Towing 3800lb TT- Highlander-Pathfinder?

[Deano77]

I am looking at buying a Pop up tent (Rockwood) that has gross weight capacity of 3800 lbs. (dry weight 3000 lbs). I am thinking of a Pathfinder or Highlander, which both list 5,000 lbs capacity. Does anyone have any comment on either one or something that might be better? Pathfinder comes in FWD or 4WD and Highlander comes in FWD or AWD. I was thinking the Highlander with AWD would be better, but is either enough If I fully load the Trailer to 3800? Its just my wife and I so not that worried about the GWVR.

[SilverEscape]

bondebond wrote:

If you're looking to do any offroading, personally, I would recommend the Pathfinder, assuming it meets your needs for a TV. I have seen some stock Pathfinders doing quite well in even some half-decent rock crawling.

The Pathfinder was redesigned for 2013 and is now more crossover/car like. And as such has had the towing capacity reduced to 5000#. It looks very nice though! So not sure it's as suited for off roading as it used to be. Not sure if OP is buying new or used though.

[bondebond]

popupcamping had a lot of great observations in his posts.

I pull a highwall with a 4Runner, the slightly bigger brother for Highlander. The Highlander stands about 68.1" tall and the HW277 is 71" plus air conditioner height, if equipped. So the PUP will stand just a smidge taller than the tow vehicle. This will be the frontal wind profile.

My HW unit has a factory unloaded tongue weight of 290. With gear, battery and two LP tanks, it is about 520 pounds the last time I weighed it. It doesn't take much to get that TW up quickly.

With whatever TV you decide to go with, if there is a factory tow package available, get it. There were three trim lines available for my 4Runner. While the Limited had nicer creature and ride comforts, the Sport Edition (SE) really was the tow package with larger disc brakes than the other two trims, transmission cooler and upgraded factory hitch. As configured, it is rated to tow 7,000 pounds. The hitch is rated for 500 pounds but can go to 700 pounds with WDH, which I truly need to do.

I say all of this to say pay attention to the fine details with whatever TV you decide to get and that there may be big differences within the same model based on options. One or two thousand dollars more can make a big difference in handling and longevity of the vehicle.

As for the PUP, get the biggest one your TV can capably handle. However, I really do like having a large capacity on the TV and not pushing to the upper range or limit. My first TV/PUP combo was a vehicle rated for 3,500 pounds and the PUP was about 2,300 pounds loaded. The TV struggled to pull up hills and relatively quickly burned out the transmission with OD off and trying to baby it up the mountains. That's 1,200 pounds under the TV's capacity but it just was not set up for towing. This is just one person's experience.

If you're looking to do any offroading, personally, I would recommend the Pathfinder, assuming it meets your needs for a TV. I have seen some stock Pathfinders doing quite well in even some half-decent rock crawling.

[SilverEscape]

Deano77 wrote:
Rockwood/Flaggstaff is the only HW I know of, but maybe there is something I am missing.

Starcraft is offering a highwall for 2014 Starcraft 3611HW

News blip

[Deano77]

Thanks everyone. DCFan...is your HW about the same weight as what I am looking at? Total of 3800? . Rockwood/Flaggstaff is the only HW I know of, but maybe there is something I am missing.

[Mike_Up]

With that tongue weight, you really need a truck based vehicle that will have the tongue weight rating and the payload.

Why not get a Nissan Frontier Crew Cab where it will have 650 lbs tongue weight rating and should provide enough payload.

With that tongue weight, you'll definitely want to use a weight distributing hitch. That will help not only with keeping the tow vehicle level but will help distribute some of the hitch weight off of the tow vehicles suspension, and put it back on the camper's suspension. This would even help with the Frontier's lower payload (next to a full size).

[dcfan99]

I tow a highwall popup with my 2010 Highlander with the tow package, rated for 5000 lbs. I use a weight distribution hitch with anti-sway, and a prodigy brake controller. I have never had a problem towing or stopping my rig with this setup, and I am routinely in the Smokies on pretty significant grades. The Highlander would be a good choice for you.

[popupcamping]

Deano77 wrote:
. Will TW be higher than 359 because of propane tanks?

yes and with stuff you put in the HW277 to camp with. Plus your WDH will weigh 60lbs. The battery is 60lbs.

