What about using a Ford Transit connect to pull a tear?

[rowerwet]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008/02/the-great-american-anti-towing-conspiracy/
I thought this was an interesting article on towing capacity that might be relevant.

"just because my client was texting, eating a cheeseburger, and smoking a blunt, when his mobile home caused the accord he was towing it with to slam into the school bus full of kids at 90 miles an hour is no reason to believe he was in any way at fault, obviously the total fault lies with the makers of such a defective car..." ANOTHER WIN FOR THE TRAIL LAWYERS OF AMERICA

(my TV has a 0 lb tow rating in the US)

[WizardOfOdds]

Did anyone consider the new Nissan NV200 mini van? When I saw one on the road I though it was quite an interesting size with lots of potential. However, I was quickly disappointed when I looked at the engine and transmission. Check and compare it with the original and new long wheel base Ford Transit at http://www.cars.com/go/compare/trimCompare.jsp?acodes=USC40NIV191B0,USC40FOV324A0,USC40FOV322A0
Go way down to the bottom to compare the specs on size, towing, etc. My hope is that they put a decent engine and tranny into the NV200 soon.

[catinmoon]

Did anyone consider the new Nissan NV200 mini van? When I saw one on the road I though it was quite an interesting size with lots of potential. However, I was quickly disappointed when I looked at the engine and transmission. Check and compare it with the original and new long wheel base Ford Transit at http://www.cars.com/go/compare/trimCompare.jsp?acodes=USC40NIV191B0,USC40FOV324A0,USC40FOV322A0
Go way down to the bottom to compare the specs on size, towing, etc. My hope is that they put a decent engine and tranny into the NV200 soon.

I wonder if they are using these small vans to make their Fleet mileage numbers. I appreciate trying to make them more fuel efficient, but not to the point of making them unusable. It just seems if you travel in Africa or Europe you see all sorts of smaller peppy vans running around. We are saddled with lumbering behemoths for vehicles when making more efficient and effective designs available would be a win win. IMHO. Obviously it doesn't pencil out for someone.

[rowerwet]

we get the gov't we vote for...

[GuitarPhotog]

I wouldn't want to tow a 1000 lb trailer with a vehicle with only 138 lb-ft of torque. At least not out here in the West. The Transits both look more reasonable in that regard but 185 still isn't a whole lot.

<Chas>

[Lesbest]

When the transit first hit our eastern shores, they got their US engines. They were shipped with their stinky EU engines so our workers didn't have to push them off the boat. Then they got their US c.a.r.b. certified engines and then sent on their way to the dealer for sale. Comparing the US version and the "other ones" may have different results. All ford vans will become "Transits" , the E series vans are no more and they are reconfiguring the Lorain, Ohio van plant to build the new Transit to replace them. At least the Ohio vans won't have to get an engine change before you buy it.

[catinmoon]

When the transit first hit our eastern shores, they got their US engines. They were shipped with their stinky EU engines so our workers didn't have to push them off the boat. Then they got their US c.a.r.b. certified engines and then sent on their way to the dealer for sale. Comparing the US version and the "other ones" may have different results. All ford vans will become "Transits" , the E series vans are no more and they are reconfiguring the Lorain, Ohio van plant to build the new Transit to replace them. At least the Ohio vans won't have to get an engine change before you buy it.

just curious, do they then send the EU engines back and put them in other vans so they can drive them off the boat?

go figure. As always, I learn a lot from these threads! Stay warm. It must be cold where most of you are if it is below freezing this AM in the MOjave Desert.

Stephanie

[working on it]

Really like the Transit, but.... I built my trailer to be towed behind my HHR Panel,

2009 HHR Panel at the ranch.jpg (79.47 KiB) Viewed 1994 times

but the final weight maxed out 50% higher than the 1000 lbs allowed for towing. So, I was waiting for GM to build a successor to the HHR Panel (it's unbelievably versatile for my needs, but is a little underpowered/undersized for towing, and at 120k miles, getting old), since the Ford Transit is not quite what I want (I had a bad Ford experience, as had friends and family). Although the Transit's profile resembles the trailer, as I had tried to emulate (somewhat) the HHR's, and it seems to be able to tow the 1500lbs I want to haul, I just can't overcome my "fear of Fords". I then heard that GM had one in the works, but was disappointed when the Chevrolet City Express turned out to be a Nissan NV200, re-badged. With a wimpy engine, and a CVT transmission. As one reviewer says:

The City Express matches the NV200’s max payload of 1,500 pounds but the CVT automatic prevents any towing whatsoever.

see this http://www.topspeed.com/cars/chevrolet/2015-chevrolet-city-express-ar159737.html. If Chevy had put in one their own drivetrain combinations, an Ecotec four (my 2.2l is surprisingly strong) with a four or six speed auto, then maybe I could go for it (I bought my "ex" a Nissan in 1986; wasn't bad at all). Still waiting....

