It’s no secret that Americans adore towing things. We hitch up mammoth campers to nearly as gargantuan pickup trucks and then hurtle them down highways at 70 mph. Other times, you’ll see trucks hauling other trucks, motorcycles, cars, construction equipment, building materials, bales of hay … anything that can be hitched to the back of a vehicle, really. Some vehicles tow better than others, of course, and there are lots of machines out there with tow ratings, so tell us: What does your dream setup look like?
I have towing on my mind this week. I just completed a real-world towing test of a 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV Trail Boss pulling a 37-foot-long, 7,700-pound camper. I was able to make it from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, back to Illinois on a single charge with the trailer hooked up. I have a story about this later today, and it also has me thinking about what my dream tow rig would be.
My answer to this question is somewhat complicated. I already own one of my dream tow vehicles, a 2006 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI. Everything about the Touareg V10 TDI is truly bonkers. This is a vehicle that makes the horsepower and torque of a diesel pickup truck, but does so in a more compact midsize SUV package that’s draped in luxury. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the Touareg sounds like a Lamborghini eating bolts for lunch.
The Touareg even has a great tow rating for its size, as it’s able to handle a 7,716-pound trailer. However, for as much as I love my “Treg,” it’s not the ultimate tow vehicle. Its hitch cannot carry a trailer tongue that weighs more than 770 pounds, and its payload is a paltry 1,250 pounds. A Touareg is great for towing cars, medium campers, and the occasional Boeing 747, but you’ll need something even more beastly if you want to go bigger.
The question of my absolute dream tow vehicle is a hard one to answer. On one hand, I adored the 2025 Ford F-350 Super Duty Platinum Plus and its plush interior, 500 horsepower, and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. This was a truck that was a work vehicle and a luxury car in one, and did both surprisingly well.
But for as much as I loved that truck, it still loses out to what I feel is the king: the Ford F-150 FP700 (you can read my review here). If you’ve forgotten, because let’s be honest, 2023 feels like it was 10 years ago, I’ll give you a quick reminder. Ford allows you to plop a 3.0-liter supercharger onto your 5.0 Coyote-equipped Ford F-150, turning it into a tire-shredding 700 HP and 590 lb-ft of torque street truck. I’m not exaggerating about the tire-shredding part, either. Just breathe on the gas pedal, and it’ll willingly convert tires into smoke.
My FP700 test truck an XLT 4×2 with a regular cab and a short bed – a basic work truck, really. But add the FP700 supercharger, wheels, and decals, and it became a stunner on Woodward Ave in Detroit.
This was a work truck that was so fast that it could leave legitimate sports cars in its rearview mirror. Yet, it’s still a truck, so it can tow trailers, haul lumber, and do general truck stuff. Yes, I’m the person with six Smart Fortwos, and I’d just love to do burnouts in a regular cab, short-bed 700 HP truck. And then tow with it.
So, what about you? If money were no object, what would be your dream tow vehicle? Do you have a dream towing setup? Would you love your flashy truck to tow a trailer with all of your favorite cars? Or maybe a color-matched fifth wheel is your thing? Perhaps fantowsy is a BMW wagon with a trailer hitch that hauls a teardrop? Anything goes, it’s your dream!
Top graphic image: Ford
I owned the ultimate tow vehicle back in the day. 1973 Chevrolet Impala woody wagon with the optional “towing package”, which included a 454, heavy-duty trans cooler, rear leaf springs that looked like they came off a Mack truck, and a seriously beefy 12-bolt diff with a real go-getter gear ratio. It had the motorized disappearing tailgate, full power accessories, and naugahyde seats. All brown inside and out.
I never towed with it, because I was a young punk who couldn’t afford anything to tow with it. But today I’d tow a nice boat down to the Chain and throw it in. Just not on a Saturday.
WOW! That would be incredible!
For the things I haul, I wouldn’t change much of anything about my current F350 King Ranch.
In retrospect, I should have ordered the massaging seats; I didn’t because they came with some package I didn’t want. Otherwise gas engine, long wheelbase, comfortable seats, good stereo, large fuel tank, what more could one want?
I considered the messaging seats mostly a gimmick when getting my Sierra HD but now that I have them, I find myself using them quite often.
Yeah I love them in my Caddy, definitely something I’ll be looking for in future purchases.
