Towing with a minivan

The model I am looking at is a hybrid travel trailer. Is that at conventional TT. Sorry for the dumb question.

mindymd wrote:
I just got my owners manual out and the frontal is 40 sq ft and max tongue wt is 335 lbs. And GCWR is 8,750 lbs. and GTW with 3 to 5 people is 3,350 lbs. So is it still a no?:(

You would be well over on frontal area for the trailer, quite possibly over on the tongue weight, and near the other limits (if not over).

Undoubtedly the minivan would be capable of moving the trailer from one location to another. At low (non-highway) speeds, the frontal area is less of a concern, since air resistance goes up exponentially with speed. Attempting to pull the trailer for long distances at highway speeds would be quite hard on the minivan and likely also the driver. (If you were pulling a similarly specified trailer just to take trash to the dump or pick up appliances from the local big box store, it would be somewhat more practicable, though still likely overloading the minivan somewhat.)

Either choose a smaller trailer—the pop-up suggestion is good, or something like an A-liner—or a different tow vehicle. In the latter category, you might be able to find a used (full-size) conversion van for not too much money that would be much better able to pull the trailer and still be comfortable for vacation travel. Fuel milage and driving ease would, of course, suffer when compared with the minivan.

mindymd wrote:
I just got my owners manual out and the frontal is 40 sq ft and max tongue wt is 335 lbs. And GCWR is 8,750 lbs. and GTW with 3 to 5 people is 3,350 lbs. So is it still a no?:(

A conventional TT's frontal area easily exceeds 40 sq ft.

mbopp wrote:
Five people,a trailer, and gear - nope. And IMHO the Chrysler minivans still have weak transmissions. Maybe a pop-up.

Hardly! I can`t believe people are still stuck in the early 90`s.

I just got my owners manual out and the frontal is 40 sq ft and max tongue wt is 335 lbs. And GCWR is 8,750 lbs. and GTW with 3 to 5 people is 3,350 lbs. So is it still a no?:(

Quite a few years ago I pulled a Rockwood pop-up weighing 1100# with a mini van rated to tow 3500#.While it seemed to tow very well the transmission didn't like the added weight. I replaced the tranny at about 50k miles then shortly after that traded it in for something more capable of towing at pop-up.

We towed a 12 foot pop-up with our minivan years ago and the tongue weight was just too much that with front wheel drive we lost traction a time or two. I wouldn't do it again.

I used to pull a 2,000 pound loaded 13 foot SCAMP with a 1992 Chevy Lumina ABV with a towing capacity of 2,000 pounds... The Scamp design pulls easy though, Most TT's pull harder (It is shaped like an airsream only its non-metallic)

I did have to put in one new Trans.

Five people,a trailer, and gear - nope. And IMHO the Chrysler minivans still have weak transmissions. Maybe a pop-up.

No, I wouldn't advise it. Our minivan (also a Chrysler product) had trouble pulling our little 1800-lb popup when we got into mountainous territory. No way I would have considered it for a full-height trailer. Just too much wind resistance (besides the fact that as soon as you put the things you want in the trailer, you'll be overweight.)