Mini-Van-- Pop up or hybrid?

[mommyoeo]

My Toyota Sienna can tow only 3500 pounds. If you were me, would you look for a pop up or a hybrid? We would like to get serious about looking soon.

TIA!

Christy

 

[ftwildernessguy]

It's all about the weight. Just be sure to give yourself plenty of leaway when it comes to the trailer weight and your towing capacity. My guess with that small a tow vehicle is that you are looking at a fairly small pop up. My Hybrid has a DRY weight of 4200 lbs.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

My Toyota Sienna can tow only 3500 pounds. If you were me, would you look for a pop up or a hybrid? We would like to get serious about looking soon.

TIA!

Christy

We have a Sienna and a pop-up. We want to get a hybrid or TT, but will have to get another vehicle to tow either.

 

[F4disneyfan]

We were told not to get the hybrid unless we wanted topp get the smallest ones especially with towing with a minivan as it is terribly hard on them. I have to tow the tent trailer around Ontario for my wife as she is still not comfortable pulling it once we get the new Acadia she is seriously considering an upgrade to a Jayco hybrid until we get rid of the van there is no way we will tow a hybrid with that vehicle.

 

[Escape Artist]

And be sure to check on the requirements for towing those 3500 pounds with your van. We just burned out the transmission on our Honda Odyssey from towing our popup. The book said it was capable of towing 3500 pounds *with modifications* (that was a tiny footnote). We had the camper dealer do the "modifications" and the only thing they modified was the brakes/towing. We didn't realize that we were supposed to have a car dealer-installed towing package installed, which cools the transmission and steering, I think.

So...before you tow 3500 pounds, check with your car dealer to be sure you don't need any modifications to tow that much weight! Our car dealer told us that without the modifications, our Odyssey was only rated to tow 500 pounds. That wasn't in the book, and the camper dealer didn't tell us!!!

BTW, we use our Odyssey to tow a Fleetwood Westlake (a bigger popup, with a 14 ft. box and 2 king-sized ends), and it works great! We've gone across the country, over the Sierras and the Rockies, and thru Death Valley, and towing with a minivan works fine. It sure is wonderful to have all that space for the kids and our stuff while we're driving.

Good luck with your decision!

Sue in Texas

 

[VAgal76]

It's going to be hard tow for the minivan. The smaller pop-ups might be okay but you probably will need to make some modifications. I don't think you'll be able to tow a hybrid. My boss has a newer Dodge minivan and even after putting in the different shocks she says it's a very hard tow. Her pop-up weighs about 2500 with no a/c or gear. Funny thing is that her older minivan did great. You have to keep in mind with that 3500 tow weight will include the weight in your vehicle (people and gear) and all the gear you have in the camper and the weight of the A/C. We pull ours with a full size pick-up. I'm sure we could pull it with a smaller SUV, but we already had the truck. It's a larger pop-up and dry weight is 3200 pounds. Add gear, a/c, 3 to 4 bodies, coolers and it starts getting up there. Now we tend to be a bit over cautious. I'm sure tons of people tow with their minivan and they will say it's fine. A good dealer will let you know what your limitations are with your current tow vehicle.

Good luck & Happy Camping!

 

[gillenkl]

we own a Chevy Venture van and tow a Fleetwood Westlake - we have added air shocks to the van but that's all.

 

[F4disneyfan]

we own a Chevy Venture van and tow a Fleetwood Westlake - we have added air shocks to the van but that's all.

We have the Pontiac Montanna with the factory tow kit in it with factory tranny cooler etc and it is rated to a true 3500 lbs but I would never want to pull anything over 2200 with it my wifes 1007 is only 1600 lbs with all accessories.

 

[DisneyFanatik]

You can check out www.trailmanor.com
They are pricey, but you have all the ammenities of a travel travel (bathroom w/shower, kitchen).

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Despite their low profiles, Trailmanors are pretty heavy due to their lift mechanisms. The lightest listed would exceed the original poster's tow capacity. As I said before, it's all about the weight.

 

[mommyoeo]

Thanks, folks!

We do have the tow package and the dealer said I could tow whatever I wanted-- that no matter what I tow, this van could do it well because he sees his customers doing it all the time.



We're going to stick with more solid advice!

Thanks again!!

Christy

 

[F4disneyfan]

Thanks, folks!

We do have the tow package and the dealer said I could tow whatever I wanted-- that no matter what I tow, this van could do it well because he sees his customers doing it all the time.



We're going to stick with more solid advice!

Thanks again!!

Christy

I would be telling your dealer that his staff needs to get some facts in order before informing their customers they can tow anything LOL...

