Cause you like your Honda. Honda Odyssey. 3500-4500 hitch capacity. 1600lb payload.

If you want more efficiency. Toyota Sienna gets 35 mpg and 3500-4500 hitch capacity.

3600 lbs trailer means you could be north of 5000 fully loaded with gear, clothes, etc., which is going to be pushing the 4 Runner pretty hard. The Durango comes in at high enough to be ok. Any full size pickup is good to go and with the extended cab and a bed cover my Tundra does anything my Land Cruiser used to do plus some.

But I just kicked you into another price category, which is fine for me, it is easy to spend other people's money.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

 
With the trailer you are looking at, your options for vehicle are pretty far and wide. That is a very light trailer and is made that way to be towed around by things like your MDX. Just for giggles I looked up the towing capacity of your MDX and the 4Runner you looked at. With a "dealer installed accessory", which is likely just a beefier hitch carrier. Your MDX has the same tow capacity as the 4Runner. 4Runners are underpowered, have outdated interiors, and are really only good for putting outdoorsy stickers on so everyone at the mall knows how cool you are and that your dating profile says you like to hike.

Based on your long daily commute, and the fact that you will be lucky to use the trailer 10 times per year. I would just go with something that has a 5k towing capacity and then get whatever works best for your daily commute. If your tow pig was a dedicated tow vehicle and not a daily driver, I would say go higher on the tow capacity as having more than you need is always nice in that department. But you are going to do a whole lot more daily driving than you are towing, so get something that is capable of the tow, but works best for the commute.

I think you are on the right track with the Durango, Explorer, Canyon, etc. Drive everything in that class and pick what you like best for daily driving.

If I were you talking about pulling an RV, any RV you need to look at the towing capacity of the vehicle and the hitch weight of the RV. A weight distribution hitch will be a very welcome addition even if you don't need it for the weight. Helps transfer weight from the rear wheels to the font which stabilizes steering etc. It's crucial to make sure you have ample towing capacity for not only the weight of the RV but additional camping gear which adds up quickly.

If I were you I would be looking at a 1/2 ton pickup at a minimum for pulling plus the extra bed space for your gear. Something like a Ford with an eco boost V6 would likely do the job. Plus it's not the best gas mileage but it's decent for commuting and the space is great. Solid axle in the rear etc vs a wish bone on many other smaller SUV's. You can always jump on a RV forum and pose the question about specific vehicles and likely someone may have some direct experience.

Your vehicle choice is very important to your overall towing experience, you don't want something too light or something that doesn't perform well in wind, mountain passes, ruts in highway etc.

My set up is pretty different than yours but fits the need after a lot of research. 30 foot toy hauler weights 14500 lbs empty. F350 diesel truck with a long bed to pull it with. I used to have a F350 short bed 6.5' bed and the difference between the 2 with the wheel base is noticeable. Longer wheel base is a lot more stable..

Please make sure you do your research so you don't end up in the boat of owning a vehicle that will kind of do the job and your stuck with it. Many friends have been down this path and upgraded later to heavier tow vehicle which is costly.

You've gotten good advice already. We had friends who purchased a trailer a lot like the one you're looking at. They liked it, but in a year traded it for something bigger, and ordered a new truck to tow it. As others have said, 3500lbs dry can easily become many 100s of pounds heavier once you start to load it, fill up with propane and water, etc. Whatever you do, be very sceptical of any towing ability the salesperson is pushing on you. I have heard and seen quite a few that lied blatantly. Same for the RV salesperson, they'll tell you what you want to hear instead of what you need to know. You definitely want to avoid towing at or near weight limits. If you're just going to be doing short trips on easy roads it doesn't matter as much, but can still be important.

In addition to the advice already given, consider where you're going to be towing your trailer. If you're driving on flat terrain that's one thing, but if you plan to tow you're trailer through some mountain passes or hilly terrain, and you're really close to the vehicle's towing limit, you're going to pushing that car HARD!

Echoing the comments.

Think ahead multiple years on what you want to do with the RV and where you want to go. It's really important that your not at the upper limits of the tow vehicle as safety is a major concern for you and others on the road.

Even with a proper truck and trailer for my use I've towed from Boise to the Oregon coast. A few big passes to go over but have been caught in wind storms. To the point where I pulled over and cut the trip short/delayed to wait in the wind. It can be down right scary at moments and want to make sure you are aware of the challenges. Ultimately I want a 5th wheel for the towing qualities over a bumper pull but that is on the back burner due to prices. When we are thinking about a trip now I consider how far, what's in the way, etc and sometimes choose to hotel it over towing depending on factors. Fuel cost being a big one for me currently. A trip to the Oregon coast for me now is $500 in fuel round trip alone.

