Cadillac

I just purchased a 2720. I will be picking it up on Saturday. My current tow vehicle is a Dodge full size van 1500 with the V6. It has a 3500 pound towing capacity. I am sure this will be adequate because I live in WI and will not be traveling out west until I replace the vehicle. The V6 is under powered and would have difficulty pulling the steep grades. My actual question is when we replace the current tow vehicle we are considering a Cadillac SRX. It is the Cadillac cross over. We like it because it is a decent size, is RWD, and is rated for 4500 lbs for towing. Most crossovers are FWD based for towing something that heavy I would rather have RWD. Has anyone towed with one of these? Does anyone know of any issues with these vehicles specifically or Cadillacs in general? I mostly have driven Mopars because I am accustomed to their quirks and issues.

My 2005 TM 2720 weighs 4,000 pounds when loaded.

I don't like to tow at the limit. I prefer the 80 percent rule. 80 percent of 5,000 pounds is 4,000 pounds. That would make me comfortable.

Your trailer weights 2742, then add the weight of the options: awning, a/c, etc.

What size water tank? When my 40 gallon tank is full and the water heater is full then I have 380 pounds of water. When I leave home I have all that water. When I leave the campground a lot of it is in the gray tank until I find a place to dump it. The fresh water is in front of the axle, adding to the tongue weight. The gray tank is behind the axle, subtracting from the tongue weight.

Also understand the weight of extra stuff in the van, such as other passengers and gasoline. This all subtracts from the total weight.

You can probably keep your weight down to an acceptable level for short weekend trips, but I don't think you will be able to take a trip out of state for a week or two without running into weight limits.

I don't want to scare you, but I do recommend that on one of your trips that you weigh it and adjust accordingly. Some people are content to tow overweight. I am not.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful or disrespectful because I am excited about my new camper and have learned a lot from the postings in the forum. That said, if as you state I really should have a 5000# towing capacity to tow even the smaller TM what are the benefits of a TM. I understand it will be easier to tow if I owned a 1 ton diesel truck but that is obvious. Personally for me the main selling point for the TM is that I don't need to buy a truck I have no other use for to tow the camper. If I need to buy a truck wouldn't I be better off buying a less expensive but larger camper with upper cabinets and a full size refrigerator? Again I don't want to sound like I am flaming you. I just feel the statements that you really need to have 5000# towing capacity under all circumstances negates the main selling point for a TM.

I suggest that you read my recent comments under 'Back from Alaska'. Two years ago when I was researching this subject prior to purchasing a TM I was nearly put off the whole project by comments suggesting that my V6 Toyota Highlander was not appropriate to tow either a 2619 or 2720. Fortuntely, I heard from two owners who already owned exactly these combinations. It was suggested however that I might not have enough power to tackle trips into and west of the Rockies. My wife and I have now completed trips to both Colorado and Alaska and the Highlander has handled these without any overheating, undue slowness etc etc.Normally we tow at 60-65mph and usually maintain 50mph up the longest climbs. To keep the engine cool you should engage lower gearing and keep the rpm's between 3,000 amd 4,500 for steep climbs. This is nothing new as I was instructed many years ago how to correctly drive over mountainous terrane in Europe where the custom is to tow 'caravans' with mid sizes sedans ( in most cases underpowered by US standards).
Incidently, the WDH is the best towing development of the past 20 years.
Good luck, Geoff Card
05 Toyota Higlander V6 with towing package
2002 TM 2619
WDH

As you diplomatically put it, I will preface this with "No disrespect intended"...

The 80% guideline applies to all situations. The advantages of a TM's light weight still apply, even if you are adhering to the 80% guideline. A comparably sized 30 ft hard sided travel trailer could weigh 7500 pounds, or more, meaning you would need 9000 lbs of towing capacity. And this doesn't even account for the significant increase in wind resistance of a full sized TT when towing.

The benefits of light weight and less resistance for TMs are real. And they do enable an entire class of vehicles (like my Pacifica) as safe TVs. But it doesn't mean that you can tow them safely with anything...

