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Suzuki Grand Vitara vs Subaru Forester vs Hyundai Santa Fe vs Jeep Liberty vs Ford Escape vs Saturn Vue

4940 messages,  Last post on Sep 24, 2009 at 9:33 AM

You are in the Suzuki Grand Vitara/Vitara Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester

What is this discussion about? Subaru Forester, Hyundai Santa Fe, Jeep Liberty, Ford Escape, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Saturn VUE, SUV

#3352 of 4940 Yeah, read what I mean, not what I write! by jaserb Oct 23, 2002 (11:55 am)
Hey, maybe they can use "bendy-straw" accordion-type technology for this! And when you need to make a tight turn backing up, just bend the little accordion part on your hitch into the correct shape and away you go! Yeah, that'd be a great idea! Oh, and who's buying $40 hitches? Are they made of tin foil? Even the cheap-o universal type I've seen at WalMart are around $100 or so. The custom Draw-Tite hitch I put on the Santa Fe was around $130 for a Class III, plus wiring harness / ball / ballmount / shipping / etc. It looks pretty slick - only the receiver shows. Here's a pic: http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=E&Product_Code=41543&Category_Code=H I'm still working on getting something to attach to it (SeaDoo jet boat), though... -Jason
#3353 of 4940 Hidden Hitch by paisan Oct 23, 2002 (12:11 pm)
$99 JC Whitney for a Class IV up to 7500lbs IIRC for my Trooper. Wiring harness was $25.   -mike
#3354 of 4940 by steve_ HOST Oct 23, 2002 (12:52 pm)
I pulled the $40 number out of the air; didn't intend to mislead anyone.   Don't know about the class of SUVs here, but don't most of the "big" SUVs, (like the Trailblazer for example) come standard with receiver hitches now anyway?. So spend the $40 on the ball and clip pins and the little fake prop hitch cover.   Steve, Host
#3355 of 4940 by ateixeira Oct 23, 2002 (12:52 pm)
You sure that's a Class III?   Looks like a 1 1/4" receiver, is it actually 2"?   I got the OE Subaru hitch from Darlene, no charge because I had built her web site. So that was a pretty good price.   -juice
#3356 of 4940 Yeah, it's a 2". by jaserb Oct 23, 2002 (2:40 pm)
It's actually pretty beefy, it tucks right down inside the bumper so you see almost nothing. I've mostly used mine for renting yard equipment (trench diggers, post hole diggers, etc) and for extra cargo space - I have a hitch mounted cargo carrier.   I don't think any of the cute-utes have a standard hitch, and I've heard some not so good things about the Hyundai accessory. Come to think of it, I think the Escape's optional hitch is a wimpy 1 1/4 Class 2. Probably adequate but it sure looks like it belongs on an Accord with a little U-haul trailer behind it.   -Jason
#3357 of 4940 #3239 ... not what I write! by jaserb by anonymous02 Oct 23, 2002 (5:32 pm)
"Oh, and who's buying $40 hitches? Are they made of tin foil?"   The universal ones which mount to the bumper run around there, I think.   I picked up an entire bumper AND built in receiver for around $200, shipped, I think. Tomken, I believe. The only reason I did that instead of the other hitch was for off road clearance considerations.
#3358 of 4940 jaserb by paisan Oct 24, 2002 (3:58 am)
What's the towing capacity on the Hyundai? If it's not beyond a class 2 then that's probably why hyundai doesn't sell a hitch that is Class 3 or beyond.   -mike
#3359 of 4940 by baggs32 Oct 24, 2002 (4:47 am)
"Come to think of it, I think the Escape's optional hitch is a wimpy 1 1/4 Class 2. Probably adequate but it sure looks like it belongs on an Accord with a little U-haul trailer behind it."   Yes it is. It too is an option, but I don't think I've ever seen an Escape, and I've seen a lot of them, without one. It's part of a package ($140 I believe) that includes the hitch, a wiring harness, and an oil cooler. I think I've read that the Class II hitch is what holds the Escape's towing capacity to 3500 lbs. A beefier hitch could up that number. Probably a good "avoid another law suit" move by Ford to limit it in that manner. I could be wrong though.   jaserb, Any good web sites to check prices on SeaDoo's or other competing models?
#3360 of 4940 Towing capacity by paisan Oct 24, 2002 (4:57 am)
Is rated by the manufacturer in the owners manual, it doesn't have to do with the class hitch. For example most mid-sized SUVs are rated at 5K towing, yet most of their hitches can hold 7500-10,000lbs.   -mike
#3361 of 4940 by baggs32 Oct 24, 2002 (5:21 am)
I went back to the manual. 2000 lbs without the tow package, and 3500 lbs with it. I guess the oil cooler really does do something.

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