Please help! Can I pull a 1995 Coleman tent trailer with a 2006 sienna minivan?

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amymarie1234

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Hello all! New to this forum!!

My husband and I want to take our kids camping this summer and we got my parents old tent trailer (1995 Coleman). But before we spend the money to have a trailer hitch installed on our minivan (2006 Toyota Sienna) I am trying to find out if it's safe and capable of pulling the trailer. The trailer does not have electric brakes...We have another car that we can pack all the heavy stuff and two of the kiddos  :) in but just wanted to ask for some help on here...we don't want to ruin our van trying to pull too much weight.

Thanks in advance for your help!!
 
A unibody mini-van should be able to tow up to 3500lbs (you can search for the specs). Pop-up tent trailers are almost always below that weight so you should be safe. If you look on the front driver side of the trailer there should be a sticker that tells you its GVWR to confirm. If it is missing, another way to tell is if it has a folding tongue jack with a wheel on the bottom (they are only allowed on sub 3500lb trailers).

You will of course need to get the proper hitch and ball for the trailer (I'd guess 2"/2")
 
I pulled our Winnie Drop with our 2015 Nissan Quest. The tow rating for the Quest is 3500#. I wouldn't think your pop up is any heavier than our TT. You should be fine.
 
I just saw a Sienna with an after-market towing rig. The receiver is very close to the ground so you will need to make sure you get a hitch with a lot of rise so that the ball is above the leveled height of the trailer's coupler. I had a set-up with mis-matched heights (ball lower than trailer) and it made it a real pain to hook up. So measure the trailer before hand (it will likely be 16-18").
 
When we were using our Nissan Quest to tow our Winnie Drop I had to install air bags in the real springs and an adjustable hitch (see attachment). I now tow with a Nissan Frontier. The adjustable hitch works well with the Frontier since it sits much higher. I also tow a dump trailer which sits lower than the TT.
 

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