Winnie Drop Tow Vehicle
- Thread starter Podwan
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
John Canfield
Site Team
What are the ratings of the drop and the tow vehicle?
John Canfield
Site Team
My opinion is you can safely tow the Drop since as you say it's within ratings but you might not be happy with performance on the highway especially in hot weather and/or pulling grades. My nephew just went through this 'what can I tow with my minivan' dilemma and there were too many limitations so he bought a used F-250 diesel on my recommendation. He's now set to tow anything up to about 10,000 pounds.
O
Oldgator73
Guest
We have Winnie Drop that I used to tow with a Nissan Quest. The Quest is rated to tow 3500 lbs. the Winnie's GVWR is 3800 lbs. the Quest did fine towing (the hitch sat pretty low though. I had to install air bags in the coil springs). Now that summer is here and we want to take more "stuff" with us, such as my two person kayak, some bicycles and various other stuff, I decided to purchase a Nissan Frontier. The trucks tow rating is 6100 lbs. Now I don't worry about how much I'm taking.
O
Oldgator73
Guest
Podwan said:
Winnebago sent a new "Yellow Label" for the Winnie Drop. It seems they made a mistake and the new GVWR is 3800 lbs and cargo weight is now 1360 lbs.
Thanks so much, everyone, for the replies.
I'm looking for something other than a pop up that can be towed with the minivan. We really just want something for the four of us to sleep comfortably in that has a restroom.
If I can find something to tow with the minivan, we can get moving sooner. lol
Thanks for the replies. We want to do it safely.
I'm looking for something other than a pop up that can be towed with the minivan. We really just want something for the four of us to sleep comfortably in that has a restroom.
If I can find something to tow with the minivan, we can get moving sooner. lol
Thanks for the replies. We want to do it safely.
grashley
Well-known member
The ACTUAL hitch wt must be at least 10% of the ACTUAL trailer wt. If fully loaded, this is 380 - 400#, not 290# shown for an empty trailer. If the hitch wt is too low, you will likely have problems towing, like excessive sway and porpoising. NOT FUN!
If you can pack extremely carefully and keep the gross wt of the TT below about 3300#, you should be within weight limits.
One other very critical weight is the total weight of the fully loaded van. You will find TWO labels on the driver door and frame. One lists tire sizes and the GVWR for the van. The other on the door latch post shows the "max weight of all passengers and cargo shall not exceed XXXX #"
This number is specific to YOUR van as it left the factory, including all optional equipment. Add the weight of all passengers, all cargo carried in the van, 50# for a WD hitch and 350# for hitch wt. This number must be less than the "max wt" label.
Note also that anything carried in the van counts against your payload, pound for pound. If those items are in the camper, they increase the camper weight pound for pound, but only 10% of that weight is carried by the van. This becomes a carefully orchestrated balancing act to keep all weights within limits.
If you can pack extremely carefully and keep the gross wt of the TT below about 3300#, you should be within weight limits.
One other very critical weight is the total weight of the fully loaded van. You will find TWO labels on the driver door and frame. One lists tire sizes and the GVWR for the van. The other on the door latch post shows the "max weight of all passengers and cargo shall not exceed XXXX #"
This number is specific to YOUR van as it left the factory, including all optional equipment. Add the weight of all passengers, all cargo carried in the van, 50# for a WD hitch and 350# for hitch wt. This number must be less than the "max wt" label.
Note also that anything carried in the van counts against your payload, pound for pound. If those items are in the camper, they increase the camper weight pound for pound, but only 10% of that weight is carried by the van. This becomes a carefully orchestrated balancing act to keep all weights within limits.
I've searched far and wide for something that could sleep 4, have a toilet, shower, and a/c, not a pop-up, that could be towed with my minivan.
Such a thing does not exist.
So we bought a tow vehicle (Ford truck) over the weekend.
We still have the minivan; it's great for going grocery shopping, day trips, the soccer field, etc. But now that we have a tow vehicle, we can start looking for a travel trailer.
(I will be on here quite frequently figuring things out.)
Such a thing does not exist.
So we bought a tow vehicle (Ford truck) over the weekend.
We still have the minivan; it's great for going grocery shopping, day trips, the soccer field, etc. But now that we have a tow vehicle, we can start looking for a travel trailer.
(I will be on here quite frequently figuring things out.)
grashley
Well-known member
VERY WISE MOVE! That is what I wanted to say, diplomatically!
TACT is the ability to tell somebody where to go, and make them look forward to the trip!
TACT is the ability to tell somebody where to go, and make them look forward to the trip!
