Towing with a minivan
Hi to all on RV.Net. I have a 2011 Toyota Sienna with the tow option that is capable of towing 3500 lbs. I also just purchased (not taken delivery at this point)a 2018 Forest River Wolf Pup 16FQ that ...
Forum Discussion
I am sorry for this long response.
I have a fantastic Minivan. It’s a 2014 Town & Country. I set it up to tow a PUP which it did with ease. I had to run a WD hitch because the tongue weight was too heavy. With the WD hitch it towed amazing. Power was never an issue.
I now own a F150 and am looking for my next PUP (kind of want a vintage Apache or Bethany PUP, but I digress) or small TT
We still have the Van and we used it to tow an occasional utility trailer or small U-Haul after we sold the PUP...
Here is the thing...when I weighed the PUP I had 475 lbs of tongue weight. And there was NOTHING I could do about it. The PUP had a slide and limited storage. No matter how I loaded the pup I couldn’t get the tongue weight down to 10% (300 ish lbs is where I needed it). My owners manual said the tongue weight limit was 300 lbs or so for my van and I totally destroyed that rating.
I have an aftermarket Draw-Tite hitch that is rated for 500 lbs with WD..good to go right? Nope, the OEM rating trumps that.
With the WD, like I said, it did great. But, I think the WD hitch has loosened up the uni-body somehow. The doors don’t seem as tight and the interior body panels now rattle more than they use to before we towed with the WD hitch.
I also have worn out the rear springs and the rear shocks and they are going to be replaced very soon. I think that towing with my van has caused accelerated wear on the rear suspension. Although these are maintenance items as well.
It could be just age as we have 88k on the van now, but it was enough for me to say no, and go with a TV with a solid frame. The receiver on my F150 is rated for 1,200 lbs of tongue weight (with or without WD) and 12,000 lb trailer. Way more than I will ever use. I now have more lower end torque for towing and 1,800 lbs of payload.
This truck would have handled that pup with ease and that 475 lbs of tongue weight would not bother it.
So please, as much as I advocated towing with a Unibody van in the past, if you have to exceed the max tongue weight the OEM recommends then DON’T do it. Matter of fact, I don’t recommend exceeding any spec the OEM gives.
Also, my OEM recommends 40 or 50 sq ft as a max frontal load for my van. I am not sure that there is a TT save for a Scamp type trailer that will stay under this.
YMMV but IMHO for a TT something with a body on frame is where it’s at.
My good friend BenK on here says it best... my paraphrase is when the SHTF it is not the proper time to make sure everything is capable of handling the emergency.
Thanks!
Jeremiah
I have a fantastic Minivan. It’s a 2014 Town & Country. I set it up to tow a PUP which it did with ease. I had to run a WD hitch because the tongue weight was too heavy. With the WD hitch it towed amazing. Power was never an issue.
I now own a F150 and am looking for my next PUP (kind of want a vintage Apache or Bethany PUP, but I digress) or small TT
We still have the Van and we used it to tow an occasional utility trailer or small U-Haul after we sold the PUP...
Here is the thing...when I weighed the PUP I had 475 lbs of tongue weight. And there was NOTHING I could do about it. The PUP had a slide and limited storage. No matter how I loaded the pup I couldn’t get the tongue weight down to 10% (300 ish lbs is where I needed it). My owners manual said the tongue weight limit was 300 lbs or so for my van and I totally destroyed that rating.
I have an aftermarket Draw-Tite hitch that is rated for 500 lbs with WD..good to go right? Nope, the OEM rating trumps that.
With the WD, like I said, it did great. But, I think the WD hitch has loosened up the uni-body somehow. The doors don’t seem as tight and the interior body panels now rattle more than they use to before we towed with the WD hitch.
I also have worn out the rear springs and the rear shocks and they are going to be replaced very soon. I think that towing with my van has caused accelerated wear on the rear suspension. Although these are maintenance items as well.
It could be just age as we have 88k on the van now, but it was enough for me to say no, and go with a TV with a solid frame. The receiver on my F150 is rated for 1,200 lbs of tongue weight (with or without WD) and 12,000 lb trailer. Way more than I will ever use. I now have more lower end torque for towing and 1,800 lbs of payload.
This truck would have handled that pup with ease and that 475 lbs of tongue weight would not bother it.
So please, as much as I advocated towing with a Unibody van in the past, if you have to exceed the max tongue weight the OEM recommends then DON’T do it. Matter of fact, I don’t recommend exceeding any spec the OEM gives.
Also, my OEM recommends 40 or 50 sq ft as a max frontal load for my van. I am not sure that there is a TT save for a Scamp type trailer that will stay under this.
YMMV but IMHO for a TT something with a body on frame is where it’s at.
My good friend BenK on here says it best... my paraphrase is when the SHTF it is not the proper time to make sure everything is capable of handling the emergency.
Thanks!
Jeremiah
