Favorite 3rd row vehicles to tow.

Grandpere wrote:
Thank you lanerd for pointing out his other post.

Being it is a gasser you are limited to 5000 pounds.

maybe, but maybe less. in general, the maximum amount of weight you can safely tow will be the lesser of the following:

• the GCWR (gross combination weight rating) of the MH minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel (includes fuel, fresh water, food, clothing, people, pets, supplies, etc.)

• the weight rating of your tow bar

• the weight rating of your hitch

this is why it's vital to know what your MH weighs...by axle...as it is loaded and configure for travel before choosing a toad.

load the MH as you would for a trip including fuel, water, food, clothing, pets, supplies and people. get individual axle weights and compare them to the GAWR for that axle. if either axle is overweight then either move weight to the other axle or eliminate the weight altogether. you need to check individual axle weights because it is possible to be under the GVWR of the MH even if one axle is overweight. I know 'cuz it happened to us.

you also need to know the gross weight of the vehicle you want to tow including whatever gas you want in the tank and cargo you want to carry while it's being towed. and since you may be using a dolly you must add the weight of the dolly to the weight of the vehicle you want to tow. you didn't say what the GVWR, GCWR or actual weights of the MH and toad are so i'll use the weights of our MH and toad to illustrate my point.

we have a 2000 Itasca Suncruiser 35U that has a GVWR of 20,500-lbs (7000 front, 13,500 rear), a GCWR of 26,000-lbs and an actual weight of 19,300-lbs (6700 front, 12,580 rear). we usually tow a 2010 Jeep Liberty that has a total weight of 4,200-lbs. our hitch is rated at 5,000-lbs and the tow bar at 6,000-lbs.

applying the three tests above gives us these results:

• the GCWR (gross combination weight rating) of the MH minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel = 6,700-lbs (26,000 minus 19,300)
• the weight rating of our tow bar = 5,000-lbs
• the weight rating of our hitch = 6,000-lbs

5,000-lbs is the most weight I can safely tow since the hitch has the lowest weight rating. but if I was towing on a dolly that weighed in excess of 800-lbs I couldn't (shouldn't) tow the Liberty as the combined weight of the Jeep and dolly would exceed the weight rating of the hitch.

good luck to you.