Which TT has the Best Kitchen and Why?

propchef wrote:

gbopp wrote:
What is the towing capacity of your X5? That will be a good place to start.

It's a Class 3, so 6000 lbs GVW and 600 lb tongue. BMW forbids the use of load stabilizing hitches. I'd rather stay in the 20-22 ft range.

Again, just the two of us so we won't be loaded up.

Hi,

Trying to be helpful as you explained you are new to travel trailers.

Something is not adding up with what you said above. If BMW forbids the use of a weight distribution (WD ) hitch, but you found somewhere where it listed 600 lb tongue weight.

That small of a SUV to be able to handle a 600# weight carrying trailer tongue with no WD hitch, sort of points to overloading the rear axle with the rear overhang of the truck.

Where did you get the info of "Class 3, so 6000 lbs GVW and 600 lb tongue." spec from? Was this a sticker on the receiver of the truck, or did this comes from the owners manual?

What year and make up of the X5 do you have? They seems to have several models with engine and seating differences that change the truck ratings. I found this 2019 X5 owners manual online, https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1571400

Page 395 and 396 of that manual talks about "Load" (payload) of the truck pending what model, engine and number of seats you have.

And it talks about "Maximum draw bar nose weight" and "approved rear axle load" and "Approved Gross vehicle weight"

What does your owners manual state?

Your vehicle may be new enough that on the drivers door sticker it lists the available payload for your VIN truck. Have a look there, that is better then the manual even.

Ideally also knowing what the rear axle weight is before adding the trailer would help too. You may have to make a trip to the scales to get actual axle weights with both adults and other must have cargo inside the truck with a full tank of gas to sort out how much loaded trailer tongue weight you can carry. And without being able to use a WD hitch, there is a leverage magnification of the rear overhang of the truck that adds to a rear axle issue. Adding 400# of loaded camper weight, adds more than that to the rear axle due to the distance from the center of the rear axle, to the tow ball (rear overhang) which acts as a lever increasing the weight at the axle.

You may have the engine and drive train to pull a small camper, but the truck has to be able to handle the loaded tongue weight of the camper, any cargo items in the truck and occupants. And all that without using a WD hitch.

There is a lot of fine print in vehicle ratings that apply to towing travel trailers, they all have to fit, not just a tow rating. Having towed travel trailers with SUV's before, I learned the hard way where all the weak areas are on a SUV. Many times, it comes down to not enough payload capacity or rear axle capacity or both. Once you know where to look, then you can sort this out too. Just trying to help you not make the same mistakes many do all over again.

Hope this helps

John