Eurovan as tow vehicle

[Pat Sullivan]

I appreciate those interested in helping us understand, respectfully. Yes I am serious about the Eurovan. In researching using this vehicle to tow an ultralight trailer I asked two dealers, our long time VW mechanic, the TrailManor dealer and the company that put on the brake controller and connector. It certainly isn't a big ole SUV which I may end up going with for safety, I'd prefer to keep this vehicle. We do canine rescue work with golden retrievers and the Eurovan's bed and easy access is primarily a dog thing at this point.

Really I wouldn't havebought the Elkmont if I wasn't trying to use this van. Too old to deal with the pop up trailers, so this seemed like a good $25,000.00 option.

Ok, so let me put the numbers out there and welcome and would value any input so we are understanding.

The 2003 Eurovan MV is a 6 cylinder, 201hp. It is rated 4500 pounds for pulling a trailer with brakes. The "total permissible weight" ACCORDING TO THE MANUAL IS 5800 POUNDS. Total weight of the combination (sum of the trailer and towing vehicle weights) is about 10,000 lbs.

Thanks for your input. Today we drove back from the dealer and had no difficulty. We felt safe, albeit we didn't drive up any mountain.

Thanks again,

[Larryp1941]

I am the former owner of a slew of Vanagons and Eurovans. I reluctantly changed to a 4Runner due to the known issues that arise with the trannies in the Eurovan if used for towing. Yes, it is rated at 4500 lbs but the trannies, which will cost $6K plus to replace, are problematic. I towed a 1500 lb trailer for about a year with no issues but I don't think I would tow the a 3500 TM (loaded) with this vehicle unless I accepted the exposure of an expensive trannie repair or replacement. I loved my Eurovan and still miss the flexibility it provded, but I also love my 4Runner which is tough as nails.

[Bluegrass]

The 2003 Eurovan MV is a 6 cylinder, 201hp. It is rated 4500 pounds for pulling a trailer with brakes. The "total permissible weight" ACCORDING TO THE MANUAL IS 5800 POUNDS. Total weight of the combination (sum of the trailer and towing vehicle weights) is about 10,000 lbs.

Thanks again,

What you may not realize is the weight of all the stuff that isn't included in the published vehicle or trailer weight, including you & dogs, gas, water, batteries, propane tanks, options on the vehicles, and your stuff. I'd suggest that once you load up the trailer the way you will use it, get on a truck scale and weigh the whole thing and compare it to your GCWR. Not as a "Did I make a mistake" kind of exercise but more so you will know how close you are. If you also get weights for each axle, you may find that you need to shift weight around to be safe.

[mtnguy]

Pat, I posted this response to another thread that you responded to, so I thought I would bring it over to this thread. Bill also made mention regarding your Valley Journey brake controller being a time delay like I did:

We are picking up our Elkmont tomorrow in Portland. We had them put on Pro-Eagle WDH, sway bar and electric tongue jack. Also had a Valley Journey HD 52740 brake controller put on my Eurovan. We are hoping the Eurovan will do OK, it's rated 4400. We had them service the transmission today to get as prepared as possible.

It looks like the Pro-Eagle WDH does not have integrated sway control. You probably need a friction bar (or 2) added to help with sway.

I don't think the Valley Journey HD is an inertia brake controller. It looks like it is a time-delay. A Valley Odyssey or Tekonsha Prodigy might be better choices for trailer braking.

I am not familiar with the Eurovan, but it looks like a rather small vehicle with a short wheelbase.......not really conducive to towing a conventional travel trailer.

[Wavery]

Here is a tool that you may find helpful:
http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-trailer-weight-tt.shtml

It's important to read all of the terms and definitions on the website. It will help you make a more informed decision about the use of your TV.

The "Dry weight" of the Eurovan is 4300#. The problem with that is "Dry weight" may not include a lot of stuff in your actual van, especially if it has been converted in any way. It's important to have your entire rig weighed (all 3- axles) fully loaded for camping.

I you indeed have a GCWR of 10K# (not sure where you got that # ???) you would subtract the actual scale weight of your van to determine the weight that the van is rated to handle, including passengers, cargo and fuel.

Next, you must realize that your Elkmont will be far heavier than the dry weight when it is loaded for traveling. It would not be excessive to figure on an extra 1,000-1500# above "the dry" weight but again.....load it up for a trip and stop by the scales on your way out.

The thing that bothers me about the Elkmont is that the GVWR is only about 1250# higher than the "Dry weight". The dry weight does not include things like the A/C, electric tongue jack and any other accessories that may be included on your camper. You may find it challenging to keep the weight below 4000# on that trailer.

I don't think that anyone here will try to talk you into changing your TV. However, it is important that you understand the limits of your TV and where you stand with those limits. It may help you choose your destinations and/or driving habits accordingly. It will also help you better understand the importance of keeping the vehicle maintenance up and what that all entails.

The one thing that I would be very concerned about is the 4500# towing capacity of the Eurovan. My feeling is, this capacity may be with a "Factory installed" tow package. If you are certain that your tow package is factory installed, that could be a big difference. If you purchased the vehicle used and it had a trailer hitch, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is equipped for towing 4500#. Also, you must take into account that rating is determined on a "new" and does not include wear & tear. The ability of your TV may be radically different. I would strongly suspect that the Eurovan Owner's Manual may include verbiage like, "Subtract the weight of passengers and cargo from tow weight rating when vehicle is fully loaded for towing". That would mean that if your added weight to the "dry weight" of the van is 1500#, the tow rating would then be 3000# (if it is a factory installed tow pkg). If the actual "Scale weight" on your van is 6500# fully loaded (for instance) then your towing capacity would be 2300# (not accounting for wear & tear of the vehicle).

Does the Eurovan have a class IV trailer hitch? Does the Owner's Manual specify the use of a WDH?

[cochise]

I bought an ELKMONT having been told by Texas RV that the trailer only weighed 2500# with 320# on the tongue. In reality it weighed 3600# and about 600 on the tongue. TM explained to me that yes it was true and that I didn't understand how all this worked. So true. But now I do. TM openly advertises weights that are unrealistic, without explaining to their potential customers that there are "industry jargon" that one needs to understand in order to pick a trailer.

The Eurovan from 2003 has a listed towing capacity of 4400# with brakes. It also only has a 2.8 L V6. And the ELKMONT GVWR is listed (obscurely) as 4230#. So theoretically you should be able to pull it. BUT if your vehicle is a front wheel drive which I believe it is, BEWARE the 500-600# tongue weight will lift the front to a point where you will have trouble steering it and also traction will be a great concern. My first tow vehicle was a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe with a 3.3 L V6 front wheel drive. I used 15k miles of rubber on the front pulling it from Cleburne TX (Texas RV) to Tucson AZ about 1000 miles total. I am now using a 2003 Silverado 4.3 L V6 with the tow package, tow trans and all.

So be very careful with that package.

[cochise]

to mention that I also had a Husky tow weight distributing hitch installed in Texas, but that did little to alleviate the tongue weight problem.