New member, Ohio

[Blubob]

Hi! My wife and I are new to RVing, and have a 23' vintage, but are looking to get an AS in the 25-27' range soon. We have a Touareg TDI tow vehicle, and I'd love to hear from others with a similar setup. Hope to learn more and I welcome any input. Thanks!

[dbj216]

Welcome from Colorado: Cincinnati is a nice city for sure. I like it.

You are experienced with towing a trailer. We are in New Mexico at the moment with some pretty stiff winds. Even the Airstream can get buffeted. Towing into a stiff headwind really sucks the fuel. It takes power to do it.
Your vehicle has a tow rating and a combined vehicle weight rating. These weights shouldn't be exceeded. Many folks towing with lighter vehicles quickly run out of allowed cargo weight. It all depends on what gear you haul with while towing.

We live in Colorado. The mountains can offer some pretty long climbs up 7% grades. Semi trucks are in the right lane doing 25mph sometimes. I see pickups stopped near the top of the mountain with their hoods up trying to get cooled down. Towing in flat ground like my former Minnesota is one thing. Towing in the mountains is another. I might add that going down a mountain pass is even dicer than going up.

A good hitch is very important. There are many of them on the market. Size the hitch to the weight of the trailer.

So select your tow vehicle based on the trailer you want. A 27' Airstream gross vehicle weight rating might be 8000 pounds. The dry weight is of lesser concern. You want a vehicle that can safely handle the weight of the trailer and the weight of the cargo.

We camped next to a new Airstream Globetrotter 28' yesterday. Beautiful trailer sure. His tow vehicle was in the shop for the last several days. It is the second time he has had trouble with it so he says. It is a GMC Canyon with a 4 cyl turbo diesel. He is working that small pick up too hard in my view.

David

[Blubob]

Thanks, David. The TDI has a hitch rating of 7700, and a tongue rating of 617lbs. I had it up to CanAm RV in London a while back and did the hitch reinforcement on it. They said they have done a few hundred on that Audi/VW/Porsche platform, with many towing 28’s and 30’s. I’d rather stay in the 25’ range to allow for more of a safety factor, and that size should work well since our 23’ fits nicely now.

[dbj216]

Can Am is well known for setting up hitches for all kinds of vehicles. You are wise to get their expert modifications and advice. Can Am loves independent rear suspension and strong reinforcement of the hitch receiver to the vehicle.

There are folks here that prefer "bigger is better" philosophy with tow vehicles, and I'm as guilty as anyone. My Super Duty makes up for a lot of sins with the set up.

David