[rowerwet]

having had more than one GM, I will never buy one again. Three Ford rangers, an escort, Taurus, and two Focuses. No issues, all were driven into the ground, except the 2012 Focus, but that is where it is headed.
My Dodge Grand Caravan has way to many electrical issues to buy another...

[Vedette]

Okay
Now for the real truth!
Studebakers Rule!
If you try it you will never look back!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi
PS 3 Didgets thru turn 3 at the old Studebaker Proving Grounds track in South Bend Indiana in 2012.
My only regret is that I didn't do it with Miss Piggy in tow!

[working on it]

having had more than one GM, I will never buy one again. Three Ford rangers, an escort, Taurus, and two Focuses. No issues, all were driven into the ground, except the 2012 Focus, but that is where it is headed.
My Dodge Grand Caravan has way to many electrical issues to buy another...

One man's trash is another man's treasure. And vice-versa. I'm sure if I was given a "modern" Ford product (my first/last one was a 1981 Ford Courier), I would drive it. At least until it broke down, and then I'd get a GM. Actually, I've always wanted a Porsche 911 (917's are unavailable). All jest aside, my parents switched from Ford (40's-50's) to GM (60's-70's). One grandfather was always GM (20's-70's, then he bought a Ford and died), the other grandfather was Chrysler cars (20's-70's, with various worktruck brands interspersed). During my memory span, family members (and I) had various other vehicles here and there (a '59 Simca, three Dodge Darts '64-'65'-66, a '66? VW Squareback, a '66? VW Fastback, three VW Beetles '64-'69-'72 and two Superbeetles '72-'73, a '72 Fiat 128, my lamented '67 Dodge Monaco 500, my '73 Volvo 142, and a '87 Nissan Sentra), but everything else was a Ford or GM. My memories of the Fords is dimmer, and of the GMs more current. My ability to work on and keep them going also has gotten better over the years, so I could fix the GMs of later years, whereas I couldn't fix the Fords when I was 3 or 4 (the '81 Ford Courier had three engines in 55000 miles; I gave up on it). Apples vs. oranges. Enjoy your Fords...maybe I'll join you later, down the road.

[Vedette]

having had more than one GM, I will never buy one again. Three Ford rangers, an escort, Taurus, and two Focuses. No issues, all were driven into the ground, except the 2012 Focus, but that is where it is headed.
My Dodge Grand Caravan has way to many electrical issues to buy another...

One man's trash is another man's treasure. And vice-versa. I'm sure if I was given a "modern" Ford product (my first/last one was a 1981 Ford Courier), I would drive it. At least until it broke down, and then I'd get a GM. Actually, I've always wanted a Porsche 911 (917's are unavailable). All jest aside, my parents switched from Ford (40's-50's) to GM (60's-70's). One grandfather was always GM (20's-70's, then he bought a Ford and died), the other grandfather was Chrysler cars (20's-70's, with various worktruck brands interspersed). During my memory span, family members (and I) had various other vehicles here and there (a '59 Simca, three Dodge Darts '64-'65'-66, a '66? VW Squareback, a '66? VW Fastback, three VW Beetles '64-'69-'72 and two Superbeetles '72-'73, a '72 Fiat 128, my lamented '67 Dodge Monaco 500, my '73 Volvo 142, and a '87 Nissan Sentra), but everything else was a Ford or GM. My memories of the Fords is dimmer, and of the GMs more current. My ability to work on and keep them going also has gotten better over the years, so I could fix the GMs of later years, whereas I couldn't fix the Fords when I was 3 or 4 (the '81 Ford Courier had three engines in 55000 miles; I gave up on it). Apples vs. oranges. Enjoy your Fords...maybe I'll join you later, down the road.

All those cars and not one Studebaker?
But 59 Simca......was it a Vedette? the base car for "Miss Piggy"
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[VijayGupta]

An interesting article on the Transit Connect. I understand there have been some updates in the last year.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 0638429655

[working on it]

having had more than one GM, I will never buy one again. Three Ford rangers, an escort, Taurus, and two Focuses. No issues, all were driven into the ground, except the 2012 Focus, but that is where it is headed.
My Dodge Grand Caravan has way to many electrical issues to buy another...

