Come on now, manufacturers are now rating almost all of their vehicles to the SAE J2807 and this includes performance, cooling, handling and of course things that impact safety of operation.
In doing so they have improved their vehicles and have also clarified * some things.
The thing that they have not really clarified is the * where some un-included equipment is necessary to meet those specifications *.
Vehicles do have varying degrees of towing comfort and tolerances.
For example many vehicles have at least two ratings, on about 1500 lbs and the other with required additional equipment that might have to be installed and programmed at the factory (Fords in particular) or the dealer.
This includes cooling systems and trailer anti-sway modules.
Many people are not aware of this and think that merely adding a hitch from etrailer.com and make their vehicle capable of safely towing the maximum rating they found in the specifications sheet.
Personally I am one of those guys who tow with a mini-van (Chrysler T&C).
My heavy
Scamp does not come in at 3500 lbs, but even so it is not like it's not even there, but that is the case towing anything for me.
The T&C towed us all over the mountains in the Smokies and Yellowstone and Glacier National park and points in between and while I knew the
Scamp was there the T&C did a pretty good job of towing for the whole trip, mountains and all getting an average of 16 MPG + for the trip.
The T&C also provided plenty of dry volume inside as well
The only real drawback of towing with the front wheel drive mini-van is the possible wheel spin going uphill on gravel or slick wet pavement. So far this has not been a problem.
As to power the 3.6 L. V6 Pentastar engine is the same you would get in any Dodge 6 cylinder truck and has plenty of power for mountains, long grades and interstate driving.
Personally I love the Stow and Go seating where i can have seating for 7 (kids and grandkids) and without having to remove any seating drop them into the floor and lay a sheet of plywood or Sheetrock flat in the back (something you cannot do in most pickup trucks today).
Since every choice has trade-offs I chose a mini-van because it meets the needs for a tow vehicle for FrankenScamp and a people hauler as well.
So if it takes a Ram 3500 dually for you with your 3500 lb
Casita then so be it.
I know that FrankenScamp is behind us and I am OK with that.
The T&C will comfortably handle it and it has been tested by the manufacturer to meet the requirements of SAE J2807
Linear Mode
