Think a little more about the Sequoia. IMO, having lockable storage and/or enclosed space to sleep beats dirty storage, at least for a track day tow rig. A tarp keeps the carpets clean even with wheels and toolboxes and you're less likely to have things walk away at hotels.

 

I've got a buddy with a 2013 fx4 ecoboost and man do I love that thing. So comfortable for road trips and plush inside (cooled seats are wonderful). On the other end of the spectrum the thing tows well and is stupid fast. He bought it used and we've deduced that it came with a tune, but man oh man is that truck way faster than any truck really should be. Only issues he's had beyond regular maintenance/emptying the catch can was a vacuum pump that needed a new o-ring (has owned from ~60,000-140,000 mi). Really can't say enough about how nice of a truck it is. Plus turbo noises if you remove the silencers.

 

Shop in GA that is swapping the Duramax into 03-13 Tahoe, Yukon, Suburbans.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/35071
https://duramaxsuv.com/
https://m.facebook.com/duramaxspecialties

 

That is AWESOME. 10 miles up the road from me. May need to pay them a visit.

 

I used to tow with a V8 Touareg (basically a Cayenne with a different engine) and air suspension. I was always amazed at how well it handled for a heavy SUV. It was a spectacular at towing the open center trailer with miata (~3200lbs). Rode spectacularly, self leveled, and you could put it in offroad mode to help get the car off. It got about 10-12 mpg in PA, but remember most of the Euro cars take 91 plus. Really puts a damper on any kind of MPG gain. Also once they break they suck to fix and cost a lot.

I now tow with a 08 2500 Suburban (6.0 LS, 6 speed). Throw all your crap in the back and forget about it. Towing it gets about 10-12 mpg as well, but on 87 octane. Tows the car like its not even there.

 

Interesting

 

So I sold my van to Carvana this week. Finding a good clean truck to replace it with in my price range was pretty tough, but I finally got one lined up and bought it today. 2013 F-150 SuperCrew XLT RWD with the 3.5 Ecoboost. I no longer have a turbo Miata so I figured I’d get a turbo tow vehicle.




I found this one from a private seller. Single owner, no accidents, maintenance records and clearly babied. Aside from 60k miles it is literally like a new truck. He did a lot of cosmetic upgrades to it but it is basically stock otherwise. Has a tonneau cover and a BedRug liner which is rather awesome. Has factory brake controller and rated to tow 8500 lbs in this configuration, so should have no problem pulling an open trailer. Supposedly Ford sorted out the early Ecoboost issues with cam phasers by 2012, so it should be pretty reliable. I like it a lot.

 

those headlights and grill arent my cup of tea, but otherwise looks good. I was considering the 3.5 eco boost for a while. Then the ram 1500 eco diesel caught my eye. Those em pee gees. Plus I like the interior in the newer ram trucks better.

 

I’m OK with the grill but I really don’t like the headlights. Cosmetics aside they are not bright at all. I’m thinking about selling them and finding a set of stock headlights to put back on.
Diesel is $1/gal more than unleaded around here so I was pretty committed to gas. The EB pulls like a small diesel, lots of low end torque.

 

Nice purchase!

My Dad loves his EB and pulls his RV around everywhere without an issue

 

Gas cans are a no-go in an suv imo. Can always mount them on the trailer though.

 

Bed rug with a tonneau cover is awesome. Makes the bed a giant trunk and it’s durable. Nice choice

 

Ive always had bedrugs, they are indeed awesome. One thing to make sure is that it is not getting stuffed in the tailgate crease. Make sure that area is staying dry too. Water gets up there easily and can cause corrosion issues.

 

Finally got my extra-narrow deck over. Not as baller as the other guy selling his in PA, from whom I took inspiration, but fits through my narrow pull-through bay. Car has a stock front bumper for now but clears everything fine with an overlapping set of extra long ramps.

 

im struggling to understand why the deck needed to be so high....

that seems like a nightmare to load.

 

How much does that weigh empty? Do the extra long ramps just slide in from the back? I like the concept. It would be nice to just come home from the track and back the car/trailer into the garage, un hook, close the garage door and walk away.

IIRC, he wants to park the trailer in the garage or drive thru his garage to the back yard. Most car haulers are too wide for that. So you do a narrow axle ramp over. Plus, his car will never get hit by road debris from the trailer tires!

 

At first I was failing to see the benefit in the trailer. I was mainly focusing on how high it appeared, but it being so narrow does seem to have the benefits you listed

 

Love hearing about some of these long tows. I'm finally hitting some real trust in my rig, updated pic from last 6 hour round trip. DFW to AUS. 01 Ford Sport Trac, rear air shocks and consistent 12mpg. I just repainted her with roll on 1 gallon of rustoleum safety red.

 

Yeah, the other tradeoff is that the wheels/tires on deckovers are typically smaller diameter (to keep the deck lower than it would otherwise be) and that means they spin faster at a given road speed which burns up bearings faster. It's a good solution to maplewood's storage problem, but probably not what I'd pick absent that constraint.

--Ian

 

I haven't gotten it weighed but the claimed weight from the manufacturer is 2,000 lbs - not especially light. Have a Silverado with all the relevant towing-related packages, so should be good to go there.

The goal was to be able to fit the trailer into my backyard, which means through the narrow single garage bay. I couldn't get a normal trailer to be both narrow enough to fit through the opening, yet wide enough for the cars I'd want to haul. Hence the deckover. Can confirm that loading is more difficult than if it were lower. I've only tried it once, but it only took a few minutes, and it's my second time ever loading a car on a trailer... So harder, but doesn't seem like a big deal. As far as the wheels being smaller, they are a bit smaller than the "standard" wheels from the manufacturer, but aren't the super small wheels on the other guy's trailer, as they were hard to source and way more money.

Biggest issue thus far with the trailer is that the ramps are fairly annoying to use. The "lower" ramps are stored width-wise under the dovetail area, simple enough. The "top" ramps are 8 feet long, and stored length-wise along the sides. This means you gotta awkwardly put your arm under the ramp as you slide it in/out, as the bracket only supports it underneath at the edges. Hard to explain, but it's a PITA to line up and push in a heavy 8 foot steel ramp with one arm underneath it. They are pinned so they are secure when moving, but only on one end. Annoyingly, you have to spin the ramps 180* since the pin hole is on the opposite side of how you actually use the ramps, if that makes sense.

Overall, yes, not something I would get if I didn't have the "narrow garage bay" constraint. It's more expensive, heavier, and slightly more annoying to use. All in all, I'm happy with the trade off. I don't want to pay a monthly fee for storage. I really don't want to come home late from work on a Friday, and have to make an extra trip to a storage place to get my trailer, just to bring it back home to load, then go to the track.

I do think I'll try to look for a winch to add, assuming I can make it work with the angles/dovetail such that it doesn't end up chewing through the wood. Also need to look into a tonguebox, and it might be time to buy chocks instead of using the pieces of firewood I've been using for the last 10 years.