One man's trash is another man's treasure. And vice-versa. I'm sure if I was given a "modern" Ford product (my first/last one was a 1981 Ford Courier), I would drive it. At least until it broke down, and then I'd get a GM. Actually, I've always wanted a Porsche 911 (917's are unavailable). All jest aside, my parents switched from Ford (40's-50's) to GM (60's-70's). One grandfather was always GM (20's-70's, then he bought a Ford and died), the other grandfather was Chrysler cars (20's-70's, with various worktruck brands interspersed). During my memory span, family members (and I) had various other vehicles here and there (a '59 Simca, three Dodge Darts '64-'65'-66, a '66? VW Squareback, a '66? VW Fastback, three VW Beetles '64-'69-'72 and two Superbeetles '72-'73, a '72 Fiat 128, my lamented '67 Dodge Monaco 500, my '73 Volvo 142, and a '87 Nissan Sentra), but everything else was a Ford or GM. My memories of the Fords is dimmer, and of the GMs more current. My ability to work on and keep them going also has gotten better over the years, so I could fix the GMs of later years, whereas I couldn't fix the Fords when I was 3 or 4 (the '81 Ford Courier had three engines in 55000 miles; I gave up on it). Apples vs. oranges. Enjoy your Fords...maybe I'll join you later, down the road.

All those cars and not one Studebaker?
But 59 Simca......was it a Vedette? the base car for "Miss Piggy"
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

Long ago, in a galaxy far away...in my best recollection, it was an Aronde,

Simca_Aronde-2.jpg (11.27 KiB) Viewed 1975 times

with 4 doors, simple grille, equipped with a "Flash" engine (I was only 8-9 at the time my father got it, and 13 when he traded it in on the Dodge Dart 225 slant-6 2 door sedan). I do remember "Flash" on the valve cover (I remember cars-especially engines, not people, or names...an idiosyncrasy of mine...) perhaps this one:

flash engine.jpg (11.59 KiB) Viewed 1975 times

It was reliable, and seemed more solid than my uncle's '58 and '60 Renault Dauphines (for some reason those were very popular in the Oak Cliff/Dallas area at that time). I even knew another family with a Renault 4 CV

4cv.png (23.37 KiB) Viewed 1975 times

. I've related my family progression in vehicles (my uncle also bought a Ford Mustang II), but I remember that the family that had the Renault 4CV also had a Rambler wagon (pink!), and later a blue Pacer, and another with a Dauphine also had a Hudson Hornet. What memories! Brings more memories of my doctor with 7 T'birds ('55-57), different colors (for days of the week), and a neighbor across the street with a '47 or '48 Desoto (Suburban?), whose son had a pristine '53 Corvette. The family four houses down had a 2 1/2 ton army truck and two '56 T'birds as well. Just my working class neighbors' daily drivers; just my recollections from circa 1960-65 (when I became "too old" to hang around the neighborhood, and was hardly ever home after school, and lost track of the cars).

[jseyfert3]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008/02/the-great-american-anti-towing-conspiracy/
I thought this was an interesting article on towing capacity that might be relevant.

My 2005 Kia Spectra sedan with 138 HP engine is rated at 1000 lb without trailer brakes, 2000 lb with trailer brakes. So when I was looking at pop-up campers before deciding on a teardrop, my girlfriend mentioned we could tow one with her CR-V if it was too heavy for my car. I looked in her manual and was almost shocked to see it list 1500 lb trailer limit. As a crossover, it's not as heavy as an SUV, but it's heavier then my sedan, and has 185 HP vs my 138 and I would assume better brakes. When I read in Europe and elsewhere it's rated to tow 3500 lbs, that number sounded better.

It's annoying how they downrate towing capacity in the US, presumably to get people to buy bigger towing vehicles. What they've done has certainly worked, when I mention I've towed a utility trailer with my sedan, people often ask if it can do that, comment how it seems to small to tow anything, and ask why I don't buy a truck. I've had no issues with the towing I've done to this point besides not being able to maintain 70 MPH up an interstate hill while towing a mattress, boxspring, and shelf, and the mattress was bent way out catching a lot of air and adding a lot of drag. Other then that, I never noticed a lack of power, a major decreased ability to stop, or a lack of stability.

I expect negative comments regarding the ability of my car to tow to increase exponentially when I finish my teardrop and start towing it places.