pewpewpew3000

Hi -

I'm getting more into HPDE with my 991.2 GT3 and am planning on taking it on tracks that are halfway around the country. It's also my only car, and far from ideal for the city streets. I'd like to get something I can drive around and tow the GT3 on. I don't need to daily it since I'm in NYC, but would like it to be comfy for non towing trips.

I like the idea of the new RAM 1500 because of ride comfort, but I'm not sure that will be enough for towing, especially if I get/rent a 20' enclosed trailer for the longer trips.

jerome951

I'm researching the same decision as I upgrade my old truck and move from an open to an enclosed trailer.
I need an open bed for hauling stuff for the house so a truck is a necessity.
I've looked at the half ton trucks from Ford, Ram, and Chevy/GM. All are nice and have their individual strengths and weaknesses. I also looked at the 3/4 tons but, to me, they are too 'truckish' as a daily driver unless I'm towing/hauling for a living.
The Ram 1500s seem to have slightly less weight capacity (I've seen loaded models with <1400#), so if you're buying/renting an enclosed steel trailer, you may be pushing the limits of the suspension. A friend had this same setup and switched back to an open trailer as his Ram never felt stable pulling the 20' steel enclosed. He also found the 5.7 to be a pretty thirsty engine I plan to get an alum enclosed trailer as I want to keep the trailer weight (when loaded) under 7k lbs.
I agree the Ram has the best ride and interior for a daily, though.
I've decided to go with the F150 supercab (slightly less wheelbase for better maneuverability) w/ the 3.5 Ecoboost. While I like the Ram a bit better overall, I don't have enough knee room (I'm 6'5"). and would have to modify the dash panel to fit comfortably.

Frank 993 C4S

If you are sticking with an open aluminum trailer an Audi Q7, Cayenne, TReg, BMW X5, Mbenz GLmake good tow vehicles. You can also tow an enclosed aluminum Trailex with them. Don’t know where you would rent an enclosed trailer on your area.

Sboxin

My son has a Ram 1500 - tows our 24ft ATC sometimes and does fine - he added rear air bags and this helps plus we have a WD hitch - 100,000 miles on the Ram and rides great with new shocks on the front . . . we use a GMC 2500 HD for regular track towing and long distances (like 1000 miles to COTA or 900 to Thunderhill) . . .
Good luck with your search.

Regards,
Roy T

pewpewpew3000

I like this option the best I think. I test drove the RAM 1500 and F150, and they're .. trucks. The cars you listed I think I would enjoy better for all other duties, even if I have to pay extra to get a better tailer.

Kein_Ersatz

If renting the trailer, just rent the tow vehicle too from Enterprise. Would take a lot of rental weeks to pay for a truck.

Nickshu

Just skip the SUVs and Half-tons and get a 3/4 ton pickup and be done. I know you want to fight it, but just give in now.

Here is my colossal waste of money towing progression:

Chevy Silverado 1500 and Steel open trailer
Volvo XC90 Hybrid and Trailex open trailer - Wanted to get away from daily driving the Silverado. Loved the XC90 what a great SUV for daily driving all-around. Got the Trailex because lightweight and can "tow with anything". Towed fine but got 8mpg towing and a small fuel tank had to stop all the time for gas.
Ford Raptor - Hey it's a Raptor, which is sweet, but it was terrible at towing, even the Trailex. I thought I would have a "cool" pickup that could also tow my lightweight Trailex, but it sucked at that too. Also wanted to go up to an enclosed trailer and there is no way the Raptor could tow that.
Ford F-150 with MaxTow package - Got a 24' enclosed all-aluminum trailer, figured that the F-150 MaxTow could handle it. It could definitely tow it, but could not handle it in extreme situations. Got into high winds a couple of times and it was downright scary, which convinced me to get a bigger tow vehicle.
Ford F-250 Diesel with High capacity towing package - Aaaahhh. Just right.