Just take your time and make sure you get something that you will be happy with long term. As someone else stated don't take the sales persons word for it. They are trying to sell a unit and most times don't know squat about the unit or pulling them.

Good luck and I hope you find a good solution, we love ours and use it often.

What-ever you think you need - go 1 bigger.

I'm assuming campers are like boats and get upgraded every other year so buy the truck for the future camper.

FWIW - the difference in ability in a 150/1500 to the 250/2500 is huge, but the trucks are the same size in terms of a "daily driver"

The newer Ram1500's drive like cars, get good mileage and have all the "bells & whistles" you may want. I'm sure the Ford/Chevy is no different.

Depending on your model, your MDX may be rated to tow 5,000 lbs.

Do you live in an area with electric vehicle incentives? If so I'd lean electric (like the new Ford Lightning).

Which 2500 is same size as 1500? We went from a dodge 2500 to an F150 cause the new 2500 will not fit in our garage. Now we are more limited on hauling than we want. All of our research was that from our 2004 2500 they had all outgrown our garage.

My bad. I just looked and the 2500 is slightly longer than the same "optioned" 1500. I never noticed driving both.

Apologies but not only no, but hell no.

If you want to tow something say 150 miles you don't have the range and where are you going to charge it unless your staying at a KOA or glamping. Electric is not there yet for towing vehicles or any distance or anyplace off grid for camping.

Bummer! I was hoping you had a solution - a better one than my husband asking if we couldn’t just make the ground floor bathroom a foot narrower and extend the garage.

Sure it is, your follow vehicle just has to be an MEC

At 3600lbs dry empty weight, I think you want a minimum of a 5000 pound tow rating. Even that might be light because once you load up with water and food and things and stuff you'll easily be in the 4k area.

Also you want something with a proper tow package, not just a hitch. At a minimum that should include a trailer brake controller and transmission fluid cooler. But beefier brakes, engine oil cooler, and a "tow mode" to alter shift points and performance curves of your vehicle are nice.

Side question on that trailer you linked; so itv looks like when you eat inside you'll just be sitting side by side staring at the bathroom. Is that right? Might want to consider an alternate floor plan, but the galley in that one looks nice.

Thanks all for the excellent input - I knew I could count on y'all!

After further research, the 4Runner is off the table - as much as I love the look and interior features, it's just not up to the task.

Leading contender at the moment is the Dodge Durango - found a loaded 2019 R/T not too far from home. Includes towing package (beefy brakes, tow drive mode, trailer sway damping, trailer brake control, etc.). V8 Hemi significantly bumps up the towing capacity, and the overall mileage doesn't take too much of a hit. Plus, it's a sexy beast.

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"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Not dissing your choices, but:
Any trailer with a slide automatically incurs a several hundred pound penalty to support each slide mechanism(s). And, that big square cutout in the side of the trailer is both a substantial reduction in the inherent rigidity of the trailer, as well as a water ingress risk.
That R-pod is listed as 3600 pounds empty plus 1200 lbs cargo capacity, with a (stated) 360 pound tongue weight. Rule of thumb for bumper pull trailer towing is that the tongue weight should be 10 to 15 percent of the actual trailer weight (including cargo). So when that R-pod is ready to camp with, loaded out at (say) 4500 pounds, you should count on needing 500 to 650 pounds of tongue weight to guarantee tow vehicle / trailer stability at highway speeds. There are some really good explanatory videos on youTube and other places, illustrating that trailer stability is a speed dependent thing (for a given geometry of tow vehicle wheelbase and distances between axles and the tow ball, and the trailer weight distribution).

So, your tow vehicle should ideally be rated to tow at least 5000 pounds but more importantly, have enough cargo weight margin that you can drop that 650 pounds of tongue weight on there. In addition, you will most likely have to use a weight distributing hitch and possibly an anti-sway damper mechanism. There are some fantastically intricate and expensive (and heavy!) hitches out there that geometrically reduce the sway potential, but if you have some design margin in your trailer / tow vehicle choice then you can use a simple friction sway damper.

We've towed a 19 foot dual axle travel trailer (max gross about 4500 pounds) for 17 years, with Tundras. First a 2000 and more recently a 2013. No serious issues with climbing or descending Rocky Mountain passes - it was basically a choice of how much fuel I wanted to burn. But, even with that setup (those trucks are rated to tow 7000 and 9500 pounds), the tongue weight is a consideration, when you also have other camping gear and bikes in the back of the truck.

Currently we're working on a 25 foot (bumper to hitch length, 21 foot interior), 1974 Airstream restomod. Basically a rat-rod trailer. It will be interesting to see how that all works out... I put in dual 26 gallon fresh water tanks under the floor so I will be able to ballast the tongue weight at will.

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Less is more.