Most fuel efficient tow vehicles?

[butiwantedapony]

Starting to look into our next tow vehicle. We really want something relatively fuel-efficient as this vehicle will be used for commuting as well as towing and farm work.

Ideally an SUV as we have young kids - but possibly a 4-door truck could work.

Don’t currently have a trailer, but will be looking for a 2 horse aluminum lightweight trailer. Will be hauling 1 horse. If we can find an SUV I am happy to go without the dressing room.

What vehicles out there are suited for hauling a small horse trailer, but not total hogs at the gas pump?

Last tow vehicle was 5.4L Ford F250. 11 MPG. Cost us a FORTUNE to own this vehicle. Looking for something less costly.

[FitToBeTied]

I heard that Ford was coming out with a new work truck that is supposed to be a robust tow vehicle and fuel efficient. The working name for the project is the Ford Unicorn. It only comes in one color - rainbow. The only emissions are butterflies.

[can_t_re]

I bought a four door Ram Eco Diesel 1500. I think the specs are that it gets up to 27 mpg. It rides really nice - like a cushy car and has a lot of torque.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

[QUOTE=butiwantedapony;8209815]

Last tow vehicle was 5.4L Ford F250. 11 MPG. Cost us a FORTUNE to own this vehicle. Looking for something less costly.[/QUOTE]

Not to discredit anyone here, but I suggest you STRONGLY focus on MPG numbers from people who are actually trailering and calculating their MPG numbers from mileage recorded and gallons at the pump.

There is so much variability between towing vs. non-towing mileage as well as other ways of measuring MPG, that it’s really the biggest part of the question.

That said, my F-250 w 6.4L diesel gets 12.5mpg. We mostly drive it for towing and I wouldn’t recommend it for daily driving. Just too much power and expense.

David

[butiwantedapony]

I’m not terribly concerned with MPGs while hauling - we don’t haul a lot. The main issue is that we need this vehicle to be a daily driver that has the capacity to tow when needed. So, mainly concerned with unloaded MPGs.

The F250 go 11mpg UNloaded. I don’t have any idea (and don’t want to know) what it got while hauling our 3 horse steel gooseneck.

[Guilherme]

A good hauler is going to be a marginal daily driver. That’s just the nature of the beast. The two jobs are too dissimilar to ever have one vehicle capable of doing both jobs well.

I’ve got a '08 Chevy Duramax dually 4wd longbed crewcab. Bobtail around town I get 13-14 mpg and on the road and maybe 2 mpg more (depending on terrain, wind, weight of foot, etc.). Pulling our trailer I plan 10 mpg but actually have gotten as much as 12 with 11 being pretty normal. It’s got just over 66,000 miles on it. I don’t drive it much as it’s an inefficient “runabout” vehicle.

We’ve owned a Chevy Suburban before and it was an excellent tow vehicle and on the low end of satisfactory as a “town car.”

Contrary to some recent commercials, “compromise” is not a sign of weakness. But by definition is will be less than fully satisfactory for any given purpose. That might be OK and it might not.

G.

[stb]

I drive a Toyota Sequoia as both my daily driver and my tow vehicle. I love the truck, and it tows very well (2 horse Featherlite). My gas mileage is less than stellar - 17 mpg average non-towing. I have no idea what I get when I tow and I don’t want to know.

[Jim_in_PA]

If I had to buy a truck for towing a small two-horse trailer, it would be the RAM 1500 with the EcoDiesel and crew cab. Up to 30 mpg highway in regular driving and great performance otherwise. If that engine had been available when I bought my Grand Cherokee Summit, it’s what I would have had instead of the Hemi…

[butiwantedapony]

[QUOTE=Guilherme;8210557]
A good hauler is going to be a marginal daily driver. That’s just the nature of the beast. The two jobs are too dissimilar to ever have one vehicle capable of doing both jobs well.

I’ve got a '08 Chevy Duramax dually 4wd longbed crewcab. Bobtail around town I get 13-14 mpg and on the road and maybe 2 mpg more (depending on terrain, wind, weight of foot, etc.). Pulling our trailer I plan 10 mpg but actually have gotten as much as 12 with 11 being pretty normal. It’s got just over 66,000 miles on it. I don’t drive it much as it’s an inefficient “runabout” vehicle.

