Thread: Towing vehicle
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Old April 8th 13, 04:53 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default Towing vehicle

Look at the manufacturers recommendations. In most cases, the towing capacity of the vehicle is higher (in some cases much higher) when equipped with an automatic transmission rather than a manual transmission. The weak link in a manual transmission vehicle is the clutch, not the transmission. For example, I once bought a Mazda 2600 pick-up truck which came manual or auto and had a V6. With the manual (which I had) towing capacity was limited to 2000lbs, while the same vehicle equipped with an automatic (with no additional towing package) was rated for 3500lbs.

One thing overlooked in the discussion, is the effect of wheelbase. The longer your tow vehicle is the easy it will be to tow anything, and particularly a long glider trailer that can be affected by side winds. My current tow vehicle is a Toyota RAV4 and it is not as nice to tow with as either my previous Ford Freestyle or my Toyota Sienna, even though it has more power than either of those vehicles and is AWD. When you hear stories or go on youtube and see for yourself, tow
vehicles crashing, it is almost always the case that the tow vehicle is small (and has a short wheelbase.)

Another thing to consider is the brakes. When you tow with a vehicle that is loaded no where near its gross vehicle rating, then it will handle braking with a trailer without difficulty. If you are fully loaded and towing a trailer, you will start smelling your brakes with use!