I was trying to stay out of the discussion this year (!) but so far two
things have not been mentioned.
1 - consider a full size van/wagon rather than a pickup or SUV. I know
they are rather 1970-ish in image but who cares about that? They are
still wonderful vehicles - great for towing, carry 4 or more adults in
great comfort as well as a mountain of "stuff" inside (weather and
pilfer proof) - and still make a great daily driver. I use a swb Dodge
- it's actually shorter than a minivan - no parking hassles like
pickups.
2 - NEVER let an automatic trans shift under power while towing - up or
down. For this reason I never use O/D while towing - except down
mountains. Allowing power shifts will almost insure you get tranny
problems - friction bands and clutches burn out. Just lift the
accelerator as you shift manually. (Exception: accelerating away from
stanstill - then I put tranny in "2" - use 3/4 to full throttle in 1st
then lift at the right speed to get it to shift to 2nd.)
3 - use the gears - keep the engine spinning in the upper part of the
torque curve - otherwise you will slide back down to a crawl on grades.
Obviously diesels are better here (for towing) but I can't stand the
idea of using one for my daily driver. I use a 318 (5.2L) Dodge - OK
for 65 in "2" while accelerating and at keeps going up most Interstate
grades at 65-70 in "3". If you let it slow down in "3" it rapidly
slides down the torque curve the wrong way.
YMMV
Derek
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