Probably a Transit, so I could fit a race bike or dirtbike inside or tow a small trailer if I need to carry more. I live in an urban area, so don’t have the space for non-streetable stuff, but have always fantasized about owning off-road motorcycles.
PHEV F250 or Ramcharger. Would be towing a 27’ Airstream with available payload for tools and camping gear in the truck.
My dream tow vehicle is similar! But I’ll wait for version 2.0 of either so manufacturer works out all the new vehicle bugs.
Yup! Same here! Currently towing a smaller travel trailer with a F150 hybrid. Bought the F150 because we didn’t want to wait for the Ramcharger v2.
A bit weird but it would probably be my current motorhome but with maybe 150hp/tq more. My only desire to tow would be another car either for track days (car + trailer) or a toad (flat or dolly) for long distance camping. The chassis’ GCVWR is already rated high enough for my needs but the engine is just not enough to make it a comfortable trip.
I have a base (XL) 2020 F250 that tows great and carries around my truck camper and utility trailer. Now all I need is one of these to tow behind it: C-32 C | Cutwater Boats
I bought a 2001 Ford Excursion V-10 in 2017, because my Nissan Frontier wasn’t quite enough pickup to pull my camper. It was a pretty fantastic vehicle; it pulled the camper well, and with the third row remove (we had only four people), it gave us plenty of space for a camping trip. When I sold the camper, I sold the Excursion, and I borrow a pickup now if I need to pull anything that my ’06 TJ can’t pull (ie, anything bigger than a small utility trailer). If I could come up with an excuse for it, I’d buy a Ram Ramcharger; it has enough grunt for our biggest dump trailer, I can cruise on electric when I’m going short distances, and fill up with gas if I ever need to go a long way.
hmmm…F250 with a nice interior (for the family, of course!) w/ tow package for tongue and trailer weight and payload concerns and softer spring rate than my Eff Tree Fitty, but with the 5.0/FP700 package so that it can get out of its own way, unlike my aging cam phaser-addled 5.4l. Im typically towing a car, suv or tractor, occasional horse trailer with goats, utility and landscaping trailers, and the rare boat. So 10k tow rating so im not bumping up against the GCWR, which i dont like to do, need some safety margin there for, well, safety.
But as a geo, it must offroad well (LSD rear at a minimum, 4×4 is nice) and the payload needs to be well over 2k lbs to haul rocks. SRW to still squeeze between trees, 6.5′ bed is ok for shorter wheelbase.
And it must be a nice color. I have a ford metallic forest green right now and i love it. Aside from capacity and a nice, not clapped out high end interior, probably half the reason i bought this truck, lol. Bring back the metallic greens!
Actually, I would like to supplement my previous submission. *This* is my ideal tow vehicle. If the chassis and brakes could be beefy enough to tow ~10,000 pounds, hook up a 24’~28′ enclosed car trailer to it, and head out for a great race weekend.
What It’s Like To Drive The World’s First Hybrid RV – The Autopian
Money no object, I drive the 911 and have someone else tow whatever needs towing and meet me there.
More realistically, if I’m traveling a significant distance and have to haul anything, I’m picking a Chevy Suburban, preferably a diesel. It may not provide the most towing capacity possible, but it will be comfortable for all inside, ride well, tow well, and be reliable. It’ll handle most RVs, boats, and car trailers. Anything bigger then I don’t want to be the one towing it.
Dream truck is an F450 Platinum with a 4 inch lift, a super single conversion, and 37 inch (or larger) off road tires. As for what I would tow, I have absolutely no idea. These trucks are mostly used to go off road while hauling a large truck bed camper. I presume they are not good tow rigs, at least compared to a stock Super Duty.
If money was truly unlimited I would use it to tow a medium size Airstream trailer. I’m sure my hypothetical lifted F450 super single could handle something like that.
I think my ideal tow vehicle would be a Cayenne.
I’d only be towing a small boat or open car trailer, so I think it’s fine for that. It doesn’t offer the utility of a truck, but that could be solved with a utility trailer for the rare times I may need an open cargo area.
I wouldn’t be looking for any special version, so the options are plentiful in the used market.
Currently working on building my 85 C10 SWB into ideally something that drives like a modern Camaro SS but can tow and haul.
I have already got a cammed 6.2 LS, 4l80e, and trutrac diff. Truck is lowered. Biggest current annoyances for towing is the poor fuel range due to small factory tank and how damn loud it is (exhaust dump under the bed does it no favors). I want to put it on coilovers with a 4 link rear suspension, I am working to retrofit brakes from a CTS v2 all the way around. Larger rear mount fuel tank will happen at some point.