If buying a new TV I would maybe consider Durango or Tahoe which would be more ideal for a HW277 IMO

[Deano77]

. Will TW be higher than 359 because of propane tanks?

[xteacher]

The initials for a pop up are PUP - lol! You shouldn't have any problem towing a PUP with either of these vehicles, esp. if the gross is 3800 lb., and b/c it's a PUP, not a TT (has nearly no frontal area issues when towing).

Frontal area refers to the amount of surface area of the front of the trailer, especially the parts that stick up above and to the sides of your tow vehicle. It creates incredible wind drag - picture dragging a sail into the wind, rather than with it. The greater the frontal area, the more it impacts your towing ability. That's why some of the really small TTs are only 6-7 ft. wide, rather than the standard 8 feet wide, and why they're shorter. A highwall PUP would have a greater frontal area than a regular PUP (this is why popupcamping asked you about this).

You may need a mini weight distribution hitch, but I'd hook up with a regular hitch first to see if you actually need it (your dealer can check this for you). My Pathfinder sags a little with my Aliner (tows like a PUP), which weighs probably 2500 lb. loaded, but not enough to need a WDH (weight distribution hitch). When we had a PUP, I had a regular hitch, but had a sway bar added b/c I was towing with a vehicle towing near its max.

You might want to register with the Popup Explorer website. There's a great bunch of folks on it with a wealth of knowledge regarding PUPs.

[popupcamping]

Deano77 wrote:
To popupcamping.

HW277....yes high wall. Yes I called it TT at first because I am new and thought that meant tent trailer.

The dry weight is right around 3000, total is 3800. Tongue weight I believe is around 250. Both TVs have a tow package of 5,000 lb rating. Seemed like this gives me a 20 % cushion, no? Was also wondering about the FWD, AWD and 4 WD options. It sounds like rear 2WD is best, followed by AWD, FWD and 4WD....but not sure. Any thoughts? And it sounded like you thought this would barely be passable....can you tell me why?

Drive train will not make any difference in towing...FWD,AWD,4WD. Get what you prefer the other 95 percent of the time you will not be towing.

TW is actually 359 lbs dry and will be close to if not over 500 ready to camp. Any less than 450 you will be into a dangerous sway situation guaranteed. Your vehicle will have a max TW allowance of 500lbs so you are MAX MAX with a HW277. The other factor that will be close is payload but you should be fine.

The 3800 lbs will not be an issue. It may slow down a bit on the hills but still unlikely. I have the same 3.5 in my rav4 and it is quite stout. I lose no speed whatsoever on the biggest hills with my 2400lb popup

The reason I say it is just passable because highwalls are huge.


p.s. no worries about the terminology confusion. TT stands for travel trailer

[Deano77]

To popupcamping.

HW277....yes high wall. Yes I called it TT at first because I am new and thought that meant tent trailer.

The dry weight is right around 3000, total is 3800. Tongue weight I believe is around 250. Both TVs have a tow package of 5,000 lb rating. Seemed like this gives me a 20 % cushion, no? Was also wondering about the FWD, AWD and 4 WD options. It sounds like rear 2WD is best, followed by AWD, FWD and 4WD....but not sure. Any thoughts? And it sounded like you thought this would barely be passable....can you tell me why?

[Deano77]

Pop up.

Yes, I am new and thought TT was tent trailer.

[wawagoosie]

You should have no trouble at all pulling with the Highlander, no experience with a Pathfinder, but probably just as good, they both have the same tow ratings.

[popupcamping]

Deano77 wrote:
I am new at this and maybe I used the wrong term. This is a pop up tent trailer. What do you mean by frontal area? That is a term I have not heard.

you appear to have edited your original post. You said travel trailer in your first post and now have edited to a 3800 pound pop up.

lets start with the model number of the trailer you are looking at?

Is it a Highwall?

if it is a Highwall either TV would be at limit, but should work.

If it is a standard pop up either would work perfectly.

Your question would likely be answered better in a pathfinder or Highlander forum as maybe you would find someone who test drove both and decided on one. Unlikely you are towing that often so I would make my decision on either TV based on other criteria other than towing. Just a thought

[Deano77]

I am new at this and maybe I used the wrong term. This is a pop up tent trailer. What do you mean by frontal area? That is a term I have not heard.