Towing Advice for a Novice

[Praidis]

Hi all, I'm newer to RV towing and have done a handful of trips with my old Xterra. We're taking our 2.7 Badsquatch here in Denver to Moab for the Off-Roadeo, and planned to take our 2018 Rpod 180 over the Rockies via I70. Trailer weight is 2,950 (2662 + 332 hitch) plus 3 people and gear. With my relative inexperience and the elevation and grades, is that too risky? Thanks!

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[1970AMCAMX]

According to the specs for that trailer the dry weight of the trailer is 2662 the 322 is the tongue weight you don't add that to get the total weight of the trailer. The trailer has a payload capacity of 1,100 pounds. as long as you don't load the trailer up you will be well under the 3,500 lb rating of the Bronco (remember if you fill the water tank up and have a full bottle of propane that will add up to just under 300 lbs of the payload weight) leaving about 300 lbs for other stuff (clothes, bedding, etc.)

This is within the towing capacity, just make sure you balance the load properly to get the correct tongue weight which should be about 10% of the total weight of the trailer.

With trailer brakes you should have no problem towing that trailer.

 

[Praidis]

With trailer brakes you should have no problem towing that trailer.

Thank you, very much appreciate the response!

 

[Rayder]

I towed an 8,500lb trailer up I-70 with my 2.7 F150 and it wasn't even a challenge for it. So long as you have a brake controller coming down shouldn't be an issue either. On the 10 speed you can lock out gears using the select shift to give you some engine braking as well.

 

[bigblueboing]

"over the rockies" RIP

 

[Bemcnamara]

I would recommend an equalizer hitch. Having one will smooth the ride in windy and road turbulence conditions.

 

[1970AMCAMX]

I would recommend an equalizer hitch. Having one will smooth the ride in windy and road turbulence conditions.

Good point, that will really help with the soft suspension

 

[Praidis]

Rayder, Bemcnamara - thanks so much for the advice, much appreciated!

 

[LarryZiegler]

According to the specs for that trailer the dry weight of the trailer is 2662 the 322 is the tongue weight you don't add that to get the total weight of the trailer. The trailer has a payload capacity of 1,100 pounds. as long as you don't load the trailer up you will be well under the 3,500 lb rating of the Bronco (remember if you fill the water tank up and have a full bottle of propane that will add up to just under 300 lbs of the payload weight) leaving about 300 lbs for other stuff (clothes, bedding, etc.)

This is within the towing capacity, just make sure you balance the load properly to get the correct tongue weight which should be about 10% of the total weight of the trailer.

With trailer brakes you should have no problem towing that trailer.

Your details are incomplete, but let’s look backwards on this. The Bronco has a GCWR of 8800 lbs and the base weight of a Bronco is approx 5,000 lbs, leaving 3800 lbs for trailer weight and vehicle cargo. Subtract the 2984 weight of the unladen weight of the trailer and 100 lbs for the weight distr hitch and that leaves 716 lbs remaining for Est 500 lbs of gear/provisions, the weight of 3 passengers, 160 lbs of fuel, a few gal of water and 20 lbs for propane. Lastly, a 2% reduction of rated trailer weight towing capacity per 1,000 ft of elevation of Rocky Mtn travel leaves the Bronco likely overweight for the trailer, passengers, & gear. The 3,500 tow rating is based on low elevation towing, 2 pass at 150 lbs each, 30 lbs of gear, and a full load of fuel (these numbers add up to a higher weight than the GCWR and they rarely do not correlate to exact rating numbers). I went through all of this when thinking about buying a 3,500 lb trailer to be towed by my Honda Pilot 4WD that has a 4,500 lb tow rating a few years back

 

[evgenyvasenev]

@Praidis How was the trip? I want to buy a similar trailer Rpd 180 2022 and wonder about your experience.

 

[KhoiPhish]

Im just commenting to learn some info. I've never towed, never been around people who have but want to learn and eventually do it myself.

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