getting closer to pulling the trigger on a tow rig. Wife has a 98 5.9 Grand Cherokee that she likes but is probably due to be traded in. She is not too hip on a truck or a suburban, but hasn't driven either. I am having a tough time buying a tow rig that will only see occasional weekend duty. Wife is stay-at-home mom and barely clocks 4-5K miles a year, maybe less.

Ideally, we would get a pimped out Laramie 2500 CTD with leather, DVD, moonroof. She would drive it around town and we could tow/camp/whatever with it. She is under the belief that it will be bad to drive, too loud inside, too much maintenance, yadda yadda.

Anybody in the same situation? Anybody's wife DD their tow rig?

We found out we were going to have a kid a few weeks after I brought my truck home. The original plan was to have me driver her TJ, and she drive the truck. So I let her drive it for a week.

Two dented bumpers, one parking lot ding, and a speeding ticket later we bought her a bigger vehicle.

Some PEOPLE (not just the wimmins) are too impatient to understand what it takes to put a pickup (especially a quad cab long bed) into a parking space.

Oh, and the small trips it sounds like your wife will make are likely to kill that CTD. They really aren't designed for that.

-Matt

Two dented bumpers, one parking lot ding, and a speeding ticket later we bought her a bigger vehicle.

Some PEOPLE (not just the wimmins) are too impatient to understand what it takes to put a pickup (especially a quad cab long bed) into a parking space.



-Matt

So you bought her a BIGGER vehicle...Your killing yourself man:flipoff2: :flipoff2:

So you bought her a BIGGER vehicle...Your killing yourself man:flipoff2: :flipoff2:

LOL! I see that was poorly worded. We got her a vehicle bigger than the TJ. The 2004 Land Rover Disco is a pretty nice ride.

-Matt

I had an F-150, and my wife had a Liberty. I hated the F-150, my wife loved the Libby but it was useless to me. Since she stays at home (barefoot & pregnant) we sold both vehicles, and I bought her a Durango 5.9 R/T (old style) and myself a 4-cylinder sedan. The Durango gets about 11 mpg, but like you she doesn't drive much so it's not bad. The sedan gets 25+, and I put about 20k a year on it. Overall, our monthly vehicle expense dropped by about $100 due to her not driving and the improved "fleet" gas mileage. She likes the Durango because it has leather, and she can get her sisters, mom, and aunt and the dog in it, as well as all the crap they buy at the stores on the weekends. I like it because it has way more balls than the F150.

I'd love to have a Cummins, but she can't drive worth a SH!T so anything bigger than the Durango would just be suicide. (5 years, 5 times backing into crap!)

Sean, shock her, then compromise.

No, not like that.... :fj:

What I mean, is go out and get her to test drive one each of a Dodge, Chevy, and Ford full-size, quad-cab, dually pickup. Gut it out -- tell her that's what you REALLY need, she's gonna belly-ache for sure.

After a couple of days of sleeping on the couch, drop back to a Suburban, and if necessary, a Tahoe. Having sampled the full sizes will make everything else she tries on small (sorry about that, buddy :flipoff2: ). For your use, I could see sporting a gas truck, dunno of the economics of diesel would work for you, especially with diesel running 50 cents over pump-gas right now. :mad3:

FWIW, my wife hates to RIDE in the Dodge, and refuses to drive. But then again, you know some of its issues, and probably understand a bit why. :p

Randii

this sits in the driveway everyday... my wife drives it once or twice a week. It's also our "family" vehicle and tow rig. So far it's towed for a little more than half the miles we've put on it for other stuff. We have a two yr old and another on the way... so we really needed a real 4 door truck. If my wife has to do a lot of running around, I'll drive the 350 to work and she'll take the '02 ex cab taco I normally commute in. It works, I get a great tow rig and she gets checked out by all the boys when she's driving it :laughing: :D

Mine would if I let her... and she didn't have to pump fuel in it. :D She loves driving the big-rig!

Her camry's cheap to drive and paid for... I steetbike commute... tow-rig gently ages in the driveway for now.

Ya my wife drive her 1993 F-250 4x4 X-Cab 460 V8 4" Lift and 35's everyday. The truck was mine but with fuel prices I couldn't afford to comute in it anymore, and she only works 4 miles from the house so the 460 isn't that bad. I bought a 2003 Expedition to comute in. I know it doesn't get great mileage but I tried buying a commuter car, and I just couldn't do the small car, I am just too big.

getting closer to pulling the trigger on a tow rig. Wife has a 98 5.9 Grand Cherokee that she likes but is probably due to be traded in. She is not too hip on a truck or a suburban, but hasn't driven either. I am having a tough time buying a tow rig that will only see occasional weekend duty. Wife is stay-at-home mom and barely clocks 4-5K miles a year, maybe less.

