Towing a Vehicle behind 2018 Intent motorhome

[Katsarratt]

We have a Winnebago Intent, 2018, 30'. The vehicle we want to tow is a 2013 Mercedes GLK model (small SUV.) We were told the vehicle could not be towed on the Winnebago.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to travel with this vehicle attached or pulled by our RV? Besides paying $3500 -$6500 to put it on a trailer to pull it? We have camped several times with friends that have cars or trucks so we didn't need one. We've only had it about a year. It's time we got independent, lol.
Thanks.

[FT RV]

You can't flat tow any Mercedes

[be happy]

Make sure you read the owners manual about towing your car. That manual is what you need to go by.

Most likely you can not tow 4 down. You may not even be able to tow on a dolly. Some SUV's are able to tow on dolly while others are not. Again the owners manual.

If you are able to tow on a dolly then thats the way to go. I have been dolly towing for many years and its not that bad. I purchased a dolly with electric brakes and enjoyed many trouble free miles.

Good Luck

[Ray,IN]

Yep, the owners manual has a section titled "Recreational Towing" if it can be towed.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by FT RV

You can't flat tow any Mercedes

Yep, that's true. There are towing guides published yearly by FMCA, Good Sam, and Roadmaster:

Here's some links. You must look at the specific year and the specific car and even specific option packages:

https://www.fmca.com/towing-guides-t...ur-wheels-down NOTE: Requires FMCA membership.

www.roadmasterinc.com/media/dinghy-guides/

https://blog.campingworld.com/learn-...dinghy-towing/

But as other's have said, the vehicle's Owner's Manual is the absolute guide to "Recreational Towing." And also like already said, there aren't any Mercedes that are flat-towable.

[Scubadude62]

Agree with the above. If you want to tow that car, a trailer is your only option.


Most Jeeps and Ford Hybrid vehicles can be flat towed. There's not a whole lot of options any more for towing 4-down.

[FT RV]

My 4runner that I've dumped thousands into all new HD Stoptech brakes, Bilstein shocks and springs, poly bushings, a myriad of other things isn't flat - towable either. It sucks.

[Retired FF]

Broke my heart to sell my 1996 GEO toad, but got too old, needed comfort, cruise, and more safety. Presently towing Jeep JK with manual transfer not many choices left for 4 down or even 2 down dolly method anymore. Absolutely no expert but read forum posts prior to deciding upon a vehicle with "electronic" neutral towing there have been some problems with false engagement of drivetrains!

Happy trails

[Grapehound]

Your dilemma is common among RV'ers. We often don't want to buy the correct vehicle for our plans but would like to use the vehicle what we have. It's most common when people want to buy a bigger trailer and want to tow it with their current RV, or when you get a new motor home and wnat to tow your exisiting car.

This forum ios great becasue people aren't going to just tell you what you might want to hear.

People who want to tow four wheels down need a special vehicle which requires some research. Jeeps are comonly used but not all Jeeps can be towed 4 down.

Tow dollies are great for people with a front wheel drive car which has free wheeling rearwheels or people with a stick transmission which can be placed in neutral. Again, you have to do your homework to make sure a specific car is towable. Owners manuals are the best source. Do not assume anything. Our Jeep Grand Cherokee can be towed 4 down but cannot be towed on a tow dolly (two wheels down). Definitely counter intuitive.

You always have the option of buying a trailer to tow your Mercedes. But now you must understand that you are being a tad stubborn in that you want to take THIS car with you when you travel. This trailering option works well when you have another use for the trailer. I have a large compact tractor, so if I bought a trailer I could take my tractor in for service or take it a distance to plow snow in addition to using it to haul my Mercedes.

One drawback is that you will need to back the car off the trailer and find a place to park both your car and the trailer at campgrounds. Sometimes campgrounds have a specific area for parking trailers and other excess vehicles. There could be an additional charge. If I decided I needed such a trailer, I would buy an aluminum version so it would be much lighter and could be moved around for storage much more easily.

