CHARLEVOIX, Michigan — Pickups get all the headlines as vehicle workhorses. With ladder frames and rear beds, they can tow 10,000 pounds while hauling 2,500 pounds of payload and four workers the size of Detroit Lions middle linebackers. But what if you don’t need all that utility all the time? What if you just need a part-time workhorse? What if you could get by with a simple SUV?
It’s remarkable what your good ol’ Ford Explorer SUV can do.
When my young sons started racing go-karts in the early 2000s, we didn’t need a pickup to haul our wares. Racing on a budget, I would rent a U-Haul trailer on summer weekends, load it with our 100cc Birrel racing kart and spares — then hook it up to our midsize, three-row 2005 Chrysler Pacifica SUV (the original Pacifica was an SUV before being reborn as a minivan in in 2017). With a 3,500-pound towing capacity, brawny V-6 engine, roomy hatchback and second-row captain’s chairs, Pacifica was plenty of workhorse for our needs.
