Towing

[fliper49]

Does anyone home in 22 foot highLow with a Mercedes GL 55? We are in serious times to buy one We need to be able to tow on flatland or through the Rockies.We’ve never had a trailer we have only owned a Class A. So explaining the difficulties would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance

 

[JackandJanet]

A 22 ft HiLo would have a tongue weight that might exceed your Mercedes' Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) that is shown on a sticker on the driver's door. Arizona laws require that your tow vehicle have an electric brake controller installed and in use to to tow a trailer of that size. That trailer's tongue weight would require a Class III hitch minimum on your tow vehicle and you would need a Weight Distributing Hitch (WDH) in the 10,000/1000# class to properly distribute the tongue weight over the axles of your tow vehicle.

Does your car have a "towing package", which includes additional transmission cooling, possibly a larger radiator, a class III towing frame mounted hitch and a 7-blade electrical trailer plug? It will need all that. You will need "towing mirrors" that let you see the road behind you around the sides of the trailer, which is 8 ft wide.

When I looked up your car, I found it had a towing weight limit of 7500# and a payload capacity of 1754#. This is very close to the limits shown for my truck. But, each person in the car adds to the payload that the vehicle is carrying, as does any luggage or any other items you carry. Also, I've found that vehicles tend to weigh more than their rated "dry" weight, which reduces the payload they can carry. With me in my truck, my payload capacity is reduced to a bit under 700#. The trailer tongue will likely add around 600-700# to YOUR actual payload and the WDH will add about 100# more.

The vehicle can certainly "pull" the weight of a 22 ft HiLo in flat terrain, but it will struggle a bit in the Rockies, I believe.

In my opinion, you need a Superduty class truck (250/2500) to safely pull a trailer of that size.

- Jack

 

[fliper49]

Thank you, and written a long dissertation about your response but I sent it the Wrong Area. But I want to thank you for your response. We thought it may work I Feel we need to continue looking at the 17ft. A bit smaller but we may not need all the other bells and whistles. We thank you again.

 

[Cherrycreek]

We tow a 22 high low w gl320 I just keep tounge weight around 500 or 600 lbs