The "Recommended Tow Vehicle" list

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

Having owned an Astro van and an S10 with the 4.3L motor and having towed pop-ups with both there is no way I would pull our TM with either. Here in Florida you could get away with it barely but any other state with a minimum interstate speed limit of 50 mph and anything to climb other than our small sand dunes the astro and s10 won't be able to do it. The S10 could not handle the pop-up on I77, I81 and I64 in WV and VA. The S10 had 4.10 gears and a 5200# TC pulling a 2600# pop-up. The Astro had 3.73 gears and made the last long pull into Ashville, NC on I26 at 40mph. We just got back from almost 7 months on the road and pulling the TM with 4.7L v8 was no problem. We did avoid the interstates as much as possible. We spent two months with the TM above 3000 ft which is nothing compared to the 9000 feet plus we towed the pop-up last year.
Just my $.02 worth

scrubjaynest, thanks for the input. As most here have stated, smaller vehicles tend to be inadequate for anything beyond local camping. My example vehicles were meant to represent a starter vehicle (Astro) that most may own when first purchasing a TM, while the Express is meant as example of what should be looked at as an upgrade or new TV. The tow/load capacities are approximately 40% higher on the Express with only a 15% increase in fuel consumption. The only reason I used these particular two vehicles is that I own the Astro and drive the Express at work.