[A/S] Which Tow Vehicle - The Cart Before The Horse - Help

[Stan Nicholson <stan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark - We just did roughly the same thing - Bought a '72 Overlander 
in great shape, then needed a horse.  My fantasy truck would have 
been a Chev/GMC 2500HD crew cab short bed, 4wd, Duramax/Allison. 
Reality, however, led to a low-mileage '96 GMC Suburban 2500, 454, 
4wd.  We put a Hensley hitch on the AS, and the rig is very stable 
while towing.  I haven't had the pleasure of towing this much weight 
for a long time, so it was interesting to find out that I wouldn't 
feel great about towing the Overlander (max GVW 6200 lb) with 
anything smaller than this Suburban beast (6500 lb. GVWR unloaded, 
8000 lb. tow rating - it would be 8500 with 2wd).  Reality also 
suggests that the Suburban form factor works a lot better for us than 
would a crew cab pickup, because of the contiguous inside storage. 
My fantasy diesel would have a cab-high shell on back and a Transfer 
Flow aux tank in the bed, but that wouldn't work as well for the 
stuff we do with the Sub. FYI, we use a Tekonsha Prodigy brake 
controller, and it's really great.

The biggest drawback to this series of Suburbans is the brakes. 
They're quite adequate for our use so far, but the newer chassis 
(starting in 2000, I think) includes major upgrade in braking 
capability with 4 wheel discs, along with much stiffer chassis and 
better engines.  I'm hoping not to generate too much braking 
excitement when we hit the Sierras this summer.

In short, my recommendation when it comes to tow vehicles is "Think 
Big."  If you can afford a late model solution, by all means go for 
it;  if you're trying to keep the overall costs down, a babied used 
Suburban will certainly do the job.  They're out there - I found ours 
through the web, after a few weeks of looking.  It has 52,000 miles, 
and is ideal 'cause it has the 454, 4L80E trans, tow package, etc. 
etc., but was never used for towing and came with all the maintenance 
records.

Best wishes on your selection.

Stan