Tow vehicle/RV match

[Kittenface]

Hello,
Thanks to anyone who offers some advice. Complete newbie here 🙂

I have a Dodge Grand Caravan that was purchased with a tow package. Per the owners manual:
GCWR is 8,900 lbs
Max Tongue Weight is 335
Max GTW is 3,800 lbs (assuming 2 ppl & luggage)

I am looking at a StarCraft 16RB:
Gross weight is 3500 lbs (dry 2585, cargo 915).
Hitch weight is 290 lbs.

I will never be driving with fresh water tank full.

The hitch that was installed on the minivan is rated for 400/4,000 lbs (ecustomhitch 75579-118534)

I have 3 questions.

1 - can this vehicle tow this RV?
2 - the hitch installed on the minivan looks really low - obviously the minivan sits lower than a truck. When I look at it though and thinking about the types of hitches I see that connect the RV to vehicle it seems like there wouldn't be enough clearance to the ground...maybe only 3-4". That seems too low...is it?
3. Would I need a weight distribution hitch instead of what is currently installed - would that help?

[bikendan]

drsteve wrote:

Kittenface wrote:
Thank you everyone! You have given me much good advice and I appreciate everyone taking their time out to reply.
I ultimately agree I need a larger tow vehicle as I don't want a smaller RV - Looks like I have much more research to do before any final decisions are made.

If you are going to upgrade your tow vehicle, decide what you want in an RV, figure out what it will take to pull it and carry your family and all their gear--including a full water tank, because you will want to do it--then go truck shopping. It works out much better that way, and it's cheaper in the long run.

THIS^^^

It's better to find the trailer you want and then get a tow vehicle that can easily tow it.

[drsteve]

Kittenface wrote:
Thank you everyone! You have given me much good advice and I appreciate everyone taking their time out to reply.
I ultimately agree I need a larger tow vehicle as I don't want a smaller RV - Looks like I have much more research to do before any final decisions are made.

If you are going to upgrade your tow vehicle, decide what you want in an RV, figure out what it will take to pull it and carry your family and all their gear--including a full water tank, because you will want to do it--then go truck shopping. It works out much better that way, and it's cheaper in the long run.

[Kittenface]

Thank you everyone! You have given me much good advice and I appreciate everyone taking their time out to reply.
I ultimately agree I need a larger tow vehicle as I don't want a smaller RV - Looks like I have much more research to do before any final decisions are made.

[jerem0621]

I have a 2014 Chrysler Town & Country with 80k miles. I have towed pretty large loads with this Van including a 480 lb tongue weight POP UP with a weight distribution hitch... yep over the owners manual rating...way way over... it I was under the receiver hitches rating of 500 lbs with weight distribution.

Van handled like it was on rails towing this combo.

All Pentastar Mini Vans have HD cooling. The transmission and the power steering cooler is a combo cooler IIRC... it's much bigger than the puny transmission cooler on my current F150 (that shall be rectified very soon)

This Minivan has been overloaded many times and does nothing but laugh and ask for more. Now I am not advocating overloading a vehicle, that's one of the primary reasons that I bought my F150. It's just very easy to overload one of these vans.

Now, here is my reality check for you.

My POP up towed AWESOME behind my van. Great power, great MPG, great handling.

But, I rented one of the taller UHaul trailers and it was about 1/2 the weight of the PUP...let me tell ya, that aerodynamic drag on these vans with a high profile trailer is REAL...it was more dramatic difference on my Van towing that UHaul than my old F150 had pulling a Mid profile travel Trailer. No joke.

So here is my Suggestion...go for a pop up. The Van will handle it great as long as you manage the tongue weight.

Like I said, my tongue weight was 480 lbs

Now, I did not intend for my tongue weight to be that heavy. My pop up was supposed to have around 260 lbs of tongue weight from the factory but loaded and ready to camp it was nearly 500 lbs.

Single axle trailers, depending on where the axle sits can have a tremendously disproportionately high tongue weight for what I was expecting. My Pup was only 3200 lbs scaled and 480 of that was tongue weight! Yep that's right on 15%. If I would have had a front storage locker it probably would have been more.

Feel free to PM me if you want to.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[BurbMan]

Hi Kittenface, couple of things here....

Your weights are certainly within limits, so the minivan "should" tow the TT just fine. How it performs doing so is something you'll have to assess. I would go ahead and give it a try, but be ready for the fact that you may not like the way it tows and you could be looking for a stouter vehicle in the future. FWIW, full size RWD vans make some of the best tow vehicles if you like/need the room in a van format.

