Ram ProMaster van towing a 17B?

[MinPin]

Does anyone tow their escape with a van? The Ram ProMaster City seems like it has the power & plus is nice to haul extra gear. Thanks, Steve

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by MinPin

Does anyone tow their escape with a van? The Ram ProMaster City seems like it has the power & plus is nice to haul extra gear. Thanks, Steve

Hi: MinPin... We haul to much stuff as it is. A van would allow more!!! Glad we can't pull a 5.0TA with one. YMMV!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[cpaharley2008]

I met an Oliver owner who pulled his Oliver with a Mercedes van, he outfitted it as a bedroom to sleep while on the road? I never understand that reasoning but he eventually sold both the trailer and van.

[BCnomad]

The dry weight of a 17 is already at the rated tow capacity of that van. Let alone that you want to take stuff too.


The gross numbers also don't inspire confidence in me, but I'll let a numbers guy crunch those for you.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by MinPin

Does anyone tow their escape with a van? The Ram ProMaster City seems like it has the power & plus is nice to haul extra gear.

The Ram ProMaster City has some desirable characteristics, such as long wheelbase and lots of cargo room... but more importantly, there is far more to towing capacity than power.

As Bruce already noted, the rated towing capacity of the ProMaster City is not sufficient. The bare cargo van version (bare rear interior) is rated to tow 907 kilograms or 2000 pounds; if you use the passenger van version (the "wagon"), the available towing capacity is even lower (892 kg or 1,867 lb). The advertised base (so with no options), dry (no water onboard), and empty weight of an Escape 17B is 2170 pounds. That's already well over the van's limit, and it will much much further over after you add optional equipment and all of your stuff.

What Bruce suggested about gross numbers is that the combination of the van, the trailer, all the stuff in the trailer, and all the stuff in the van is likely too high compared to the Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR). The GCWR is not given in the owner's manual or the U.S. website, but the Ram Canada website shows it as only 2,676 kg (5,900 pounds); my Toyota Sienna van has a far higher GCWR. That's only 229 kg (505 lb) more that the van alone (no trailer) is allowed to weigh... which suggests that the ProMaster City was not designed for significant towing.

With a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 2,447 kg (5,395 lb) including a payload of 862 kg (1,900 lb), the empty cargo van must weigh 1585 kg (3495 lb). With the van alone using this much of the GCWR, there is only 1091 kg (2405 lb) left... for the trailer, and everything in it, and you and your passengers, and everything you're carrying in the van. That would be lots for just stuff in the van, not enough for the trailer, and way too little for both at the same time.

I suspect that the limitations are mostly related to engine or transmission durability (due to inadequate cooling for sustained heavy use), so it might behave well when towing... until it breaks down.

[MinPin]

thanks for the great input...Ram Promaster won't work. I glanced at some full sized cargo vans but still have plenty of investigating too do. I like the vans because we have dogs to bring along too. Thanks again, Steve

[cpaharley2008]

Several of us travel with dogs, myself with 2 rescues, Franklin, a 85# black lab and Hershey, a 50# lab, chocolate of course.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Several of us travel with dogs, myself with 2 rescues, Franklin, a 85# black lab and Hershey, a 50# lab, chocolate of course.

Hi: cpaharley2008... And one huge bag of dog food too!!!
Remind me to tell you about "The Kirkland Dog food diet" when you come up to Niagara Wine Escape in September. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: cpaharley2008... And one huge bag of dog food too!!!
Remind me to tell you about "The Kirkland Dog food diet" when you come up to Niagara Wine Escape in September. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Looking forward to it.....

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by MinPin

thanks for the great input...Ram Promaster won't work. I glanced at some full sized cargo vans but still have plenty of investigating too do.

Just to be clear: the Ram ProMaster City won't work, but the Ram ProMaster is one of those full-sized vans (cargo or passenger), and has substantially higher capacity.

Ford uses similar idiotic terminology; in the Ford case the Transit is a large van (which can tow even the largest Escape) and the Transit Connect is a much smaller van (which is not suitable for towing any Escape).
At Nissan, the NV is big, and the NV200 is completely different and too small.
At the rest of the manufacturers, the names are more clearly distinct.

[BCnomad]

Thanks for the details Brian. It's a pain to type long responses on the iPad.

[MinPin]

Great info & thanks!