As you have realized, it is an expensive option to buy a trailer just to take one specific car with you. Of course for closer trips with family you could just have a spouse or partner drive it to your location and forego the tailering option completely.

Your worst choice would be to try to tow a car that is not towable. That would really cost you some money!

Your choice. I can't sugar coat it. If you don't like spending the money for a trailer, then try to plan a little better with the vehicles you buy.

[Farco]

Find an aluminum trailer. Only recourse for that car

[marudnick]

We have a very similar rig, a 30’ Sunstar 29VE. Our RV can only tow 5,000 pounds. Your RV likely has the same weight limit. Towing your SUV plus the dolly probably wouldn’t work because of the weight. We pull a Ford Focus automatic. It’s a compact and can be flat towed. I recommend you find and buy another vehicle to tow. Not what you wanted to hear but…

[cthiggy]

FWIW, we towed a 2013 Mercedes SMART car four down for a few years. Found it to be very practical. Small, light weight, good vehicle gas mileage. So light, we had to constantly monitor the back-up camera as we drove just to be sure it was still with us. Everything two folks need for touring and trips to the grocery store. But, beware, some later SMART cars can not be towed four down.
cthiggy

[bobby5832708]

I've been 4-down towing a vehicle that supposedly can't be towed 4-down on a few trips over the last few years. The RV is a 2017 Sunstar 29VE and the towed car is a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. So far, after about 6000 towing miles, the Dodge still works fine.

What I do is leave the Dodge idling in neutral while it's being towed. I'm not saying that this works on every car, but I haven't killed the trans in the van yet. I wrote a thread about doing this over on the Chrysler Minivan site. If anyone wants to know the specifics I can put a copy on this site.

Remember, just because this works for me does not mean it will work for you!

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by bobby5832708

What I do is leave the Dodge idling in neutral while it's being towed.

You do you Bobby… but that’s both risky and uneconomical.

Risky? Yes, if the car dies, runs out of gas, overheats or any number of things the car would be quickly ruined. And what would the legal liability be if your running car was to separate from the RV? How do you explain this to the police or insurance company?

Uneconomical? Towing this way adds miles to the odometer! Not to mention the fuel usage. You might as well drive it behind the RV.

I’m surprised it doesn’t overheat due to lack of good airflow so close behind the RV.

If it was It April, I could understand the joke. But it doesn’t sound like you’re joking.

[bobby5832708]

I've had people tell me that what I am doing will destroy my transmission, cost me lots of money, etc. etc. Below is the link to a thread on the chryslerminivan.net site where I give all my information and results. I just copied and pasted the URL so hopefully it works. If not, go to www.chryslerminivan.net and in the 5th gen area search for "disabling stability control on 2016 DGC". My thread is the first one there.


https://www.chryslerminivan.net/thre...-towed.177615/

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by marudnick

We have a very similar rig, a 30’ Sunstar 29VE. Our RV can only tow 5,000 pounds. Your RV likely has the same weight limit. Towing your SUV plus the dolly probably wouldn’t work because of the weight. We pull a Ford Focus automatic. It’s a compact and can be flat towed. I recommend you find and buy another vehicle to tow. Not what you wanted to hear but…

To be clear, your RV (which I have the same) cannot exceed the GVWR of 23,000. I have 6,000 pound Lincoln Navigator 4X4 that I flat tow 4 wheel down all the time.

Our OEM hitch has a 5,000 limit, but I upgraded my hitch with a 10,000 pound Curt hitch to ensure safety. Truth be told, I would suggest upgrading the hitch anyway if you tow any thing over 4,000 for added safety. I am only using 60% of it's rating. Plus my new hitch is mounted to the main I frame of chassis, not the the extension off the frame.

I travel / tow under 23,000 pounds. The only bad part of this is I have to leave the beer at home. It was tough trade off, but life is about sacrifices