Can An SUV Tow A Camper? This is What You Want To Know

Whereas SUVs is probably not one of the best autos for optimum towing capability, they’ll tow a camper. In fact, towing a gooseneck or Fifth-wheel with an SUV is out of the query because the hitches for these forms of campers match within the mattress of a pickup truck. This leaves standard camper kinds comparable to teardrop trailers, A-Frames Campers, Pop-Up Campers, and Journey Trailers, together with some bumper pull Toy Haulers. The important thing to soundly towing a camper (or any trailer) with an SUV (or any automobile) is to by no means exceed the automaker’s weight rankings.

Each SUV has two weight rankings you will need to remember when deciding to tow a camper. One is the GVWR, quick for Gross Car Weight Score, usually discovered on the driving force’s facet door or door pillar. That is the utmost allowable weight of the automobile when it is absolutely loaded with gasoline, passengers, and cargo. The opposite is the Gross Mixed Weight Score, or GCWR, which provides the allowable trailer weight to the automobile’s GVWR.

An SUV’s GVWR and GCWR tie in on to its payload and towing capability, however automakers usually present the autos most payload and towing capacities eliminating the necessity for doing a number of the required calculations. When contemplating whether or not or to not tow a camper with an SUV there are three weights from the camper to think about, however it’s not essentially a precise science until you are taking the time to weigh the whole rig a couple of other ways.

Someplace on each trendy camper is a sticker with the camper’s Hitch Weight, Dry Weight, and GVWR, on this case the utmost weight of the camper and its contents. That is the place issues get somewhat murky as a result of the producer of the camper can not foresee how somebody would possibly load the camper. Which means that the hitch weight on the sticker is calculated for the dry, or unloaded, camper. The precise hitch weight, which is included within the SUV’s payload when towing, adjustments relying on how the required tenting gear and onboard recent and waste water tanks are loaded within the camper.

Ideally, hitch weight, or trailer tongue weight, ought to equal 10% to fifteen% of the entire loaded camper weight. Placing an excessive amount of weight towards the entrance of the camper can unnecessarily overload the SUV’s payload. Nevertheless, placing an excessive amount of weight on the rear of the camper can result in a harmful situation referred to as Trailer Sway that may trigger a speedy lack of automobile management.

Let’s use the GMC Yukon, one of many largest full-size SUVs you should purchase, for example for crunching the numbers to find out a protected higher weight restrict for towing a camper. In response to GMC, the 2025 Yukon Elevation geared up with the 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 and limited-slip differential rear-wheel drive has a most tow ranking of seven,700 kilos and a most payload of two,070 kilos.

We’ll have to think about {that a} loaded camper weighing 7,700 kilos ought to have between 770 and 1,155 of hitch weight that might be carried by the SUV and counted as payload. The one approach to know the precise weight of the trailer on the hitch is to weigh it on a scale comparable to a Cat scale usually discovered at truck stops. So, for security’s sake we’ll have to make use of 1,155 kilos of hitch weight till the camper might be weighed. That leaves 915 kilos of cargo capability for gasoline, gear, and passengers, a determine that’s trigger for concern with a automobile that seats eight.

There are all kinds of campers that fall nicely beneath the Yukon’s most tow ranking. One instance is the 2025 Airstream Bambi 16RB with a most loaded weight of three,500 kilos. Totally loaded the 16RB ought to have a hitch weight underneath 525 kilos, leaving loads of cargo capability for the Yukon. It is also towed by smaller SUVs with ease.