How big and powerful a tow vehicle you need depends on the “fully packed for travel” weight of your Casita model of choice, and where you plan to travel with it. Travel only on level to moderate terrain roads verses frequent travel on winding mountain terrain roads, particularly with grades over 3-4 percent and high altitude passes, place different demands on tow vehicles.
First and foremost, for safety, it is important that your Casita trailer weight when fully loaded for travel does not exceed any of the maximum trailer towing ratings specified for your vehicle. A safe trailer load is around 80 percent of the tow vehicle’s maximum ratings.
Vehicle manufacturers specify trailer towing ratings based on a vehicle’s body strength, wheel base length, weight, engine horse power and torque, transmission and rear differential gearing, braking system, and suspension system. If your tow rig is within 20 percent of exceeding any of the vehicle’s maximum weight ratings, it may be difficult to handle at highway speed, stress your tow vehicle’s engine, transmission, brakes or other systems beyond their engineered limits, or lead to a catastrophic accident.
Depending on whether your Casita of choice is a lighter weight 16 foot standard model with no feature options, a 17 foot Deluxe model loaded with every available factory option, or something in between, your fully loaded Casita weight will most typically fall within a range of about 2,500 to 3,500 pounds. But that 1,000 pound difference can make a big difference in your choice of tow vehicles.
Once you narrow your vehicle choices to those rated to handle the weight of your fully loaded Casita travel trailer, then you can realistically assess how you plan to use it and what design, safety, aesthetic and creature comfort features are most important to you. While you are self-assessing your aesthetic and creature comfort feature priorities, ask yourself whether your towing travel will be infrequent, regular, or full time? Will you also use the vehicle for work, or daily commuter driving? How many people and dogs, and how much camping gear do you need to comfortably carry in the vehicle? Do you place a premium on luxury, or would a plainer model suffice?
To begin your process of selecting a tow vehicle, you need to answer a list of practical questions to estimate your fully loaded trailer weight. Is your Casita a Deluxe model with the bathroom, or a lighter Standard model sans bathroom? Is your Casita the 16 foot or slightly heavier 17 foot model? Both GTW and Tongue Weight (TW) are higher on 17 foot models, with or with bathroom. Every factory option like the furnace, awning, and microwave, and every pound of camping gear and clothing you will pack into your Casita adds to the base GTW “dry weight” and can vary the TW. Estimate the base dry weight of your Casita as configured with factory options and other add-on items.
Remember, your trailer axle is a fulcrum, or “seesaw” pivot point. Weight is shifted on to and off of the trailer tongue as weight is loaded forward and aft of the axle.
Each gallon of water you carry in the water fresh water tank, aft of the axle, not only adds 8.34 pounds to your GTW, it also lifts weight from the trailer tongue at the same time. You can choose the amount of water to carry in the fresh water tank while on the road, but the water heater is always full of water. The 6 gallon water heater, aft of the axle, holds 50 lbs of water. Adding propane tanks full of gas adds to the GTW and tongue weight. Each empty propane tank weighs just under 17 lbs; fill the tank with propane and it’s weight is about 37 lbs. Tongue weight is reduced as you consume propane during your camping trip. Clothes, pots and pans, food and camping gear also all add to the GTW and will change your tongue weight depending on how far aft or forward of the axle they are packed into the trailer. Add every pound of water, propane, clothes and gear to the fully configured base weight of of your Casita.
It’s surprisingly easy to load up to 700, or more, pounds of weight to your trailer, packing it for camping trips, especially for trips of a week and more.
The dry base model factory weight of our 17’ Freedom Deluxe is listed at 2,480 lbs, but it’s fully loaded GTW for our last month long road trip was 3,433 lbs, with 363 lbs (10.57%) of that weight resting on our tow vehicle hitch. (Our 17’ FD is loaded with every available factory option, including furnace, awning, and microwave, plus some custom add-ons, so our actual “dry” GTW starts higher than the 2,480 pounds base model weight.)
To evaluate whether your current vehicle, or a new vehicle you plan to purchase, can safely tow the estimated weight of your fully loaded camper trailer, you need to look at the vehicle’s trailer towing ratings.
Vehicle manufacturers provide basic vehicle information on every vehicle compliance certification label found on the vehicle’s driver’s side doorsill. Additional trailer towing ratings and information is usually found in the vehicle owner’s manuals and with vehicle marketing information published on the Internet. Here are the key vehicle ratings you need to research to assess towing capacity:
- Curb Weight: is the total weight of a vehicle with all necessary operating consumables such as motor oil, transmission oil, coolant, air conditioning refrigerant, and a full tank of fuel, but not including passengers or cargo weight.
