AVION Travel Trailers

What do you all use to tow your Avion. I tow my 30P with a dodge 3500 Cummins short bed SRW.

1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke. 123,000 miles.... All stock, except for a Tru-Cool 45K BTU transmission cooler and an FS-2500 bypass oil filter.

The only major addition I want to make is to install a U.S. Gear exhaust brake...... need to save up $1300+.

2012 Ford E350 Club Wagon

Chevy Tahoe 5.3 liter with 3.42 rear axle and aftermarket transmission cooler.

2005 Ford F250 XLT 5.4L Extended cab long box 3.73 rear.

2012 Mercedes Benz GL 350 Bluetec

I have owned two different Avions and I have used three different tow vehicles.

My old Avion was a 1976 26' LeGrande.

My current Avion is a 1981 34V.

My original tow vehicle and the one I still use on occasion is a 1965 IHC D1200 Travelall Custom 4x4 with the SV304 V-8, 4-speed and 4.09 gears.

My second tow vehicle was a 1993 Chevy K2500 Suburban Silverado with the 5.7L, 4L80 automatic, 3.90 gears.

My current tow vehicle is a 1995 GMC K1500 Suburban SLT with the 5.7L, 4L80 automatic, 3.73 gears.

Of them all, the Travelall gets the best fuel mileage while towing but the worst while solo: 8-10 MPG towing and 12-14 MPG solo.

The best of the three for towing was the K2500 Suburban. The better gear ratio gave it a little better climbing ability on the hills. And on the way back down the larger brakes on the K2500 gave me extra confidence in our ability to stop if we had too.

What I found most interesting is I got virtually identical fuel mileage towing both trailers. I towed both with the K2500 and the Travelall. Outside of going a little slower on the steep grades you could forget at times you actually were towing either trailer. At the gas pump the differences were so slight that you could say it was the same.

We had to trade in the K2500 on the K1500 in Rock Springs, WY on the way home on our epic journey. Somehow one of the nearly new oil cooler line burst on the K2500. Before I realized what was happening the engine ran out of oil.

That was a sad day! The junkyard would only offer us $50.00 if I could drive it in. The tires alone were worth at least $50.00 a piece!

A U-Haul, if we could get one, was going to cost a minimum of $1,000.00 to tow our 34V home. For $1,300.00 more than the U-Haul and our K2500 we were able to get a pretty decent K1500.

It is an okay tow vehicle and I would keep it if we were still towing around the old Avion. But the 34V is a lot of trailer and I just don't think there is enough truck under a K1500 Suburban to tow it.

So I am in the market for another K2500 Suburban. This time I think I might try one with the 8.1L big block. I have heard it gets virtually the same fuel mileage solo and 1-2 MPG better towing.

What an experience!

Ouch!!!!

Sorry you now have THOSE kinds of trip memories!

2000 F350 extend cab dually 4x4 6speed manual with a Gearvendors Overdrive.