Hey everyone, I'm newbee to travel trailing. I just bought a 2014 ameri lite ultra lite 19bhc. I was wondering if i could get some advice on how to tow a travel trailer. I checked my owners manual and the max towing that i can get is 5,000lbs. I just installed a uhal hitch with a rateing of 500lbs. (i'm not sure what the means)I also in stalled a brake control too. Anyway the TT rateings are ...GVWR Dry Weight 2,740 lbs. Hitch Weight 310 lbs. Net Carrying Capacity 760 lbs. Black Water Tank Cap 37 gal. Grey Water Tank Cap 37 gal. Fresh Water Tank Cap 30 gal. LP Gas Tanks 20 lb. My question is ... Am I set up to good enough to tow my Travel Trailer? And what does the hitch weight mean.

Hitch weight is how much weight is placed on the TV. At number you cited is listed for a totally dry trailer. Find the trailers GVWR and take 12-15% of that. That is how much tongue weight you can expect to have. Hopefully your hitch capacity is a typo? 500 pound hitch capacity is not right.Also remember, what you car can tow is based on a empty vehicle, 1/4 tank of gas and a 150 pound driver. Anything you add to that is subtracted from your towing capacity. I suspect you are not going to be very pleased with your towing experience with your setup. But only you can determine that for sure. Your 760 pound load carrying capacity is extremely low IMHO. Once you add water, propane, a battery, some clothes, food and dishes you could likely already be overloading the trailer. Be extremely careful of what and how you load. Make your first stop the scales once loaded, tow carefully.

With the weight of the trailer and contents, a 500 lbs hitch might be ok but is it a weight distribution hitch with sway control? My concern on your set up is the weight of the vehicle vs the wind that your trailer is going to see and the risk if tipping. In my book 5000 lb and under vehicles should stay with pop ups and less wind resistance.

newrvereric wrote:Hey everyone, I'm newbee to travel trailing. I just bought a 2014 ameri lite ultra lite 19bhc. I was wondering if i could get some advice on how to tow a travel trailer. I checked my owners manual and the max towing that i can get is 5,000lbs. I just installed a uhal hitch with a rateing of 500lbs. (i'm not sure what the means)I also in stalled a brake control too. Anyway the TT rateings are ...GVWR Dry Weight 2,740 lbs. Hitch Weight 310 lbs. Net Carrying Capacity 760 lbs. The "dry weight" of 2740# plus the NCC of 760# means you'll be limited to a maximum TT weight of 3500#.The TT's loaded tongue weight likely will be in the range of 400-450#.I do not see any problems towing a fully loaded 19BHC with your Liberty.Ron

Congratz on the Amerilite. We have had one for a few seasons now and love it.At a max of 3500 lbs you should be ok with the tow limit. You need to find the trucks payload too. That's how much the truck can carry and everything in it including the tongue weight is included.I agree that you need a receiver hitch. You will need a weight distribution hitch with sway control.You don't have a lot of carrying capacity in the trailer so I suggest filling the water tank at the campground and emptying the tanks before you leave. That removes 240 lbs from the towing and weight off the tongue as well.

Believe it or not but the Liberty is a fairly stout tow vehicle. The GVWR for that trailer is 3500lbs, well below the tow rating. You'll have no problems towing it. As for the hitch it usually has 2 ratings, one for weight carrying (dead weight) and one for use with a weight distributing hitch. Is there a sticker on it that specifies? Either way even rated for 500lbs you should be ok. Even if you load the trailer to the max GVWR it's unlikely that you will exceed 500lbs of tongue weight. The receiver should have a 2" square opening, if so it is likely a class 3 receiver and will be fine as long as you use a good WD hitch with it.

