Towing Capacity of Higher-End Sport SUVs

[WBmare]

I’ve been in an Expedition while hauling two horses. No way I would ever get one for towing. NOPE. You could feel the SUV rock around going down the road. No thank you. I’ll stick with my 2500.

Remember you NEED stopping power. People are idiots on the road and jump out in front of you and then slam on their breaks. I don’t think an SUV is going to have the same stopping power that your truck has.

Keep the truck and get a little corolla or elantra or something. Luxury cars come with luxury price tags on everything. Maintenance, insurance, taxes, etc.

[clanter]

@WBmare

I’ve been in an Expedition while hauling two horses. No way I would ever get one for towing. NOPE. You could feel the SUV rock around going down the road. No thank you. I’ll stick with my 2500.

Remember you NEED stopping power. People are idiots on the road and jump out in front of you and then slam on their breaks. I don’t think an SUV is going to have the same stopping power that your truck has.

Keep the truck and get a little corolla or elantra or something. Luxury cars come with luxury price tags on everything. Maintenance, insurance, taxes, etc.

The Expedition and the Q7 have completely different deigns

the Ford Expedition is built on the F150 platform.

https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/Ford/Expedition

a Q7 is not a truck-centric body-on-frame platform, Q7’s enhanced unibody (carlike) construction …

https://www.drivechicago.com/reviews/2017-audi-q7-audi-full-size-luxury-crossover-gets-a-2017-makeover_2846

[PonyApocalypse19]

My parents have the X5 diesel and they won’t even tow their little fishing boat with it! I have friends who have the same X5 and they haul their track cars around, but we’re talking max 4 hour trips and they’re at what maybe 4.5K max in weight? So they’re effectively at half of the tow limit on the X5.
You need more truck/vehicle than you think to haul. It’s not about how much it can pull, it’s about stopping in an emergency. I’ve seen videos of horse and camper trailers doing crazy things during emergency stops, none of them ended up in good positions.
Also think too, if you get the Q7 and haul even a euro trailer, you’re going to be going through brakes like nothing. And the price tag on those Q7 brakes are hefty if they’re the same as the X5.
I got rid of my sporty car and now just drive my truck. Yes it has all the bells and whistles. If you want luxury, maybe go with a new truck/slightly used truck with the leather seats and all the bells and whistles. That may serve you in both areas. My truck is a lot more comfortable than my cars ever were!

[Kmacht]

If it were me I would sell the truck, buy a fun car to commute in and then buy an older suburban 2500 or Yukon. They can be had for dirt cheap (many around here for 3-5k) and tow just as well as a pickup. Insurance is also very inexpensive on an older suburban. I love having our Yukon XL for going to shows. It was so cheap that I don’t care if kids get in it with dirty boots or if it has an everlasting horse smell from the sweaty tack that was sitting in it over night.

[exo.pragmata]

I have hauled with an Expedition and now a Tacoma which is pertinent to your discussion as “by the numbers” it should be fine. It is not. NOT. I have a 2H 4 Star BP, 2017, all aluminum. Empty, its great, loaded not so much. The Expedition was actually better with towing, back then I had a 1980 WW 2H SL that was light as a feather.

I will need to get a different trailer at some point (larger). I am not in the position yet to get rid of the Tacoma but I wish every day for a 2500. I think if I were to keep the Tacoma and haul still, the only way I would do so is with a Bockmann. An Audi and Bockmann would make a fine pair :).

[SBC]

My 2018 Audi Q7 pulls a 2018 Boeckmann Portax LK like a dream. 14 mpg fully loaded with one horse, hay etc. I went the full German route and couldn’t be happier with both selections.

[Horsehusband]

@Stonewall

How about buying a euro-trailer? Like a Boeckmann. There is a new model that is affordable and you will have complete freedom in choosing a vehicle.

In the past 10 years, I have owned 5 different horses, 4 different vehicles and one Brenderup trailer that has gone from British Columbia to Florida to Arizona and Texas many times. I could probably sell it for what I paid for it 10 years ago.

We live in the city and are looking at a second car to tow. We’d be buying the whole set up trailer and truck/suv. Originally, I was only looking at trucks, but we started recently looking at boeckman/SUV combo because parking a truck in the city is nearly impossible even if we only move it on the weekends.

From all the research I have done the only way to go if you want to do an SUV is to buy the Euro Style trailer.

[SBrentnall]

@AskMyAccountant.17

Thanks all for your advice, driving habits aside, if anyone currently drives an SUV and pulls a trailer let me know your experiences! I’ve only driven trucks and SUVs so am going to stay in this genre for now.

(Other than that I’m going to sip my coffee and ignore the fact I had to crawl out of the passenger seat in a pencil skirt this morning to get out of my truck in the garage.)

