Tow Vehicle Question - Event Date: 31 Mar 2014

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Hi we have the Dodge Grand caravan with the 3.6L 283 horse power engine. We tow in the Green Mountains of Vermont, have towed in the Poconos in Pa and up and down the east coast. Have plenty of power for the hills and merging onto interstate highways. We usually get 13-14 towing out of Vermont heading south and 14-16.5 once we hit Massachusetts and south.I had previously towed with an older caravan with the 181 horse engine.......got it done but you had to work at it.

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Leo B Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 13 Jan 2012 Location: Lyndonville, VT Online Status: Offline Posts: 4508	Calendar Event: Tow Vehicle Question Posted: 31 Mar 2014 at 5:06pm
	Hi we have the Dodge Grand caravan with the 3.6L 283 horse power engine. We tow in the Green Mountains of Vermont, have towed in the Poconos in Pa and up and down the east coast. Have plenty of power for the hills and merging onto interstate highways. We usually get 13-14 towing out of Vermont heading south and 14-16.5 once we hit Massachusetts and south. I had previously towed with an older caravan with the 181 horse engine.......got it done but you had to work at it.
	Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171

Newsguy12 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 30 Mar 2014 Location: Nathrop, CO Online Status: Offline Posts: 54	Posted: 31 Mar 2014 at 4:27pm
	Hi everyone! I'm contemplating a move into the Pod Universe and have been reading this forum all weekend to learn as much as possible about these units. We looked at a couple of them last week and were pretty close to pulling the trigger on a 179. I pulled a 30 foot TT with slide for 15 years with a big block Suburban. I always believed in having more than I needed when pulling, and I had it with that setup. I sold the trailer when we kept coming to same place in the Rockies. So we now live there half the year. Last summer we picked up an inexpensive, used Flagstaff pop-up and had a blast with it. We pulled it with a 2001 Cherokee. This trailer had a wet weight of approx. 2000lbs and towed like it wasn't there...even with the old Cherokee. We just bought a 2014 Jeep Cherokee (not a grand cherokee...just a cherokee) and the wife would like to find a small, hard sided trailer, so we looked at the Pod (One of our Colorado neighbors has one). Here's my issue. The 2014 Cherokee has AWD, a 3.2L engine with 9-speed gearbox with a paddle shift...and puts out 271HP with a tow rating of 4500. When you look closer, it says the rating is 3500 for a travel trailer and 4500 for something low profile like a boat. Even though it has about 90 more ponies than the old Cherokee, I'm wondering if it will be huffing puffing pulling about 3500 lbs. I know how my younger, trailer towing self would answer this question...what do you guys think?