Anyone selling a good tow vehicle

[Jeff Landfield]

I am in the process of purchasing a tow vehicle to tow gliders and
before I close on the deal for the car I am currently looking at I
thought that I would see if there are any other glider pilots that are
maybe selling a reliable tow vehicle. Preferably I am looking for an
F-150 sized truck or an SUV with 4 wheel drive, but I am willing to
look at other good tow vehicles. I would prefer to buy from a glider
pilot because than I know it was probably just used for towing and not
taken off road or beaten up. If anyone has something they may want to
sell please send me an email so we can talk. If anyone can give me a
good deal than I would be willing to move their glider or do a pick up
job in exchange. I need the car very soon so if there is not a
response soon than I will have to buy from the dealer I am looking at
right now.

Thanks
Jeff

[Nick Gilbert]

I am.

It is in Australia though. Is that any good to you?

Nick.


"Jeff Landfield" > wrote in message
om...
> I am in the process of purchasing a tow vehicle to tow gliders and
> before I close on the deal for the car I am currently looking at I
> thought that I would see if there are any other glider pilots that are
> maybe selling a reliable tow vehicle. Preferably I am looking for an
> F-150 sized truck or an SUV with 4 wheel drive, but I am willing to
> look at other good tow vehicles. I would prefer to buy from a glider
> pilot because than I know it was probably just used for towing and not
> taken off road or beaten up. If anyone has something they may want to
> sell please send me an email so we can talk. If anyone can give me a
> good deal than I would be willing to move their glider or do a pick up
> job in exchange. I need the car very soon so if there is not a
> response soon than I will have to buy from the dealer I am looking at
> right now.
>
> Thanks
> Jeff

[AZSKYBUM]

I just bought a new F-150 and the four wheel drive and it will pull my 3500 lb
sailboat out of the water on its trailer with no effort. 4 wd is overkill for
pulling my sailplane trailer. If you are an EAA member you can get a 5k
discount on a new F-150 through them..I did and it worked its called X plan.
Curtis Clark
Scottsdale, Az

[Jason Payne]

You do not need to be an EAA memeber to get an X-plan PIN... Ford gives them
to employees, friends etc to do what they wish with. If you know a friend
that works at a dealer or anything, they can get you a x-plan pin.

Good Luck!

-Jason

"Jeff Landfield" > wrote in message
om...
> I am in the process of purchasing a tow vehicle to tow gliders and
> before I close on the deal for the car I am currently looking at I
> thought that I would see if there are any other glider pilots that are
> maybe selling a reliable tow vehicle. Preferably I am looking for an
> F-150 sized truck or an SUV with 4 wheel drive, but I am willing to
> look at other good tow vehicles. I would prefer to buy from a glider
> pilot because than I know it was probably just used for towing and not
> taken off road or beaten up. If anyone has something they may want to
> sell please send me an email so we can talk. If anyone can give me a
> good deal than I would be willing to move their glider or do a pick up
> job in exchange. I need the car very soon so if there is not a
> response soon than I will have to buy from the dealer I am looking at
> right now.
>
> Thanks
> Jeff

[Michael]

Hi Jeff,

Is this for road towing of the trailer or glider launching
to become airborne?
For trailer towing I would recommend European cars only.
For launching it depends on your airfield but you want
to have a heavy one.

Where on this planet are you located?

Cheers
Michael

[Colleen]

I would guess from the email he is in Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)

UNM is University of New Mexico.

[Doug Hoffman]

Michael wrote:


> For trailer towing I would recommend European cars only.

Interesting statement. What is your reasoning?

-Doug

[Howard]

Doug Hoffman > wrote in news:BC900EF1.46FA%
:

> Michael wrote:
>
>
>> For trailer towing I would recommend European cars only.
>
> Interesting statement. What is your reasoning?
>
> -Doug
>
>

Consider a diesel, particularly at ABQ altitudes. Theoretically, a Jetta
TDI would pull a trailer, but I don't think you'd have any fun running it
down Tijeras.

I have known people to routinely get 20-22 mpg with a 3/4 ton Dodge (2wd,
manual - 4.10, 3.73 respectively). Ford/ Powerstroke & GM/Isuzu get a
little less, but still beat gas. The GM/Isuzu is reportedly more
reliable than the Ford/Nav. Any of them will provide gobs of torque, and
little to no altitude penalty below 10k feet.

