hardside popup tow vehicle

The T&C is a 2010, it is rated for 1000 lbs towing.

It is a grandkids hauler and we canoe camp, so we do not need towing capacity but we do need the room.

If it is just the DW and I have a 25 ft TT and an F-150 E-Boost 4x4. A completly different type of travel.

It that's a recent T&C it doesn't need much outfitting to make it equal to the 3,500# ones with the factory tow package.

My Town & Contry van, no. It is only rated for 1000 lbs.

Other models with the towing package would have no troubles.

xteacher wrote:
I tow our Aliner Ranger 15 with a 2010 Pathfinder (6000 lb. tow capacity), and I don't need the WDH or the sway bar. However, I did add a tranny cooler b/c this generation of Pathfinders tend to have transmission issues. No sense tempting fate...

I just returned from a 2k mile trip to Wisconsin to pick up an Expedition with a Tacoma (6,500 tow capacity with tow package) without sway or WDH and it towed and tracked very well. I tried driving around Chicago on slight grades in OD and it started to shift gears so I put it in Drive and did the remainder of the trip with nary a shift, including through the Penn. mountains.

A small hard-side is not a difficult tow. But there are minivans and there are minivans. An Astro/Safari with 4.3 V-6 can tow a lot more than an early 4-cylinder Caravan or a Mazda MPV, and there is a whole range of other vans in between. Astro has essentially the 1500 Silverado six cylinder drive train, which is fine for light towing.

I would put a transmission cooler on any minivan that did not come with a tow package (which sometimes includes the cooler but often a beefed up cooling system for both engine and transmission, plus electrical and suspension upgrades).

I'd be wary of towing much of anything with 2nd generation Odyssey, they liked to eat up their undersized transmissions even if not towing (my daughter went through three trannies in two vans).

A lot depends on which hard-side. The smallest A-Liners can be towed by a subcompact sedan.

Towing with a mini-van is doable IF the trailer has brakes,you have a tow package and add a brake controller. I would stick to an A Frame less than 2000 pounds (ex: Aliner Classic, Ranger 12, Ranger 10). You also may need sway control and/or WDH, depending on your van. I'm not sure I'd try to tow an Aliner Expedition or a Ranger 15, both of which are over 2000 pounds. I'm conservative with towing, and it's served me well over the years.

I tow our Aliner Ranger 15 with a 2010 Pathfinder (6000 lb. tow capacity), and I don't need the WDH or the sway bar. However, I did add a tranny cooler b/c this generation of Pathfinders tend to have transmission issues. No sense tempting fate...

You can see in my signature that I tow an Aliner Sport with a small car. We have pulled that trailer close to 20,000 miles with that car and it does wonderful.

Some numbers;
Aliner Sport factory claimed weight 1,100 pounds empty
Aliner Sport actual weight 1,400 pounds empty
Loaded with water and all our gear ready to camp normally just under 2,000 pounds.

gheicher wrote:


Tow vehicle is never big enough but it can be too small.

somebody on here probably recommended that setup.
needs a WDH however.
bumpy

My 2004 Aliner is listed on the tag as 995 lbs. My guess with all the stuff inside it is around 1500 lbs. I have towed it with my Subaru Forester rated for 2400 lbs but I certainly know it is back there when accelerating or going up hills.

Also sometimes I tow the Aliner with my V8 Ford Explorer and while there is some drag on the hills, most of the time I hardly know its back there.

Tow vehicle is never big enough but it can be too small.

Our softside popup (12' low wall, non-trunk, non-slideout) weighs 2,000# dry and 2,700# loaded on an actual long trip weigh-in. We've pulled it for tens of thousands of miles with our Honda Odysseys. Our 03 Ody now has 215k miles on it, all original powertrain and suspension.

That said, I'd not have done it without electric trailer brakes, Prodigy controller, appropriately sized weight distributing hitch and auxiliary ATF cooler. I'd recommend wdh bars sized for 400# hitch weight. Bigger isn't better for wdh bars when you are towing with a unibody. Use the RIGHT size wdh.