Smallest Towing car

[J. Morgan]

In my experience, If the trailer brakes are right, they do the stopping of the trailer, and in normal stops, a portion of the TV stopping as well.

In other words, if the trailer brakes are right, the trailer never pushes the TV, uphill, downhill, or level ground.

[Larry C]

Originally Posted by pappy19

I guess the gravel truck drivers should just use a Chrysler 300 and just add a trailer to tow. There is something called the "Law of diminishing returns" and I certainly would rather have a vehicle rated to TOW vs a vehicle rated to haul people. Like Forest Gump said "Stupid is as Stupid does".

Forest Gump is a pretty smart man! Maybe we could convince him to join Air Forums!

Larry C

[dkottum]

A towing expert has been towing Airstreams with Chrysler 300's for years and reports his results:

Chrysler's 300 Sedan - RV Lifestyle Magazine

[Road Ruler]

That is a good article Doug. You can't beat real life experiences.

[rostam]

Here is another real life experience by one of the forum members:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...es-116384.html

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by dkottum

A towing expert has been towing Airstreams with Chrysler 300's for years and reports his results:

Chrysler's 300 Sedan - RV Lifestyle Magazine

Are they towing empty Airstreams? Just curious? I mean that's awesome. But what about someone who is full timing? With passengers? Full LP tanks, fresh water? Food in the fridge? I'm just curious since none of that info is in this article.

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by rostam

Here is another real life experience by one of the forum members:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...es-116384.html

Actually his towing experience was very good but was not able get a rather lousy dealership to fix an overheating engine on a used car that was probably faulty from when he got it. To his credit he gave it up early.

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Are they towing empty Airstreams? Just curious? I mean that's awesome. But what about someone who is full timing? With passengers? Full LP tanks, fresh water? Food in the fridge? I'm just curious since none of that info is in this article.

Not really that surprising. You and I are towing mid-to-large size Airstreams with Ram 1500's that don't have a lot more power but weigh over 1,000# more than the Chrysler 300. And it has the advantage of full independent suspension and lower center of gravity for much better stability.

Our 5.7 and 6-speed trans work pretty good, but I sure would like the 8-speed to keep in an ideal power/economy range on different grades and wind conditions.

[dkottum]

I think the point Andrew Thomson makes is you will benefit from considering all the elements that make up a good, stable towing vehicle. Including hitch and trailer design/setup. As well as how that vehicle performs for you when not towing. Bulk of tow vehicle isn't one of them, but the point is lost to those who insist bigger is better just because it is.

[MrUKToad]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Are they towing empty Airstreams? Just curious? I mean that's awesome. But what about someone who is full timing? With passengers? Full LP tanks, fresh water? Food in the fridge? I'm just curious since none of that info is in this article.

They were on vacation with their families so the Airstreams will have been loaded pretty much as anyone else would load them.

[MrUKToad]

Originally Posted by dkottum

A towing expert has been towing Airstreams with Chrysler 300's for years and reports his results:

Chrysler's 300 Sedan - RV Lifestyle Magazine

Wasn't that an overheating engine issue? Wasn't it something that afflicted certain Chryslers whether towing or not? The article in RV Life made no mention of engine issues.

[Airrogant]

The Chrysler 300 is grossly-undersized for that load. It doesn't matter what tweaks you make to it, unless you sprinkle 700+ lbs. of fairy dust onto it, you'll still have a grossly-undersized tow vehicle.

Just because you CAN tow with it doesn't mean that you should. Just because you've logged 100,000 miles with it doesn't mean that it is a safe combination to tow.

When I see a miraculous image of Jesus in my morning toast, it doesn't mean that he is real. The onus for proving the legitimacy of these mods lies with those who recommend them. Where is the statistical evidence? Why are there only a handful of happy owners who tout the divine nature of this solution?

The article above claims that an engineer from Chrysler said, "“There is not enough profit in a car like this to take a gamble on a tow rating.” To some that means that it can easily be modified to tow huge loads. To others that means that screwing with the towing capabilities is "a gamble."

