RE: [Ansteorra] Minivans pulling trailers?

[Carl Chipman]

We did a test drive of the Sienna this weekend.  The acceleration on the beast was pretty anemic.  The Sienna took MUCH longer to get up to speed than either the Town and Country or the Odyssey.

Jean Paul

Carl Chipman
Nomadics, Inc.
cchipman at nomadics.com
http://www.nomadics.com


-----Original Message-----
From: ansteorra-bounces+cchipman=nomadics.com at ansteorra.org [mailto:ansteorra-bounces+cchipman=nomadics.com at ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of richard at duke.sca.org
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 11:12 AM
To: Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Minivans pulling trailers?


I have not towed a trailer as large as you have, but I have regularly 
towed a 4' x 6' trailer, plus 6 passengers and a full luggage rack on a 
Dodge Grand Caravan with a Class III hitch, but without a towing 
package.  If I were to get another Grand Caravan ( or Chrysler Town & 
Country) I would definitely get the factory option towing package.  That 
would add a beefed up rear suspension, an enlarged transmission cooler, 
and a full size spare tire.  The standard suspension tends to sag with a 
full load and just a little tongue weight.

I am also soon to be in the market for a new van and I am having trouble 
deciding which would be best suited for towing.   The only ones that I 
would even consider would be the Dodge/Chrysler vans, the Honda Odyssey, 
or the Toyota Sienna.  None of the others have the comfort, reliability 
or handling of these three.   The big negative with the new "Stow and 
Go" seating on the Dodge/Chrylser vans is that you cannot run poles 
along the floor any longer and the back passenger foot room is fairly 
tight. However, it is the least expensive of the three.  While D-C seems 
to have fixed their tranny problems, Honda has had a rash of them with 
the '05 model.  The Odyssey is a very nice van, but is a little 
expensive to set up to tow.  Their towing package includes a dealer 
added tranny cooler, power steering cooler and hitch.  This package runs 
$800-$1200 depending on the deal with the dealer.  The cost can be 
reduced by buying the parts online and making this a Do-It-Yourself 
project.  Step by step instructions can be found at www.odyclub.com .   
Though I have had a good history with the D-C vans, because of my 
dislike for the new seating, I will probably go with the Toyota Sienna.  
It is supposedly tow ready, with the exception of hitch installation.  
It is a really nice van, but is probably the most expensive of the 
bunch.  More info at www.siennaclub.com .

One caution,  if you get a Honda Odyssey Touring trim line or a Toyota 
Sienna AWD they will come with  runflat tires and NO SPARE.  The 
runflats are great locally in that they can be driven for about 100 
miles flat without changing.  However when traveling, it is still very 
hard to find a place that can replace and or repair them, with people 
reporting delays of one to two days to get them replaced.  Also, you 
CANNOT TOW with uninflated  runflats, which would force you to leave 
your trailer at the side of the road while you search for a place to get 
your runflat tire fixed.  This really means that you would need to buy a 
full sized spare for your van and bring it with you on long trips.

I am even considering the full size van, the Chevy Express.  It has lots 
of room and can tow a battleship, but the trim lines are spartan, at best.

Regards,
Richard
-- 
_______________________________________________
Ansteorra mailing list
Ansteorra at ansteorra.org
http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/ansteorra