2011 Jeep Liberty towing a new 2014 Amerilite 19bhc

17 Replies

Bmach
Explorer II
Jul 06, 2013
07 liberty
PAThwacker
Explorer
Jul 03, 2013
We had a diesel Libby with factory tow package 5000lb rated wit 7pin and trans cooler. Doubt you have have 5000lb rating with a uhaul boat anchor.
mrotis
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
Bmach wrote:
I have bee towing an18' htt with a max weight of 4000#. I use an equalizer hitch and it tows great. Not a problem with trucks passing. I usually get between 11.5 and 12.5 mpg but once on a fairly flat trip I managed 15.2 mpg. If you do not have a tranny cooler add one before you tow. Enjoy

Hi - are you pulling with a Town and Country or Liberty?
Bmach
Explorer II
Jul 01, 2013
I have bee towing an18' htt with a max weight of 4000#. I use an equalizer hitch and it tows great. Not a problem with trucks passing. I usually get between 11.5 and 12.5 mpg but once on a fairly flat trip I managed 15.2 mpg. If you do not have a tranny cooler add one before you tow. Enjoy
mrotis
Explorer
Jul 01, 2013
dodge guy wrote:
mrotis wrote:
Hello - I have also recently purchased the same Gulfstream model and am set up to pull with my 2002 Town and Country. The van already has a class 3 hitch installed with equalizer and stabilizers/anti-sway. Have electric brakes and van is rated for 3800 towing capacity.

I'm getting mixed opinions about the van's ability to tow adequately and wonder if you all have any thoughts/suggestions. We have taken it out and, sure, you feel it back there.

Thanks for your thoughts.
-otis

If the trailer weighs 3800lbs then you are at your vans tow rating. are you using a WD hitch? anytime you put a TT behind something you are going to know it`s back there.

Thanks for both your posts - we do have a WD (weight distributing) hitch. Another question I have is about driving in 3 for the majority versus D or overdrive. Seems to handle better, better response in 3 versus D but I don't want to burn up the transmission. I will say the RPMs are not really high in 3 either.
RoyB
Explorer II
Jun 30, 2013
I suspect you will want something bigger if you ever meet up with one of those big tractor trailer trucks pulling a load of logs stacked up as high as you can see heading at you at 70MPH on a two lane road. There is no escape getting as far to the right as you can get to the side of the road...

I have meet up with a few of these monsters on US82 between MS and Arkansas where the blast of wind from the on-coming truck would blow away my F150 truck windshield wipers sometimes pulling my off-road popup shown here... Lost a couple of HAM ANTENNAs mounted on my truck as well... The last thing you see is the truck driver with big smile on his face...

Be safe out there my friend...
Roy ken
poppin_fresh
Explorer
Jun 30, 2013
The thing that sticks out to me is that you had to add a hitch. This likely means that your Liberty does not have a tow package meaning its limited to 2,000 lbs towing (from what I'm reading in the manual).

"Your vehicle is capable of towing trailers up to 2,000 lbs
(907 kg) without added equipment or alterations to the
standard equipment. Your vehicle may be factory
equipped for safe towing of trailers weighing over
2,000 lbs (907 kg) with the optional Trailer Tow Prep
Package." - 2011 Liberty Owners manual

Usually the tow prep package includes the hitch and extra cooling for the transmission at a minimum. You can probably tow that camper with your set up, but if you cook the transmission doing so, your warranty will probably be out the window.

You should see if the parts of the "tow prep package" can be added if you dont have them on your Liberty already. With some vehicles this is possible to keep the warranty, but others the manufacturer wont recognize the upgrades (for warranty claims) unless it left the factory with the tow package option.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Jun 29, 2013
mrotis wrote:
Hello - I have also recently purchased the same Gulfstream model and am set up to pull with my 2002 Town and Country. The van already has a class 3 hitch installed with equalizer and stabilizers/anti-sway. Have electric brakes and van is rated for 3800 towing capacity.

I'm getting mixed opinions about the van's ability to tow adequately and wonder if you all have any thoughts/suggestions. We have taken it out and, sure, you feel it back there.

Thanks for your thoughts.
-otis

If the trailer weighs 3800lbs then you are at your vans tow rating. are you using a WD hitch? anytime you put a TT behind something you are going to know it`s back there.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Jun 29, 2013
Perfect combo. just be sure you have your WD hitch setup properly. this will be your biggest factor in towing stability.
mrotis
Explorer
Jun 29, 2013
Hello - I have also recently purchased the same Gulfstream model and am set up to pull with my 2002 Town and Country. The van already has a class 3 hitch installed with equalizer and stabilizers/anti-sway. Have electric brakes and van is rated for 3800 towing capacity.

I'm getting mixed opinions about the van's ability to tow adequately and wonder if you all have any thoughts/suggestions. We have taken it out and, sure, you feel it back there.

Thanks for your thoughts.
-otis