All that being said, as my signature indicates, I am working beyond the 80% guideline right now. It is something that we are very conscious of, so we choose locations carefully and pack accordingly. We intend to upgrade our TV within the year to enable a broader range of locations and longer trips.

I would add the following points to the comment that I made earlier this morning: 1. I cannot imagine having a 40 gallon water tank, we have a 20 gallon tank and never leave home with more than 10 gallons. Even when camping on remote sites in Alaska we were always able to get a good water supply even though some of these were from hand operated pumps.
2. Why take the grey water away from the camp site? We have always found a dump site on or near even the most remote sites.
3.You do not need to carry gas even when travelling through the Yukon provided you fill at each opportunity.
4. Do not pack a lot of food, buy fresh as you travel and just take a few cans and some powdered milk for emergencies. All these add up to a big weight saving.
5. I do not believe in the 80% rule. You can be sure that when setting towing weight limits the manufacturers will have included a large percentage safety factor in their calculations as is standard engineering practice. You are only heeping safety margins on top of safety margins.
Geoff Card

Originally Posted by Geoffrey Card

I would add the following points to the comment that I made earlier this morning: 1. I cannot imagine having a 40 gallon water tank, we have a 20 gallon tank and never leave home with more than 10 gallons. Even when camping on remote sites in Alaska we were always able to get a good water supply even though some of these were from hand operated pumps.
2. Why take the grey water away from the camp site? We have always found a dump site on or near even the most remote sites.
3.You do not need to carry gas even when traveling through the Yukon provided you fill at each opportunity.
4. Do not pack a lot of food, buy fresh as you travel and just take a few cans and some powdered milk for emergencies. All these add up to a big weight saving.
5. I do not believe in the 80% rule. You can be sure that when setting towing weight limits the manufacturers will have included a large percentage safety factor in their calculations as is standard engineering practice. You are only heeping safety margins on top of safety margins.
Geoff Card

1. This depends a lot on where you want to go. I have found that *SOME* of the time the water at US forest service campgrounds and County parks requires boiling before you can drink it. I prefer to carry my own water so I don't have to boil it. When traveling dry, always have a backup plan in case your destination has no water.

2. The places that I go do not have a dump station. The nearest dump station is sometimes 60 miles down the freeway. So I have to haul the gray water some distance. This is a function of where you are staying. I don't stay in commercial RV parks that have hookups.

3. Where I camp the nearest gas station is the same 60 miles away. If I will be in the campsite for several days and driving around site seeing then I need to fill up my 31 gallon gas tank at the last gas stop.

4. The quickie mart at the gas station 60 miles away does not carry fresh produce. I take food for 6 people for the duration of the stay with me. 120 miles round trip to buy another carton of milk is not very convenient. I am self contained.

5. Sorry to be a little harsh on my reference to the 80 percent rule. I studied engineering once upon a time. I apply the rule. I do not have an advanced engineering degree. Do what is comfortable for you, but do it with knowledge. If you weigh your rig you will know how much over weight you are, or under weight. I weigh 215 pounds. When I bought my step ladder I bought one rated for 300 pounds instead of the one that was rated for 200 pounds. I doubt that my 15 pounds of flab would have resulted in my death, but when I am 12 feet in the air I just feel better on a ladder designed for my intended purpose.

I jumped to the conclusion that Alaska was sparsely populated. Apparently there are more gas stations in Alaska than there is in California. I have to plan carefully so I don't run out of food, water and gas.

As long as you stay under the 3500 pound rating for your vehicle you should be fine. According to the Toyota web site for the Sienna specs, it says:

The maximum you can tow depends on the total weight of any cargo, occupants and available equipment.

Make sure you understand that there is a total weight for the TV and the trailer and all cargo and passengers. If you fill up the TV with passengers, pets, and additional cargo this is part of your total weight limit for the TV. You have several weight limits to be aware of so that you do not unknowingly exceed them:

1. weight of loaded trailer.
2. tongue weight of loaded trailer.
3. total combined weight of TV plus trailer as it rolls down the road.

Before installing a WD hitch check with the manufacturer. Some small SUVs and mini vans with unibody construction are not designed for use with a WD hitch.

