Tow Ratings

Towing Capacity

Thank you all for the info. Has anyone pulled something with a Mercury Mountaineer 4.6 V8? What? Load size? How long?

Jeep Grand Cherokee 2007-towing 2705T

I just bought a 2705T-Towlite and pulled it back from Fla. to Virginia-about 850 miles. Used Tow/Haul switch and got 13mpg at 58mph. at 61mph, I got 9.5 MPG. I could not believe the difference a few mph would make on thegas useage. TW was 510 lbs using Sherline Scale. Trailer EW was 4650# with allowable up to 7500# with WDS system. Electric brake setting of 25 or 30 seemed to work well. Spent my first nite on the road at a Walmart in Florence,SC. Walmart had a McDonalds, and Sams Gas pumps-all American
Dream-Sleep,eat and gas up at Wally World.

SkyKing from Blacksburg,Va.

JoeJones said:

I just bought a 2705T-Towlite and pulled it back from Fla. to Virginia-about 850 miles. Used Tow/Haul switch and got 13mpg at 58mph. at 61mph, I got 9.5 MPG. I could not believe the difference a few mph would make on thegas useage. TW was 510 lbs using Sherline Scale. Trailer EW was 4650# with allowable up to 7500# with WDS system. Electric brake setting of 25 or 30 seemed to work well. Spent my first nite on the road at a Walmart in Florence,SC. Walmart had a McDonalds, and Sams Gas pumps-all American
Dream-Sleep,eat and gas up at Wally World.

SkyKing from Blacksburg,Va.

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SkyKing (I remember that show from my youth), there are many things that effect gas mileage. Hills and headwind are biggies - both put a bigger load on the engine. I doubt a 3 mph difference cost you 3.5 MPG. Additionally, an MPG calculation based on a single tank of gas is not particularly accurate. I've seen mine vary by as much as yours between consecutive fillups when maintaining a constant speed. The pump fill sensor may have cut off the gas early when you got the high economy reading and then you did the next leg with less than a full tank to start with.

I use a spreadsheet to monitor mileage and it calculates my overall towing and non-towing averages as well as my combined average and individual fillup averages. It also keeps track of my towing and non-towing mileage too, so I'm aware if I've been using the truck in severe or normal service.

Don't lose hope, I suspect your actual mileage while towing is probably in the 11 MPG range.

- Jack

Yes it takes several tanks to get an average. If the pump runs slow I can put almost 2 gallons in the tank after it auto shuts off. Also if the vehicle is not level when filling makes a difference. Also if you are going by the computer mileage they aren't that reliable.

neal and bev said:

bandh -

i have a 2010 f-150, 5.4l, with tow package, when i researched them i found that the engine size was only one factor in the tow rating. Some others were, rear axle ratio, springs, tires, body length, brakes, vehicle weight, hitch setup and the inclusion of a tow package.

Best i remember, depending on the options i choose for my f-150, the tow ratings were from as little as 5500 to as much as 10,200 pounds. I don't remember the exact numbers. With the options and model i choose, i ended up with 9,800 pound rating. Most of what i've found says that the realistic towing amounts are 75 percent of the rated amount. So for me, towing in a mixed environment, i don't want more then 7000 pounds, and part of that is going to be the cargo in the truck itself.

I know some people push the rating a lot closer, but i tend to be conservative. If you use the link to camping life magazine, found at the top of this thread, it has a great tool that’ll get you pretty close to the rated amount for your vehicle.

Hopefully we'll get some input from some other members on this too. Here's something that you don't want to have happen, of course i think this guy has more then one problem.

youtube - small car towing caravan crashes

neal

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we are new to camping w/2207 model hi lo...in process of purchasing truck or suv to tow. Can someone(s) please advise vehicles that will do the job...we find confusing. Also what does uvw 3332 and gvwr 5500 lbs mean? Do we add them to get total weight of 8832 lbs for the hi lo??

I would go no less than a Toyota Tacoma with a tow package which I believe has a tow rating of 6500#. A Ford F150 with a tow package works well having much higher tow rating and a longer wheel base. Longer wheel base makes for more stable towing. I towed our 2310H, which is a 22' with more weight, about 4000# UVWR and 7000# GVWR with a 2007 Tacoma with good results. We came nowhere close to 7000#, probably closer to 5000# when traveling. The F150 with the Ecoboost engine tows the trailer with ease, and gets better gas mileage than the Tacoma. Having a good anti-sway hitch setup is also very important.

The more capable the tow vehicle and hitch setup is the less the driver will have white knuckles in tight situations.

UVWR = Unloaded Vehicle Weight Rating
GVWR = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating

You don't add them, GVWR is the maximum weight.

Towing vehicle

Thanks so much for the education/advise!! It makes our decision so much simpler. Happy and safe travels.

I know my inspection plate inside the drivers door frame gives me the Front axle GRVW and the rear axle GRVW. Combine the two gives you the GRVW for towing and mine max's out at 6000 lbs. Add 2 adults and extra gear generally takes it to about 4500 lbs. and that is on the safe side. I could push it to 5000 but I usually take the safe route.

There are 2 main issues in towing. Most important is that the trailer doesn't overwhelm the tow vehicle when braking, turning, and steep downhills, i.e. "tail wagging the dog". Electric brakes, controlling speed, weight on the rear axle, etc help, but no replacement for a vehicle much heavier than the trailer. Still, most tractor-trailers tow a much heavier trailer, which is why brake checks are critical for them before going downhill.

The other issue is protecting the drive-train. The engine doesn't matter much. The transmission and rear-end is what could get damaged. The typical factory "tow package" adds an extra tranny oil cooler, power steering cooler (less important), stiffer rear springs, and trailer connector. Most important is the oil cooler, which isn't hard to add and a good idea even without a trailer.

