BrianCunningham

Been searching for a tow vehicle to haul my Corvette to the track.

Open trailer 2000lbs, electric brakes on both axles.



I've been checking out 1/2 ton pickups, but someone at my new contract is selling and old, 87, Range Rover looks to be a nice truck and I've always like them. He's asking $7500 for it 80k on the odo.

Kind wonder if that old Buick V8 has the suds to pull it though.

Anything else I should look out for?

anotherone

My 2 cents ; short wheelbase vehicles can be a handfull while towing.

John Shiels

They are horrible for being reliable and eat brakes like I eat cookies My Friend was a service writer for a dealership and he told me how they are.

gonzalezfj

Get a Chevy or GMC pickup or SUV and save yourself a lot of hassles.

Franck Gonzalez

loudes13

tow with it or get it towed?

Decent SUV's seem very cheap right now. Ebay, Craigslist, etc.

0Randy@DRM

I drove one a couple years ago. It was just ok nothing more. I agree you will be much more happy with a Chevy!!!

Randy

1ED1

pull with a ford, race a vett. best of all worlds

tjZ06

My buddy bought a late 90's Range Rover not that long ago. They have a whole laundry list of known issues and parts that WILL fail. The one he bought had been a one owner vehicle forever, but was out of warranty and needed a lot done. A mechanic at a local dealer bought it dirt cheap (since the repair quote on it was so huge), fixed the stuff for just his parts costs, then sold it to my buddy for a pretty good deal with a lot of fresh stuff. Drive-train wise they're pretty good, but ALL the other systems fail. This one had a bunch of HVAC stuff replaced, some susp bushings, I think some of the steering gear, one of the major computers in it, and the pumps etc. for the auto-leveling air ride.

The air ride is so problematic that there's actually conversion kits out there to make it fully manual. But the auto-leveling is really nice for towing.

So far it's been a good truck for him, but he's only put <10k miles on it as his new job has him traveling for business a lot (not in his personal vehicle). He's had some minor things go out, but cheap/easy fixes. And even with those few miles he's noticed it is really hard on brakes and tires.

For what he paid, it's a really nice truck. And if you can find a situation like he did where all the problem issues had just been fixed it should give you a few good years. He got his w/ around 80k on it, and hopefully all of the stuff that just got fixed will be good for another 60-80k for him.

I can't really speak to its merit as a tow vehicle though, as my buddy hasn't had a chance to do that yet. He also had towing his C5 Z06 in mind when he got it, and checked a lot of the Rover forums. The owners all swear by it being an amazing tow vehicle, and you do find a lot of boat and race car enthusiasts amongst the owner groups (as you might expect with the entry price of a new Rover). Being a heavy truck helps, but they do seem narrow, tall, and short wheel-base for my taste in towing.

Dear Lord no. I used to pump concrete many years ago, and am still good friends w/ the family that runs the business. They are Ford loyal through and through despite endless issues w/ all their tow rigs. Their '99 Super Duty (7.3 Powerstroke/Auto) was the one I drove back when I worked for them. It had the output of the steering box break off (resulting in a crash into a ditch), ate a tranny (maybe two, I don't remember for sure), and had a few other issues. Their '01 SD (also 7.3 PS/Auto) has gone through at least 3 trannies and a turbo, again along with other misc stuff. Their '03 (6.0 PS/Auto) eventually got bought back on lemon-law as it had all sorts of issues. It has the typical turbo issues (the variable vane turbos in the 6.0s are a mess) and blew boost tubes off (even after tons of Ford's updated parts) like it was the thing to do. They just got rid of it for a '08 F450 King Ranch w/ the new 6.4 TT PS. We'll see how that is. The same family also had a late 90s Ranger that blew a motor pretty early (60k ish, I guess it's a known failure w/ the smaller V6 they had).

Everybody I know with a Ford truck has pretty much had trans troubles.

-TJ

John Shiels

`don't know who does the electrics on them but them seem to have continued the Lucas reputation of horrible electrical components. I remember my friend saying he never saw the first brake job on one over the 10,000 mile mark. More amazing is they couldn't keep them on the lot when selling them new at the dealership.

0Randy@DRM

I bought my DD Honda from a Land Rover account.

