I am recently new to the RVing thing and i have a 12' tent trailer but now wife wants bigger one ( go figure...never satisfied..lol) anyways if aim going to spend quite a bit of money I would like to know what is the best out there for the money. I can only go a 17' or 19' depending on the dry weight of the trailer because i pulling it with a minivan.
first off you are about to get a dozen or so replies from people saying that minivans can't tow hybrids. just a warning
personally i have a jayco 17c ex-port and tow it up a pontiac montana, tranny cooler, weight distribution bars, anti-sway bar, tanks empty and keep my trips to only 1-4 hours. I've recently returned from a 13 night trip where i towed mainly across flat prairies but did have some rolling hills in the canadian shield area. all went fine. even had a cross wind one day and yeha i was only going 95 kmh (around 55mph) all was good.
i really like our jayco, it's got aheavy tongue weight but great for us and although some don't like the u-shaped dinnete, it gives us lots of room.
We have Roo 19 and pull with a '02 Ford Sportrack, 6cyl with a tranny cooler. That is the max I would want to try to pull and the camper is a good size for us with all the features we like.
Terri
Joe & Terri
S/W Ohio
'02 Ford Explorer Sportrac
'07 Rockwood Roo 19
2 Campin' Dogs - Dustin & Chi Chi
The 19 footers are all pretty much alike, there's very little you can do in that length and make it livable. 8-foot wide 19 footers are much more comfortable than the 7-1/2 foot models, so keep this in mind. The Forest River and Jayco brands are the top tier in hybrids in my opinion.
It's not a question of IF you can tow one with your minivan, rather "should you?" I can tow my 23 footer with my lawn tractor. But it ain't gonna last long pulling it.
Manufactures rate their vehicles with a maximum towing capacity. We can only hope this is done with good engineering data as there is no mechanical standard for it. Unless noted in the owners manual this rating is always computed with the vehicle empty other than a 150 pound industry-standard driver so the rating is just what it says, a maximum.
There will always be folks with valid experiences towing way over their maximum towing capacity. I don't doubt their experiences. I do think they're exceptions to the rules. Lucky exceptions, especially for those with Chrysler products and their notoriously unreliable transmissions.
My advice (yeah, constant advice! ) is to have at least 1000 pounds more maximum towing capacity than the trailer really weighs. Not the fictional dry weight. Not the unloaded weight on the factory weight sticker. The actual loaded for camping weight. That thousand pounds accounts for passengers and gear in the tow vehicle. This is a "safe" rule that keeps you in spec. 3500 pounds loaded for camping? You need 4500 pounds maximum towing capacity.
Doesn't mean you'll be happy, though. Running close or at maximums may be in spec, but you'll know the poor beast is working really hard. A ton cushion is my strong recommendation. No one ever thought they had too much towing capacity. 3500 pounds loaded for camping? You WANT 5500 pounds maximum towing capacity .
Always order the HD factory towing package on any vehicle you buy. Maybe $350 and you never know when you'll need it.
-- Chuck
* This post was
edited 08/01/08 08:23am by Chuck_S *
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland Our Photo pages
rcard74 wrote: I am recently new to the RVing thing and i have a 12' tent trailer but now wife wants bigger one ( go figure...never satisfied..lol) anyways if aim going to spend quite a bit of money I would like to know what is the best out there for the money. I can only go a 17' or 19' depending on the dry weight of the trailer because i pulling it with a minivan.thanx to all who reply
unless you have an Astro minivan, most here will not recommend you pulling a hybrid, including me.
minivans were designed to carry passengers. they were not designed to pull trailers. they are front wheel drive, unibody and have low torque engines. most minivans' transmissions will die under the stress of towing a huge brick thru the air's resistance.
most have a towing max of 3500lbs. plus you have to subtract from that for passengers and cargo.
looking at a trailer's dry weight is waste of time. that's a fantasy weight to draw in unsuspecting buyers. most weigh around 400-500lbs. more than that, because of options. and then you add water, propane and cargo.
so even the smallest hybrid, a 16', will be at the max of a minivan.
pulling a real trailer is a lot different on your minivan than towing a tent trailer.
i live in California, so i have to deal with mountains. no way would i use a minivan to tow. but if i lived in the Midwest and took short trips, maybe i'd use one to tow.
Dan- Firefighter, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LS, 2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS w/Equalizer and Prodigy, and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes
We had a Bantam 17 with options weighed about 2500 lbs. Our Astro van did fine on flat terrain but I could not imagine the noise if we had attempted mountainous terrain. (Traded for a Jayco 199, for those momma never satisfied reasons also.)
Towing something taller than a pop up is a lot of work for any vehicle, its quite common here to hear stories of tranny and motor issues with those that pull with most of the front wheel drive mini vans. They are great people movers, towing was an after thought for perhaps a utility trailer and that occasional run to Home Depot.
Good Luck in your search.
I'm pulling a 2007 Jayco 17C with my 2007 Toyota Sienna and the combo is working well for myself, wife, and 2 kids. I don't go fast (55-60mph on the flats) and when doing that I actually enjoy the drive. The Jayco does have a high tongue weight, so I had to mess with that a bit to get it within the limits (numerous tongue weight measurements with different cargo load distributions in the trailer), but I was able to do so.
Also, regarding the comments you might see about having to subtract the weight of passengers and cargo from the max towing weight, this is very vehicle dependent and cannot be considered a blanket statement. I did a lot of research and determined that with my Sienna I didn't have to subtract these values from the towing capacity and instead just make sure I keep within the van's GVWR and GCWR. Read your owner's manual and/or talk to a service tech to get the correct info for your particular vehicle.
I assume the Toyota engineers (and the engineer's for other manufacturers as well) know something and, since the van has a towing package and info in the owners manual for towing, that they are assuming people are going to do this. If I feel comfortable towing and in control, I'll go by what the manufacturer says (but wouldn't exceed that as I am a bit of a rules freak).
I'll leave the "can you pull it" to others. I've got a Starcraft 18sb, the actual box of the unit is 16', 20 with the front bunk open (no idea where the 18sb came from). Please note while the weight may be fine, the tongue on this unit is just over 700 lbs with 2 30lb gas tanks, 2 batteries, and maybe 10 gallons of fresh water, not the 470lbs or so the specs call for. Being so small you can't really move much around in it to try and shift the weight. Any idea what tongue weight a minivan can handle? I had to add Airlifts to the Ranger.
Other then that I really like the 18sb for a 2 bed layout, it's really just a matter of looking at the differnt ones you can find and see which layout you like the best, they are all pretty much the same beast.
If you only need one bed, check out the Forest river Surveyor SP-189, it's only 7' wide but has a couch on a slide. I wanted that one but was talked out of it, just in case there are grandkids. Like I'll still have this trailer by then.
Bob & Deb
W Ma.
04 GMC 1500 4X4, 5.3L
06 Starcraft 18SB
As for the trailer itself, many campers smaller than 19' have a wet bathroom meaning the toilet is in there and everything gets wet when you shower (by design). Those 19' and larger typically have a separate shower inside a tiny, but otherwise real, bathroom.
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) is to have at least 1000 pounds more maximum towing capacity than the trailer really weighs. Not the fictional dry weight. Not the unloaded weight on the factory weight sticker. The actual loaded for camping weight. That thousand pounds accounts for passengers and gear in the tow vehicle. This is a "safe" rule that keeps you in spec. 3500 pounds loaded for camping? You need 4500 pounds maximum towing capacity.
, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur
, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever
, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LS, 2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS w/Equalizer and Prodigy, and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes
