2012 Chrysler minivan towing?

[joharnisch]

We have a 2012 Town & Coountry (72K miles) with max tow rating of 3,600 lbs. We have trailer brake installed. Family of 4 (me, wife and 2 grade school kids). looking at a 2016 Jayco x17z - GVWR of 3,500 lbs, with a hitch weight of 400lbs. Is this too much for our minivan?

Owners manual drops max Gross Trailer Weight to 3,350 if you have 3-5 persons and luggage and reduces another 100 since we have stow and go. THat's now 3,250 lbs. I've also heard of 'Frontal Area' this camper is 10ft x8ft, thus 80 SF. that would exceed the 40 SF limit, correct?

We've pulled a 2003 Carmel popup for two years with not many problems, though I did have brakes replaced all around this fall.

[PAThwacker]

Glad you came here first. Next go to a state park and search for vans. Maybe one in the popup loop, and the rest in the tent loop. I never supported minivans to tow more than a ten foot popup for obvious reasons.

[joharnisch]

We've now backed down from this setup, temporarily. Trying to maybe look at the Jay Feather 7 series that someone mentioned, but none in our area ( only 7ft wide), 200lbs lighter (dry). Also, I may just use this all as an excuse to get a truck, which I've always wanted, just too cheap to go buy it. I don't want to be stressing over every lb we load up for our trips.

Thanks

[akrv]

My Chrysler mini van it says you have a maximum frontal area cannot exceed 40 square feet.

[Campfire_Time]

rexlion wrote:
How would this be a safe rig? 400 lb hitch dry weight means it'll likely be 500 lbs or more once he gets it loaded for camping. With the soft rear suspension of a minivan and a receiver attachment that's probably rated for 350 lbs max, this is an accident waiting to happen! What if the receiver breaks loose from the van and the trailer careens across traffic and hits someone head-on? Or he's going around a curve and something in the suspension breaks, propelling the whole rig in the wrong direction?

That Pentastar is not a magic wand to make all the problems go away. All that frontal area will make the tranny hot as heck, too.

What if? What if any of these things happen to any tow vehicle? While I don't think this is the ideal setup it will not be unsafe to do so long as everything is properly installed and adjusted.

jerem0621 wrote:


Untrue about everything else about how terrible these vans are. I've had everything but a MDT as a TV and I enjoy towing with this Van as well as any of them.

Most people can't wrap their head around towing with a Minivan, thats okay. Low center of gravity, high HP (at least the modern ones), good handling, with a properly set WD hitch heavish towing is a pure pleasure.

The Pentastar has been a fantastic motor for me. So much so that I am really considering a Ram with the Pentastar as my replacement vehicle of my Town Car (talk about a terrible TV... that Town Car is terrible)

Pentastar in the Ram is rated up to 7,000 lbs towing.. very capable little motor.

JMHO based on experience...

Thanks!

Jeremiah

I don't argue the power. But just because the engine is the same in the van as the truck does not make them equal tow vehicles. Even if HP and torque ratings are the same, the programming is not. The difference in suspension alone makes a dramatic difference in towing experience and comfort level. As I said in the above reply I don't see a safety issue. Having towed by personal choice with a mini-van close to my capacities, and later with different trailer and a very capable SUV also close to capacities, I can say from experience that the difference in towing between being close to the limits and having a healthy margin is simply night and day. We're not talking about pop-up campers here, we're talking full height travel trailers. Big difference in towing experience. And you seem to recognize that based on your signature.

All that said the majority of those who start off with these close to the limit setups usually upgrade to a larger TV in 12-18 months. If for no other reason than not having to worry about every ounce loaded and the desire tow through mountains or go cross country.

[noteven]

Clicky to people doing it

[APT]

Get the truck first. Say you limit yourself to RVs that you think can be towed my the minivan. You freak out when towing after 2 trips and buy a truck. You can have a lot more RV at 5-6k dry than 2500 dry, and that will cost even more to upgrade the RV later.

7 foot wide by 9-10 feet tall is still far more frontal area even curved front than the 40SF rating.

No other trailer type tows worse than RVs. Not even enclosed cargo trailers. A TT is mainly a very large empty box, so relatively light for it's size. Besides pulling two sheets of plywood through the air at 60mph that needs quite a bit of power, you have 8 foot by however many feet long to catch any cross winds.

