Forum Discussion

ml350-towing's avatar
ml350-towing
Explorer
Sep 18, 2019

Mercedes ML350 towing hitch with travel trailer

Hi there,

I just purchased a new Travel Trailer from a brand named Coleman and would like to clarify a couple of thing with regards to the towing rating and the type of hitch I am supposed to be using.

The trailer has one axel and weighs 3100lbs dry. The dry tongue weight is 450lbs.

The car is an Gas Powered 2015 ML350 4matic with the factory installed hitch. I also have a Prodigy Brake Controller.

My main worry is what type of hitch I should be using? Just a regular one or should I be looking at a Weight Distribution Hitch.

I am weary of installing anything other than the regular hitch, given that I don't know how this car was build to handle the WDH. I am worried about swaying on bad wind conditions.

I have towed the trailer for about 20 miles so far, and it handled the trailer well, there was a little bit of back and forth tugging, but nothing significant.

So, my question from experience SUV towers, what kind of hitch would you recommend and why? And should I change the tire pressure on the ML when I am towing and to what pressure if so? And will the tugging decrease with the WDH?

Thank you in advance.
  • ml350-towing's avatar
    ml350-towing
    Explorer
    Sep 18, 2019
    midnightsadie wrote:
    look in your owners manual for what the car can tow. and go by that .


    It can tow 7200 lbs and 580 on the tongue. My issue is that will WDH be beneficial to me in this case? Will it prevent swaying on the freeway?
  • camperdave's avatar
    camperdave
    Explorer
    Sep 18, 2019
    Sure, WDH is useful. Less porpoising, and sway control on many of them. Is there a sticker on the hitch itself that lists load carrying and distributed hitch weight limits?
  • ml350-towing's avatar
    ml350-towing
    Explorer
    Sep 19, 2019
    camperdave wrote:
    Sure, WDH is useful. Less porpoising, and sway control on many of them. Is there a sticker on the hitch itself that lists load carrying and distributed hitch weight limits?


    The hitch itself does not have a WDH limit. I wish I could upload the photo here but cant find out how. It is a Oris A1663101137 type E473.
  • neschultz's avatar
    neschultz
    Explorer
    Sep 19, 2019
    I had the same model and year car. The owners manual said that you cannot use a WDH! I think it is because of the way the hitch is cantilevered off the unibody frame.
  • ml350-towing's avatar
    ml350-towing
    Explorer
    Sep 19, 2019
    neschultz wrote:
    I had the same model and year car. The owners manual said that you cannot use a WDH! I think it is because of the way the hitch is cantilevered off the unibody frame.


    Have you towed with it? Did you have airmatic suspension. I heard that caused issues when the car had. Mine is just the regular suspension. I will re-read the manual. Thank you.
  • neschultz's avatar
    neschultz
    Explorer
    Sep 19, 2019
    ml350-towing wrote:
    neschultz wrote:
    I had the same model and year car. The owners manual said that you cannot use a WDH! I think it is because of the way the hitch is cantilevered off the unibody frame.


    Have you towed with it? Did you have airmatic suspension. I heard that caused issues when the car had. Mine is just the regular suspension. I will re-read the manual. Thank you.


    I had the regular suspension. I never towed anything with it except a utility trailer. TT had too much tongue weight so we sold the MB and got a RAM pickup. We’ve now changed to a 5th wheel on a semi-permanent site in FL and snowbird.
  • dodge_guy's avatar
    dodge_guy
    Explorer II
    Sep 19, 2019
    If you have the hitch that points straight done and not the traditional the points out the back then NO, you cannot use a WD hitch. You can install a traditional hitch so you can use a WD hitch.
    Is this a TT or a PuP camper? If it feels like it's swaying it probably needs more tongue weight. Hard to say. We need more info.
  • ml350-towing's avatar
    ml350-towing
    Explorer
    Sep 19, 2019
    dodge guy wrote:
    If you have the hitch that points straight done and not the traditional the points out the back then NO, you cannot use a WD hitch. You can install a traditional hitch so you can use a WD hitch.
    Is this a TT or a PuP camper? If it feels like it's swaying it probably needs more tongue weight. Hard to say. We need more info.


    I think it is a straight back hitch.. I guess standard. It is a travel trailer with one axle. it is more like a tugging.. someone on the other forum recommend me to look at the brake controller settings. it is a Wireless Prodigy and I have not done any adjustments on it yet.
  • stevemorris's avatar
    stevemorris
    Explorer
    Sep 28, 2019
    here is a link to several weight dist. hitches for the m series

    at 3000 lbs dry(4000 ready for camping approx), thats what i would do

    you wont need a lot of bar tension for 500 lbs of tongue weight but that little weight transfer will make trailer control much better and even more with the addition of a sway controller as well

    the issue is the soft suspension in any suv, transferring some tongue weight to the front wheels via a wd system will help immensely.

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