I drive an Acura MDX and pull a Brenderup Baron SL. Hauls like a dream, even up and down mountains. But the Brenderup only weighs 2100 lbs and has a loaded tongue weight of just 250 lbs. Unless you’re going to exchange your trailer for a lightweight Euro one, I don’t think your Audi dream is going to be realized.

[Alliteration]

You are forgetting it isn’t about how much of a dead load an SUV can pull, but how much of a live load you can stop and keep the trailer behind you.

If you can afford a Q7, you can afford 2 vehicles. A safe truck suitable for towing a dynamic load and a more modest car, like a Honda Accord for commuting. P.S. German cars are junk.

[Caol_Ila]

I live in the UK and people tow lightweight aluminum trailers with all kinds of vehicles, from pick-ups to Land Rover Freelanders to Ford Mondeos. Because anyone who got their driving license after 1997 needs to take a second driving test to tow anything with a gross vehicle weight over 3500kg (the combined weight of the car, trailer, and everything in them), a lot of people tow with the smallest vehicles they can get away with so they don’t have to suffer through the test. Also, fuel costs the earth, so no one wants to be driving a truck that gets 20mpg as their daily vehicle (except me, but my OH talked me out of it).

I once borrowed my friend’s one-horse trailer for a clinic, towing with an '05 Subaru Forester. I was within the towing capacity of the car but I swore I would never do that again. My current car is a diesel, so it has more torque and weight than the petrol Forester, but I would rather not use it to tow a horse. It’s roughly the same size as a Forester.

And as a digression, what’s the problem with German cars in the US? In the UK, Volkswagon-Audi Group cars are known for reliability and regularly take the top spots in reliability surveys, alongside Toyota and Honda. To be fair, Skoda and Seat, Czech and Spanish auto makers respectively, owned by VAG, do better than Volkswagon and Audi, but they are built on the same chassis and using many of the same components as VWs.

[clanter]

@Caol Ila

And as a digression, what’s the problem with German cars in the US? .

Germans drive about 50% the annual mileage as Americans

http://internationalcomparisons.org/environment/transportation.html

[candyappy]

@AskMyAccountant.17

Yeah, definitely not willing to pay car insurance on two vehicles, but thanks!

With what you will save in fuel, tire costs and maintenance on commuting in a big vehicle, you could pick up a decent used car as a commute vehicle. If you are worried about insurance pay for it outright and just put liability on it.

No way would I haul anything live with a V6 SUV.

[2tempe]

I pull an aluminum trailer w/ tack room of sorts with a Tahoe. However: I only take one horse. I wont haul more than about 90 minutes, and am lucky to be able to stay mostly on country-type roads. I will not go on the major interstates here if FL. because it is just too congested and too scary - I hate them even when its just me and the Tahoe…

[RubyTuesday]

@Laurierace

I have been towing my 2 horse no dressing room bumper pull with a Toyota Sequoia since 2001. I am on my 3rd. It works perfectly for my needs but is the opposite of gas efficient. I max about 14mph without the trailer, don’t even want to think about what it is with it.

I think you meant MPG. :lol: MPH would indeed be tragic! :lol:

[Laurierace]

You are correct, both are tragic though.

[2tempe]

@RubyTuesday

I think you meant MPG. :lol: MPH would indeed be tragic! :lol:

Does anything get good mileage when towing a loaded horse trailer???:lol:

[JenEM]

I’ve had both a YukonXL and an Expedition has the tow vehicle for my 2hDr trailer (mine is a Collin Arndt, but similar size wise to yours). ADORED the Yukon, the Exp is ok, we’re actually looking to replace it with a truck-truck in the spring. Either of those work as hauling options if properly outfitted, IME.

Do do they work as urban daily drivers? Not really. I work in downtown DC and park in a garage. Trying to get either of those vehicles into the garage is terrifying, which is why I don’t do it unless I have to. You won’t be saving much in mpg or vehicle size.

[Belowthesalt]

I’m on the other side of this. But I have a short commute: home to train station (15 mins), after work train station to barn (10 min) to home (15-20 min.) Maybe 20 miles per day. My horse got injured, won’t be showing anymore unless and until he’s sound enough to do a walk/trot Intro test for a Century Ride when he’s 20 and I’m 80! (about 5-6 years from now), But horses being the fragile things they are, I CANNOT bring myself to give up my truck. It’s paid off, driven lightly, only has 109,000K on it. My last truck, and '88 Chevy 2500, lasted to 250,000K, and even then was repairable, but not worth putting a new tranny in. So I hang on to my truck. People sort of give me an odd look that it’s my only vehicle and I sold my ancient trailer after my horse got hurt, BUT…