I recently purchased a 30 foot travel trailer from my neighbor. It says it weighs 4522. I own a 2003 Durango with a GVWR of 6400, GAWR (rear) 3850, (front)3600. I believe I have the class IV towing package with a tow rating of 7500. (I have the receiver hitch with the 7 pin outlet.) Now i have been combing the web trying to figure out one question with no clear answers in sight. (I am just completely confused with all the numbers and abbreviations). Am I going to be able to pull the trailer with my Durango and if so, are there any other add ons I need to purchase? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. ( By the way, the engine in my Durango is the 5.9 V8 Magnum...not sure if that matters, just thought I'd throw that out there.)
young and dumb...
- Thread starter mpat77
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Brother Bear
Well-known member
I think your Durango is going to be very small and light for a 30 footer. The weight on the trailer is its dry (empty) weight. By the time you get your stuff, water, propane, etc. on board it'll exceed your tow capacity. It'll be like the tail wagging the dog so to speak.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Welcome to the RV Forum, Mpat77. We have an excellent RV Glossary here that should help you with terms and acronyms. Just click on Glossary in the menu bar above the messages.
The stated trailer weight is the dry weight, but what you need to consider is the loaded weight. Since we don't know what that is until you get it weighed, you should assume the trailer GVWR is what it will weigh, at least some of the time. The GVWR is on a sticker near the front left side of the trailer. Water, canned goods and beverages, propane, etc. add a lot of weight - much more than most people can imagine.
Your 7500 lb tow capacity is probably barely enough. The max tow capacity assumes only fuel and a 154 lb driver in the Durango, so it is probably optimistic. A passenger, the usual gear and the weight of the hitch itself will reduce that tow capacity by at least a 200-300 lbs and maybe more.
The stated trailer weight is the dry weight, but what you need to consider is the loaded weight. Since we don't know what that is until you get it weighed, you should assume the trailer GVWR is what it will weigh, at least some of the time. The GVWR is on a sticker near the front left side of the trailer. Water, canned goods and beverages, propane, etc. add a lot of weight - much more than most people can imagine.
Your 7500 lb tow capacity is probably barely enough. The max tow capacity assumes only fuel and a 154 lb driver in the Durango, so it is probably optimistic. A passenger, the usual gear and the weight of the hitch itself will reduce that tow capacity by at least a 200-300 lbs and maybe more.
Well, I did a little digging and found out that the tow capacity on my durango is 7300 lbs because of it having 4WD. the GCWR of my suv 12,200. I went earlier today and weighed just my durango with only me with a half tank of gas and it was right around 5200. I did check the little plaque on the trailer to try to get the specs on the weight, but was unable to read any of it. The trailer is a Flagstaff 829 BHS, is there anywhere i can look to get the actual ratings for the trailer? Also, how do i figure out the maximum tongue weight rating? (Also my axle ratio is 3.92, not sure if that makes a difference or not.) Just thought I would post a little more info since I was kind of vague before. Again, thanks for all of the info.
Here are all the specs that I know right now.
Tow cap. 7300
GVWR 6400
GAWR (front-3600), (rear-3850)
GCWR 12200
trailer weight (info from NADA) 4522
GVW (just me and half tank of gas) 5200
Axle ratio 3.92
Here are all the specs that I know right now.
Tow cap. 7300
GVWR 6400
GAWR (front-3600), (rear-3850)
GCWR 12200
trailer weight (info from NADA) 4522
GVW (just me and half tank of gas) 5200
Axle ratio 3.92
edjunior
Well-known member
Short of taking the trailer to a scale and weighing it, I doubt you are going to find any of the specs if the trailer is more than a couple of years old. You might get lucky as some companies post the specs for older year model trailers, but most do not. Even if the trailer does end up being within the ratings of your Durango, I can tell you that you probably won't be satisfied with the way it pulls. You have a lot of drag behind that truck, and there's just not enough oomph to make it a comfortable tow. Stopping it will be another possible issue. If you have been thinking about upgrading the Durango, now might be a great time to pursue it!
Marc L
Well-known member
You should consider getting the trailer weighed. Usually the dry weight is not the shipped weight because it does not include options, I would not be surprised if it's not a good 500lbs heavier or more than stated.
While you will be tight on weight or possibly overweight, there are other factors that are to consider as well.
The towing capacity does not fully account the aerodynamics of the trailer. So if you tow a flat bed trailer with a few plates of steel weighing 6000lbs, that will be a lot easier to tow than a travel trailer weighing the same because of the 8'x8' front wall you are pulling into the wind.
The other thing is overall handling. The Durango has a relatively short wheelbase and a 32' trailer is long (according to Nada). The sides of the trailer make for a nice big sail area for wind and transport trucks to move it around. A guideline often used is for the first 110" of wheelbase, this allows you 20' of trailer then each 4" of wheelbase add 1' of trailer. At 115" of wheelbase, that brings you to a 21' trailer.