We’ve owned a Chevy Suburban before and it was an excellent tow vehicle and on the low end of satisfactory as a “town car.”

Contrary to some recent commercials, “compromise” is not a sign of weakness. But by definition is will be less than fully satisfactory for any given purpose. That might be OK and it might not.

G.[/QUOTE]

I realize I’m not going to get 30 mpgs, I never anywhere said I am expecting to get great gas mileage. We have a Ford Focus hatch that gets 45 mpgs for most of our driving, but we do need 2 vehicles and one needs to be able to pull. I am looking for the best gas mileage available in a vehicle suitable for towing.

Pretty sure a brand new truck is NOT in the budget anytime soon, but love the look of the dodge 1500 eco diesel!

[Jim_in_PA]

[QUOTE=butiwantedapony;8211120]

Pretty sure a brand new truck is NOT in the budget anytime soon, but love the look of the dodge 1500 eco diesel![/QUOTE]

Semantics, but it’s a RAM, not a Dodge. Completely separate brands for a few years now. And you would likely need to buy new to get the EcoDiesel as they’ve only been available for about a year now.

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=Jim_in_PA;8211188]
Semantics, but it’s a RAM, not a Dodge. Completely separate brands for a few years now. And you would likely need to buy new to get the EcoDiesel as they’ve only been available for about a year now.[/QUOTE]

I thought it was a Dodge RAM Eco-diesel? Huh. Learn something new every day! Why is the “Dodge” dropped? Is RAM considered it’s own brand now?

[soloudinhere]

[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8211200]
I thought it was a Dodge RAM Eco-diesel? Huh. Learn something new every day! Why is the “Dodge” dropped? Is RAM considered it’s own brand now?[/QUOTE]

RAM is a brand line now, similar to Ford-Lincoln-Mercury-Eagle.

There are no pickup trucks badged with the dodge name or logo currently nor have there been for some time, three or four years, since the discontinuation of the Dodge Dakota as the last remaining Dodge pickup.

It is of course semantics, but if you go to dodge.com, you have to make your way via link to ramtrucks.com - different brands. This was likely done to more carefully delineate their products:

Jeep - Offroad
Dodge - Sporty cars/SUVs/Performance marques
Chrysler - Minivans and old people
RAM - trucks trucks and more trucks
Fiat - Cute and Italian

Keeping brand lines clearly delineated is very popular with the consumer, who doesn’t want to try to understand the “brand identity” of each make, even when it’s well known they’re all one big company.

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8211241]
RAM is a brand line now, similar to Ford-Lincoln-Mercury-Eagle.

There are no pickup trucks badged with the dodge name or logo currently nor have there been for some time, three or four years, since the discontinuation of the Dodge Dakota as the last remaining Dodge pickup.

It is of course semantics, but if you go to dodge.com, you have to make your way via link to ramtrucks.com - different brands. This was likely done to more carefully delineate their products:

Jeep - Offroad
Dodge - Sporty cars/SUVs/Performance marques
Chrysler - Minivans and old people
RAM - trucks trucks and more trucks
Fiat - Cute and Italian

Keeping brand lines clearly delineated is very popular with the consumer, who doesn’t want to try to understand the “brand identity” of each make, even when it’s well known they’re all one big company.[/QUOTE]

Thank you.

Sorry for hijacking OP!

[EmJ628]

We have a 2010 F150 with “super cab” (suicide doors) and a 6’ bed. I have a friend who has a 2011 F150 with the Crew Cab (double doors) and a 5’ bed. I am pretty sure they both have the same wheelbase. Have hauled a 2H aluminum with dressing room with both trucks and it did fine. If I was hauling regularly, I would probably consider a weight distributing hitch just for added stability in wind/weather. Our 2010 gets around 17 mpg around town with no trailer. Those models came in a 4.6 V8 or 5.0V8- Ford may have changed in the more recent years. When it dies, we’ll likely replace with the same thing as we like having the longer bed. The only downside right now is DH is pretty tall and its tough to fit the car seat behind him when he’s driving!