Best SUV for towing around 10k$

[hadfield4wd]

3000 lb max. small 19 foot openbow

I NEED TO STRESS THAT THIS IS GOING TO BE A DAILY DRIVER FOR A GIRL AND WEEKEND TOW now and then. She needs low miles and newer. Newer is better then anything for her. So no full size chassis.

No diesel, no truck, escalade is a GM truck. She has a thing against GM.

Well to think she can't drive something big because she's a girl is just stupid. My buddy's wife dd's a V10 excursion. No big deal. Yeah mileage sucks compared to an accord, but your not getting an accord.

Also get something that has the capacity to tow a jeep, because its just a trailer away.

 

[Big Red]

98 limited ZJ if you can find one.

98' 5.9L ZJ Limited. I have 2 haven't towed anything yet but probably will tow Big Red at some point. :laugh:

 

[98stocker]

Toyota 4runner, with or without v8.

 

[JJacobs]

02+ Explorer.. lessee. Like to eat wheel bearings both front and rear. Went through a rash of noisy ring and pinions and burned up side bearings for a few years. Servo bore wear problems in the transmissions and solenoid bodies every 60K miles. The V-8's have noisy torque converters that work fine. 02's will cough up a 4x4 module at some point. Rear blend door actuators break. Front pinion seals.

Of course I only see the ones that are broken so who knows just how common this stuff is, there are a ton of them out there. I would go 06 up if possible.

 

[REWSTER]

02+ Explorer.. lessee. Like to eat wheel bearings both front and rear. Went through a rash of noisy ring and pinions and burned up side bearings for a few years. Servo bore wear problems in the transmissions and solenoid bodies every 60K miles. The V-8's have noisy torque converters that work fine. 02's will cough up a 4x4 module at some point. Rear blend door actuators break. Front pinion seals.

Of course I only see the ones that are broken so who knows just how common this stuff is, there are a ton of them out there. I would go 06 up if possible.

ford parts guy here

as i read this i was thinking, front hub&bearing i keep 4 on the shelf rear bearings i keep 6 on the shelf front and rear pinion bearings and seals and carrier bearings we got everything to do one a day but have came across a time or two were we had to do too, trans will burn up a number of different parts, and the rear blend door actuators i used to keep one next to my CP so i didn't have to walk to far to get one we got 6 right now

 

[zombiexj]

I've come across a lot of broken coil springs on the rear of the "exploder". I deffinately wouldnt use one for towing. Also look up explorers on wikipedia and click on "u-haul trailers" (its somewhere on the list) apparently u-haul wont even rent a trailer to an explorer owner...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Explorer#U-Haul_trailers

 

[srmitchell]

I love our 04 WJ. Its a special edtion.

The 4.7 motor comes with a 5 speed tranny, so it's very smooth, and efficient. It'd be more than enough for the boat you have.

The heavier, more powerful wj gets better mileage than my xj. (Its getting 21 freeway.)

 

[kastein]

I get 23 freeway in my MJ with a tired engine and tired transmission, and max cargo load, if I do the speed limit.