Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing a camper/caravan that weighs 2,690lbs (1220kg) with a 410lb (186kg) tongue wt.

I have the LR factory hitch, rated at 3500lbs(1587kg) and 330lb(149kg) tongue wt.

Would it be safe to tow this trailer? I'm worried the tongue wt is slightly higher than the hitch rating. If I added an equalizer setup to the hitch bar would that help???

I'm a noob on this subject! (obviously)

Thanks..

Hi there,

I'm replying from UK where our terminology is different, but having lived in the USA for 3 years I think I know where you are coming from ....

The tongue wt you refer to seems quite out of proportion with the weight of the camper. I tow a caravan (read RV) with a weight of 1450 kgs but the tongue wt (we call it nose weight) is only 70kgs, so your tongue wt of 186kgs seems way out of proprotion to the trailer weight of (only) 1220kgs. But I guess that is a design maximum, can you alter this by the way you load up the camper?

In the UK our handbooks state that the nose weight (your tongue wt) can be allowed up to 250kgs (550lbs) providing the overall vehicle load is adjusted - that is you don't load the vehicle right up and stay with the maximum rear axle load limit. So you can increase the tongue wt but if you do then make sure you don't load the vehicle right up. In the UK handbook this information is on page 128.

I hope this helps
Cheers
Paul (Wishing I was back in Huron, OH!) Stornoway Grey GS ... What a fine motor ... but not any more ... ... psst look at my gallery!
Company cars ... a thing of the past - May 2013.