- Cargo Weight refers to the actual maximum weight of all items added to the Curb Weight of the vehicle, including optional equipment, trailer Tongue Weight, plus what ever else you pile on – food, drink, clothing, electronic equipment, kids’ toys, bicycles, motorcycles, ATVs, books, magazines, other gear, etc.
- Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a vehicle. This includes the vehicle curb weight, plus the weight of suitcases and all other cargo loaded into the vehicle, the weight of all passengers, including dogs and cats, and your trailer’s tongue weight (as loaded for travel) resting on your tow vehicle’s hitch ball. Surpassing the gross vehicle weight rating could be very dangerous for you and your passengers.
- Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) is the greatest weight an axle should be subjected to and includes the weight of the tires, wheels, brakes and axle itself. If referring to the rear or front axle, it could be called RGAWR or FGAWR respectively.
- Gross Trailer Weight Rating (GTWR) or Maximum Tow Ratingis the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended maximum weight of a fully loaded trailer that a tow vehicle can handle.
Estimate the total weight of your trailer by finding the empty weight of your trailer —either in the owner’s manual or on an identification plate on the trailer itself — and adding the weight of propane gas, water in the water heater and fresh water tank, factory options (awning, microwave, furnace, etc), clothes and camping, everything you’ll pack in your Casita. After you purchase your trailer, you can get a more accurate weight by loading and towing it to a public scale. Larger truck stops, for example, often have vehicle scales that anyone can use. - Hitch Weight Rating is the maximum amount of trailer hitch weight the body of your vehicle is designed to carry. Your trailer’s tongue weight should not exceed this weight rating. Your trailer’s tongue weight can be adjusted to some extent by packing more or less weight aft or forward of the trailer axle, always maintaining a tongue weight of at least ten percent of your GTW.
- Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR) is the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum combined loaded rig weight of the tow vehicle and trailer hitched together.
While evaluating a vehicle’s maximum tow rating, use the lowest rating given between the vehicle’s hitch weight rating and the class of hitch mounted on the vehicle.
Class Opening
SizesGTW Tongue Weight Capacity Class I 1-1/4" 2,000 lbs 200 lbs Class II 1-1/4" 3,500 lbs 350 lbs Class III 2" 3,500-6,000 lbs 350-600 lbs Class IV 2" 6,000-10,000 lbs 600-1,000 lbs Class V 2-1/2" Over 10,000 lbs 1,000-1,200 lbs
Rightsizing Your Tow Vehicle
Even if the towing ratings on your prospective tow vehicle are all at least 20 percent above your trailer’s fully loaded GTW and TW, that doesn’t necessarily make it an adequate tow vehicle for you. Above all, you need to choose a tow vehicle that you are comfortable driving and can easily control. Seemingly minor details, such as roomy seats with good back support and separate driver and passenger environmental controls can make a big difference, particularly on long haul road trips.
If your typical destinations from home are within one easy drive day that routes over relatively level terrain, any vehicle rated to handle your Casita’s GTW and TW will likely yield enjoyable road trips.
On the other hand, if you plan to often travel to and between distant destinations that have you on the road over multiple driving days, then you’ll probably want a tow vehicle with environmental controls for independent driver and passenger adjustments and comfortable roomy seats with multiway adjustments and good back support.
If you plan to sometimes or frequently travel over mountain terrain with steep grades that include hairpin turns and high altitude mountain passes, then a heavier vehicle with a longer and wider wheel base, an engine with greater horse power and torque, and a transmission with multiple low gears may be better suited to your travel needs.
Tow Vehicle Weight
In general, the heavier the tow vehicle, the better it will be able to control the weight of a trailer. Think of the physics of a small girl running ahead of a large dog on a leash. If the child stops or turns suddenly and the dog doesn’t, his weight is going to yank her off her feet. The girl would have more physical control over a dog her own size or smaller.
A tow vehicle needs to have enough actual weight to be able to control the combine tow vehicle and trailer rig safely, especially in critical situations such as swerving to miss something in the road, having to slam on the brakes, being cut off in your lane on a highway, or going down a steep grade mountain road with tight curves. You don’t want the tail wagging the dog.
