I was towing a 30ft Trail Cruiser with my GMC Acadia. I had weight distributing with a tongue weight of just over 500lbs. My payload capacity was completely swallowed-up by tongue weight and passengers. I as at the limit for combined vehicle weight rating and total cargo/towing capacity of 5200lbs. I took two short-distance camping trips with this set-up and have some advice...
I was within legal-specs of the rating for my vehicle and hitch. It was very difficult on the Acadia that was nearly overheating the engine and I suspect the transmission was also very hot (no gauge) even with the HD cooling package. I had trailer brakes, so braking was not an issue. The ride was okay, but with even a little bit of sway it felt scary. I suspect that if I lost control even slightly I could not recover that control and would crash.
I bought a 2001 Sierra 1500 HD Crew Cab with a 6.5 foot box and it made a huge difference with the longer wheelbase. The sway was completely gone. That truck recently died, and I just replaced with a 2011 Sierra 1500 Crew Cab short box. The new Sierra tows very well, but I can feel the difference in wheelbase where there is a little more sway then the old Sierra
Same Hitch and Trailer with different vehicles:
2012 GMC Acadia (119" Wheelbase) hard to control, not very safe feeling. Had Stiff suspension with air lifts installed.
2001 GMC 1500 HD (153" Wheelbase) very easy to tow with, no sway and had factory stiff suspension, no bounce.
2011 GMC 1500 Crew (143.5" Wheelbase) a little bit of sway and suspension bounce that I will fix with air springs.
My 2010 Acadia towed my old 18 foot TT without an issue but I did not install air lifts into the 2010 Acadia so there was a lot of bounce.
You can either tow shorter / lighter trailers, or increase the size of the towing vehicle (wheelbase is very important, longer equals better)