What am I towing? A 20ft ski/wakeboard boat. There may be nicer/newer boat and truck setups, but none of them look nearly as good at the launch ramp.
This is where I would probably get really into the bro culture. So, Sierra 3500 Denali Ultimate dually, lowered on air ride and the dual rears swapped to super singles, towing a behemoth of a center console boat with quad 500Rs hanging off the back. Most everyone would hate me except for gas stations probably.
Gimme those V-12 Verados (7.6L) if you are going crazy with outboards…
They supposedly go through 62 gallons per hour at cruise. Throw four of them back there (in la-la land) and you’ve got 30.4L of engine, 48 cylinders, 2,400 HP, and you’ll suck through 248 gallons (~$1,250) in an hour at cruise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEEkyOH8_kE
The biggest selling points of the Verado are comfort, quietness, efficiency, ease of maintenance….. yawn. Plus, the Verado 600 is something like 66% heavier than a 500R. Verados are for luxury, 500Rs are for speed. I want speed in my dream. Some boats fit 6 500Rs where only 4 Verados fit. So you get more power, less weight with the 500Rs.
https://cigaretteracing.com/Cigarette-Boats/59-tirranna-luxury-yacht/
Sierra 2500HD Denali Ultimate and I’m towing a Airstream or a Grady White Canyon 271.
Never really thought about it, I always figured I’d just have to get whatever cheap truck if/when I ever get to having a vehicle that’s not street legal, but that’s a loooong way off. Probably some kind of extended cab, 2WD truck with a 5-10k lb towing capacity, and a semi-enclosed trailer with brakes.
Lemme get a uuuuuuuuuuuh full size body on frame wagon with a tow package. What am I hauling? Hopes and dreams. Is it efficient? Nope. Is it cool? Yep.
Oshkosh M1070 8×8 HET. I’m hauling anything I want anywhere I want with one of those. My grandfather used to pull a boat with a ’78 coupe de ville, which is what I learned how to back a trailer in.
I hear they’re not street legal.
Maybe not but you wouldn’t really need streets anyway. I just think they’re cool.
They are, and you don’t need roads.
You can load an Abrams at 55 mph.
Real dream as of 2020?
Ram 2500 and a 4-season Fifth Wheel, full time. I had been working remotely for almost 5 years before Covid, so our kids were finally old enough to take longer trips and we’d gotten pretty good at homeschooling.
Fast forward 3 more years: Work demands I return to office (I never had one, but they found one). School eliminated remote/hybrid options, but still uses remote learning tools because it’s easier on them. RV market and quality goes way downhill. Kids become teenagers and you realize that sitting inside an RV with them all day — even a large one — is most of our ideas of hell.
Besides, how can we deprive our kids of the ability to hang out with friends and develop social skills? Online only. Even though we all live a mile apart. 🙂
Honestly, my reasonable dream towing vehicle is what I have now. A ram 2500 crew car. 4×4, gas engine. I’d like to have the diesel, but I couldn’t make a reasonable use and economic case for it.
What I’m hauling: either my CJ5 or like last week, a trailer full of dirk bikes and ATV’s for a weekend of riding. Also lots of firewood.
It doesn’t exist (yet?), but, a Silverado EV-based Suburban EV, but make it an EREV. ~ 90kWh battery, 2.7 NA 4-cylinder range extender. Set the engine to keep the battery at roughly 30%-50% charge during the drive, and then the engine can cycle on & off while doing generator duty over a weekend.
Ideally, we’d be towing a ~30′ enclosed trailer for the racecar. Or, that Grady White in the main photo would do nice.
My dream tow vehicle is two Dodge Chargers and I’m hauling Hernan Reyes’ safe through the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
Money no object? If I had to daily it too (or at least drive it sometimes), either a loaded F250 Platinum Powerstroke Tremor or a GMC 2500 Duramax AT4X AEV Edition.
Dreaming here but let me.
I want a edison electric swapped Transit 350 or sprinter to haul my gaggle of kids and the camper trailer behind it.
Theoretically plenty of power, and could use the on board batteries to run the camper ac and whatnot.
1968 Volkswagen Type 2 van……..
“Hello? Dr. Kevor…..”