Wheelbase
Critical to the maneuverability and stability of a vehicle, the wheelbase is the distance from the front axle to the rear axle of the tow vehicle. Simply put, the longer and wider the wheelbase, the safer the tow vehicle. The longer the wheelbase, the more control you will have over the rig and the easier it will track down the road. Plus, the longer the wheel base, the less likely the tongue weight of the trailer pushing down behind the rear axle will cause too much weight to be lifted from the front steering tires, creating a bouncy “teeter-totter” effect.
This is an area where smaller and midsize trucks and SUVs — even those with higher towing capacities — might fall short, although there is no one “right” answer to how long a wheelbase needs to be for safe towing. Even if your vehicle meets your requirements for towing capacity and curb weight, with a shorter wheelbase it may still have difficulty controlling a heavily loaded trailer. The shorter the wheelbase, the easier it is for the trailer tongue weight to rock the vehicle front to back, which which will also cause the trailer to rock front to back — an effect often called ‘floating’ or ‘trailer hitching’.
While it is generally agreed that a longer wheelbase will provide more stability when towing a trailer, there are no real industry standard formulas for calculating a safe tow vehicle wheelbase length for a given trailer length or weight. But you’ll know that rocking feeling when you experience it driving your rig down the road, especially on rough roads, or driving in high gusty wind conditions, or driving on windy mountain roads.
Weight Distribution Hitches
If you feel that rocking front to back bounce, your rig may benefit from a Weight Distribution (WD) hitch system. A WD system is composed of a set of spring bars or chains attached with brackets added to your trailer tongue and vehicle hitch. A WD system eliminates the rocking bounce of your vehicle and trailer by taking the downward weight of the singular focal point — the hitch ball — and distributing that weight forward into the tow vehicle and back into the trailer. This also reduces the tow vehicle’s front end float giving you better steering control. A weight distribution system is strongly recommended for mid-sized to smaller SUVs and trucks.
Drive system
Most pickup trucks come with rear-wheel drive, as do the largest SUVs. This design directs the engine’s power toward the axle that is bearing the most weight when carrying heavy cargo or towing. Many smaller and midsize SUVs, however, come with front-wheel drive, which does offer better traction in rain and snow but provides less control over the rear of the vehicle, which is critical for towing. When a trailer is attached to a front-wheel drive vehicle, most of the weight is placed on the wheels that are significantly less powerful.
All-wheel drive (AWD) and four-wheel drive (4WD) systems provide different methods of delivering power to all four wheels. Traditionally, AWD systems relied primarily on front-wheel drive but could redirect power to the rear axle as needed when the front tires slipped in slick conditions, and 4WD vehicles constantly directed 40 percent of the power to the front wheels and 60 percent to the back. However, contemporary engineering is blurring the distinctions in many models, which can act like both types of system at times.
AWD is available either standard or as an option in many SUVs and trucks. The upside is better traction in slippery conditions. However, an AWD system adds weight to the vehicle, which reduces fuel efficiency and also subtracts from the weight it can tow. Vehicles driven by only two wheels generally have higher towing capacity ratings.
4WD vehicles typically give the driver the option of keeping the vehicle in two-wheel drive, then switching into four-wheel mode as needed. Typical instances for switching into 4WD would be on slippery roads, in muddy or wet grass, on snow-covered terrain and icy roads. Four-wheel drive trucks sit higher than two-wheel drive trucks so the frame-mounted hitch higher, necessitating a ball mount receiver hitch with a longer drop.
Trailer Sway Control System
While not all vehicles have the trailer sway control system (TSC) as part of the anti-lock braking, or anti-skid, braking system (ABS), it provides and extra measure of control and safeguards when towing a trailer behind your vehicle. The Trailer Sway Controller senses if a trailer begins to sway and automatically applies individual wheel brakes and/or reduces engine power to attempt to stop trailer sway.
Vehicle Body Construction
Full-size trucks and large SUVs often have a “body-on-frame” design: The chassis is a rigid, steel “ladder-like” shape that forms the foundation for the rest of the body. In a tow vehicle with this design, the hitch is attached directly to the frame, as are both axles. Body-on-frame construction typically provides more stability and capacity when towing.
In contrast, most cars, and smaller SUVs and trucks are constructed in a “unibody” design (also called “monocoque” or “unit body”), in which stresses are distributed among the body panels, floor pan and roof line made of galvanized steel. The axles are mounted to the floor pan on subframes, which do not extend the length of the vehicle.
Traditionally, unibody vehicles have not been recommended for towing because their bodies are not as strong. However, this distinction is becoming blurred because auto manufacturers have engineered stronger unibody vehicles with sufficient tow capacity to tow trailers as large as Casita-sized trailers.
