in 5ish years.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Guess I'm trying to figure out why you want to have two tow vehicles? My Ram 1500 is our family tow vehicle. That said, it is too big for my wife to drive, her four door Jeep is what she feels comfortable driving. Nice thing about having two distinctive vehicles is that I am happy driving my truck and my wife is happy driving her Jeep.

Jim

 

[TimW451]

I think it is very difficult to find something that fits the need (tows 5k +) that is not a full size pickup or SUV. What you have now, an Explorer, Durango, or Jeep are the top candidates. I would probably get the third row Jeep L, maybe the Explorer (I don’t care for Ford interiors either).

How much of an option is it for your wife to drive the Trailblazer and you pick another vehicle? Jeep Gladiator or Ford Ranger then?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

IMHO wait until the market cools off once the supplies lines are back up to snuff.

The FOMO’s and gotta have because I can’t have it folks are driving the prices up to beyond ridiculous prices.. same with the used market. There are a lot of trucks parked in storage lots because of the lack of a 45 cent chip.. should be some interesting sales strategies to get rid of those trucks.

Expeditions and Tahoes are built on truck chassis‘s which is great way to go. IMHO you need considerably more towing and cargo capacity than what you intend to tow… if you are close to the limit, then you are going to be limited in the future in what you can do with the vehicle. Your wife wants to keep the vehicle 10 years, great!, then consider trips, daily or weekly activities that this vehicle will be used for in the future, you may find you need a lot more capacity with that growing family. Your wife needs to learn to drive a bigger vehicle, so many times the fear of driving a big vehicle is irrational. Time and experience behind the wheel will have her wheeling that bigger vehicle around like a boss. A lot of gals I know had the same fears then ended up driving a four door dually around town.. that’s like driving an ocean liner around.

Overkill is underrated.

 

[BlkGS]

Guess I'm trying to figure out why you want to have two tow vehicles? My Ram 1500 is our family tow vehicle. That said, it is too big for my wife to drive, her four door Jeep is what she feels comfortable driving. Nice thing about having two distinctive vehicles is that I am happy driving my truck and my wife is happy driving her Jeep.

Jim

Fair question ND I shod have mentioned this before.

Part of why we need to replace the wife's rogue is space, when we go on trips to NC or other places it's us, the baby, his stuff, 2 dogs, and then all our stuff. We made a trip to NC with the bay and only a portion of his stuff and loaded the rogue up to the gills, it was actually uncomfortable how loaded it was. My trailblazer would be the same sort of situation. Ideally, we would want to have the option to bring th boat for a trip like that, go to NC or the keys or something and bring the whole family, without bring 2 vehicles.

That's actually a big selling point on Tahoe for me, the diesel engine would be ideal for this sort of thing. A road trip pulling the boat, the diesel is kinda tailor made for.

We probably will end up waiting for things to cool down, I thought things would be back to normal by now honestly... Clearly I was wrong, haha. Seems like things are starting to get better, but the palisade we looked at the dealer wanted 8k over sticker for, so clearly there's a ways to go.

 

[2kwik4u]

I think q7 will be too small honestly. Her rogue is about the same size as the tbss outside, and we're out of space in both of them. Tbh the palisade and Telluride are like "we can make this work" space level. I don't think she would be convinced on a German AR without warranty, frankly I'm not sure that I would be either, haha.

That said, I saw an sq7 the other day and thought it was sharp. Maybe for me in 5ish years.

There is significantly more space in the Q7 than the Rogue. Wife drives a 2018 Rogue SV AWD, and it's easily 25-30% smaller on the inside.

Audi isn't any harder to work on than my GM cars. A few special tools and a service manual is all you need. Breaks half as often and costs twice as much. It's a wash on a yearly outlook.

We took 5 persons (1 car seat) and the boat to Florida this year. 10yr old was in the 3rd row driver side with other 1/2 folded down. MIL was behind me. Toddler was behind the wife. I drove and the wife was shotgun. Had all of our luggage and a small cooler inside the vehicle for the trip down. All of our beach supplies were in the boat, as well as the spare coolers, and a beach cart. Don't forget you can use the boat as a utility trailer for big trips like that.

