Towing and Light Off-Road Experiences

[BoulderT4R]

Hello everyone,

I'm a prospective Telly buyer and wondering if anyone can comment on it's towing and light offload abilities.
I'm 6'6' and I've heard the Telly is great for tall drivers, which is what has me considering it. But I need something that can also comfortably tow (2500-3000 lb campers, and occasional drift boat), and also something that can handle rough roads. I don't do any true off-roading, but we tend to find ourselves on some some rough backcountry roads when camping/fishing/mountain biking.

Other vehicles we're conspiring are a Tundra (what we currently have), Lexus GX 460, or 4Runner. For what you get for the money, the Telly appears to be the clear winner on paper. But when it comes to towing and getting off pavement, not all vehicles perform the same despite the marketing. So I'm just hoping some people can chime in with real world experiences with towing and getting offroad.

Thanks in advance.

 

[gman1868]

The Telluride has everything you're looking for. I'm 6' and there is a quite a bit of extra head and leg room. It has Class III towing capability. From page 1-156 of the manual you can tow 1650 pounds without trailer brakes and up to 5000 with brakes. The Telluride has a 7 pin connector to enable the addition of a trailer brake controller. From the experience of individuals on the forum, it appears that anything over 3000 pounds may need a weight distribution hitch. It's very important that you calculate the combined load of the weight of gear in the back along with the tongue weight to determine if the rear is overloaded. There is another thread that shows the difference with or without a WDS from someone that has a >4000 pound trailer.

Off road? Is there such thing as a 3 seat SUV on the market that's truly an off road vehicle? However, from all the reviews I've seen you can take it on rough dirt roads with not problem. If you considering anything worse than that you should consider alternative wheel and tire combos other than the 20" wheels with 50 series tires.