RE: Need Advice on Towing Coleman w Minivan

rscraig205 · Sep 28, 2003, 07:05 PM

I ve got a minivan (Honda Odyssey with a 3500 tow limit) and I m considering buying a Coleman, but I m concerned about towing. I used to pull a Starcraft with a full sized van and I didn t even know it was there, but I gather the minivan will be different. We re looking at something in the Cheyenne (3070 GVWR) or Carmel (2550 GVWR) range. With conservative addditions for TV load and passengers, both of these come under the 3500 limit, but are over the 75% rule of 2625.

Does anybody pull either of these models with a minivan, especially an Odyssey? What are your experiences. Do you use sway or wt dist?

Steve

farmer · May 24, 2003, 01:43 PM

rscraig205Steve
We tow a Cheyenne with an Odyssey. I haven t towed to a campground yet(weekend of the 31st will be the maiden outing), but have made two 35 mile one way trips to the dealer. The camper was empty and the van contained my wife and myself only. With both vehicles empty the van towed great. I had no sway and no lack of power. The van does sag some in the back so I may consider a wt dist hitch in the future. We do have a friction antisway device. I was hoping the van would perform poorly so DW would let me sell our 02 Subaru Outback wagon and get a quad cab truck but unfortunely [

][

] the van has done great so far. I ll let you know how it works with a camping load on after our maiden journey.
Farmer

jpreiser · May 24, 2003, 01:51 PM

rscraig205We towed our clipper with a dodge grand caravan , it towed fine when both vehicles were empty, but when full and camping gear and campers there was quite a sag in the back end. we now tow with a truck with quad cab and it does great.

farmer · May 24, 2003, 01:56 PM

rscraig205jpreiser
I will show your repy to DW
Farmer

rscraig205 · May 24, 2003, 04:29 PM

rscraig205Prdon my ignorance on this, but if a sag is the only problem (i.e., not sway or power), cant that be solved with a pair of air shocks or load levelers on the rear end of the TV?

Steve

wahoonc · May 24, 2003, 05:18 PM

rscraig205The airshocks or airbags will help the immediate problem of rear end sag, but a WDH would be a better choice. The sag indicates that the rear suspension of the van is overloaded, which is not a good situation. All the air shocks/bags do is lift up the rear, it is still overloaded. A good WDH will actually transfer some of the excess load to the front wheels of the van, which with a front wheel drive van is a good thing, because you are adding weight back to the traction end of things. BUT! some popups and some vans cannot use WDH because of structural limitations.

Aaron[

]

BaysideBruce · May 24, 2003, 06:06 PM

rscraig205I am speaking from experience a few years ago and realize that things change, but I had a Caravan ( 94) and was told by the Dodge dealer that airshocks were not allowed on the minivan for safey reasons. Something with the seat beats/air bags and the ABS breaking system. I did not understand that but luckly I was towing a light weight camper at the time and did not have trouble with sag. It did slow me down some in the mountians but we did make it up and over all of them. You might want to check with your dealer before trying to purchase any airshocks.

GotDaughters · May 24, 2003, 08:06 PM

rscraig205Dear Steve;

I know I will be in the minority with this comment, but I would not worry about towing any popup with your minivan. I had a Starcraft 2406 that I towed with our Windstar. I towed it for four years in the Sierra s and never had a single problem. We have since moved up to a hybrid that I tow with my Explorer. The hybrid is a 24 footer weighing about 4,500# s. The Explorer tows it very well, but so does my van. This is where I am sure I will ruffle some feathers. Occasionally I hook the hybrid to my Windstar when we are going to someplace close and flat. The Windstar actually tows the hybrid very well and is much more comfortable than my Explorer. I need the WDH because of the high tonge weight, but other than that it tows very well.

I would suggest getting whatever popup you think will fit your family. Your van will tow it.

Good Luck;
Gary

Gatsmommy · May 25, 2003, 12:41 AM

rscraig205I just checked the Coleman site and the Carmel is about the same weight limits as our Santa Fe, and the Cheyenne is a little more. We pull with a Kia Sedona (3500lbs tow rating) without problems. We did put on an anti-sway bar, and I m glad to have it as the Santa Fe is heavier then our old PU. We have taken it out for weekend trips so we haven t been too loaded down yet. Our fist long trip is coming up in a couple weeks so we ll have more stuff, but I still don t see it being a problem.

As a side note I really like the floorplan of the Carmel, and almost got that one, but the dealer had our Santa Fe as a clearence modle, and I can t pass up a good deal LOL.

rscraig205 · May 25, 2003, 10:26 AM

rscraig205Do you use a weight distribution hitch when towing with the Kia? If so, which one?

Steve

don · May 26, 2003, 10:21 AM

rscraig205I hesitant to write this because I know I?m well over the 75% rule but you can decide for yourself.
We bought a 2001 Coleman Fairview last year (12ft box w/slide out dinette) and towed it over 3000 miles last year with our 1997 Plymouth Voyager that is nearing 100,000 miles. It does fine BUT I know without the eletric brakes it would be impossible to safely stop. I have a sway control on it and I think it needs it. The sway package wasn?t expensive (maybe $100-150) and is well worth it. I can feel the difference when it is not tightened up and don?t think it?s safe to tow this much of a load without it.
I?m reserved that it is a stress on the vehicle and I might be replacing a transmission some day (voyage had transmission issues) but I go into it with me eyes open. The van is paid off and I didn?t want to buy a new more expensive TV and have a loan payment.

artshadow · May 26, 2003, 02:24 PM

rscraig205I tow a Coleman Cheyenne with an 02 Odyessey with a Reese 350 WD hitch and Tekonsha Prodegy brake control. I am quite pleased with the set-up. We consist of two people and three cats. If you check out the owners manual you will see that as you add passengers the capacity goes down. Honda strogly suggests that you add a transmission and power steering cooler when you tow over 1,800 lbs.

Gatsmommy · May 28, 2003, 12:03 AM

rscraig205

QuoteDo you use a weight distribution hitch when towing with the Kia? If so, which one?

No the (camper) dealer didn t think we would need one, unless we really loaded up on stuff, and then he suggested buying an SUV. We haven t noticed the trailer weighing down the back of the van at all though so I don t think we need it.

thomas · Jun 23, 2003, 04:03 PM

rscraig205We have a VIKING 2465ST and tow with a 2001 Grand Caravan with 3.8 engine, auto, & trailer tow package which give s us load leveler shocks on the rear so no tail droop. Had electric brakes installed even though dealer didn t think I would need them, also had a friction sway bar installed, both these items are pure safety items I thought I would like to give me the edge in tight situations. It tows very well, but will admit I haven t encountered any hills of size, but the gas mileage does suffer quite a bit , and the temp gage increase s just slightly on the open road. So far we are very happy with the combination. Plug Nickel

TheWallRocks · Jun 23, 2003, 05:24 PM

rscraig205I ll get killed here for this comment, but.......

We usually camp within 30 miles from home, and for a period of time we towed our Bayside with a Subaru Outback wagon. I was actually surprised how little the rear end dropped when hooking it up, and how well it towed. We didn t have much of a choice..... the PU was a good deal and the Subaru leased..... so we were stuck.

We now have a Durango, but the Subaru got us through last year just fine for short trips. Even in snow and ice..... those Subaru s are awesome.

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