 

[DisneyFanatik]

Despite their low profiles, Trailmanors are pretty heavy due to their lift mechanisms. The lightest listed would exceed the original poster's tow capacity. As I said before, it's all about the weight.

Not quite true. We have a Dodge Grand Caravan - factory installed tow package, tranny cooler the whole deal - and our tow rating is 3500. We tow a Trailmanor 2619 (their smallest model) with NO PROBLEM. That is the whole point of a Trailmanor.....

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Not quite true. We have a Dodge Grand Caravan - factory installed tow package, tranny cooler the whole deal - and our tow rating is 3500. We tow a Trailmanor 2619 (their smallest model) with NO PROBLEM. That is the whole point of a Trailmanor.....

Don't get angry, but my guess is that you are probably pretty close to being overloaded. To find the true weight you are towing, you need to load your trailer as if you are going camping and load in the kids, dog, etc and head for the nearest commercial scales. You will most likely be surprised at how much weight you have added. Even at 2619, you are only 900lbs below your tow weight, and if that is dry weight you are gonna get close fast with full tanks and a couple of passengers. The towing capacity of your vehicle is not the dry weight of the trailer alone, it will be lowered by the weight of passengers in the vehicle, luggage, water in the freshwater tank, propane, options on the trailer like the microwave, ac, etc.

 

[F4disneyfan]

Don't get angry, but my guess is that you are probably pretty close to being overloaded. To find the true weight you are towing, you need to load your trailer as if you are going camping and load in the kids, dog, etc and head for the nearest commercial scales. You will most likely be surprised at how much weight you have added. Even at 2619, you are only 900lbs below your tow weight, and if that is dry weight you are gonna get close fast with full tanks and a couple of passengers. The towing capacity of your vehicle is not the dry weight of the trailer alone, it will be lowered by the weight of passengers in the vehicle, luggage, water in the freshwater tank, propane, options on the trailer like the microwave, ac, etc.

Great post and very informative so many people figure the weight given for a specific trailer is what it will be when loaded etc they never take into consideration the added extras like the LP bottle and the propane in it and water in the tanks if they fill them. Plus any luggage etc you may toss into the trailer of tow vehicle for that matter and that includes the passengers.

 

[Gillian]

There are a lot of people towing with Siennas, including us, but mostly popups. Ours is a Coleman/fleetwood santa fe. You can't tow just anything with it, but it is one of the better equiped minivans for towing.

There is a Sienna forum where I found info about getting a hitch installed. It's http://www.siennaclub.org/forum/index.php and they have a section on towing.

There are a lot of nice popups out there. The main thing you lose out on is the overhead storage and larger fridge you can get with a hybrid. I figure DH's next car will be a truck (or big SUV or full size van?) that we can use to tow a small hybrid.

Good luck!

 

[mommyoeo]

Thank you for the suggestions! We bought a pop up and have a January trip scheduled to the Fort! YIPPEE!

 

[bama_ed]

If this will be your first time towing, you have to drive with your "ears" as well as your "eyes".

We have a 2005 Chrysler T&C minivan with the factory installed tow package and we pull a Jayco 12 HW pop-up to FW (twice now, going next in Dec 07). With bikes, people, clothes, stuff, etc. we are probably close to the tow limit. As ftwildernessguy says, it's all about weight.

However, I would also advise that when driving and pulling a camper you have to drive differently than you would normally. The slightest incline may cause your transmission to move out of overdrive/cruise mode and rev up to higher RPMs to climb a hill. I back off the gas pedal to "bleed some speed" but keep it at the lower RPM. Your transmission will burn out if it does a lot of shifting back and forth and running at the higher RPM for longer distances.

Also, you have to drive like a trucker pulling an 18-wheeler. Going down hill I try to pick up a little extra speed/momentum if it is safe to do so so I can use it to pull me up the inevitable hill on the other side (see above).

Generally speaking, you were right to pass on a hybrid. I might move to a hybrid in the future (it's still camping if you have canvas over your head when you sleep) but a hybrid needs more "umph" than a minivan can probably provide.

Enjoy your trip in January!

Bama ED

 

[Escape Artist]

Thank you for the suggestions! We bought a pop up and have a January trip scheduled to the Fort! YIPPEE!

Congratulations!

It's an easy, smooth drive from here.

Have a GREAT trip!

Sue
...Texan, too...

 

[bobbymac]

OK.....true story..............
You can tow (a HTT 07 antigua 215SB) with a 05 Venture with factory trailer pkg........is the right thing to do....NO.....I have done this on short trips 2-3 hrs and the Van handled it well at about 90-100km's only driver and pass and very little in trailer (pretty much dry) again I would not recommend this to anyone. We have ressies to Fort next July 08 and we will have a new chevy avalanche as or TV

WD HITCH
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