I was towing my 24' trailer with an Xterra, proportion wise I think the length to wheelbase ratio was better than your combo, however it was still not a fun combo and this is why I updated my signature last fall. With my truck, I would be comfortable upgrading to a 27', but I would not want to tow 30' trailer at highway speed for any great length of time.
Good luck...
While you will be tight on weight or possibly overweight, there are other factors that are to consider as well.
The towing capacity does not fully account the aerodynamics of the trailer. So if you tow a flat bed trailer with a few plates of steel weighing 6000lbs, that will be a lot easier to tow than a travel trailer weighing the same because of the 8'x8' front wall you are pulling into the wind.
The other thing is overall handling. The Durango has a relatively short wheelbase and a 32' trailer is long (according to Nada). The sides of the trailer make for a nice big sail area for wind and transport trucks to move it around. A guideline often used is for the first 110" of wheelbase, this allows you 20' of trailer then each 4" of wheelbase add 1' of trailer. At 115" of wheelbase, that brings you to a 21' trailer.
I was towing my 24' trailer with an Xterra, proportion wise I think the length to wheelbase ratio was better than your combo, however it was still not a fun combo and this is why I updated my signature last fall. With my truck, I would be comfortable upgrading to a 27', but I would not want to tow 30' trailer at highway speed for any great length of time.
Good luck...
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
You can see the specs for a new Flagstaff 829BHS here but they may not be accurate for your older version.
You can figure that your Durango is going to weight a few hundred lbs more than the 5200 you measured, after you add a trailer hitch, more fuel and probably a passenger or two. Let's say 5400 lbs for the sake of argument. That leaves you with a max tow capacity of around 6800, i.e. 12,200 - 5,400 = 6,800.
Given that the Flagstaff usually has a high GVWR relative to its 4522 lb dry (unladen) weight, it would probably exceed the SUV''s limit if fully loaded. However, odds are you won't reach that limit. 1500 lbs of water and gear would be a fairly hefty load for a vacationing RVer, so you will likely be at somewhere around 5700-6000 lbs in total trailer weight and your Durango should handle that. Weigh the trailer to be sure once you get it more-or-less ready to travel, though.
Tongue weight of a travel trailer will be in the 12-15% range of of actual trailer weight. Anything less will result in poor handling, e.g. trailer sway. That means you are carrying an additional 700-900 lbs on the Durango's hitch. That absolutely requires a Weight Distributing (WD) hitch to spread some of the load to the Durango's front axle..
You can figure that your Durango is going to weight a few hundred lbs more than the 5200 you measured, after you add a trailer hitch, more fuel and probably a passenger or two. Let's say 5400 lbs for the sake of argument. That leaves you with a max tow capacity of around 6800, i.e. 12,200 - 5,400 = 6,800.
Given that the Flagstaff usually has a high GVWR relative to its 4522 lb dry (unladen) weight, it would probably exceed the SUV''s limit if fully loaded. However, odds are you won't reach that limit. 1500 lbs of water and gear would be a fairly hefty load for a vacationing RVer, so you will likely be at somewhere around 5700-6000 lbs in total trailer weight and your Durango should handle that. Weigh the trailer to be sure once you get it more-or-less ready to travel, though.
Tongue weight of a travel trailer will be in the 12-15% range of of actual trailer weight. Anything less will result in poor handling, e.g. trailer sway. That means you are carrying an additional 700-900 lbs on the Durango's hitch. That absolutely requires a Weight Distributing (WD) hitch to spread some of the load to the Durango's front axle..
I just want to say thank you to all who replied. You guys have given me some very much needed direction. Might start looking into upgrading to something with a little more beef.
Maybe i should have done a little research before buying the trailer....My wife tells me all the time that I have a tendency to jump into things blindfolded. I hate to say it, but i think she might be right
lol
Oh well, live and learn I guess.
Thanks again.
Maybe i should have done a little research before buying the trailer....My wife tells me all the time that I have a tendency to jump into things blindfolded. I hate to say it, but i think she might be right
lolOh well, live and learn I guess.
Thanks again.
flyrotor
Member
I see a lot of the comments refer to the weights and limits of the vehicle's (TT and TV), but I think regardless of meeting or exceeding the weights, the length of the trailer is way too long for the wheelbase of your TV, one must consider the wheelbase as this is what truely affects how the truck will handle in an emergency situation. What is your truck going to do when you have to stop suddenly, probably get pushed around, and if the trailer pushes to one side or the other, the TV will begin to slide, creating a nasty jacknife resulting in loss of control, if you do start to sway, the short wheelbase will again jacknife much sooner than that of a longer truck. Get a bigger truck to keep you and I both safe out on the highways
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