Also, a note on driving the Tahoe/Yukon. My wife did fine with our Yukon. It turned plenty sharp and was relatively easy to park. This was before parking cameras or backup cameras. Her main complaint was wide it FELT. I say felt because we later had a Traverse, and it was a half inch WIDER than the Yukon but she would comment regularly that it felt so much narrower than the Yukon. It's was 100% in her head. My Sierra years later was almost the same width as the Yukon, and when she would drive it she hated the width again. It's all perception and what you get used to. With that said, I no longer pick her cars. We have significantly different tastes, desires, driving habits, etc, so she pics what she wants, and my only input is on finances and general features (must have AWD, and 4 doors, etc). Happy wife, happy life.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Fair question ND I shod have mentioned this before.

Part of why we need to replace the wife's rogue is space, when we go on trips to NC or other places it's us, the baby, his stuff, 2 dogs, and then all our stuff. We made a trip to NC with the bay and only a portion of his stuff and loaded the rogue up to the gills, it was actually uncomfortable how loaded it was. My trailblazer would be the same sort of situation. Ideally, we would want to have the option to bring th boat for a trip like that, go to NC or the keys or something and bring the whole family, without bring 2 vehicles.

That's actually a big selling point on Tahoe for me, the diesel engine would be ideal for this sort of thing. A road trip pulling the boat, the diesel is kinda tailor made for.

We probably will end up waiting for things to cool down, I thought things would be back to normal by now honestly... Clearly I was wrong, haha. Seems like things are starting to get better, but the palisade we looked at the dealer wanted 8k over sticker for, so clearly there's a ways to go.

Maybe you need a bigger vehicle for towing and for traveling? I would consider a larger SUV or crew cab pickup to use as a tow vehicle and when you want to travel. If you went this route, you could keep either the Rogue or Trailblazer for everyday driving and for your wife to drive.

A big SUV or truck is, unsurprisingly, big. Your wife may or may not, over time, be comfortable driving a big vehicle. I know that my wife doesn't like to drive my current RAM 1500, and she didn't like driving my previous RAM 1500 (2012) either. Once in a while, there is a situation where it is tough to navigate or park a big vehicle. LOL, with a cap on my truck, I'm around 7' tall and there are some inter-city parking garages where my height is too excessive and its difficult to navigate a 19' long, almost 7' wide vehicle.

Jim

 

[BlkGS]

Honestly, I have no desire to own a huge truck. I had a big f150 and hated it, it was just too floaty. I drove a new ram before I bought my TBSS and hated it, they just don't drive how I like. I think if I were going to add a long distance tow and people hauler, an older escalade esv would do the trick, but the wife would never go for it. Plus, with my 2 vettes, my tbss, and her rogue, frankly we are out of parking spaces, lol.

I looked at the q7 a little harder, it might be an option. My parents bought my sister a mew q5 with the 3.0 supercharged in it when she graduated college (still bitter about it, don't ask), and it's got 100k on it now without any major catastrophic issues. Price point i spec'd it out with a MSRP for just over what a Tahoe premier diesel would (man, I wish they still made the q7 in a tdi). I dunno what audi does for incentives, but it's at least in range. Still not sure she'd be convinced to own one though, and not sure I'd be convinced to buy one over the Tahoe. Also, stunned at how little power they have, 330hp for 70k? Nuts I tell you. That's basically pentastar v6 power, admittedly the audi has more torque. Though the hemi would eliminate that benefit. So really it's a shame that jeep is only doing an altitude model and not a high altitude model on the GCL. It's probably still in contention, though pricing puts it close to a Tahoe again.

Really just need to hold out for the bottom to fall out and GM to go back ton20% off msrp. The tahoe I want would be 58 to 60k then, which is much more in line with reality for it. I don't see gm selling Tahoe at the price point of German luxury SUVs working long term.

 

[2kwik4u]

The 3.0T hits harder than it's numbers suggest. 325hp and 330ft-lbs I think. I want to say they run in the mid 14's stock. My SS ran a 14.0@99, so they aren't far behind in a straight line drag race. The SS towed better with more torque and better rear gears, but aside from the additional shifting I can't really fault the little V6 against the older larger V8. APR tune with get you 400hp and 425ft-lbs, and put you back in that near 14 flat 1/4 mile time. The chassis on the Q7 is far better than your other options here. It's much more athletic than it's side suggests. It's easily tossable on bak country roads and hides it's 5500lb curb weight well. GIANT brakes help that. The fronts are 375mm (14-3/4in) rotors with 6 piston calipers. Rotors are expensive because of the two piece construction, but they're worth it for the stopping power

Only real common issue with the platform are motor mounts and water pumps. Water pump isn't any harder than you SS. Motor mounts a PIA and expensive, but the new ones seem to last better than the stock ones. The 3.0T and ZF8HP75 transmission is a proven combo. Q7's have 15L of coolant so you can run them pretty rough without cooling issues.