Supposedly, Jeep Liberty will soon be available with a VM Motori 4 cyl,
good for around 30mpg, but I don't know exactly when. A little short,
but might be OK. Detroit Diesel bought VM shortly before Penske sold out
to DCX. I don't know much about them other than that.

Disclosure: I work for a supplier of one of the above named companies.

(bitshift one left to reply)

[Doug Hoffman]

Howard wrote:

> Supposedly, Jeep Liberty will soon be available with a VM Motori 4 cyl,
> good for around 30mpg, but I don't know exactly when. A little short,
> but might be OK. Detroit Diesel bought VM shortly before Penske sold out
> to DCX. I don't know much about them other than that.
>
> Disclosure: I work for a supplier of one of the above named companies.

That is a sure thing. The diesel Liberty will be available late this year.
The VMI engine is a 2.8L turbo-diesel, which has been in use in Europe (not
in a Chrysler product) for awhile. I plan to get one. I drive a 3.7L
Liberty now and love it. Would love it more with higher fuel economy.

Disclosure: I work for DCX.

-Doug

[Stewart Kissel]

4 wd is overkill for
>pulling my sailplane trailer.

I gotta agree, and I got a F150. But from the 15mpg
gas bill I can deduct motel rooms since it makes a
nice camper. I can pull over 10k' passes at 65mph,
and one barely notices the trailer on the hitch crusing
at Mach1 down the wideopen freeways. Having said that
a Subaru wagon could do most of that without sucking
down gas in such a hurry.

[tango4]

Audi A6 1.9 TD - a luxury vehicle and 50 MPG - only 45 MPG when towing
though

:-)

Ian




"Stewart Kissel" > wrote in
message ...
> 4 wd is overkill for
> >pulling my sailplane trailer.
>
> I gotta agree, and I got a F150. But from the 15mpg
> gas bill I can deduct motel rooms since it makes a
> nice camper. I can pull over 10k' passes at 65mph,
> and one barely notices the trailer on the hitch crusing
> at Mach1 down the wideopen freeways. Having said that
> a Subaru wagon could do most of that without sucking
> down gas in such a hurry.
>
>
>

[Doug Hoffman]

Stewart Kissel wrote:

>> 4 wd is overkill for
>> pulling my sailplane trailer.
>
> I gotta agree, and I got a F150.

I will never forget the time I off-field landed in a freshly plowed farmer's
field. Without 4WD I could not have made that retrieve as easily as I did.
Actually, I'm not sure what I would have done...

-Doug

[Marc Ramsey]

Doug Hoffman wrote:
> I will never forget the time I off-field landed in a freshly plowed farmer's
> field. Without 4WD I could not have made that retrieve as easily as I did.
> Actually, I'm not sure what I would have done...

You would have done what most of us have done at times, to avoid ****ing
off a farmer, carry the glider piece by piece to the trailer at the edge...

Marc

[Doug Hoffman]

Marc Ramsey wrote:

> Doug Hoffman wrote:
>> I will never forget the time I off-field landed in a freshly plowed farmer's
>> field. Without 4WD I could not have made that retrieve as easily as I did.
>> Actually, I'm not sure what I would have done...
>
> You would have done what most of us have done at times, to avoid ****ing
> off a farmer, carry the glider piece by piece to the trailer at the edge...
>
> Marc

Not a bad suggestion. What I actually did, since the farmer was nearby, was
to first apologize profusely and explain the situation. He wasn't upset as
I had caused no damage. His only concern was that I get the glider out
quickly because it was going to rain soon (which would have caused the field
a problem). Long story short, I got a ride back to the airport, returned
with trailer and single-handedly and quickly removed the glider in a manner
pre-approved by the farmer.

I'm not trying to say that 4WD is necessary for gliding. Here in Michigan
it can be handy during the winter and especially if one lives on some rough
back roads as I do. However, it *was* convenient on that retrieve.

Regards,

-Doug

[Jim Phoenix]

Yeah Stu,

I replaced my 4wd Chevy pickup with a Dodge 2wd one ton with a Cummins
turbodiesel automatic - much better fuel efficiency - 16 in town, 24
mpg on the highway @ 70mph. Can easily take a camper and pull the
Nimbus without breaking a sweat. When I'm feeling Green, I can fill it
up with biodiesel :-)

Cheaper than a new F-150 by about $9k. They're giving them away.

I suppose I don't really need all that horsepower and torque - but I
don't really need all that wingspan either, right?

Jim