Towing 2004 Starcraft Antigua 215sb

[StoneCampers]

Curious to know what people are towing this with? We have a V6 Highlander with a hitch (5000# rating). The sticker inside the car door says GVWR 6000#. The NADA lists the base weight at 3426#, 22ft. Worried that I am getting to close to my tow weight. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[mbopp]

I had the corporate twin, an '04 Starcraft 21SSO that weighed 3850# dry. I towed it with an I-6 Envoy rated for 5100# towing. Running a Reese Dual Cam hitch, the stability wasn't an issue but the Envoy struggled on some hills.

Doable? Maybe. I don't know how the Highlander will handle the hills though. And you need to find out the rated tow capacity of the Highlander, not just the hitch capacity. Does it have the factory tow package? And also whether the Toyo's hitch is rated for a weight-distribution hitch or not.

[bikendan]

kvangil has it right.
on a 2004, there's a white factory weight sticker on the inside of some cabinet door.
it shows what the trailer weighed when it left the factory, called its "UVW"(unloaded vehicle weight). should include 40lbs. for propane.

DON'T go by any "dry" weight in a brochure or website.

that trailer will easily weigh 4000lbs. loaded for camping and that's a conservative number. probably closer to 4400lbs.

your Highlander's GVWR is what its max weight alone is. that's counting passengers, cargo and tongue weight of trailer. really doesn't indicate what its towing capacity is.
you subtract what it weighs empty from the GVWR to get a ballpark amount of what the Highlander's payload amount is.

and just cause the hitch says 5000lbs., doesn't mean that's what your car can tow. that's the weight rating for the hitch itself, no matter what vehicle it's been bolted onto.
you need to check your owner's manual, especially hitch/tongue weight for a soft-suspension SUV like yours.

[kvangil]

The 3426# is considered the "dry," or empty, weight of the trailer as it left the factory. There should be a sticker by the door or in a cabinet by the door that lists that specific trailer's real dry weight, which is with all it's included options. My guess would be that the dry weight is closer to 3600-3700# then 3200. Depending on how many people you bring along in the Highlander, the weight of the passengers subtracts from the 5000# that the Highlander can tow. The hitch parts can add up to another 100#. So as you can see, the 5000# capacity of the vehicle can get taken up rather quickly. You'll need to do the math to see how much capacity you really have.

[StoneCampers]

Thank you for your help! I thought the Antigua GVW is 3426# and the GVWR is 5000#. The GVWR is the absolute max it could weigh after loading? Or am I totally confusing my abbreviations and meanings?

[kvangil]

I don't have that camper, but I tow a hybrid of the same size (4950 GVW compared to the 2004 Antigua's 5000# GVW). I personally wouldn't tow a camper with gross weight that is right at the tow rating of the tow vehicle, as it leaves you no wiggle room for people and gear. My current vehicle gives me a 1000# cushion, and sometimes that seems too little.