Ideally, we would get a pimped out Laramie 2500 CTD with leather, DVD, moonroof. She would drive it around town and we could tow/camp/whatever with it. She is under the belief that it will be bad to drive, too loud inside, too much maintenance, yadda yadda.

Anybody in the same situation? Anybody's wife DD their tow rig?

My sister DD's a 2006.5 Dodge with a Cummins and a 6 speed. It's a 3/4 ton 4x4 long box crew cab. She loves it and wouldn't have it any other way. Even with her new kid she still loves driving it. Of course it's the truck she wanted, so it makes a difference.

I was looking to get a 01+ K2500 CC/LWB for a tow rig/wifey DD. Once she tried to drive it, it was obvious that we weren't buying a truck. We got a Yukon XL and she loves it. Her requirments were for it to have leather, power everything, and a decent stereo. My requirements were for it to be a 3/4 ton, have the 8.1, and be 4wd. We both got what we wanted. She drives the Yukon during the week, I get it to tow on the weekends. Life is good. :D

my wife drives my F-250 everyday... she loves it...
http://www.jeepgod.net/graphics/jeepnow/DSC00068-1.jpg

We own an 04 that is almost identical to that and the wife will drive nothing else. At first she complained and now when I try to make her take the rubi somewhere she complains she wants her lariat!:shaking: Moral to the story get her a very well equiped anything and in the long run she will be happy.


this sits in the driveway everyday... my wife drives it once or twice a week. It's also our "family" vehicle and tow rig. So far it's towed for a little more than half the miles we've put on it for other stuff. We have a two yr old and another on the way... so we really needed a real 4 door truck. If my wife has to do a lot of running around, I'll drive the 350 to work and she'll take the '02 ex cab taco I normally commute in. It works, I get a great tow rig and she gets checked out by all the boys when she's driving it :laughing: :D

Oh and a pimping exhaust/intake kit and chip don't hurt either.....

My wife has never had a problem driving our Super Duty. She drives it when I need her Expedition. She even parks it in parking garages that make me nervous. Of course she also used to daily drive a 2001 Mustang GT vert and for a while an 89 LX with heads/cam/intake/bolt-ons/nitrous. What can I say...I hooked a good one. Now I'm here because we decided our next project will involve some real off-roading. :D

My wife drives our 05 Dodge, she has put about 75% of the miles on it. She has only backed into one person (small white civic stopped right behind her and its a dually). She drives it way easier than I do and averages 18mpg to my 14-15mpg. If only I could get her to help pay for it!!!!

My wife drives our 97 Tahoe daily. SHe is a stay at home mom, but helps out in the school and stuff. I drive the XJ daily too. We will soon be removing the Tahoe from our driveway and getting a 454 Burb. It will be her DD.

My wife drives my F250 PSD to work because her commute is shorter. So I got stuck with the escort :(

Every once in a while I get up before her and steal it.

My wife drives a 02' Excursion with a V10. She drives it about 3 times a week.

My GF owns both the 05 Yukon and the 98 Tahoe. All my cars are 50% broken toys. Since hers are the vehicles we use to tow the toys I am thinking that the answer to the question is yes.

My wife has always driven our tow rig it started with a 1/2 ton xtra cab chevy then a suburban when we had our first kid, from that I scewed up a gear change in it so we got an f350 crew cab dually when gas prices went up she got an f250 powerstroke until earlyer this year when the f250 wa retired to only tow duty and now she drives a powerstroke excursion.

She drove the dually better than I did,I was always scapping the tires on curbs and would't think about takeing it thru the bank drive thru.

My wife daily drives our '06 Crew Cab D-max. She's put about 4k on it in the past 3 months without hitting anything (that im aware of :eek: ) I'm really surprised at how well she does, being that her last car was a Chevy Cavalier. Sold that puppy right after we got married and i decided to DD my Jeep. Weddings are expensive, plus i didnt like that car anyways. :D

If your wife drives an SUV already, it shouldn't take too much adjusting for her. Go let her test drive a CTD, and when she feels that turbo kick in i bet that'll convince her. ;)

**snip**

Oh, and the small trips it sounds like your wife will make are likely to kill that CTD. They really aren't designed for that.

