Donald Stanfield
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Got my T hooked up to my trailer that's been sitting for the past year as I've had nothing to tow it with. I've now towed this trailer with 3 different vehicles, A 2015 Ram ecodiesel, a 2020 Ford Explorer ST and the T. It's a 7x16' dual axle enclosed trailer so not the biggest thing out there but not exactly a small trailer. The Ram handled it well and the ford hated it even empty.
Handling
I'm just going to compare empty on all three which is a good amount under the capacity of each vehicle. The trailer weighs around 2200lbs so not a max test at all but it is enclosed so it's big and has some wind resistance. The Ram pulled it no problem. I always felt confident that whatever I put in it the Ram would move it around and stop it without much issue. The Ford got pushed around even at slow speeds. I knew the Ford was a compromise and hauling the trailer with my little tractor would max out its rated towing capacity but I didn't even want to try that it hated towing that much.
The Rivian is hands down better than either one. At 7K lbs the trailer doesn't push the truck around at all. It's common to say that "you didn't even feel it back there" but I didn't know how true that was until I towed with this truck.
Range
The diesel is the hands down winner here, the economy didn't really go down too much no matter what I was hauling and being able to completely refuel in a couple minutes is handy for long trips. The Rivian comes in second here believe it or not. While we all know the downfalls for long trips with EV's and charging the range hit doesn't seem as terrible for around town type towing as the Ford did. Hook that trailer up to an explorer and you swear someone put a screwdriver through the bottom of your gas tank.
Acceleration
Rivian wins here in a clear and decisive way. Obviously the R1 is quicker than the other two by a large margin to start with but what I'm specifically talking about is the relative difference each vehicle has between towing and not towing, not comparing the speed with the other two vehicles. The Rivian, at this low trailer weight, had no real noticeable difference in acceleration at all. I didn't try this for obvious reasons, but I bet launching while pulling the trailer would still feel pretty impressive. The Ram's acceleration didn't go down much pulling the trailer either relative to unloaded, but you could still feel it a little bit. The Ford went from a relatively quick SUV to a total dog. Even going around my block I was worried with how hard it worked. It's only a 3.0 V6 and it showed.
So what's the takeaway here? If you aren't making long trips but need to tow stuff the Rivian is an excellent vehicle choice, the Ram ecodiesel is a great long hauler for towing and don't buy a Ford Explorer ST if you plan on towing more than a little 6' small tire garden trailer with a couple bags of dirt in it.
Here's a picture reward for making it through this whole thing of the Rivian doing truck things.
Handling
I'm just going to compare empty on all three which is a good amount under the capacity of each vehicle. The trailer weighs around 2200lbs so not a max test at all but it is enclosed so it's big and has some wind resistance. The Ram pulled it no problem. I always felt confident that whatever I put in it the Ram would move it around and stop it without much issue. The Ford got pushed around even at slow speeds. I knew the Ford was a compromise and hauling the trailer with my little tractor would max out its rated towing capacity but I didn't even want to try that it hated towing that much.
The Rivian is hands down better than either one. At 7K lbs the trailer doesn't push the truck around at all. It's common to say that "you didn't even feel it back there" but I didn't know how true that was until I towed with this truck.
Range
The diesel is the hands down winner here, the economy didn't really go down too much no matter what I was hauling and being able to completely refuel in a couple minutes is handy for long trips. The Rivian comes in second here believe it or not. While we all know the downfalls for long trips with EV's and charging the range hit doesn't seem as terrible for around town type towing as the Ford did. Hook that trailer up to an explorer and you swear someone put a screwdriver through the bottom of your gas tank.
Acceleration
Rivian wins here in a clear and decisive way. Obviously the R1 is quicker than the other two by a large margin to start with but what I'm specifically talking about is the relative difference each vehicle has between towing and not towing, not comparing the speed with the other two vehicles. The Rivian, at this low trailer weight, had no real noticeable difference in acceleration at all. I didn't try this for obvious reasons, but I bet launching while pulling the trailer would still feel pretty impressive. The Ram's acceleration didn't go down much pulling the trailer either relative to unloaded, but you could still feel it a little bit. The Ford went from a relatively quick SUV to a total dog. Even going around my block I was worried with how hard it worked. It's only a 3.0 V6 and it showed.
So what's the takeaway here? If you aren't making long trips but need to tow stuff the Rivian is an excellent vehicle choice, the Ram ecodiesel is a great long hauler for towing and don't buy a Ford Explorer ST if you plan on towing more than a little 6' small tire garden trailer with a couple bags of dirt in it.
Here's a picture reward for making it through this whole thing of the Rivian doing truck things.
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