I have been towing our 1978 Hi-Lo with our 2002 Chrysler T&C minivan w/ 3.8L AWD and towing package. We haven't gone on many trips, but several times to Lake Tahoe (7200 ft pass) with no problems. It is a little unnerving having a trailer behind, especially down-hill. On steep uphill sections, I down-shift and slow to 45 mph to spare the tranny, though I could go 60 mph. The trailer is 2700 lb and the minivan ~4500 lb. Today's minivans aren't mini anymore. The only trouble I had was one campsite where the driveway was very steep and had sand and pine-straw at the bottom. I had to get a running start to back up without slipping or stalling. Even worse, I had to move big stone blocks to get the trailer level enough to lift the top.

I have a 2308 Classic Hi-Lo, with a gross wt. of 6000 lbs. towed by a Toyota 4-Runner, 6 cyl. and it handles the Hi-lo just fine. I normally pull it at about 5000 +/- 300, and it handled Vermont hills 5 Kliks long in 30+ Deg. C just fine, coming back from Nova Scotia to Ontario.
I did replace the OEM wt. carrying hitch with a Husky wt. dist. hitch, and when time to change them, I replaced the 265-70 tires with 255-70 tires to make it easier for the drive train to pull a max load. The Toyota is rated for 5000 lbs. but handle the RV just fine.
At 2500 RPM in forth speed, I'm showing 95 KPH. on the GPS. 100 KPH. requires 2650 RPM. FYI: I DO not use a sway control; not needed.

BandH said:

I have general question on tow vehicles. While the manufacture(s) brochure information states their optimistic view on the expectations of a tow vehicle nothing beats the real world experience. I am pulling a Hi-Lo 2206T - 5500# GVWR. What has been the experience of others pulling a similar trailer weight with a 4.6L whether it is Ford, Toyota or the GM 4.8L engines in variable terrain (hills)?

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See my answers using a Toyota 4-Runner, under "4-Runner as tow vehicles."
Mel

Hi-Lo 17T

My wife has discovered that even though it is just her and I that go RVing, that this TowLite is still to small for us with all the stuff she brings with us on our vacations. So I am wondering if my 2015 Tacoma with the 4.0 V6 will tow a 20-22 foot Hi-Lo? It has a 6000 pound towing capacity and between my wife and I we can subtract about 400lbs passenger weight. If so i am going to put my Hi-Lo up for sale and buy a larger Hi-Lo.

You and your wife's weight and the weight of anything else in the vehicle count towards the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) for the truck. The GVWR for a 22 hi-lo, itself, is around 5000 so ......as long as you dont exceed THAT weight on the trailer you should be good to tow IT. BUT, the weight of the Taco, you and the wife, gear, and TONGUE weight of the trailer needs to be less than the GVWR of your truck and I am guessing you will be damn close with a Tacoma. (The weight rating should be on the inside of one of the doors). Depends on how much tongue weight you end up with and how much stuff you bring. That said there have been more than a few on this forum towing with a Tacoma.

Personally, I think that's too much trailer for a Tacoma. If nothing else, the tongue weight and weight of the WD hitch will probably exceed the axle weight limits on your truck.

- Jack

We towed our 2310H with a 2007 Tacoma Quad Cab with no problems. The 2310H is heavier than earlier 22' models and is about 4000 pounds before options. I have to say though that we were and still are weight conscience and don't take all our worldly possessions with us. Our 2012 F150 Ecoboost does a much better job however.

My Tacoma has the heavy duty towing package on it. I would never tow a trailer without it. I have the WDH and it makes towing very nice. The last RV I had was 3800 pound dry and by the time it was loaded was about 4500. Wife does not pack the kitchen sink because it already has one. But we have decided on a 20, 21 or 22. The 24 is nice but I am sure it will blow an axle if I put it under extreme pressure. ( No I am not that crazy but the 24 seems to fit the floor plan we need. She has had several back surgeries and I have a back that is on its way out too. So the less effort for us to get out of bed the better. She cannot crawl over me to get out and I tend to get up several times in the night. So the floor plan with the two sofas for the master bed seem to work the best but finding one that is not 30 years old is very difficult. I suppose I could reconfigure it with the sofa setup but as I said projects are getting harder for me every year.

Mike

Ratmouser,

We have a 2206 and tow it with a 2006 Tacoma DC V6 Prerunner with the heavy duty tow package. We also use an equalizer hitch. When we went to Colorado last year, we towed it up and over a 12,000 elevation pass thanks to our darn GPS. We didn't have any trouble towing it up and over the pass. We tow without water in the tanks so we don't have to worry about that additional weight.

On the our 22ft Tow lite, the front couch makes into a double bed. We didn't find the bed particularly comfortable (bad foam), so we added plywood, a foam futon and memory foam topper to make it much more to our liking. The bed is always made up.

Thanks Les. This make our shopping for another Hi-Lo that much easier. We are finding that the extra 5' will make all the difference in the world. We are researching for retirement which is about 5 years out. We are looking at states near the east coast that does not tax retirement. Michigan governor (Snider) seen fit to pass a law to tax Michigan retirement. Not a good thing. Will research more about the replacement Hi-Lo when we get home from the Outer Banks, NC. Right now time to enjoy the beach, sun and the sand until Friday the 31st. Couple of shark siting's but no shark bites yet.

Mike

Ratmouser,
Florida--no personal income tax! Also, full time residence will get you $25,000 homestead rebate year after year. You just have to put up with near prefect weather year round.
Treeclimber

That's the best news I have heard all day. Well next to best news, today is a very good beach day!!!

Thanks Treeclimber

Mike