tow vehicle weight vs. trailer weight?

average about 30,000 lbs empty weight,, they can legally haul 80,000 lbs,, I cant figure out the ratio but maybe with the numbers you can,,

keep in mind that a tractor trailer combo can move the weight around by means of positioning the fifth wheel and the trailer axles,[both move by means of pins],

they are only allowed a certain amount of weight on each,, much like the tongue weight ,, if the trailer axles are too heavy he can move the axles to move weight to the truck to equallize it.. hope that helps, I reallize this is a few days old but oh well, pat

Based on the fact that your mini-van gets 27 mpg, I'm assuming its one of the smaller ones (best we ever did in several of them was around 20). I'd be willing to bet that the maximum towing capacity is somewhere between zero and a couple thousand pounds.

First, pulling more than what the vehicle is rated for will instantly void your warrantee (besides being a good way to break something)

Second, just think how much fun a shyster lawyer could have if you got in an accident towing several times what your vehicle is rated for.

Third, this would be a classic case of the trailer wagging the tow vehicle. Rule of thumb I heard somewhere a long time ago, unless the tow vehicle is rated for something higher, total weight of trailer and load should not exceed the weight of the tow vehicle.

Fourth, I'd be willing to bet that the combination would be really unstable on the road. If you have a 7,000 lb trailer, you'll need to have something on the order of 700 lbs on the hitch in order to keep the trailer stable. Just think how light the steering will be with an extra 700 lbs hanging off the back of the minivan trying to lift the front wheels off the road.

Fifth, if any cop who cares about safety on the road saw you like that, you'd likely get a citation - 7000 lbs behind a small minivan is a pretty obvious issue.

Sixth, even if the trailer has good enough brakes to lock its wheels, it'll probably still push you past where you would normally stop. Plus when you apply trailer brakes the trailer will try to rotate around the braking axle which results in a weight shift to the hitch, putting more weight on the back of the minivan, thereby lifting even more weight off the front wheels of the minivan (which do most of the braking and all the steering).

I once towed a car trailer with a old jeep pickup on it with a Mercury Grand Marquis wagon. Even with air shocks on the wagon to make it sit level it was a pretty scary trip. I estimate the load weighed around 7,000 - 8,000 lbs, and the car weighed somewhere around 4500 lbs. I'll be your minivan won't break 3,000...

Keith

I could barely read the rpms driving alongside one, and if I took this right, the tach needle was pointing to the upper right, which would give it about 4500-5000 rpms or so on the highway.

Great way to blow up the family car.

But you didn't say how much load your towing. With much less weight than that maximum trailer capacity, and many more minivans can handle the load.