[Fast_Mopar]

jerem0621 wrote:

Most people can't wrap their head around towing with a Minivan, thats okay. Low center of gravity, high HP (at least the modern ones), good handling, with a properly set WD hitch heavish towing is a pure pleasure.

I agree. I have been doing it for 16 years with 3 different minivans, and my 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan is the best of the 3. No drama, it just handles the load and works very well. I have no regrets at all. It is a very safe setup. My receiver is rated for 5000 lb BTW.

[mythree]

I tow with a ford freestar 2000lb pup. 4 kids I wouldn't want any more than that. I'm one of those that want more vehicle but I love the no car note. I think a mini van is a great pup tower.

[jerem0621]

rexlion wrote:
How would this be a safe rig? 400 lb hitch dry weight means it'll likely be 500 lbs or more once he gets it loaded for camping. With the soft rear suspension of a minivan and a receiver attachment that's probably rated for 350 lbs max, this is an accident waiting to happen! What if the receiver breaks loose from the van and the trailer careens across traffic and hits someone head-on? Or he's going around a curve and something in the suspension breaks, propelling the whole rig in the wrong direction?

That Pentastar is not a magic wand to make all the problems go away. All that frontal area will make the tranny hot as heck, too.

True that the Receiver Rating is the weak link. This tongue weight must be managed well.

Untrue about everything else about how terrible these vans are. I've had everything but a MDT as a TV and I enjoy towing with this Van as well as any of them.

They have good suspension, HD cooling (engine, transmission, oil), and has a very strong receiver. Comparing my receiver to my old 97 F150's receiver this one is much beefier (especially considering the F150's receiver had double the rating).

Most people can't wrap their head around towing with a Minivan, thats okay. Low center of gravity, high HP (at least the modern ones), good handling, with a properly set WD hitch heavish towing is a pure pleasure.

The Pentastar has been a fantastic motor for me. So much so that I am really considering a Ram with the Pentastar as my replacement vehicle of my Town Car (talk about a terrible TV... that Town Car is terrible)

Pentastar in the Ram is rated up to 7,000 lbs towing.. very capable little motor.

JMHO based on experience...

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[dshelley]

Joharisch, you are receiving a lot of advice from people of various opinions. All fine, but one thing I failed to mention in my earlier post is to strongly consider the Jayco 7 foot wide travel trailers. About 15% less frontal area and much easier to see behind you in a narrow vehicle such as your minivan.

[lgarcia]

Since you are camping 1 to 2 hours away, I would suggest two vehicles.

Rest of the family in the other vehicle with as much stuff as is safe for driving in it.

You tow with your van and haul as little as possible.

Pack with weight in mind. Take light camping stools instead of heavy zero gravity chairs. A deck of cards weighs a lot less than a horseshoe set. Razor type 200 mm wheel scooters instead of bicycles take up less space and weigh 10lbs instead of 30 lbs.

I have similar style trailer and a vehicle with more towing capacity, and I still pack the TT as lightly as I can.

[rexlion]

How would this be a safe rig? 400 lb hitch dry weight means it'll likely be 500 lbs or more once he gets it loaded for camping. With the soft rear suspension of a minivan and a receiver attachment that's probably rated for 350 lbs max, this is an accident waiting to happen! What if the receiver breaks loose from the van and the trailer careens across traffic and hits someone head-on? Or he's going around a curve and something in the suspension breaks, propelling the whole rig in the wrong direction?

That Pentastar is not a magic wand to make all the problems go away. All that frontal area will make the tranny hot as heck, too.

[joharnisch]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think we are leaning towards giving it a go. we do mostly local trips 1-2hr drives, fairly flat. Anything more than that and I'll probably borrow my Dad's truck. If the tow experience is bad, our other vehicle (small SUV) is due for an upgrade and I wouldn't mind a truck, but was enjoying no car payment for the moment.

Is it summer yet! 🙂

Joe

[jerem0621]

I tow that load all the time with my family of four. 3,000 lb pup, 3500 lb enclosed trailer, 1500 lb utility trailer...no problems at all.

Air the tires up to max psi...use a WD hitch and enjoy the tow...my pentastar is fantastic and tows great.

Just be careful not to overload the hitch. These 3,600 lb rated vans are awesome TV's with the Pentastar V6 (285 hp)..

I do keep it in 4th or 5th gear depending on the road. I stay out of 6th.

Thanks and good luck!

Jeremiah