If you too are in the habit of coming up with "brilliant" ideas, only to find that they don't work out as well as expected, you might enjoy having a good laugh at my frustration.
Since only a small fraction of the readers have the same needs for a new tow vehicle that I do, I will try to drag my problem towards more general ideas, as the post moves along.
Until then, recall the starting point of this problem-solving exercise: the most economical way to live at the point of diminishing returns regarding comfort and camping freedom is to pull a converted cargo trailer. I have had this opinion for a decade, and now I am proving it in real life.
Now it is time to move on to Phase 2, finding a good tow vehicle for a lightweight trailer (3000 pounds loaded). By "good" I mean:
1. Something far less than the standard pickup price of $65000 (or whatever).
2. Something that can get over 20 mpg unhitched. (I only tow 2000 miles per year, so I can be a good loser and accept deplorable fuel economy when towing. Besides, there is nothing much you can do about it.)
3. As much ground clearance as a full-size van. Pickups and truck-based SUVs have more, crossover utility vehicles (except Subaru) have less, minivans and passenger cars have far less.
4. Modern goodies such as anti-lock brakes and traction control. I'd probably be happy with rear wheel drive, just for economy's sake. By "goodies" I don't mean electronic bells and whistles, motorized mirrors, and all the rest of that crap.
5. Good storage: the ability to carry two bicycles inside, with the front wheels off of course, but without lowering the saddle of the bicycles. Also I need enough room to store a half dozen medium sized plastic boxes and 20-30 gallons of water.
6. A nominal tow rating of 5000 pounds.
Does it seem like I am asking for "the moon and the stars"? I don't think so. But automotive industry, government regulations, and financialization trends have made it difficult.
My "brilliant" idea was to hang out in Crested Butte, CO, one of the founding fathers of mountain biking, and study all the vehicles coming in. Over half of them had mountain bikes. Surely I could get a good idea or two. Why 'reinvent the wheel?'
Alas, I was completely skunked. The visitors were just tourists with external bicycle racks, usually on the rear. I even saw a full-size van, like what I am driving now, with the bicycles stored on an external rack. Sigh.
So I retreated downriver to Gunnison, a far better area to mountain bike. While nursing my wounds, guess what I saw? A couple homemade pickup caps (shells, canopies). I said "cap" (an inverted tub that clamps to the rails of the cargo bed), not "slide-in camper."
Why didn't I think of that before?! Well actually I did, but a painted plywood cap seemed too downscale and embarrassing. Not so. They looked fine. I am really excited.
This post is getting too long, so I'll live up to my promises next time.
Since only a small fraction of the readers have the same needs for a new tow vehicle that I do, I will try to drag my problem towards more general ideas, as the post moves along.
Until then, recall the starting point of this problem-solving exercise: the most economical way to live at the point of diminishing returns regarding comfort and camping freedom is to pull a converted cargo trailer. I have had this opinion for a decade, and now I am proving it in real life.
Now it is time to move on to Phase 2, finding a good tow vehicle for a lightweight trailer (3000 pounds loaded). By "good" I mean:
1. Something far less than the standard pickup price of $65000 (or whatever).
2. Something that can get over 20 mpg unhitched. (I only tow 2000 miles per year, so I can be a good loser and accept deplorable fuel economy when towing. Besides, there is nothing much you can do about it.)
3. As much ground clearance as a full-size van. Pickups and truck-based SUVs have more, crossover utility vehicles (except Subaru) have less, minivans and passenger cars have far less.
4. Modern goodies such as anti-lock brakes and traction control. I'd probably be happy with rear wheel drive, just for economy's sake. By "goodies" I don't mean electronic bells and whistles, motorized mirrors, and all the rest of that crap.
5. Good storage: the ability to carry two bicycles inside, with the front wheels off of course, but without lowering the saddle of the bicycles. Also I need enough room to store a half dozen medium sized plastic boxes and 20-30 gallons of water.
6. A nominal tow rating of 5000 pounds.
Does it seem like I am asking for "the moon and the stars"? I don't think so. But automotive industry, government regulations, and financialization trends have made it difficult.
My "brilliant" idea was to hang out in Crested Butte, CO, one of the founding fathers of mountain biking, and study all the vehicles coming in. Over half of them had mountain bikes. Surely I could get a good idea or two. Why 'reinvent the wheel?'
Alas, I was completely skunked. The visitors were just tourists with external bicycle racks, usually on the rear. I even saw a full-size van, like what I am driving now, with the bicycles stored on an external rack. Sigh.
So I retreated downriver to Gunnison, a far better area to mountain bike. While nursing my wounds, guess what I saw? A couple homemade pickup caps (shells, canopies). I said "cap" (an inverted tub that clamps to the rails of the cargo bed), not "slide-in camper."
Why didn't I think of that before?! Well actually I did, but a painted plywood cap seemed too downscale and embarrassing. Not so. They looked fine. I am really excited.
This post is getting too long, so I'll live up to my promises next time.
Comments
Good luck with getting 20 mpg. In a 2011 Chevy half ton we see 14 in town, 18 on the highway and we never tow anything.
I personally think the cargo van is the best thing ever created for bikes and towing. It's a giant configurable box that will hold a lot. A pickup loses volumetric efficiency due to the back seat and the front wall of the bed.
Yes, there are expensive pickup caps that climb upward towards the back (stern) of the truck. It takes a 42" clearance for the mountain bike of this 5'11.5" guy for the saddle to clear. Flared caps like this might even produce a climbing air slipstream that helps with fuel economy when you are pulling a trailer.
But say, why not buy an inexpensive non-flared cap in the used marketplace, and put a wooden spacer between the cap and the rails of cargo bed? I've never seen this done, but it sounds doable for any experienced do-it-yourselfer/woodworker. That would get me out of building the entire cap, worrying about a roof leak, etc.
About your Chevy half ton. Remember that a 2011 doesn't have the modern, direct-injected engine with the 6 speed automatic transmission. Perhaps it is just as well: maybe your 2011 engine and transmission will be more durable than the new ones. How can anyone know if these new engines just shift costs from the fuel pump to the repair shop?
But of all people GM rides in to the rescue with its mid-size Colorado/Canyon twins this fall. They've even got Nissan jumping into bed with Cummins for a small diesel engine in the new Frontier. Too bad that Ford won't bring the Ranger back, despite the fact that they still sell it outside North America.
But to your point: it isn't just the height of the cap that I need to tweak. It's also the length. Many used mid-size trucks only have a 5' cargo bed length. My mountain bike is a little longer than that with the handlebar bag. So a homemade cap would need to overhang the end of the pickup by a couple inches. And the tailgate would have to be scrapped.
But about your fuel economy: you're not pulling a "Chinle" on me, are you? Is that with a 6 speed manual transmission rather than the 5 speed automatic? Toyota's engines and transmissions are getting pretty old-fashioned.
Remember that I am TOWING my cargo trailer with the tow vehicle. I wouldn't want a manual transmission.
This blog has a picture of a tall pickup cap, Jo had it made at a company in AZ, maybe you could email her for more details.
She writes about picking it up on 12 September 2013 and provides some pictures of it on and off the truck. I would send her an email.
The only semi-bargain I've ever run into is to show up at a dealer's lot in September and buy one of "last year's" models that is still sitting there. The dealer must see them as losers that need to be liquidated. And the warranty clock hasn't started running on them.
I've seen farmer/rancher trim, regular cab F150s for $20000 like this.
I would say towing your cargo trailer, I'd estimate 14-17mpg. I am surprised about my 21mpg as I was expecting 18mpg and 15 to tow.