I wouldn't buy a new Q7. They depreciate super fast. Mine stickered over $75k, and I bought it with 36k miles for $42k. If I was to do it again I would find a CPO vehicle with the tow package and the chassis package (you want the air suspension for towing). Probably looking in the $50k range in a non COVID market, and you get a warranty with the CPO that is just as good as a new warranty. Keep in mind, service at an Audi dealer is different than a GM dealer. Complimentary loaners, kept appointments, and personal service writers. I've had significantly better experiences with Audi CPO warranties as compared to GM service centers and aftermarket warranties.

It might not be the right move for you, but IMO it's one of the best midsize SUVs you can get your hands on. With that said, I'm going back to a fullsize pickup when the Q7 is ready to retire. If you want utility and don't need the 3rd row, that's where it's at. The interior storage is far more utilitarian and practical, and the bed provides more usage than I thought. Since you have dogs, the Escalada/Tahoe/Yukon might be the right move. They're monsterous in comparison to my Q7.

Have you considered a resto-mod project? Something like a late 90's square body suburban, then swap in a modern driveline, clear and restore the interior/exterior and away you go. $30k into something like that would make a damn nice tow vehicle and family cruiser. Gotta throw some sweat equity at it, and I know time is a premium with a newborn. Just a thought.

 

[BlkGS]

Wife won't go for a restomod. Likely wouldn't go for a CPO either. Maybe if we found one that was like 2 years old and hit all the options perfect and had super low miles, you know, like someone had ordered it for us and then just driven it enough to keep it lubricated, lol.

I've seen the numbers on the q7 performance and frankly, I don't buy it. I suspect it's a bit of that old German "tester magic". I've driven the power train in the q5, and it's not breathless, but it's not as fast as the mags claim. I'd peg it at like 6 seconds and low 15s, guesstimate. Still plenty quick, far faster than the wife would want.

I think we are just gonna suck it up and wait for a Tahoe. Sucks because it pushes our whole upgrade schedule off, so I'll end up with the tbss a bit longer than planned really.

 

[BlkGS]

So we went and looked at a few more vehicles, probably more confused than before, haha.

Yukon/Tahoe... They made this newest generation huge in the outside. They're definitely spacious and nice inside, but holy crap are they big outside. The hood line was literally as tall as my wife. Admittedly the ones they had were air ride, likely lifted up, but there's a big difference in outside size with the new and old gen. Might get to drive a diesel one today, so hopefully that works out.

After that, we went to the Jeep dealer. Honestly, we were blown away. We looked at wagoneer first, which is an odd size that's slightly larger than Tahoe but smaller than suburban. Honestly kind of a nice size. Despite this, it wasn't as outwardly huge as yukon, which made my wife feel like she could drive one. They're also insanely nice inside, almost too nice. It's kinda hard to see a family not destroying the fancy leather and nice materials and whatnot that is everywhere. Nice space behind the 3rd row, but one of those things that doesn't make sense is while most stuff is standard, if you want the 360 camera (which is a must with that beast) you have to get it in a package with some other nonsense for seminautonomous highway driving. With the vehicles size and kinds compromised visibility, it should be standard. Wife commented that the V8 sounded aggressive, the exhaust of them is not what you'd expect for a family vehicle. It's like they developed it for a muscle suv first and were like "eh put it on the family jeep".

Grand Cherokee L was out goldilocks. It has a ton of space, but wasn't insanely huge that it put off my wife. She thought room behind the 3rd row was less than palisade, I think it was longer but not as tall. Interior was again, insanely nice, probably too nice. It had automatic night vision detection systems, a camera for the backseat (huge for us), a screen so the passenger can setup navigation and othe stuff, really nice features. But it was also 68k, which is a LOT of money for a Jeep. The wagoneer was only a couple grand more. That said, the dealership said they were asking for extra BS on top of msrp for the wagoneer, like 10k more, but grand cherokee is getting discounts. Go figure. Honestly, the auto dealerships kinda deserve to go out of business after all this garbage.

Anyways, that's my thought after a day of looking at SUVs, lol. I think Grand Cherokee is near the top of my list right now, if the discounts are right, would probably wait for next year's high altitude blackout package. Tough to choose between the v6 for fuel economy and v8 for power. The size of Grand Cherokee L being kinda just right has me thinking pathfinder might be great as well, have to check it out too.