Towing Capacity

[MarcDucharme]

Hi everyone, new on the forum, so I hope someone will be able to help with a question. I have been looking for a small 5th wheel and I belive the Escape will fit well, however I have a question. I asked Escape directly and the referred me to this forum.

I would like to know if I can pull my fishing boat behind the Escape Pod. My boat and trailler weights about 2000lbs, do you believe it will be ok or is it too heavy?

Thanks,

Marc

[steve dunham]

Depends on the tongue weight of the boat . The receiver hitch on the back of the trailer is only rated for 150 Lbs

[MarcDucharme]

Thank you Steve - The tongue weight is approx 135lbs however the trailer and boat combined is about 2000lbs. Is the frame of the camper strong enought to handle the entire weight?

Thanns,

Marc

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by MarcDucharme

Thank you Steve - The tongue weight is approx 135lbs however the trailer and boat combined is about 2000lbs. Is the frame of the camper strong enought to handle the entire weight? Thanns, Marc

Marc, If the rear of a 5th wheel is like our 21', it's not the frame I'd worry about, it's the strength of the two crossbeams that the hitch receiver is welded to. There are four welds, each about 2" long, front, back and sides of each beam (eight 2" welds total), that hold the hitch to the two crossbeams (the beam nearest the cabin is smaller dimension than the rear bumper beam). The crossbeams appear to be made of tube metal that is a hair thinner than the hitch receiver (last photo is looking up into a weep hole drilled into the rear bumper beam) . If all roads were straight and smooth with no sudden jars, potholes or risk of being tapped from the rear - they just might hold. But I'd hate to be towing a multi-thousand $$ boat, motor and trailer and hit a pot hole or end up on a corrugated dirt road. I'm not an engineer, but I'm afraid the crossbeams might bend regardless of tongue weight. Engineers, what say you?.

[Tin]

Originally Posted by MarcDucharme

Hi everyone, new on the forum, so I hope someone will be able to help with a question. I have been looking for a small 5th wheel and I belive the Escape will fit well, however I have a question. I asked Escape directly and the referred me to this forum.

I would like to know if I can pull my fishing boat behind the Escape Pod. My boat and trailler weights about 2000lbs, do you believe it will be ok or is it too heavy?

Thanks,

Marc

Hi MarcDucharme,
To the point, No the hitch on the back of Escapes are for bike racks and such and limited to 150 Lbs of vertical load.
I would call Escape and ask to speak with Reace for a more informed answer.

[Yukon Escape]

You may not be able to pull a second trailer through some provinces.
Doug

[emers382]

We met a fellow this summer who towed a small trailer with bbq and lawnchairs behind his 19 Scamp. He had a special very beefy hitch installed to do this and doesn't go far with it.

I would not recommend towing behind an Escape 5.0 with the receiver as supplied.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Yukon Escape

You may not be able to pull a second trailer through some provinces.

You definitely would not be legal in some provinces (and states)... although you would be here in Alberta (as long as you don't convert the fifth-wheel to a ball, using something like the Andersen Ultimate).

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by emers382

I would not recommend towing behind an Escape 5.0 with the receiver as supplied.

I wouldn't, either.

While the 5.0TA would be the least unsuitable of the Escape models for this purpose (simply because the hitch is roughly over the truck's axle and the hitch weight is relatively high), I wouldn't recommend towing another trailer behind any Escape... or any other travel trailer. Not even with some very strong custom-built hitch. They are not designed for it, and the structure would not be my first concern - stability is.

[buellfire]

First let me say that I'm not an engineer. I have double towed many time with bumper pull camper setups. I posed this question to Escape while we were in our ordering process. This was a question that the manufacture was not willing to address. Me personally, I'm comfortable double towing. I have thought through the process and feel that I am well within the safety margins. You opinions may vary! Our last setup was 2001 Casita SD17. I had outfitted it with an Orbital Machine works class 3 hitch, which was rated for 150lbs static. I wired up lights, loaded the camping equipment into the front bath and mounted a eu3000is generator on the tongue. This made me heavy on the tongue weight but I have a weight distributing hitch and sway control. Also I was pulling this with a 2016 Tundra crew max. I pulled a Aluma 638 trailer w/ folding gate. This trailer sits low to the ground and has a Dexter torsion axle, and is very stable. I pulled two enduro motorcycle's or a Honda pioneer side by side. Max weight 1000lbs. I ran all over Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee with this setup. Some rules that I followed: Never be in a hurry!!!!, keep it in the slow lane, I ran around 65mph. I also had a Sony action camera mounted in the inside rear window. This was nice to view the trailer and contents for movement or sway. Also very nice to see who is coming up on you. I think that the Escape 21 that we have on order will even be a better platform. Tandem axle with four wheel brakes, a bit heavier for stability, and a much beefier frame. I will have my local fab shop look at the setup prior to ever pulling double.

[Brian B-P]

Back to the original question:

Originally Posted by MarcDucharme

I would like to know if I can pull my fishing boat behind the Escape Pod. My boat and trailler weights about 2000lbs, do you believe it will be ok or is it too heavy?

This assumes that it is okay to tow a trailer behind an Escape 5.0TA, and the only question is the weight of the second trailer. I believe that any second trailer is unsuitable, regardless of weight, because the lead trailer's structure is not the only issue.

Many people tow double trailers, especially with fifth-wheel lead trailers. This is legal in many places (and illegal in many), but lots of excessively hazardous things are legal in many places. For comparison, there's at least one state which allows the towing of any weight of trailer without trailer brakes (while most states and provinces have weight limits); you could do that without problems, maybe for many years, but in an emergency stopping situation a couple tons of unbraked trailer behind a two or three ton tow vehicle will have poor braking performance and control. If someone asked "is an Escape too heavy to tow without brakes" we could say "people do it and are confident that it is okay", but we usually explain why it is hazardous. The heaviest Escape is still a light trailer, and a one-ton trailer is still a significant thing to control, so this is a potentially dangerously unstable rig.