Shopping for a trailer to pull with a van...

I also found this:

Maximum trailer weight ratings include cargo and fluids in the trailer, plus 150 pounds for the tow vehicle driver. These ratings must be decreased by the weight of any optional equipment, trailer hitch, cargo in the tow vehicle, and passengers other than the driver. To determine the GTW, subtract the curb weight and 150 pounds (allowance for the driver) from the GCWR.

For me I would go with a pop up trailer with that set up. Even a small hybrid would be too much for a loaded van and it is not worth the safety issues to do anything else.

You are not going to find a trailer big enough for your family that can be towed by your van....it's just not doable if you want to tow safely. My suggestion is to buy a nice large tent, a vice screen room and a nice utility trailer to haul all your gear. Get some nice lightweight cots for sleeping. And a nice camp stove and grill. Get a portable potty a possibly a separate shelter for it. Tent camping with the right gear can give you comfy sleeping, a clean and handy toilet for the wife and kids, a covered eating area, etc.

Any trailer you could tow wouldn't have enough sleeping bunks or room for 5 kids and two adults. Even a large pop up will be too much weight when you add gear.

I tow heavy with my Chrysler Town and Country all the time. From our utility trailer to our camper we take it everywhere.

It's by far an extremely solid tow vehicle. My typical load is about 3,000 lbs with the pop up and 800 lbs of people in the van.

The Pentastar is fantastic and I have not found a mountain in Tennessee that I could not exceed the speed limit while towing if I wanted too.

I typically leave the transmission in 4th gear.

I air up the tires to max PSI while towing.

Now, it's a bit more than just dropping the trailer on the ball.

I installed a receiver that can handle weight distribution and I use a weight distribution hitch with my rig. Trailer brakes are extremely important and I use a Tekonsha Prodigy and it's great.

Just mind your weights and your rig loading (not the same thing btw) and the T&C is fantastic.

For your rig I would consider a hybrid...specifically a Viking or KZ in the 16-17 ft range. Or a Pup similar to ours. We have a king size bed with heated mattresses and we have a slide out dinette. We even have a wet bath.

In our pup we can sleep 6 -7 adults comfortably

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Smaller tent trailer is your best option.

With 6 kids, maybe look into a Chevy Express 1-Ton Van.Then a bunkhouse TT to sleep everyone.
My TT would sleep 11 before I removed the trundle bed for more storage. Now it only sleeps 10.;) I've had as many as 3 adults, 2 10yr, and 2 7yr olds at once on a 4 week trip. The 4 kids had lots of space in the bunkroom. My niece slept on the jacknife couch. And we didn't have to break down the dinette.
Although a Suburban will carry 8, a large van will do it with more room and still tow something substantial.

I agree with previous posters that a hybrid or a popup are your best, possibly your only alternatives to sleep 2 adults plus 5 kids. Of the two, a popup will tow easier with better fuel economy and less strain on the transmission. And it will be easier to find a popup with a tolerably low hitch weight. You see, the hitch weight will max you out long before the trailer weight will. A HTT (hybrid) with, say, a 330 lb dry hitch weight will end up having a realistic 450 lb (or more) hitch when loaded with LP, battery, water, and gear. The Jayco X17A might work with its 260 lb dry hitch, but it's discontinued and limited to dealer stock.

If you feel that you need a bunch of cupboard space and a bathroom, I suppose the HTT is the way to go. If you mainly want a place to sleep everyone that's up off the ground, a popup will do just fine. You'll have canvas with either one, just more of it on the popup along with less weight and far less wind resistance when towing.

Whatever you tow, be sure to lock out overdrive.

Go to a state park on any given weekend. You will see zero unless you go on the tent loop. No 16 or 17 htt will sleep 7. No half ton whatever SUV can tow a trailer with every seat loaded. Proper hammers are used when risking 7 lives and everyone around you. Buy a reg cab 3/4 ton, tow that biggest camper you can store, and lug the kids separate in van



My hammer a 4 seat k2500 sub, 10 mpg all day long.

Payload on a 2012 Chrysler Town & Country is 1398. Search the forum on "Payload" and read forever. Payload will be exceeded before reaching your tow capacity. So you want to haul 7.5 people in a minivan towing a TT big enough to fit them all? :H Whatever you decide to believe, I hope it isn't a salesman wanting to sell you something.

Subtract the weight of everything in the van including people and pets. Then multiply the Gross weight of the TT you have in mind by 12%. Add another 100 lbs for a wdh hitch setup.

Subtract this from 1398 to see how far you are over/under the max number on the door jamb sticker. Better yet, take it fully loaded to a CAT scale - google it. You can also post a picture of the sticker in the door jamb.

When our grandkids come along with us we always setup a tent for them. The kids would rather sleep in the tent anyway. The POPUP trailer would end up being your home base where you are staying.

One of my kids would always sleep on the picnic table in his sleeping bag haha...

We always eat outside under the patio cover on our trips. We are more RV CAMPERS than RV TRAVELERS and are not really into the long RV trips... Most of our camping is OFF-ROAD with no HOOKUPs...

Give me a loud roaring creekside back in the woods camp spot anyday... We have plenty of such places around here in Virginia and up and down the SKYLINE DRIVE and Blue Ridge Parkway...

Roy Ken