The Sienna is limited to a tongue weight of 350 pounds. I have not weighed my tongue weight for my 2720, but I think I am at 400 pounds.

My research on the Sienna shows that when towing a 3500 pound trailer you can still have 900 pounds of passengers and cargo in the van. Six adults weighing 150 pounds or more would exceed the limit of the Sienna when towing 3500 pounds. Any guests will just have to drive their own car. Leave the rock collection at home.

The following web site is pretty good if you are new to this towing limit topic:

http://www.rvtowingtips.com/

I am not trying to put you down. I am trying to be a little helpful. Bottom line is don't trust the salesman when they say what can tow what. Do your research and understand the limits of the setup.

Towing is not just an issue of will the engine tow it up the hill. Frequent towing at the limit will put a strain on the drive train which will shorten the life of the TV. If you only tow for one week a year then I would not worry about it. If you go camping every weekend then it might become an issue.

When going down a hill there is the risk that you may need to make a panic stop while negotiating a turn. Sure the trailer has its own brakes, but there is still a lot of push happening at odd angles. I had to lock my brakes once while going down a modest grade at 45 mph. I was pleased with the performance of my equipment. The TV needs to be able to control the TV and trailer. Long wheel base is helpful, but that does not mean a short wheel base is dangerous. If you will never drive on mountain roads and will mostly be on freeways then braking ability and wheelbase are not as important as it is for me where I drive very steep mountain roads that are so narrow that they don't bother painting a line down the middle of the road.

I agree with a lot of PopBeavers comments. Your total TM weight will obviously depend on your style of camping and in PopBeavers example this is an extreme case at one end of the scale. In our case, which I believe is more typical of TM owners, we choose to mix stays at well equipped RV sites with stays of two or three days at fairly primative state and national park sites. We would never drink any of the site water without boiling either for hot beverages or for making iced tee etc. We therfore only need to carry a few gallons of water for emergencies and we fill our tank when we stop.When touring we find it quite easy to purchase food on a regular basis and do not need to carry supplies and fresh milk for more than two or three days. Also, we do not fill our TV with passengers, on most trips it is just my wife and myself and as I mentioned previously plus our son for part of the Alaska adventure.

If you are happy with the 80% rule then that is your decision but as an engineer I can assure you that you are simply adding to the very adequate safety margions that have already been calculated into the design of your vehicle.

The WDH is a great invention and I have yet to see a vehicle chassis that would not cope with or benefit from its use and the improved distribution of loads.

Incidently, I do not know about California but on the Alaska Highway we found gas usually available every 100 miles with a few gaps of approx. 200 miles.
Geoff Card

I appreciate the feedback. Everyone here is always good natured. I do agree that towing would be easier if I had a big truck. 99% of my towing will be in the MN, WI, IL, IA area where 900ft is a really big climb. I do plan in the future to head out to the east and west coast but these would be one trip a year at the most. I have many years until retirement and the opportunity to full time RV until then I know my van will be adequate. I know it is underpowered but I also know I won't need to worry about brakes. The van does have serious brakes that would require serious overuse to warp or fail.


To return to my original topic.
Actual question is below.

Does anyone know of any issues with the SRX or Cadillacs in general? I have never owned a GM vehicle.

More background.
I am very familiar with Mopars and would go that route but the Pacifica isn't quite right for me.

I have been considering the new Hyundai Veracruz but I prefer RWD and I still believe in American Made cars.( I grew up in an iron mining area and buying Japanese just doesn't feel right to me. This is personal choice and I don't have animosity towards people that love their Toyotas.)

It's been quite a while since we've owned a GM and that's because we were not happy with them. Hubby had two 1/2 ton pickups and we just had regular repair issues and little aggravations here and there. Paint never held up very well either. We've had a Ford F150 for almost 10 years and 240K miles that has given us excellent service and very few problems and still looks pretty good inside and out. Will probably go with another Ford when this one dies. Maybe we've just been really lucky, as I know a few folks with Explorers who've had more problems, but that's just our experience.

Beth