Hummer H2 as a tow vehicle?

OK OK I never thought I would ask but they are now affordable, dealers are moving them for under $20K. My wife loves them and I get all my toys so she is worth it.

That said, what is good? what is bad?

Flame on

good: it can tow anything a tahoe or silverado can

good: factory hitch, towing package

good: she can run over anything smaller than a camaro

good: genIII small block LS based goodness

go for it.

it will work.

I guess the only drawback is the standard towing with a 4x4 drawback. If you used a 2wd vehicle like a van you'd get better MPG...

Other than that, it'll tow...

Just looking at the vehicle itself, the only downsides I can see are the same you'd have with a Tahoe/Yukon (which I beleive the H2 shares chassis with), with worse aerodynamics and maybe more overall weight.

However, you'll have to be seen driving or riding in an H2, which in "normal" people's eyes is the vehicle of the oppressor.

"help! Help! I'm being oppressed.. come see the violence in the system!"

Very heavy, gas guzzling, poor public perception, wavy body panels, poor assembly quality, and all in a 1/2 ton truck chassis. I couldn't dislike a vehicle any more than the H2. For all the incredible things that the H1 is, the H2 took a suburban, put flimsy hummer-like body panels on it, and totally wussed it out.

Its like putting a ferrari body kit on a fiero... which is great, if you understand that you still have a fiero under all that fiberglass. But its a far cry from the performance of a true ferrari.

So... the H2 is like a really heavy 'burb with worse quality and a higher pricetag. IMHO it was GM's single best marketing schmooze ever. Take a vehicle, make it look like a poser for its big brother, and who cares if it falls apart because rich folks will line up to buy them at $60k.

Not for me, man. Buy the 'burb and know that you got a much better vehicle with a much smaller pricetag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxrdwXXat14

Rated at 8000lb, I have a rusty 94 E150 now.

mad_machine wrote: "help! Help! I'm being oppressed.. come see the violence in the system!"

Hahahaha

On a more helpful note, I've heard the sightlines in these things are Crap, that may be a problem when towing.

When I saw the thread title I though, "sure, I've towed them out of the mud or through a trail many times (with my little CJ at that!!) then I thought about the things other folks have said. There are other vehicles that can do the same job better and without making you look like a douche.

I almost wouldn't mind one. They are HUGE, but neat trucks, and they can go almost anywhere a Wrangler can, but tow more.

If I were to get a Hummer, I would want an H3T Alpha.

Seriously the 4 x 4 has very little value to me, but for my wife it could be good in the snow.

Yes I know it's a douche mobile....pity that wont fit on a license plate, maybe a sticker that says my other car is a E36 M3.

She likes them....nothing I can add to that.

They do tow well, the drivetrain seems to be good.

So other than the doucheness they are OK then?

patgizz wrote: good: it can tow anything a tahoe or silverado can good: factory hitch, towing package good: she can run over anything smaller than a camaro good: genIII small block LS based goodness go for it.

Bad: 12mpg highway unloaded

I think I would get an H3 before an H2...

I have very little to add except: You love her, she lets you have your toys without too much complaint, sounds like you should have a H2 in your garage in the very near future!

On a different note, this was listed after curtis73's above youtube example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_1z8JSE63A&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Wow!! (I'm sure lots of 4x4's can do something like it, but I was impressed)

-Rob

When they first came out, there was an issue with them snapping the front steering knuckles. Didn't even have to be under stress. It seemed to happen driving around parking lots and pulling out of driveways.

I haven't heard reports of this happening after the first year though.

Having checked one out, I was impressed by the incredible disparity between outside dimensions and usable internal volume. Trying to unload stuff from the trunk sucked.

Oh, and that spare tire on the back weighs about 75#.

mad_machine wrote: "help! Help! I'm being oppressed.. come see the violence in the system!"

i love this quote

as I just mentioned in another thread, once reason you see so many of them is because they give you a nice tax write off if you own a business. They are over 6k pounds...

Buy her a Dodge Ram so she can tow your neighbor's wife's Hummer off your neighbor's husbands Ford Taurus, all while their kid tries to pull the Taurus out from underneath:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZpAAOej9YE

God I love that clip...

Interesting, I do own a business..... I like tax write offs, tell me more

aussiesmg wrote: Interesting, I do own a business..... I like tax write offs, tell me more

any suv more than 8klbs is available for a write off.

check out section 179 of the fed tax code.

it used to be that any vehicle w/ a gvwr of 6000 lb or higher qualified as a capital purchase (for business use) qualified for a 100% write off. it was then changed in roughly november 2004 that utes were only deductible up to $25k, and trucks/vans w/ X dimensions were still 100%.

doesn't have to be new, just "new" to your business.

this factor, relatively cheap gas (then) and lack of CAFE standards for trucks was largely responsible for the abundance SUV's and heavier duty trucks.

If you can afford it, go for it. Heavy duty 3/4 ton stuff under there will serve you for a long time. I never really looked down on SUV owners, provided they used it like it was one. Pull a trailer, go offroad, live in an area of heavy snow, etc. If you live in Miami and only drive it to the mall, now you're a douche....

Raze wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZpAAOej9YE

Dude! That Dodge is a BEAST! It's pulling three vehicles around!