MY Daily Driver/Tow Vehicle Thread

This thread began with so much joy and hope and ended as a tale of woe and suffering. If it was a movie people would be walking out depressed.

haha I sure did! The only way it gets worse is if I wreck it.

I know it's off the table already but i highly DONT recommend towing with a Cherokee. I say this because ive done it a few times and hated it. I like towing with my Dynasty much better. A Grand Cherokee is probably much better for towing despite the minor size difference.

So whats wrong with towing with this dodge ram again? Sell the ram and buy a newer 98-00 quad-cab ram with a 318. I see em for 3-4k around here. Has usable back seats, im 6' and i fit in em fine. /beating dead horse

Vigo,

Why do you recommend against towing with a Cherokee? What did you not like about it? I know they're pretty soft, was sway a problem?

Brotus7 wrote: Why do you recommend against towing with a Cherokee? What did you not like about it? I know they're pretty soft, was sway a problem?

They're lightweight and have a rather short wheelbase. That keeps me from grabbing one as a tow vehicle more so than any issue of power (which isn't all that good, but not all that bad either)

Sold my ram a few years ago as I wasn't using it much for what I bought it for (towing).

Just start whining about how uncomfortable the car is and how unsafe it feels on public roads.

Then get her a softening up present for the holidays and go get your truck.

Well it the 200cca battery I have in it didn't start it this morning and she had to drive me to work.. leverage.

Lets not talk unsafe.. .no bumper rebars, no airbags, no.. well lots of other stuff. Low, stiff, summer tires.. ugh.

Daily driving without heat SUCKS. Who made an actual winter happen this year?

Looking at a cheap 01 ZR2 S10 tonight. Small but might be able to get the job done.

S10's still feel way too small, been awhile since driving one. I can't imagine towing with it.

Checking out a 93 Suburban 2500 this weekend if it's not sold first but swmbo is not into it at all.

My Mitsubishi Montero was comfortable, pulled like crazy, was totally unstoppable in winter, easy to work on, and decent mileage 16-18 city, and 20-22 highway. Built like a Sherman tank. And hella cheap to buy and own.

^ good call on monteros, late 90s and early 00's monteros are totally overlooked but very decent, cheap vehicles. Just like diamantes

I gotta check one of those out then.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/ctd/1539962627.html

Buick Rainier.. Ghetto cheap.

AWD 5.3 v8...

Well kiss your traffic jam woes goodbye, have I got a Tahoe for you !!!

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3028880320047935481EgvYix

Try an older Santa Fe Hyundai...

Why not a hitch on the odyssey? They have a tow rating of 3500 lbs.

You can then spend the scratch saved on a trailer and a second vehicle (that doesn't need to tow - a wagon, miata, pickup, etc - make it something your SO will like so she won't hate it the couple of days you need the van a month for towing).

Odysseys through '06 have well-known transmission issues. Basically, heat cooks them. If you're going to tow with an Odyssey, definitely invest in a better transmission cooler and a transmission temperature guage!

Haha if I stole the van the other car would still have to be wife and two toddler friendly. Hard sell at my price point. It's one thing for me to break down (almost normal?) different for her!

Also, the trans problems scare me and the dealer tells me THEY have to use all dealer parts for the coolers and hitch and do the install to keep my CPO warranty. Berkeley that, I can get another vehicle for not that much more.

3500 is probably pushing it 2000lb car + 1000-1500lb trailer.

Looking into Discos they're cheap and are just the right amount of pre-broken for a guy like me. Also, wife approved for some reason? Apparently women have a 'oh that's cute' gene that only applies to British stuff and it somehow masks the statements like 'unreliable' or 'huge repair bills.' Got me. Maybe it has a special cupholder for tea time.

Ha! My wife loves the Disco II and approved its purchase. It sits dead with electrical gremlins while she shoots down the idea of something normal like a Trailblazer or Tahoe.

+1 on the Disco idea. They require upkeep, but finding one in your price range shouldn't be hard. Good thing is a 50K, 100K, or 150K example will all have the same problems...

Haha, one of the reasons I was entertaining it was from your posts about it! A good friend of mine is a LR tech so I'll call him today and see what the story is from his perspective.

The only thing I don't know is do I want a Disco I or II? They both seem to have similar electrical/bs issues but the II's 'exploding driveshaft' scares me a bit?

There's also Range Rovers but they're a few more $$.. but that's wife approved too. Does not compute.

The exploding driveshaft isn't an unpredictable issue, just rebuild it with greasable joints every 75k and keep it greased and you are fine. I just did mine 3 months ago on my 99 DiscoII. The DIIs will seem far nicer to your wife than the DI.

I just rebuilt the front driveshaft on mine. If the bolts hadn't been chewed up by the previous owner it wouldn't have been that tough of a job. It was less than $150 worth of parts. If I wanted to go all out I could have bought a super heavy duty extra off road capable one for around $300 and just bolted it on. The best advice I heard about Land Rovers was to buy a broken one and spend $4k on it to get it perfect. Otherwise you spend risk spending $4k on one and then spending it again to make it perfect. None of my vehicles are really a fair judge of their make/model. I have so many different vehicles that need attention that a minor repair takes forever to get done and makes the vehicle seem less reliable due to a "chronic" problem.

Seems to be a $1500 or so difference between the DI vs DII, not sure I care that much if the DII is nicer if the mechanicals are similar. She seems to think both are 'cute' and I doubt she'd drive it much. Just wants 'not a suburban, pickup, insert awesome american tow vehicle here' in the driveway.

There's a fixer upper/as is Range Rover for cheap up in PA not too far, gotta call to see the story with that one.