2016 LR4 Towing capacity tongue weight

[house of rover]

I have read a lot on both this forum and the internet in general. I have a 2016 LR4 and am considering purchasing a Coleman 202RD. The dry weight is 4225 lbs and the hitch weight is 471 lbs. The length is 24'11". This would be my first RV purchase and I am just making sure that the tongue weight is not an issue. I know the max is 500lbs therefore it is under the specs however once the trailer is loaded it will of course weigh more. They say that the tongue weight should be about 10% of the total weight. IF I do what I am supposed to do then I will be close to the max.

In addition, from what I have read, I should not purchase a weight distribution hitch because it will overwork the air suspension unit.

Lastly, I have read that the LR4 has a anti-sway electronic mechanism so a sway bar is also not needed.

Just concerned with all this weight that I will be making the correct decision to not purchase a WDH and not purchase a sway bar.

I appreciate all your help in advance.

 

[mpinco]

Ah, where to begin ...............

- Yes, the LR manual says the hitch is rated at 550 lbs although the truck is rated at 771 lbs. (don't ask why). Your hitch may actually say 770lbs which is class III
- The LR4 towing capacity is 7700 lbs
- The factory LR4 hitch hangs low and is a plow off road. I started with one and hated it. Moved to a class IV Rhino hitch which is rated at 1,000/10,000.
- The RV industry typically list tongue weight as dry weight which is the stripped down model with zero accessories and zero load. It is misleading. Depending on your options and stuff your actual hitch weight will probably be much higher. Best to measure tongue weight after you are loaded. A reasonably priced scale is the Sherline. (available on Amazon) (Hint: Ensure that the one you purchase one that measures in the middle of the scale range. If your tongue weight is 800 lbs don't buy the 1000 scale, move to the 2000 lbs scale. Their accuracy at full scale is very poor but they are cheap in the bigger picture of "scales" )
- You are correct that the target tongue weight is 10-12% of trailer weight
- I've also seen conflicting discussions on if a Weight Distribution Hitch should be used on a air suspension equipped vehicle. LR says no but they sure are not adamant about that area. Others says a WDH is not an issue and do use them although set-up is not as straight forward.
- The LR4 does have stability assist and sway control
- My previous camper was a Keystone 19FBPR, a "shipping weight" of 4402 lbs with a listed hitch weight of 480 lbs. I towed it with the factory hitch and moved to the Rhino hitch because the factory hitch was a plow off road. I'm sure my hitch weight was higher than 480 lbs but never measured it.
- Towed the 19FBPR all over the intermountain west without a WDH for 7 years.
- This year I moved to a Lance 2375 which is 23'6" floorplan/28' total length. Dry weight of 5030 lbs, hitch weight is listed at 600 lbs.
- The actual measured loaded hitch weight is 850 lbs and could be higher if I'm not careful.
- Already camped with the 2375 and towed it over several Colorado mountain passes, without a WDH
- The Rhino hitch is class IV but I am going to add a weight distribution hitch for more margin and ensure the LR4 front axle loading is correct. I'm thinking that with air suspension my application of weight distribution will be on the light side to accomplish my goals.
- Also consider GVWR and payload of the LR4. If you load up the LR4 your allowable hitch weight is reduced.

Hope that helps!

And go camping although so has the rest of the world. Argh!

 

[house of rover]

Mpinco,

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your response. I am definitely going to strongly consider all your recommendations. I love the idea of the sherline scale because as you know the payload is almost at max. It sounds as though you had a very similar situation with your trailer weight so it gives me confidence to consider the trailer. It sounds like Florida traveling will be a breeze compared to the Colorado pass!!

I have a question. What do you mean when you say the hitch is a plow off road? Why did you change to the rhino hitch? Just for security since you were close to max weight?

you post has been a huge help!!!

thanks
Phillip

 

[mpinco]

The factory hitch plugs in below the bumper. It literally is a plow off road when wheelin and towing to campsite.

Plow - A farm implement consisting of a strong blade at the end of a beam, usually hitched to a draft team or motor vehicle and used for breaking up soil and cutting furrows in preparation for sowing.

My camping is typically dispersed/boondocking down a forest service road/trail.

 

[DON GALLOWAY]

I also added an aftermarket hitch to make sure I had the tongue weight capacity I needed. I have a 2012 LR4 HSE and pull a 30' Imagine 2600RB with a dry weight of 6032 lbs. Last year we traveled full time for 6 months and 15k miles with a actual loaded weight of about 7300 lbs and a tongue weight that averaged around 800 lbs. Cat Scales were really useful. I do you use a weight distribution hitch with anti-sway abilities from Anderson. It uses chains instead of bars and weighs about 50 lbs less than other hitches.

My only complaint is that because of the short wheelbase, any sway in the trailer is really felt in the driver's compartment. However, that is well offset by the comfort of the cabin and super short turning radius that you can achieve. Also, the ability to change the height using the air suspension coupled with the rear-view camera makes hooking up a breeze.

 

[nhskibm]

We towed a 25' Airstream with our 2016 LR4. I chose to add an aftermarket hitch mounted to the frame (and use the LR wiring). While this changed the rating to 6000 and 600 I then used weight distribution and never had an issue. While the manual has a yellow caution on WD systems (v. the red NFW one) the reason is that if you do not level your trailer perfectly while WD is hooked up and you put either upward or downward pressure on the car then your air-ride will continuously correct itself and eventually go. We learned this the hard way when we towed with our RRS SC and I used the same set-up. Blew the air ride after 10k miles.

Now, that all said, whether you are pushing the limits on the stock hitch or an aftermarket one I was concerned with the worst worst case scenario where we find ourselves in an accident towing and DOT does the math and says we were at or just over the limit. Given my personal situation I didn't want to have that risk so we actually move to a TD6 D5 which does have higher limits. Ignoring the unintended "just buy a better tow rig" that may imply, the reason I mention it is we've now towed the same AS with WD and have about 60k miles on the D5 with I'd say a third towing and have had no issues - we spent 3 hours leveling the trailer/truck at AS when I changed.

If I were "stuck" with the LR4 I'd do the same after market hitch and WD with a great leveling all over again.

 

[dlonesty]

Hmm....all interesting comments.
Anyone Out there hauling a horse trailer?
Also I installed a brake controller in my 2011 LR 4 HSE Lux and have the LR hitch-that is much higher than the old one.
comments?

 

[mpinco]

.......While the manual has a yellow caution on WD systems (v. the red NFW one) the reason is that if you do not level your trailer perfectly while WD is hooked up and you put either upward or downward pressure on the car then your air-ride will continuously correct itself and eventually go. We learned this the hard way when we towed with our RRS SC and I used the same set-up. Blew the air ride after 10k miles.........

In general tongue weight should be in the 10-13% of trailer weight range. Are you saying your tongue weight is zero or close to it? Or are you saying the WD was set up to counter the tongue weight? In this case I'm saying a measured 600 lb tongue weight was managed by setting up the WD to the 600 lb case as WD's allow a range of operation.
Thanks