HoBoJoe

Love that setup! What's the tow rating on that truck?

multi21

My Merc ML350 Bluetec is only at 21k miles and getting better mileage as it goes. Just saw 29 MPG highway without a load. With open 14.5' featherlite with car and spare set of wheels on rack, all the spare parts, fuel, etc. probably 5000 lbs. total the return on MPG is 19-21 depending on how fast I drive and if I'm going over major grades like the Grapevine in CA. 455 lb. ft. tq.

JoshuaB

With the AISIN 6-Speed Automatic transmission (which ups the torque to 850 lb-ft) and the 3.73 rear I have, the towing capacity is just over 23,000 lbs. With the 4.10 the capacity goes up to just under 29,000. Fully loaded I am just under 10,000 lbs....lots of extra capacity.

One of the features of the RAM/Cummins that I like the most, especially when towing is the factory exhaust brake...

johnr265

If anyone wants a cheap, reliable diesel tow vehicle for an open trailer, I have one for sale:

See here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-...w-vehicle.html

It has the same engine as the Mercedes diesel but is before the bluetec so no worries about filling a urea tank etc...

montoya

2015 F350 Lariat diesel dually. 65 gallon tank gives me 600+ mile towing range through Siskiyou mountains. 75 mph up and over 4500' Grants Pass with 10000# trailer. Fantastic motor. Downsides: turning radius, mileage in town & ride when empty. Great upside, fantastic traction in snow w/4wd and snow tires- my new mountain snow cabin transport vehicle.

Van1

2007 VW Touareg V10 TDI. What's not to love about 553 lb/ft in a midsize SUV? Don't tow a car but pulls my 5000lb 22ft Airstream like its not even there.

Even makes a nice back up track vehicle. Several years ago I ran it in the advanced group at a BMWCCA DE after the clutch in my 993 had gone out the week before with no time to fix. I had a blast. Mostly thanks to the crappy weather that weekend, I was far from the slowest guy in the group.

Dr911

SOOOO much WANT the Touareg TDI. Tow capacity 7700 lbs and gets sweet mileage. It's not too costly to buy or maintain either.

Given all the mess around settlement re VW Diesels spouse is a bit leery. What has your experience been w emissions on your annual state inspections?

But it seems like it might be the perfect solution for replacing my V6 Turbo Diesel MB R320 CDI ... (the reasons to do so seem to be growing numerically).

Anyone else use a Touareg TDI hauler?
Any emissions problems?

marcus1249

I see a few guys towing enclosed with a Q7 tdi, aren't those only rated at 5,500 lbs? I had ruled it out and been looking into a gl450 instead because of the 7,500 lb rating. do I have bad information? would love the Q7 if it would do the job, currently pulling an open Trailex but may want to move up to a 20' aluminum enclosed so fully loaded would be looking at around 6,100 lb +/-

Circuit Motorsports

Oh but it is. Buddy was service advisor for VW for a while. The bills to fix the touareg TDIs were impressively high.

NC doesn't do anything with the emissions of a diesel. They just do the safety check. The sniffers are only setup for gas cars.

ELange0322

I have a Q7 diesel and tow a 20' enclosed Trailex. No issue whatsoever. There a some guys that are using Cayanne's to pull 24' full height enclosed trailers and say no issue. I also know of a friend in Canada who tows a 24" full height enclosed with his Q7. I went shorter with the Trailex because I hadn't towed before and was trying to be a bit safer. Wish I had more height in my trailer but love it nonetheless.

marcus1249

Awesome thanks for the info maybe time to take a closer look at the tdi!

Frank 993 C4S

It's 6500 lbs with the factory tow package. The tongue weight is the more limiting factor on the TReg, Cayenne and Q7s. I'm at 5500 lbs fully loaded and the Q7 tows like a dream, even in heavy cross winds.

marcus1249

Great thanks frank!

Streak

I have an F150 3.5 EcoBoost with max payload and max tow. So far so good.

944hal

2011 Mercedes GL diesel. Enclosed trailer, towing 6,000 lbs, rated at 7,500. Good mileage, around 13 mpg towing. 25 to 27 hwy without the trailer. After 30,000 miles, average MPG for everything is a little over 21 mpg. I also think the towing rating on some of the European SUVs has more to do with the hitch capacity than the towing capacity of the vehicle. The MB is also self leveling. It tows a lot better than my 2008 F-150 5.4 liter. Ford was a good towing platform but a gas guzzler. 5 to 6 mpg with current rig, 14 mpg around town, and never better than 18 hwy.