U-haul Fiberglass Camper Tow Vehicles

So one of the great things about camping in a small fiberglass camper is that they're lightweight and you can tow them with much smaller vehicles as compared to their stick-built counterparts. I don't need a large F250 or 2500 to pull this thing. I've talked with many folks who pull campers and some of these folks get less than 10 mi/gal when towing their giant rigs. If it's going to cost me $1000 to tow my rig to the beach and camp, I might as well just save the trouble and get a nice house/cabin for the vacation. I should preface this by saying that we typically do not go camping for weeks at a time. While we did do a 10 day trip to South Dakota and back, we normally do about 3-4 days (long weekends).

I have not had the CT weighed yet on a trip, but I know it's well below the limits of the vehicles I've towed it with. Those include the following:

1. 2001 Mazda Tribute 3.0L V6 (3500lb towing capacity)
2. 2007 GMC Acadia SLT2 3.6L V6 (4500lb towing capacity)
3. 2011 Kia Sorento 3.5L V6 (3500lb towing capacity)

Of all of these, the Mazda probably had the biggest hit on gas mileage but some of that I think was due to other engine issues and it's age. It has well over 200k miles on it. The Acadia towed like a dream. (We got rid of it due to other quality issues that were common in the 2007-2009 model years; I can't recommend those years.) Of course it's a larger vehicle than the other two and has a longer wheelbase and 19" tires. We used it on our trip to South Dakota and enjoyed the space and you could barely tell you had a trailer back there. The Mazda probably has the worse stopping due to the rear drum brakes. I prefer 4 wheel discs for towing since the CT-13's do not have trailer brakes. I have not had a chance yet to pull in the mountains with the Kia. Though on our last trip to the beach in South Carolina, it towed fine without any issues.

2001 Mazda Tribute 3.0L V6 towing our U-haul (Uhaul) Fiberglass Camper (CT-13) 

2007 GMC Acadia SLT2 3.6L V6 towing our U-haul (Uhaul) Fiberglass Camper (CT-13) 

2011 Kia Sorento 3.5L V6 towing our U-haul (Uhaul) Fiberglass Camper (CT-13) 

For tips on towing check my previous post on towing.

What do you tow with? Would you recommend your tow vehicle to others? Leave a comment below and share your knowledge with others.

Update (May 22, 2016: After several trips with the Kia, we haven't had any problems. I still haven't had it in the steep mountains yet, but it's been without issues.

New Tow Vehicle: 2015 GMC Acadia SLT-2 AWD 3.6L V6

Update (Nov 2018: We took a 4k mile trip in with the Kia and never had an issue. Our Kia was totaled by another driver in June and we have replaced it with a 2015 GMC Acadia AWD with a 5200lb towing capacity. The newer Acadia has operated well in the trips we've been on since getting it and provides a bit more interior space than the Kia did. However, the gas mileage as a daily driver was better with the Sorento. In 2017, GMC made big changes to the Acadia and it's now smaller overall than the 2016 and previous years. Towing capacity is also at 4000lb currently on the newer models.