> JackandJanet;
>What are the axle load limits on the Sprinter Crew Van? That's where your real >limitation is, not on some hitch attached to the sheet metal or the towing >weight limit.
>Any tow vehicle you purchase to tow a trailer of that size should have a >frame mounted Class III towing hitch RECEIVER installed as a minimum.
We will be ordering the manufacturer’s towing hitch and communications cables per recommendations by others, on the Sprinter and Class B forums, who have towed 5,000 pound trailers with Sprinters. They say that the Sprinters’ computers are towing aware with the manufacturer’s towing package. The 2500 Sprinters have 5,000 pound towing capacities and 500 pound hitch weights. The 3500 Sprinters have 7,500 pound tow weight capacities and 750 pound hitch weights. The capacities were defined by Mercedes and several long discussions on various Sprinter forums that have reinforced the importance of conforming to these restrictions. The Sprinters are of unibody design. The engineers on the Sprinter forums have noted that the sheet metal on the 3500s is thicker in the key areas taking the stress of the towing.
>This will give you an allowable tongue weight of 1,200# and a Gross Towing >Weight limit of 12,000#, provided you install a Weight Distributing Hitch (WDH) >into it.
Mercedes says that Weight Distributing Hitches will distort the sheet metal in their Sprinters’ unibody design and are prohibited. This means that I have to conform to the manufacturers towing recommendations and cannot use higher capacities by 3rd party vendors.
>Notice the real limit here is in the tongue weight. You will HAVE to have a hitch >system that can accept the 760# tongue weight of that trailer, which is most >likely higher than 800#, or can be depending on loading. If you did NOT install a >WDH, even a Class III hitch would limit you to 800# tongue weight.
People who have installed 3rd party hitches with higher capacities then 750 pounds have been told by various more experienced tow people, on the various Sprinter Forums, that they should stick to Mercedes recommendations. If I cannot adjust the tongue weight of the HiLo down then I will have to switch to a smaller HiLo. The Sprinter is a Super Van more then a classical truck in terms of its towing characteristics.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. We will keep them in mind if we should order a Ford or Chevrolet diesel truck for towing.
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