Can my car tow this?

[Rexlion]

Originally Posted by kdauto

Sure, some cars and SUVs can tow 5000lbs, some maybe a bit more, but you won't see any of those lasting 200 000km doing so, nor will the tow experience be anything enjoyable nor confidence-inspiring.

I put 140,000 towing miles (185K total on odometer) on a 2008 Toyota Highlander, 5K tow rating. It was still going strong when I sold it in 2015. I towed a tandem 6x12 cargo trailer for work (making deliveries) and a 7' wide TT, each in the 3,000-3,500 lb neighborhood. I liked that Highlander and would have kept it, but my wife kept complaining that she hated the front seats.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by Rexlion

I put 140,000 towing miles (185K total on odometer) on a 2008 Toyota Highlander, 5K tow rating. It was still going strong when I sold it in 2015. I towed a tandem 6x12 cargo trailer for work (making deliveries) and a 7' wide TT, each in the 3,000-3,500 lb neighborhood. I liked that Highlander and would have kept it, but my wife kept complaining that she hated the front seats.

Neither of those 2 qualify as heavy towing in my book. Make them 8' wide, 10' tall and aerodynamic as a brick, and I don't care if it's just 3500lbs, that Highlander would have been worn out.

You were still withing the realistic range, using 3000-3500lbs of a 5000lb tow rating. Those that are using most of that rating and not factoring in wind resistance are killing their vehicles.

[tuffr2]

I towed a Searay 16OB boat that weighed 2,500lbs. on the trailer with an early generation of the Toyota Highlander when they had a 3,500lb towing capacity. I thought that was a good match towing.

Of course boats are easy to tow with the shape and most of the weight was on the back. I could pick up the tongue of the trailer with this boat. Oh, the boat had a tight sunbrella cover to make it even a bit more aerodynamic.

I towed this boat with a Toyota Highlander (3,500lb. towing capacity), a gen 1 Honda Ridgeline (5,000lb towing capacity) and a 2011 F-150 with a 8,500lb towing capacity. Before this I towed for years with V8 powered cars with a tow capacity of 2,000lbs.

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[Redfour5]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I towed a Searay 16OB boat that weighed 2,500lbs. on the trailer with an early generation of the Toyota Highlander when they had a 3,500lb towing capacity. I thought that was a good match towing.

Of course boats are easy to tow with the shape and most of the weight was on the back. I could pick up the tongue of the trailer with this boat. Oh, the boat had a tight sunbrella cover to make it even a bit more aerodynamic.

I towed this boat with a Toyota Highlander (3,500lb. towing capacity), a gen 1 Honda Ridgeline (5,000lb towing capacity) and a 2011 F-150 with a 8,500lb towing capacity. Before this I towed for years with V8 powered cars with a tow capacity of 2,000lbs.

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I towed a 1900 lb pop up (loaded) with a 2004 and 2007 Subaru Forester manual transmissions and they towed pretty well. I put 94K on the 2004 and had roughly 30K towing miles between the two with that pop up over 13 years. I did the Ike twice in the 2004 and once in the 2007. It was interesting how they changed the two vehicles. Essentially the same, they altered where the torque and power were along with softer springs in the 2007 and the 07 was not nearly as good as the 2004 but did the job. Then I got a Ram 1500...and of course went to the dark side with a hard side trailer.

That generation of Subarus were beasts, pre-wired for towing (four pin) but I put a seven pin on it and brakes on the pop up. I had to put STi "pinks" springs on the 07. The profile was even with the top of the Subaru so the wind thing was not an issue. Now, I have a Ram 2500.

Oh, most interesting thing about that pop up and the Ram 1500. The very best mileage I ever got with a Ram (19-20 mpg) was pulling that pop up. The top of it was exactly the same as the truck bed with a tonneau on it. The width was almost identical also. It always did at least 17 mpg in mountains not to mention. It must have created some kind of perfect wind profile and my mileage was better pulling the pop up than without it. The 1900 lbs of the pop up were nothing to it. I always thought that was strange.

[77Travco]

Originally Posted by skier1950

Cars were not meant to tow things no matter what they say the towing capacity is. It is extremely hard on the drive train. That's what trucks are for.

Depends on the car and the trailer.
There was a time when the vast majority of travel trailers were pulled by cars not pickups.
Here ya go... look through these pics to see what I'm talking about. https://www.irv2.com/forums/f65/vint...es-570136.html

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by 77Travco

Depends on the car and the trailer.
There was a time when the vast majority of travel trailers were pulled by cars not pickups.
Here ya go... look through these pics to see what I'm talking about. https://www.irv2.com/forums/f65/vint...es-570136.html

Yep....of course, there was also a time where most cars had V-8 engines, HD trannies, full frames, RWD and were about twice the size of a Honda Civic;

[77Travco]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

Yep....of course, there was also a time where most cars had V-8 engines, HD trannies, full frames, RWD and were about twice the size of a Honda Civic;

Well... yea, you've got me there.
BTW, the Cadillac in that pic is front wheel drive. Of course it's the same Toronado FWD setup that was used in 1970's GMC motorhomes. Dig those trailer mirrors!

[corn18]

Originally Posted by dizcom

Easy to be flippant when it's someone else's equipment and life, right? The people on this forum know what they're talking about. Everyone is trying to help. We're out there too and the last thing we want to see is someone else break down or worse because they didn't know something they should.

C'mon. It's smaller than most U-Haul trailers.

OP, just don't go crazy and load the CX-5 with stuff and enjoy your camper.