Randy

parkerracing

DON'T DO IT!

2000BSME

I don't like to tow with anything but a diesel. I live in a hilly region, and diesels are the only thing that can maintain my cruising speed of 75-80 mph regardless of grade.

So no, I wouldn't do a range rover.

-p.s. I had a 5.3L extended cab Silverado 1500 that was a beautiful and very nice truck, but it wasn't up to par towing my vette, especially in the hills, where it would drop into 2nd and scream along at 5500rpm just to try and maintain 60mph up a grade. 5.3L are for towing light boats, nothing more, at least in the hilly region that I live and drive in.

AU N EGL

1987 then it would still be a British Leyland product?

arnt Land Rovers the highest lease return and NOT purchased after the lease expires?

You will be working on the LandRover more then your race car.

Better to find a used Chevy pick up with 100,000 miles on. At least you get an other 100,000 with minimal work

tjZ06

I have a buddy that hauls a pretty larged enclosed with his 99 5.3 Silverado 1500. It's a 2wd, extended cab, lowered a bit but with the addition of air-bags in the back to help with the load. The trailer is a Haulmark enclosed, just a standard unit not a light-weight or anything and it has the flat front, not the "wedge" shape for better aero.

The little 5.3 does amazingly well with it, and there's a few big grades between the area we live and where we do a lot of racing. He does have to drop back to ~50mph on the really large grades so he can stay at a reasonable rpm and not be screaming along at 5,500 like you described. And with a 4L60E in it I suppose its only a matter of time before it loses a tranny (the truck is well over 100k miles now, with at least 10k, probably more like 20k towing).

It's not the best option, but I'd still pick it over the Rover. And a 100k mi early Silvy should be dirt cheap. The Diesel rigs hold their value very well and seem to cost about 2x a gas rig on the used market.

-TJ

Cobra4B

5.3??? I'm towing with a 3.5 (straight 5 cylinder) and it does just fine w/ my 5000lbs of car/trailer and whatever I have in the bed.




That said... I wouldn't want to tow with a 20 year old shorter wheelbase SUV like that... just me.

I like having a pickup for track/towing duty.

tjZ06

I am still amazed the Canyon gets the job done. I don't know what your daily drives are like, but it seems like the extra comfort/safety of towing with at least a half-ton V8 might be worth the lose in MPG. Especially w/ the rebates and 0% for 60 that Chevy/GMC have going on '07s right now. It has me seriously thinking about trading my IS250 on one.

-TJ

Cobra4B

^ 4-wheel brakes on the trailer w/ a proper brake controller (load-sensing), rear air springs, and an equalizer hitch make it easy.

The truck is rated to tow 4000lbs w/o any modifications at all... I'm asking it to tow another 1000 w/ the vette and only another 500ish with the Panoz loaded up.

Not sure if the air intake and heavy-towin PCM reflash from PCM4Less made any difference (didn't tow heavy before I got that all done), but it's there for an extra bit of power.

Truck makes a great DD for me, parts hauler, and tows the race cars safely when needed.

AU N EGL

even with the 1500 extended cab 5.3 it will tow just fine. Dont plan on doing much more then the speed limit, and slow down in the mountains.

Down shift to 2nd going up and down the mountains at 45 mph.

My 1500HD works just fine. 2500 would be better.

Granted guys with 3500 dont need to slow down, but we do want we do.

2000BSME

more power to anyone who does tow with a 5.3 or god forbid even smaller, but for me, hearing the engine shift constantly and slow dramatically up grades is not acceptable. I like to maintain at least 75 mph at all times, and the diesel does it without even hardly a single shift, not to mention the engine braking that the newer duramax truck provide, is just plain awesome.

I've seen high mileage diesels (150-200k) for as low as 13k or so, but I agree, it is quite a premium to pay for the added convenience, but for me, it was a must.-- I take that back, I just saw an 03 with 67k for 13k in the local autotrader.

I have to admit, daily driving with the diesel is also quite a bit more pleasant than with the gasser, but it doesn't get that good of gas mileage, at about 15-16mpg.

To each his own.

95jersey

Just got a new 08 Apsen 335hp 370ft lb and long wheelbase. $7000 off MSRP, lease $400mo with 2500 down. No brainer for me and the wife.