Tow packages
A tow package is more than just a factory-installed ball hitch. A vehicle equipped with this option is built with beefed-up suspension and brakes, a larger radiator with added cooling capacity, and a transmission with multiple low gears capable of sending more power to the drive wheels — all of which adds up to a more powerful vehicle that is better prepared to power up and down steep grade mountain roads. Many tow packages also include mirrors that extend outward so the driver can better see the road and trailer.
A tow package does add to the vehicle weight, and it will decrease gas mileage. If you’re making only occasional trips to local camping destinations, this extra capacity may be overkill. But if you plan to frequently tow your Casita over long distances, particularly where travel is through mountain terrain with steep windy grades and high altitude passes, a larger truck or SUV equipped with a good tow package is likely to be more reliable and safer, and it will probably last longer.
A lot of these options used to be available as individual upgrades, and you had to know a lot of things to add on the correct options. But now, most pickup truck and SUV lines offer an “everything you need in one” tow package. It’s all changed for the better.
Horse Power and Torque
Camper owners often debated (argue over) which of these measurements of engine power output is more important and has more impact on trailer towing, and is more important when buying a tow vehicle. What's the difference? Torque lets you do work and horsepower lets you do the work quickly.
So, which is more important for towing — horsepower or torque? The answer is — both are important, but have different functions. For the specific work of towing, torque is more important because higher torque engines can tow the weight of trailers at lower RPMs, particularly on hilly and steep grade roads.
Simply put, for towing over anything but level terrain roads, a tow vehicle engine must produce more torque to tow a trailer over hilly roads, and even more torque to tow a trailer up steep grade mountain roads. And, it must also produce enough horsepower power to go up hilly and steep grade road quickly. If the engine doesn’t produce enough torque for the vehicle to tow a trailer up a grade, horsepower can be converted to torque by downshifting to a low gear and increasing the engine’s RPM. In other words, if your tow vehicle has a lower torque engine, you may need shift to low gear and slow your travel speed to 25 MPH while racing your engine to around 5,000 RPMs, or more, to create enough drive train torque to go up steep road grades.
A tow vehicle with a 3.73 rear end ratio and a gasoline engine rated at 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque will probably easily tow any Casita over flat terrain roads, but may have you towing your 17 foot Deluxe Casita up steep grade high altitude mountain roads at 25 MPH in low gear and engine rev’ed up to 5,000+ RPM.
Frontal Area of Camper Trailers
Frontal area refers to the total front square footage area of a trailer that is exposed to air resistance when traveling down the road at highway speeds.
The frontal area of a camper trailer can be a contributing factor when determining the size of a trailer that a vehicle can tow. As a trailer’s frontal area increases it increases aerodynamic drag, thus reducing the smaller vehicle's ability to tow trailer with larger frontal area profiles.
For many smaller vehicles, frontal area restrictions limit a trailer's size to a specific maximum Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR). Some vehical manufacturers will specify the maximum frontal area for trailers as well as the GCWR in their vehicle towing specifications. Exceeding these limitations may significantly reduce the performance of your towing vehicle.
A positive consideration for towing any Casita is the curved fiberglass front profile is more aerodynamic than many stick frame campers with a flat front profile, thus the Casita’s fronal area produces slightly less drag.
Conclusion
Again, tow vehicle choice depends on where you plan to travel with your new Casita. Travel only on level to moderate terrain roads verses frequent travel on mountain terrain roads, particularly with grades over 5 percent at altitude, place different demands on tow vehicles.
Within the range of tow vehicles rated for Casita tow weights, it is all about drive train horse power, torque, and transmission and rear differential gearing, plus suspension, what ever vehicle brand, make and model is your favorite.
Here are my mountain driving experiences towing our Casita with my Jeep Wrangler Sahara. Our other tow vehicle is a Dodge RAM 2500 truck with a 6.4L Hemi engine and six speed automatic transmission, which handley tows the Casita up and down high mountain steep grade roads with its selection of six low gear speeds.
On a trip driving from Dallas through central Colorado on mountain roads, not I70, to Grand Junction, CO, then north to Dinosaur National Monument, north again to Rock Springs, WY, and then north to the Tetons. The roads from Grand Junction to Rock Springs have miles long switchback grades of 6-7 percent and more up over altitudes of 8,800+ ft.
We towed our 17' Freedom Deluxe (loaded weight of 3,132 lbs) with a Jeep Wrangle 4-door JKU Sahara with tow pkg rated rated to 3,500 lbs. For towing with the JKU, I use theAndersen 'No-Sway' Weight Distribution Hitch. I don’t use the WDH when towing with my RAM truck.
