Will I kill my mini-van?

[sdclaw21]

I currently have a 13 Chrysler T&C with an aftermarket class III and a 4 flat harness. I’ve used it to tow an 8ft utility trailer to the dump and occasionally a 1500lb pop up camping. I have an opportunity to purchase a small hybrid camper from a family friend at a good price. It’s dry weight is +-2950 with a tongue weight of around 350lbs. The vehicle comes standard with a trans cooler and has a max towing rating of 3,600lbs. Remaining relevant info follows.

Vehicle curb weight 4,600. GVWR 6,000. Combined GVWR 8,750. Tongue Weight 360. Family weight w kids and a dog 550lbs.

With the understanding that we will have to travel bare bones light with empty tanks on the trailer is there a reason this set up won’t work? Including bikes, a set of golf clubs, a suitcase for each, fishing gear, essential dish ware and bedding along w and groceries I can’t imagine we have more than 400 pounds of gear. I would be upgrading the rear shocks and installing a brake controller in the van. Trips would be within 150 miles and would be through mostly flat midwestern terrain.

[atreis]

I've towed with minivans for decades (Toyota and Ford, not Chrysler). Never had to replace a transmission, or any other part related to towing, and keep my cars for at least 10 years and generally put well over 200K miles on them. The Ford had a new Rack&Pinion put in at 120K miles, a common issue for the older Windstar, unrelated to towing. Never had an issue with using WDH (in fact, they're recommended by both Ford and Toyota) and never had an issue due to having a high wall trailer. IMO, most of the opinions to the contrary are likely from people that just haven't done it.

Advice:

Stay within your vehicles weight ratings and they work just fine, and are in fact very stable tow vehicles. Very low center of gravity, long wheelbase.

Use a quality WDH with sway control.

Weights to check and verify (at a scale, fully loaded for a trip, including passengers and cargo): Individual axles for axle weight, total axle weight vs. tire ratings, hitch weight (with a tongue scale).

Don't tow with a full water tank. That water adds several hundred pounds.

Tow at 60mph on the flats.

Learn how to pull long grades. (Figure out where your engine's power band is. When going up, put the engine in the power band (a particular RPM range) and keep it there, letting it downshift as necessary, and don't worry about speed as you down shift and slow down. Keep it in the power band, and you'll end up passing much larger tow vehicles that don't know how to do this. Going down, manually downshift as much as your vehicle will allow to use the engine for braking. Periodically brake firmly to slow down to 45-50 mph, then let the car coast with the engine in as low a gear as it'll do to control speed, until it gets up to about 65, then brake again ... Doing this will allow you to not have to brake too often and keep from overheating the brakes.)

[bguy]

I would personally stick to a pop up. I did use a 2005 Grand Caravan to tow my pop up ( with a slide out, about 2700 lb max gvw ) for 2 seasons. Pulled some good loads with the van full and trailer full. We sold the trailer to friends with a 2008 GMC pickup. He apparently commented to his wife he couldn't understand how I towed it with my van. The high walled trailer will be the problem. As a side note I have never had a Chrysler 4 spd failure out of the 4 that I owned.

[Grit_dog]

SidecarFlip wrote:

midnightsadie wrote:
I see a tranny in your future .

+1. Mopar transaxles aren't built for towing. Wenie transmission.

Yeah he should totally get like a 97 F350 Powdersmoke for his little camper. Then it wouldn’t have a wenie transmission.

[Campfire_Time]

#1, get an auxiliary transmission cooler before you do anything else. As for the rest follow the advice here. We pulled a 17ft hybrid with a Pontiac Montana for one season. I knew what I was getting into, lots of reading and research. It actually worked just fine. But I was just below all the capacity ratings. I was stable and felt safe. We did not kill the van. But the towing experience was not stellar either. We only had one kid, who was a teenager at the time. So set it up right and you'll be fine.

That said if you buy this trailer you'll love it. And I predict a new tow vehicle in your future.

[2012Coleman]

So how many kids ar you going to load up into that mini van? My inlaws pulled a small starcraft TT with a similar van. Went on 5 short range trips and got rid of it. At least, check the door jamb sticker and post the number after this statement: Total weight of cargo and occupants not to exceed xxxx lbs.

[Cobra21]

midnightsadie wrote:
I see a tranny in your future .

Near Future, Plus! Our neighbors did that with a large pop-up, then bought a truck after they killed their mini van. It's an expensive way to make a trade-up!

[p220sigman]

We towed a fairly large popup with our Sienna and it did fine. Of course two factors involved: no frontal area to deal with and most towing was done in and around Florida where our highest point is only 345' above sea level. Minivans can be very good tow vehicles when towing within their capabilities. Our popup was about 3300 lbs and we averaged about 15.8 MPG towing. We traded that van at 254K miles having never had a serious repair and no transmission or engine issues. All that being said, I personally would not tow a full-height trailer with one unless it was super light like in the 2k weight range and I don't know if such a beast even exists.

[SidecarFlip]

midnightsadie wrote:
I see a tranny in your future .

+1. Mopar transaxles aren't built for towing. Wenie transmission.

[Rustycamperpant]

My son tried to tow a large pop up with his town and country. After his first pull he traded for a Durango once he had the gas pedal smashed to the floor and was still slowing down on his way to mount rushmore. He then traded the Durango for an Expedition when he went up to a TT. The wieght of the hybrid will hurt the situation, but the wind resistance alone. He wouldnt listen to me, but he is wiser now. I personally would not pull the hybrid with a minivan.

[GeoBoy]

Wait, until you get the larger vehicle. Only 3 months of summer left, be patient and do it right.

[theoldwizard1]

If you are going to do this, get a cell phone app that works with a BlueTooth OBD-II dongle and monitor engine coolant and transmission fluid temperature.

[drsteve]

Get to know the guys at the transmission shop now.

The T&C is a people hauler that was basically at its max pulling the popup. As others have said, the WD hitch and the true tongue weight of the TT you're contemplating will put you well over the limit. And the WD hitch might bend the unibody.

[GordonThree]

Terryallan wrote:
AND there is something else to consider, and more important to find out. What does Chrysler say about the minivan using a WDH. There is a chance it cannot. A WDH really puts a lot of stress on a vehicle frame. Many front wheel drive vehicles do not have enough frame strength to handle a WDH. That should be in your manual. At one time Chrysler minivans did not. but it may have changed in the past few years.

x2 for this... same thing my station wagon ran into. there is no frame, it is a unibody. just pieces of sheet metal formed and welded together. WDH was a no in the manual, and from the mechanics I talked with.

that said, I towed with it for a year, the tranny didn't blow, the engine didn't blow, the only thing it cost me was a set of tires.

[Lwiddis]

Come on out West and pass up beautiful dry campsite after dry campsite with your dry tanks. Not fun.

BUT nothing bad happens within 150 miles of home! 175 miles it does however.