-Matt
That's kind of a myth.

We have customers, and techs at the dealership I work at who use their trucks for this type of driving. Heck, I live 3 miles from work now, and next month when our house is finished, I will have a 1 mile trip to work.

I asked our main diesel tech and friend about this. He lives 2 miles away, and has been driving his 95 12 valve he bought new to work everyday.

He, like me, tow a few times a month, but the majority of our driving is short trips, real DD type stuff.

That's kind of a myth.

We have customers, and techs at the dealership I work at who use their trucks for this type of driving. Heck, I live 3 miles from work now, and next month when our house is finished, I will have a 1 mile trip to work.

I asked our main diesel tech and friend about this. He lives 2 miles away, and has been driving his 95 12 valve he bought new to work everyday.

He, like me, tow a few times a month, but the majority of our driving is short trips, real DD type stuff.

While I agree that it is mostly a myth, I'm also willing to bet you, me, and the techs give the engines the (usually brief) time to warm up and cool down and even use the glow plugs/heat grid when it's cold. If the trucks have a manual transmission, I'm also willing to bet that you and the techs, like me, know not to lug the engine by running in the wrong gear. And I bet we only rarely speed shift.

I know I was unable to train my GF in the subtle nature of these trucks. It's been 18 months and she still doesn't get it. It's a real danger in this situation.

My truck is my commuter (8-10 miles each way). I know there are a couple things I need to do to keep it happy and healthy for the next 14 years.

-Matt

When I traded my dakota for the 1 ton mega cab my "wife" drove it home from the dealer, and has driven it every day since. I tow with it on the weekends and she uses it for everything else. Her commute is shorter and I feel safer with her in a bigger vehicle. She was a little shy for the first couple of weeks, but now loves the truck.

Dane

While I agree that it is mostly a myth, I'm also willing to bet you, me, and the techs give the engines the (usually brief) time to warm up and cool down and even use the glow plugs/heat grid when it's cold. If the trucks have a manual transmission, I'm also willing to bet that you and the techs, like me, know not to lug the engine by running in the wrong gear. And I bet we only rarely speed shift.

I know I was unable to train my GF in the subtle nature of these trucks. It's been 18 months and she still doesn't get it. It's a real danger in this situation.

My truck is my commuter (8-10 miles each way). I know there are a couple things I need to do to keep it happy and healthy for the next 14 years.

-Matt
I concur, some basic diesel training should come with all diesel truck purchases.

Family vehicale is a 98 3/4 ton 6.5L suburban. The wife loves it. We are on the look to upgrade. Looks like a 05 Excursion is really the only option. She doesn't want to step down to a gasser. Its classic seein her pull up all 4'11" and 100lbs droppin out of the 3/4 ton.

The license plate trim plate reads "Have you driven over a mini van lately?"

Nope, my wife refuses to drive my dodge. #1, its too big, #2, its a stick. She likes her little 2000 hyundai accent automatic. I drive an 88 toyota pickup for my 60 mile roundtrip commute, and I occasionally drive the dodge, just to keep its juices flowing, and it really only gets used for tow duty a few times a year :(
Scott

and it really only gets used for tow duty a few times a year :(
Scott

scott,that's what I am worried about. Having a $35K depreciating asset that gets driven once or twice a month. I know it's the cost of having a trailer queen rig in this sport, but my practical side (read: Cheap Fawker) is balking. I am tempted to just say fawk it and buy this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170029876168&sspagename=ADME:B:RTQ:US:1

Nice interior, leather, gobs of power, auto, DVD for the kidlet. I think once she drives it she will like it. If not, then I might just drive it as a DD but I do 3-4K miles a month. Funny thing is that my 3300# subaru outback gets 20-22 MPG. A 7000# CTD gets about the same from what I read.

Funny thing is that my 3300# subaru outback gets 20-22 MPG. A 7000# CTD gets about the same from what I read.

I don't want to turn this into a milage discussion, but I'd like to set some expectations. My 2005 CTD quad cab, six speed, 3.73 axles took 33,000 miles to get "decent" milage. My last three tanks have been 18 or better. I have a spreadsheet....

-Matt

I DD this everyday.

Road noise isnt bad, I am running 35/12.50/17 Toyos. I can hear the radio on low, and talk on my cell phone just fine.

Mine rides like a truck, and handles freakin awsome since I put a KORE kit on it. KORE stuff is $$$$ tho.

The ex had no problem driving it even with the 6 speed.