Bought another car to daily drive in good weather on the street. F-250 for hauling, ski trips (topper on the bed), and winter weather. Life is good.

pewpewpew3000

Ideally this is what I would do, but I don't have anywhere to put a dedicated tow vehicle

lowside67

A Ram 1500 can easily and safely tow a 20' enclosed trailer with a GT3 inside it - full stop. A quick look at the towing specs show the V8 models being rated for 11-12,000lbs; if you can't comfortably and safely tow a ~6,000lb trailer with that truck, then there is either a problem with your approach or the manufacturer should be sued. Those tow ratings are not "the max that this truck can move" but rather determined through a series of tests around braking, acceleration, and turning.

As a datapoint, I tow a ~4,000lb loaded enclosed trailer with a 2015 GMC 1500 rated at 8,500lbs and while I wouldn't say that you can't tell you are towing, I drove 10 hours through the mountains on Friday to pick up my new car with 0 drama, issues, or fatigue. This was my first test of my new setup and I came away extremely pleased with how comfortable and relaxing the tow was, even over some pretty wild roads.

Taking the time to do a few measurements to determine whether its better with your GT3 front in and or back in will make it even more comfortable, but more truck is totally overkill. Remember - a brand new 1/2 ton truck is in many ways more capable than a slightly older 3/4 ton anyhow. People were asking these same questions 5, 10, and 15 years ago - and were being told that a 3/4 then was plenty of truck to be safe. If that was true 10 years ago, then today a 1/2 ton will certainly do!

-Mark

RossP

The best all around daily driver tow vehicle is a new 3/4 ton truck. But thats not always feasible for people who have to go into parking garages, smaller parking spots, city driving, and/or people that need the interior cargo room.

I use my Yukon Denali XL for towing. Its the family/wife mobile, but even though it has a relatively low tow rating (~8k) its got a long wheelbase, air leveling rear suspension, and an integrated trailer brake controller. Ive towed 6k behind it and didnt even feel it.

PGas32

I try my hardest not to argue with strangers over the internet, but just to throw my $0.02 in...it's not the weight, it's the fact that you're towing a house down the road with something relatively light and with a short wheelbase. Towing 12k of pavers or bricks on an open utility trailer is a lot different than 6k total in a huge box that acts as a sail behind the truck. I think this is where the Trailex models have a huge advantage, as they're low profile.

And as far as how trucks have evolved...the weight hasn't really changed. An F-150 is 5,000ish pounds, ten years ago or today. The tranny's are stronger, more powerful motors, etc...but the weight, wheelbase, and brakes haven't changed and that's what counts when towing.

F-150's are for jet skis and open trailers, F-2/350's are for enclosed trailers, duallies are for goosenecks. Anyhow, just my opinion, and I've owned them all...

argonaut95

Totally agree. Far too many people focus on the published towing capacity, thinking their F150 ecoboost is a towing monster, when they should be focused on the wheelbase, GVWR, etc.

Nickshu

Exactly the mistake I made. Yes it can tow it, but it can't stop it and can't handle it in high winds/poor conditions. I now own a SuperDuty diesel. Lesson learned.

Some have told me...you only want to use about 50-75% of the tow vehicle's calculated capacity, any bigger then you should go up in tow vehicle size. Having a reserve is a good thing. I can't imagine the liability you would face for causing an accident with a maxed out or overloaded tow vehicle.

lowside67

This is exactly my point... the proposed 20' enclosed trailer is <50% of a Ram 1500's towing capacity which leaves an absolute ton of cushion for the "what-if". I have many thousands of miles towing enclosed trailers, I understand and have experienced the force they can exert on the tow rig when you are passing a semi, towing into a headwind, etc.

It is easy to sit here and recommend a 3/4 ton, there's no downside to a bigger/heavier truck while towing. To that end, why not a 1 ton? Or a lightweight sport truck? The point is that going bigger in a truck has tradeoffs in the space to park it, the cost to buy it, the ride when unloaded, the maintenance, etc. Everybody has their own opinion of what tradeoffs are acceptable.

For me, I stand by my opinion that an enclosed trailer within 50% of the rated towing capacity of a tow vehicle is a safe, comfortable, and totally reasonable answer for the requested use case - a daily driver that sometimes does some towing.

-Mark

mhm993

To the op: Assuming you can find a place to park,....Buy a 20’ aluminum enclosed and your choice of 150/1500 trucks and be done with it. Makes a very nice car for long trips and a very competent combination for dragging the gt car across the country.
My two cents.