Which A/S can we tow safely?

[Safari Streamer]

Don't spend all that money on hotels and Cracker Barrel. You will not have nearly as much fun or meet nearly as many great people. Where else can you get together with so many others and take off for a weekend or a month or two? We love our 25' Safari and are currently towing with a Suburban. We will soon be shopping for a new tow vechicle, possibly a truck.
Good luck with your decision.

[CanoeStream]

John,

I take it that you feel that the weight of the Hensley on the tongue may be a greater detriment, in my case, than an antisway benefit.

In concept the Hensley is a great piece of engineering. The best weight distribution & anti-sway won't help make a short wheelbase SUV a great tow vehicle for all trailers. Even an F-250 PowerStroke has a 'capacity' -- it's just somewhat greater. Where I was going had more to do with the heavier Hensley in your receiver being the final straw in putting your 4Runner over capacity when you look at the most trailer you can tow (going strictly by the numbers, a 22' CCD might be too much even before a Hensley). Standard disclaimer: I have no Hensley experience but it is the heaviest out there -- 200# or close to it?

According to the owners manual the maximum gross trailer weight plus cargo weight must not exceed 7,000 lbs. and the combined gross trailer weight plus the total weight of the tow vehicle, occupants and cargo must not exceed 12,000 lbs.

A 22' International CCD hitch weight w/o options is 620#. Add the weight of a your weight distribution device to the hitch weight. You'll have LP in the tanks too. With no personal gear on the trailer it is nearly impossible to stay below your tow vehicle's 700# maximum hitch weight.

You can't pull the maximum 'combined gross weight' if you overload the vehicle in a primary sense. According to Toyota's website an 8-cylinder 4Runner has a payload right at 1200# (also can be arrived at by subtracting empty vehicle weight from GVWR). With 700# on the hitch that leaves you 500# to play with. A full 23 gal tank would subtract 144.9# from that. Let's figure driver + passenger = 300#. You now have 55.1# of additional load you can put into your tow vehicle. Period.

Weight distribution does move load so that the front axle shares some of what is in the receiver. There are more sophisticated ways of looking at the actual weight per axle (do a search on CAT scale), but we all still use up our GVWR pretty quickly. My tow capacity is upwards of 9000# but I'll max out my tow vehicle's GVWR with my 3600# empty weight trailer (once I load it), two people, a full gas tank, a pickup topper, and two bicycles. I might have to fill my canoe with helium...

Grab the opportunity to use an Airstream when you want to. I wanted 'new' for the longest time and that is the slowest way to hit the road with the gear you desire. A used trailer will demand time and some of that money you save -- and a small used unit will let you do some of the things you want while still aiming for the perfect trailer. Cruise these forums and keep looking -- you don't have to be multiple planned years away from your acquisition!