That was our first trip with our new 2017 17' FD, towing with my Jeep JKU (4 door) Sahara so, I picked a challenging mountain route from Dallas, TX, we've traveled with our past RV rigs.
We have previously camped with a 1991 16' Casita in the 90's, towing it with a Dodge Van with a V8 5.2L engine and then a Ford Van with a V8 7.5L engine and tow rated drive train. (I thought the Dodge 5.2L engine of that technology era was a bit under powered on more extreme grade mountain roads towing the 91 Casita.) We upsized from the 91 Casita to a 30' Sportsman with slideouts that we also towed with the Ford Van. (We also had other TVs and trailers going back to the 1970's.)
My Sahara JKU has the std 3.6L V6 Jeep engine - rated at 285 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque with a 5-Speed automatic transmission with an add-on transmission cooler, and 3.73 rear end ratio. The Jeep has more torque than most V6 SUV-type vehicles. The Sahara hauled the Casita with no problem from Dallas on flat to rolling grade roads to Raton NM.
From Raton up I25 over the top of Raton Pass, I was in 2nd gear, then had to shift to 1st gear nearing the summit. We cut off I25 at Pueblo, CO and went west through the mountains roads of mid-Colorado. The V6 Sahara hauled the Casita just fine on road with up grades of up to 3-4 percent. But I had to down shift to 2nd gear, and at times 1st gear, on tight switchback roads with up and down grades over 6 percent - posted speed limits were 15-25 MPH. The V6 was in 2nd gear at 4K+ rpm traveling at 45 MPH topping couple of passes over 9,500 feet on road grades of around 6 percent.
The route from Grand Junction, CO, to Rock Springs, WY, is particularly challenging with miles long stretches of tight switchback road and grades of 8 and 10 percent, and more, up over summits around 9,000 ft. On those stretches of road the V6 Sahara did haul the Casita up and over the summits, but only traveling at 25 MPH in 1st gear with engine RPMs close to 4K. The gas pedal was pressed to the floor and the engine and transmission was starting to over heat by the time we topped the summit. This was the only stretch of road where the V6 really needed some more beef, but it did make it all the way over the summit, though I was beginning to worry the last mile to the summit. I'll say too, this stretch of road has tested all my past tow vehicles - even my V8 7.5L Ford Van towing the Sportsman.
From Rock Springs we traveled up to the Tetons and then Yellowstone. The V6 Jeep handled those stretches of road about the same as it handled the mid-Colorado mountain roads.
Traveling back to Dallas from Yellowstone, we routed through Rock Springs to I80. We drove across Wyoming on I80 to I25 south at Cheyenne then to Denver and then we cut over to US 287, which took us home to Dallas. I set the speed control at 65 mph and we had an easy drive home. I did switch off overdrive on a few short stretches where the interstate road grade was steeper than average, so the transmission didn't over shift. The strong head and side winds traveling south on US 287 from Amarillo to Dallas did make driving a bit of a chore, given the Jeep’s wheel base length vehicle weight, even with the Casita’s more aerodynamic frontal area profile.
My conclusion is - for towing a loaded 17' Casita Deluxe on flat to moderate grade roads, a V6 - 3.6L tow vehicle is just fine. But, I had to shift my Jeep Sahara JKU into 2nd and even 1st gear often traveling the steeper mountain road grades, up as well as down, and the V6 engine was max’ed out in 1st gear more than once. So, towing often on steep grade tight switchback high altitude low speed roads through the central Rocky Mountains, the tow vehicle should probably have a higher horsepower and torque drive train with a V8 engine - in the class of the Dodge 5.7L gas engine, or larger, or a turbo diesel. A Jeep Rubicon with the lower more powerful 4:10 standard gear differential probably would have handled the steeper grade mountain roads better than my Sahara.
On our next trip over the same roads we traveled on our August Jeep trip, we towed with my RAM 2500 6.4L V8 Hemi truck.
Here is a handy link for: plotting a route that avoids steep grade roads
Here is a link to Camping World's Tow Vehicle Guide
Great article. It's probably the most complete I've found. I would loved to have found it when I was looking for a tow vehicle. The one thing I noticed missing is a mention of frontal surface area. When looking for my midsize SUV, I noticed many had restricrions on the amount of front surface area of the camper to be pulled.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this terrific information. So helpful as we start looking at potential tow vehicles.
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