Towing Your Rental Safely

Introduction

In this article I assume you plan to use a tow vehicle you own (or rent from a 3rd party) to pull a rented towable RV. At Sunward RV, we believe your safety should be priority one. We want you to enjoy your camping adventure and return safe and sound. One of the most common root causes of accidents while towing an RV is exceeding one or more of the weight ratings of the tow vehicle, the RV being towed, or both. As part of our safety protocols, we require each renter towing one of our RVs to acknowledge having watched this towing safety video produced by the RV Safety & Education Foundation. When you pick up your towable RV, one of the documents you will be asked to sign includes a statement to indicate that you have watched and understand the RVSEF video.

Sunward RV Towing Protocols

Prior to picking up your towable RV, we also require that you send us the following information for your tow vehicle. You can typically find this information on the Federal Compliance Label inside the driver’s door of your vehicle.

• GCWR - Gross Combined Weight Rating: This is the maximum combined weight of your tow vehicle and the RV.

• GVWR - Gross Vehicle Weight Rating: The maximum weight rating of your tow vehicle when it is fully loaded.

• GAWR - Gross Axle Weight Rating: The independent max weight rating of each axle: front and rear.

• Receiver - Max pull weight rating

• Draw Bar & Ball - We need the load ratings for these items if you plan to use your own

• Sway Control System - For travel trailers, we require the use of a sway control system. If you don’t have one, you can opt to use one of ours as an addon when booking your RV.

• Towing Experience Level - A self-rating of your experience towing trailers of any type ranging from 0 (none) to 10 (expert).

We will use the weight ratings of the RV you desire to rent and do the math to determine whether towing with your vehicle will be a safe combination. Be aware that we tend to be conservative when it comes to this calculation. This protects you both physically and financially by mitigating potential injury and/or vehicle damage. Therefore, we assume the following:

• Tow Vehicle Loading

  • Includes the tongue/pin weight of your desired rental RV

  • Will not be loaded beyond 95% of the tow vehicle GVWR

  • Tow vehicle payload will be properly distributed between front and rear axle

  • Is treated as fully loaded (100%) when calculating GCWR for your tow vehicle plus our RV

• Towed RV

  • Will not be loaded beyond 95% of the RV GVWR

    • We will provide a safe cargo weight limit based upon the weight of our RV including all amenities and addons

  • When properly connected to your tow vehicle, the RV will ride level horizontally front to rear

  • Is treated as fully loaded (100%) when calculating GCWR

• Vehicle Combination

  • The sum of your tow vehicle GVWR and the rental RV GVWR

    • should not exceed 90% of the GCWR of your tow vehicle

    • should be at least 500 lbs. less than the GCWR of your tow vehicle

Towing Guides

In addition to the RVSEF safe towing video linked above, consider reviewing the article How to Find Your Trucks Towing Capacity by VIN Number. While this article focuses on trucks, the information is also relevant for any vehicle which is capable of towing. In the article there are links to sites you can use to look up the towing capacity for specific vehicles. However, the look up tool I personally prefer is Tow Guide - What trailer can my vehicle tow? | RVUSA.com. If you prefer to directly consult guides published by truck manufacturers, the RVSEF site has a very comprehensive compilation of them here.

Conclusion

The mission of Sunward RV is to provide a safe and comfortable “home base” for exploring the natural beauty of this great nation. We put safety first, because if something fails your comfort could be compromised. Therefore, if you desire to self-tow any of our towable RVs, we make every effort to ensure your outbound and return trip is as safe as possible. Our approach to determining towing criteria is intended to provide a good margin of safety for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you have about towing and doing so safely. If you are not comfortable with the idea of towing your rental, or you simply want to avoid the hassle, select our delivery option when you submit your reservation request.