What & Why is your TV?

Mine is a 4WD F-150 Crew Cab pickup. 4WD is a plus in the winter (even without the trailer) and, though I don't use it often, the extra seating (over a regular pickup) helps with Boy Scouts (and family once in a while). I certainly need the storage capacity of the pickup bed, and I really don't like the idea of gasoline, generator, bicycle (folding bikes for camping trips), tool boxes, etc. in the cab with me.

I find that, so long as I don't need to seat more than 4 passengers (plus me, the driver), the truck (with shell) has as much protected storage as a van, yet is as comfortable and as quiet inside as a car.

Gas mileage varies a great deal, depending on where I'm towing and what the wind is doing. Camping in the Rockies knocks mileage by anywhere from 2-3 mpg to 4-5 mpg, depending on road conditions, steepness of the road, wind and other factors. I get 15-17 running around locally, and I've had up to 19 mpg on the open road at 70 mph, but I think that was with a light tailwind. Mileage also drops at lower elevations, I presume because of the extra drag of the denser air.

So you'll need to consider where and under what conditions you intend to tow.

We purchased our Jeep Liberty diesel specifically as a tow vehicle for our TM, mainly because my wife specified a minimum MPG of 20 while towing whatever trailer we purchased. We get 21 mpg while towing, and the diesel has plenty of torque to handle the Appalachian mountain roads.

[wbmiller3]

-The Expedition can pull any trailer I'll ever have.
-The ability to easily convert from 9 person people hauler to cargo carrier.
-Don't need 4WD, just dirt road capability.
-Good reliability, 100K+ miles and hasn't been in the shop for repair except once way back in warranty.

[roned2]

We tow with a Toyota 4WD. Our last trip was to Washington State into Canada via BC and back to Ontario. With side trips we did about 7000 miles with no problems. Gas mileage with the trailer averaged out at about 15 mpg.
No difficulties in the mountains although the highest peak was about 6-7000 ft.

We bought a Honda Ridgeline specifically as a tv for a tm 2619. It has four doors and is comfortable for 4 people to ride in. It has a rated towing capacity of 5,000lbs. It handles towing a 2619 very good and would probably tow a 2720 ok also. I did add a weight distribution hitch. I am very happy with the Ridgeline as a tv for a 2619 or a 2720.

It averages 14 to 16mpg towing and 20 to 21 not towing. The ride is very comfortable. We bought the model that was equipped for towing. It came with both 7 pin and 4 pin wiring plugs. It also had a connection under the dash so I just had to plug in the brake controller.

First I want to thank everyone for their input. I think this collection of information will help many people. Please continue posting your comments so we can make this thread a great source of information for all types of TVs and uses.

As I've said, I like vans, but am trying to keep an open mind.
Many people have pointed out the ability to separate yourselves from the "dirty/stinky" gear that a pickup offers. These are great points. PUs also offer good tow capacities, have common 4wd, and are affordable. Their one drawback is limited "people capacity", which is an issue for me, but not a deal breaker. SUVs also have good TC and do offer decent occupancy, but have the same issues as a van with not having a place for the "dirty/stinky" gear. Dirty gear is something I can deal with. The biggest issue here would be the generator. I'll need to do some thinking and research on this.

Again, please keep posting your comments for all to review.

I guess I should add my input since I've asked for yours...

We don't have a TM yet so I can't comment directly on them.
I do have years of experience towing boats with vans so I'll use that to comment.

Towing with a full size van is very stable, almost like a train.
We had a 24ft boat (30ft on trailer) that towed extremely well.
We carried tons of gear inside the van (would carry 500-700 lbs of shrimp inside, in the air conditioning).

Much like most, my Astro was purchased before towing a TM was even an idea. I've done some work on it over the last few years to make it better for towing and feel it will do just fine for early / normal trips (no mountains).
I've been thinking about what would be MY ideal TV for the future when DW and I start doing serious traveling. People capacity should not be an issue then, but is now.


Van pros:
Good people capacity (5 to 8)
Plenty of room for gear inside, out the weather and secure
Can get to supplies (food, ice chest, etc) without stopping
Very roomy and comfortable for long trips
Long wheelbase for stable towing
Lots of roof room for additional gear on roof

Van cons:
Engine hard to work on (lately my #1 complaint)
Can't separate people from certain gear
4WD hard to come by

People capacity of a truck...

I can carry 5 adults in my 1500HD. This include my 26 year old son that is 6 foot 4 in the rear seat. I have buckets in the front, so only two adults fit there.

My 2500HD will carry 6, but front center needs to be someone not too large. A young teen or younger would work.

I can not carry more than 6 in my truck. That is where a van starts to have an advantage.

On the other hand, while carrying 6 people in the 2500HD, I still have the full 8 foot bed to carry stuff, typically motorcycles, not more than 3 so far. At approximately 22 feet total length, it does not do well at the mall. When driving down dirt roads to collect firewood in the forest it is usually a challenge to make a U-turn in either one of them.

Many years ago I caught some talk show on the radio. Not sure what the topic was, but I recall vividly some guy pointing out that if you are a homeowner and have two cars, then one of them should be a truck. I agree completely. When not towing I use it for hauling stuff.

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

I recall vividly some guy pointing out that if you are a homeowner and have two cars, then one of them should be a truck. I agree completely.

Same here.
In our 30+yrs of marriage, we have always had at least a van, and then a car.

[newtome3326k]

Hi, we also had our TV before I found the TM. We had the largest pop-up Viking makes that we towed with our Expedition but had to trade to a van because my 6 foot 2 son's wheelchair was to hard to manage his newest wheelchair. I have had van's and an Explorer but only tow our 3326K with the E-150 with tow package and cooler,WDH and brake controller and 2 pioneer camera's to see the front and rear of the TM. Hope this helps