Proteus wrote:
Thanks. I'm puzzled though, since the old MLs had much lower tow ratings (only 5000 lbs), and much less power.
I'm not that worried about the tongue weight. The low rating comes from Mercedes using the european standard 8% tongue rating. The Jeep Grand Cherokee uses almost the exact same unibody chassis, but without the high strength steel reinforcement, and has a 740lb hitch rating. In addition, I'd be using a good WD/sway hitch.
We got this SUV specifically because it WAS meant for serious towing..which was why I'm so surprised when I started getting differing opinions.
There are a number of people on the Airstream forums who tow much heavier 28-30ft beasts, including one towing a 7500lber..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD00Z92ON-k
I'd be towing about 1500 lbs less than that, fully loaded.
Again. Many towing Airstreams had their vehicles heavily Modified to tow.
But you know. Go ahead and do what you want. Overload the TV, get a too light tongue and let it wiggle all over the road. You'l be fine.
Just don't count on sway control to fix your sway. that is NOT what it is for, and don't count on a WDH to compensate for a too light tongue. That's not what it does either.
