Hitch suggestions for rental camper with non HD Limited 2021

[drtruff19]

Hi everyone, I new to the forum. New to towing as well.

Just bought a 2021 Limited without heavy duty tow package. It only has class IV trailer tow prep package (whatever that means)

I wanted to rent a travel trailer/camper through rvshare. I gathered from Reddit that often payload capacity is the limiting factor rather than the overly mentioned towing capacity of 6000 lbs.

As for the payload capacity label says 1551 lbs. So I estimate with wife and 3 kids plus cargo we are about 700 lbs that leaves about 900 lbs. So 900/0.15=6000 lbs therefore as long as we don't have any guests we could hypothetically type the whole 6000. I wanted to be safe a look for a rental 18-24 feet with maximum total loaded weight of 4500 lbs to give us plenty of buffer. Many rentals do not come with weight distribution either.

I was not ready to invest in my own camper and therefore wanted to avoid buying a weight distribution hitch.

The following are my questions:

1. So what do you think of my plan calculations etc?

2. Also my dad has a 15 ft ski boat and a jet ski that I might tow here and there so I was thinking of a bulletproof or curt drop/rise hitch. Any hitch suggestions?

Sorry for the long post just a real newbie here. Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[twodollars]

I've had experience with that amount of weight behind our short wheelbase (not el). My use was with a car trailer and car, so a little different surface area. I found my biggest improvement was locating the vehicle on the trailer to control tongue weight. I use an adjustable b and a ball mount, easy to adjust for different tow vehicles and trailers. I did add some of the plastic coil spring inserts to minimize squat on the truck, improvement was minimal. I think if you are careful loading the trailer you should be fine.

 

[JasonH]

The payload limitation generally comes up with approaching the 9K maximum limit for the HD Tow equipped vehicles. I think you're ok if you limit the max wet weight to 4,500. Usually you would need to carefully evaluate the weight of the camper because even within a single weight class, tongue weights will vary based on layout. You can have a camper that is 6,000 lbs, but the tongue might still exceed the 600 lb limit on the hitch. If you were using a WDH, the hitch weight would need to be included in your calc. That is important because the higher the tongue load, the more weight you remove from the front tires, which obviously you need for steering, etc. With your conservative weight limit, you should be ok.

 

[ediddily]

Welcome to towing huge things! There's a lot to learn, but once you do its easy-peasy!

First off! Everything has its own weight capacity: car, hitch and trailer.

You are correct on your vehicles cargo capacity (if found on door jam sticker). It being 1551lb - (minus) people/pets/cargo weight "in/on car" - trailer tongue weight = what ever you have remaining. Also look at the car's sticker for each individual axle weight rating as you should consider those.

Having a class IV receiver is good. You're still going to need to find out its own weight capacity on its sticker. There will be two weights. 1 is the direct weight. 2 is the weight distributing hitch weight (WDH).

I have a 23' travel trailer and tongue weight loaded is around 750lb. My class IV hitch weight ratings are 750lb direct and ~950lb weight distribution. So I have ~200lb remaining on tongue weight having a Reese Flat bar WDH.

When towing large and heavy things you're going to need a WDH as it will distribute some weight to the front axle and not all on the rear through frame torsion. its only like 2-3" but it makes towing safer.

The trailer will also have its own Cargo Carrying Capacity, found on the manufacturers sticker. It will be around a similar weight capacity as the car. Load most items in the trailer near the axle to reduce tongue weight.

Also, if your saying you have a tow package, you're car should be pre-wired to tow which makes your life easier. Look under the dash on driver side to find an empty plug-in port. It will be for electric brake controller. (You will need one)

Now that all individual weights and capacities considered, you're going to need to consider the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR) or "Laden" weight. Which mean Car and connected trailer's total weight. You will need to take your completed load (filled up fuel tank in car and water tank in trailer) to the nearest CAT scale and weigh your rig just to make sure you're not over capacity. Its a cheap assurance on your part, ~$13 and free re-weigh where I am. Last thing you want is to be in an accident loaded up and over capacity because it will be your fault and the penalties will be absurd.

When you go to the scales there will be about 4 huge individual scales. You're going to want to place each axle on a scale. What i did was a little different as it was my first time.

Please reference my pics:
In 'Car Only' pic I parked each axle on an individual scale and what you see is each axle's weight.
In 'GCVWR' I unhitched the trailer and placed the trailer axle on one scale, the tongue on another and parked my entire car on another scale.
My car's tow capacity is a little over 9000lb, hitch weight 750 direct and 950 WDH, 15,000lb GCVWR
So as you can see I technically could tow without a WDH, but it would be unsafe as the tongue weight fluctuates with uneven roads.
My trailer weight is at ~55% capacity. ((4120+740)÷9000)x100
The Gross combined vehicle weight rating is 11420 ÷ 15000 x 100 = 76%

Here are references:
Towing Guide
Reese WDH
Tekonsha Brake Controller
Tekonsha brake controller wiring adapter

I hope this helps. I implore you to watch You Tube videos to learn learn learn. And watch a few on mistakes where they crash their rig just so you know what not to do.
Feel free to ask questions.