what are the most important "specs" for towing vehicle

[catinmoon]

HI helpful folks.
Here's a question that I probably won't ask correctly. but what I want to know is what are the factors that make a vehicle a "better" vehicle to tow a teardrop or small trailer?

That is, if you had the choice between 2 or 3 vehicles and one had better <fill in the blank> you would choose it.

I am not an auto expert, but am thinking it might be things like <horsepower> or <torque>(whatever that really is) or <turning radius> or <ground clearance> or <insert other factor here>.

We have a 4 cylinder Toyota pickup and a 4 cylinder subaru legacy wagon. I swear it seems the subaru has more "get up and go" and might be better to tow over hills, etc. Last summer we always made it up the hills, but there were times when we were going really slow in the truck. Of course the clearance is not as good in the car. Both are manual transmission.

But I'm curious as to what the factor/s might be, when considering either my current vehicle choices or future vehicle acquisition.

thanks as always for your ideas.
Stephanie
[email protected]

[KCStudly]

The very first thing on the list should be tow rating. If the TV is not rated to tow at least as much as the fully loaded TD (with enough allowance for other additions, like people and cargo in the TV), then it has no place on the candidacy list. IMHO.

The next thing I would look for is how easy it is to add a trailer package (tow hitch, lighting/braking electrical connections, etc.). Some cars are easy to adapt/add to, others require funky hitches and/or silly add on electrical adapters (such as multiple versus combined tail and stop lights).

I guess those are the basics. After that would be things like are the two vehicles aero compatible (does the TD ride in the slip stream of the TV, do the mirrors stick out far enough, etc.)? Do the ride heights match up closely enough so that you don't need some crazy goose neck draw bar to get the trailer to tow level?

Next, if there is a question of HP vs. torque, torque and gearing are what get you going and help you climb hills. Generally speaking, for most utilitarian vehicles, if one has a higher torque rating than another, it will also have more torque over a broader range, and will therefore perform better towing all over.

Peak horsepower, on the other hand, usually only happens (general) at a very narrow band) and without a good torque value to match it, won't be of much use for towing. Of course, torque and HP are related by rpm, but to generalize in layman's terms, torque is the big lever that moves the big rock, while HP is the hamster running lickety split on the treadmill. The hamster whips along, but it doesn't take much force to stop his wheel.

Actually, having more of both HP and torque is always preferred.

[S. Heisley]

1) I'd say that would be the tow vehicle's towing rating and it's braking rating.
If you are looking for a new or new-used tow vehicle, be sure to look in the user manual under towing and under brakes.
This is because often a vehicle can tow more than it can stop. This is usually true with small Toyota pickups. Those are sometimes rated to tow up to 3500 lbs but are only rated to stop 1000 lbs, if the trailer doesn't have brakes.

2) Stay away from a weak towing vehicle, especially if it is stick shift.
This is because inevitably someone will come up, right on your rear, when you are stopped on an incline and towing. You can't always tell how close they are and you'll stress that your rig could roll back into them. While you can choose your gears to get better tow power with a stick shift, if you are looking for more towing power from a weak tow vehicle, you can manually shift gears enough on an automatic, should you need to.

3) If you can find a tow vehicle with a "tow package", you will probably be jumping-for-joy happy with it; but, you don't have to have that luxury for the light-weight trailers that we pull.

4) Not a towing feature; more a creature feature: air conditioning that works!

[ssrjim]

Most important thing is how it looks pulling the trailer

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371599372.624337.jpg (150.73 KiB) Viewed 662 times

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371599439.236559.jpg (119.56 KiB) Viewed 662 times

And color is important too...

[Shadow Catcher]

The Subaru develops its greatest horse power at high RPM (we are on Subaru #14) and the manual has a hill holder clutch. #14 is a 3.6R H6 and we used it this last weekend for the first time towing the tear. I will be adding a transmission cooler.

[catinmoon]

As always you guys are a wealth of information and food for thought. Love the yellow rigs and trailers! And it's true, color is important. I thought I was a veteran with Subaru #3.

Can a transmission cooler be added to any vehicle? I have heard of adding them to VW campers...I thought with a manual transmission as long as you were going slow enough it wouldn't "burn out" the transmission. or is that a misperception?

Best,
Stephanie (who won't post a current photo of her teardrop since it needs a bath!)

[working on it]

Most important thing is how it looks pulling the trailer



And color is important too...

Agreed, very important, but my preferred tow vehicle needs a tanker truck to follow it.

working on its' '66 Malibu.jpg (88.3 KiB) Viewed 518 times

In reality, I was aiming for a sub-1000lb trailer to follow my HHR panel or wife's Cobalt coupe, but I won't know if that'll be possible until I weigh it. But, I have two trucks to fall back on, until we decide on the replacement for the trucks (diesel dually??), if the TTT is really heavy. haha