[J. Morgan]

At about 4,000 pounds, a Chrysler 300 is not really a small car.

Just sayin...

By the way, why did you drag Jesus into this thread?

And I would say if a person has logged a 100,000 safe miles towing with a Chrysler 300 it DOES say something. Actual experience always matters.

[MrUKToad]

Originally Posted by Airrogant

The Chrysler 300 is grossly-undersized for that load. It doesn't matter what tweaks you make to it, unless you sprinkle 700+ lbs. of fairy dust onto it, you'll still have a grossly-undersized tow vehicle.

Just because you CAN tow with it doesn't mean that you should. Just because you've logged 100,000 miles with it doesn't mean that it is a safe combination to tow.

When I see a miraculous image of Jesus in my morning toast, it doesn't mean that he is real. The onus for proving the legitimacy of these mods lies with those who recommend them. Where is the statistical evidence? Why are there only a handful of happy owners who tout the divine nature of this solution?

The article above claims that an engineer from Chrysler said, "“There is not enough profit in a car like this to take a gamble on a tow rating.” To some that means that it can easily be modified to tow huge loads. To others that means that screwing with the towing capabilities is "a gamble."

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, Airrogant.

However, I'd suggest that a published article in a mainstream RV journal is considerably more evidence of the Chrysler's suitability to tow an Airstream than you have offered to support your statement that it isn't.

[rostam]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

And I would say if a person has logged a 100,000 safe miles towing with a Chrysler 300 it DOES say something. Actual experience always matters.

One person, or a handful of people for that matter, are statistically meaningless. You cannot draw any viable conclusion from a sample size that small.

Ford sells 70,000 F150's per MONTH. A significant portion of those are used for towing. That's a meaningful sized sample which you can draw valid conclusions on.

I understand some people might think that statistics is meaningless (similar to automobile design). To those folks, please ignore this post.

[jcl]

Originally Posted by Airrogant

The article above claims that an engineer from Chrysler said, "“There is not enough profit in a car like this to take a gamble on a tow rating.” To some that means that it can easily be modified to tow huge loads. To others that means that screwing with the towing capabilities is "a gamble."

To an engineer who has led teams doing automotive product development, it means that the gamble is whether the cost of doing all of the development and testing work will provide an economic return due to increased new vehicle sales volumes.

Fortunately there are aftermarket providers who do that development and testing, for those who want to consider the option.

[Road Ruler]

Originally Posted by Airrogant

The Chrysler 300 is grossly-undersized for that load.

Seems to me the 300 is about the same size as this ol Chevy but with the modern technology in the 300 is would be far superior as a tow vehicle towing an Airstream.

[rodsterinfl]

Does the 300 have a full frame? Probably not. The Impala did. A common car tow package of GM I know in '71 was a recommended 454 in a delta 88 or ninety eight olds my grandfather sold Serviced Chevys in Dayton and referred customers to that config. We had one too. That was when those cars had full load bearing frames .

[Road Ruler]

The 300 is a unibody. It has a lot less overall flex than a full framed vehicle.

Advantage........ 300!

[cory_can]

Wayne/Steve/Doug/others, I must commend you all for your patience, endurance and professionalism with these type of threads. You all have much better tolerances than I have

I've written and deleted my reply a few times and decided against posting my original thought ...I figured I should hang around a little longer without getting tossed by a moderator

My very first post to this thread stands...I wish these topics would just get deleted because they go in circles for days and the same people (regardless of stance) post the same information/opinions/facts/rumours/speculation/experiences/expertise etc etc etc.

Perhaps going forward if the thread is asking options on traditionally smaller tow setups people that have experience can share what has worked. Those that don't have first hand experience with a properly tuned small setup (and just have opinions) can stop rehashing "gospel" and fear tactic and bite your tongues. On the other hand, if the OP is asking for advice on large trucks to tow an AS, "we" won't try to persuade them otherwise....not that I've see any of that, but I suppose it's fair to add in that stipulation

Agree to disagree and call a "truce" of sorts.

Or....let these threads get continually repeated every few weeks and we can all practice our CTRL-C, CTRL-V