Greetings everyone!
Seems my bashing of CUVs went too far ;). Was it the constant questions about can a Rav-4 tow this, or was it what can my Element tow? I contantly stress that 8ft pups (from every manufacturer) now gross out at 2000lb plus and need class 3 hitches, and 3500lb tow ratings whatever.
Time to chill out at the campfire
Pathwacker
I like it when someone buys a NTM pup, then comes along asking if their suv, cuv, compact car etc. can tow that new pup they bought... Then the OP gets upset when 20 people say no... the OP defends their reasons as to why it should be able to.. "I don't tow in mountains" .. "I only tow within an hour of home" .... "the dealer said I could" ... etc... then you get one person, who doesn't know anything, come along and tell them yes you can tow it... "I tow it so you can too..." >:(
Come on people use the search function ..... ::)
BTW Pathwacker ... you don't live down by the crick under a bridge do you ??? ;D
Pathwacker, I'm not call you a troll but I beg to differ with what you said about 8 ft. PUPs. I have an 8 ft. PUP and the dry weight is 865 lbs., 1500 lbs. gross. Tongue weight is 150. Any CUV and most cars can pull that. When I bought it I towed it home 180 miles from the dealer with my 4-cylinder Accord. Shortly after that I went on my first camping trip with it fully loaded with the same vehicle. I'm now towing it with a RAV4 and I barely notice the thing is back there. Go to LivinLite web site and click on the Quick Silver. You'd be amazed at what vehicles can pull their PUPs.
[quote author=Pathwacker link=topic=841.msg6226#msg6226 date=1305771707]
Greetings everyone!
Seems my bashing of CUVs went too far ;). Was it the constant questions about can a Rav-4 tow this, or was it what can my Element tow? I contantly stress that 8ft pups (from every manufacturer) now gross out at 2000lb plus and need class 3 hitches, and 3500lb tow ratings whatever.
Time to chill out at the campfire
Pathwacker
I wouldn't lose any sleep over it .... "What goes around comes around".
But let me say this since I did have an 8' p'up with a GVWR of 2200 lbs (base was a little over 1300), but I never exceeded the tire capacity of 2100. Now, a class II rated to handle up to 3500 lbs would handle it with no problem. Most popupers, even though the class II being adequate, and with a tow vehicle having enough room for it, opting for the class III would be the better choice.
I'm not calling you anything, and I'm also not recommending anyone tow anything they shouldn't do, but I do feel I safely towed my popup with my Honda Element for over two years. My camper as bought new weighed 1183#'s and yes that did include the weight of the empty propane tank, the 3 way fridge, etc.. Now I'll concede the GWVR is indeed 2000#'s but couldn't not imagine finding room for 800#'s of gear, for us at best I'd say 150#'s of added gear, fill the tank and a battery. Yes I know I was right there at my vehicles tow capacity of 1500#'s, and I did the weigh it and do the formula two years ago and came up with approximatively 150 - 200#'s heavy when all said and done including cloths in car, her, me etc., and never had a problem. Just to note I did have a class 3 hitch rather then the Honda class1 hitch, always gave plenty of following distance, never exceeded speed limits, and I never had problem either towing or stopping. And I would have continued to tow like this for several more years if it were my long term plan to keep this popup, I bought the new Ram because I want to move on to a bigger camper most likely a expandable HTT, and for no other reason. And like I said I don't feel as if my setup was in any manner unsafe, although I do understand the numbers are there for safe operation, I also believe using the stated limits is totally ok. I disagree in fact with those who say you should never exceed 60% or 80% or whatever % of your tow vehicles tow capacity, if they didn't want you to exceed 60% or 80% they would have set the tow capacity at that weight instead. If I had ever once felt unsafe, or the popup swayed, felt heavy or pulled etc. I would never have done it again, but I didn't.
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I think it all depends on what the OP's definition of a CUV. He mentioned the RAV4 and Element so I can only assume he consideres both to be CUVs. To most they both are considered CUVs but they certainly don't have the same amount of rated towing capacity. A RAV4 with a 3.5L V6 and tow package like the one I have is rated by the manufacture to tow 3500 lbs. An Element is only rated by the manufacturer for 1500 lbs. There's a huge difference there so you really can't lump all CUVs in the same towing capacity category. There are other CUVs out there like the Escape and Equinox that can tow a PUP without a problem if properly equipped also.
Isn't a RAV4 a small SUV? 😮
You're right, Mr. Tonyride--lumping all CUVs together is sort of like putting the Silverado and Luv in the same category.
I realize people do tow with things they oughtn't, and people tow with things that tow fine but don't look like they should.
I do have to wonder about people who don't get their towing specs down before buying though. Also people who don't measure their garage.
[quote author=MKR link=topic=841.msg6304#msg6304 date=1306160898]
Isn't a RAV4 a small SUV? 😮
Well here's my definition of an SUV and a CUV so take it for what it's worth. I define a Sport Utility Vehicle, a term that was invented back in the day when vehicles like the Trailblazer, Explorer, Expedition, Dakota, Grand Cherokee, 4-Runner, Land Cruiser, Pathfinder, Land Rover and the like which are/were truck based started to become popular and gas as still relatively cheap. Meaning they're build on a ladder frame. Body on frame if you will where the hitch is mounted directly on to the frame of the vehicle. As gas prices increased but people still enjoyed the higher seating position of an SUV but want better gas mileage and a more forgiving ride car companies started building crossovers (CUV) which are unibody construction. Many of them are based on a car's platform. With those vehicles the hitch is actually attached to the subframe of the vehicle as there's no actual frame like an SUV to mount a hitch to and a subframe can't handle as much stress as a ladder frame so it can't pull as much weight. My RAV4 fits into that category as do some vehicles that have converted from ladder frame to unibody like the new Explorer, Grand Cherokee, and Dakota. There are more CUVs (unibody) now than SUVs (body on frame) so it is very easy confuse the two. So according to my definition, a RAV4 is a CUV, not an SUV as it is a unibody construction.
This is my point exactly. There are vehicles that are obviously SUVs and CUVs. Then you have vehicles that are in the grey area and are subject to each individual's interpretation. I think the "C" in CUV stands for Crossover. I don't know. I could be wrong. But what that means to me is it's not a car and it's not an SUV (in the traditional sense) but it's a cross over between the two or a car crossing over to an SUV. It still drives lilke a car but has the height and room of an SUV.
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