You say the minivan has a towing package, double check to be sure that includes an auxiliary transmission cooler, you should see a small radiator sitting in front of the main engine radiator with lines connected to the transmission. The transmission is the weak point on these FWD vans, so even with aux cooling, be sure to get a temperature gauge installed for the transmission.

Regarding the hitch, what you had installed is known as the hitch receiver. You don;t need to change that to use a weight distributing hitch, the WD hitch head installs in the receiver in place of regular ball mount. It does sound like you have tight ground clearance, but again, you'll have to drive it and see. If you do wind up upgrading the tow vehicle, you can keep the WD hitch setup and keep using it.

Fresh water is only part of the weight equation...if the propane and battery(ies) are on the tongue, they contribute a lot to increasing tongue weight. Also, floorplan and location of storage compartments, whether ahead of or behind the axles, have a big influence on handling. Loading a lot of weight ahead of the TT axles adds to tongue weight but makes for stable handling. Loading behind the TT axles gives you a nice light tongue weight but makes the TT unstable to tow.

Best thing you can do is load the van and TT like you plan to go camping and head to the scales and get some real weights. You might also weigh with full fresh water, it may not be as bad as you think.

A lot of how the van performs will depend on your local roads and where you plan to travel. Heading an hour up to the lake on the weekend is different from a marathin road trip out West to the national parks.

[2012Coleman]

Here is a thread with the same question.

Does your inted TT - StarCraft 16RB have the fold out bed in the back? If so, it is the exact TT my in-laws pulled with their minivan - see my post on page 2 of that thread.

Your tongue weight will be north of 400 lbs. Your hitch will drag the ground. Your minivan is not a good tow vehicle - it's a grocery getter with soft tires and suspension that can seat lots of people comfortably.

Go ahead and try it - just schedule some time to wind down after arriving at your destination.

And if you go through with it, be sure to maintain the caulking around the door. My FIL's Starcraft leaked around the door un-noticed and made mush out of the floor.

Consider towing with a more substantial vehicle. Good luck to you.

[SusanDallas]

I tow a 2017 KZ Sportsmen Classic 180bh with a 2006 Kia Sedona EX minivan. The 180bh dry weight is 2700.My minivan tows it easily. Before I purchased my travel trailer, I did a test tow of a travel trailer that weighed 300lbs more than the one I purchased. I would not purchase a travel trailer without a test tow. I then had the largest transmission cooler that would fit installed. Do not rely on just the cooler that came with your vehicle. I then had Timbren suspension installed on my rear tires. I had an E2 weight distribution hitch put on. It has a built in sway control and doesn't have to be adjusted to back up. You will also need a brake controller. My hitch sits very low as well. The dealer assured me that it shouldn't be a problem and it hasn't been. Surprisingly, my gas mileage is great while towing. I only use 1/4 a tank more when towing. I usually get around 21mpg so when towing,I am still getting around 18 Mpg. Kia minivans are one of the best rated for towing so please don't do anything until you have a test tow with your vehicle.

[bikendan]

Check your minivan's owners manual.
I'll bet there's a frontal area limitation that any conventional TT will exceed, including the trailer you're looking at.

That's not even addressing the weights you'll be exceeding.

[noteven]

When we did some enclosed motorcycle trailer towing with a Nissan Quest - we used a hitch with an offset up to raise the ball coupler.

"Minivans" ( even 8900 lbs ones 🙂 ) tow nicely because their wheels are at the ends of the vehicle and the hitch has a short offset to the rear axle...

The StarCraft 16RB is pretty square in the front. I would ask your dealer if you can take one for a test tow.

[rexlion]

The problems are the low mount and the tongue weight. You are going to be over 335 once you add LP, battery, and some gear. WD hitches add 55-90 lbs to that.

Look for a 16' Scamp if possible. Less wind reistance, less weight, and only 200-230 lbs real world loaded hitch weight.

[wowens79]

The wind resistance will be pretty tough on it also. I think you are more in the popup range. Take a look at them, you will be surprised how much room they have. We had a P-Up for 9 years, and the heating and cooling works well, we even had heated mattresses.

[jfkmk]

Hello, I don't think I'd try towing that trailer with that minivan. I have a similar sized trailer (same gross weight) that I tow with a mid-sized body on frame SUV. It tows the trailer very well, but I'm really at the max I'd be comfortable with, even though the SUV is rated for 5500# tow capacity. Besides, those caravans are famous for having poor transaxles, you'd probably kill it.

[Lwiddis]

1. No
2. Yes
3. NA
"I will never be driving with fresh water tank full." Then when you find a great dry campsite you can't stop. Get a good TV so your tongue weight can be 10 to 15%, you won't kill your van, your family will be safe, your trailer level when towing and you will enjoy driving.