2018 Pacifica 3500lb Towing Capacity, Recommendations

Well, a slide out will add a lot of weight to a pup. And you dont have a lot of capacity to tow. So i would scrap that idea. Look for something smaller. With just a cassett tolet. The showers are a bit over-rated, as you still need to collect the greay water somewhere.

 

Unfortunately I think you are going to have to modify your want list a tad. Slideouts are Heavy and add a ton of weight to a camper. I have the Fleetwood Utah a sister unit to the Niagra and even before my gear I was upwards of 3000+ pounds. I have the slideout and the cassette toilet with my unit.
You can perhaps look into the Fleetwood Westlake. It doesn’t have a slideout but does have a bump out for the galley and still has the shower. Unfortunately I don’t have the specs for it in front of me.
Just so you know the dry weights on units under the year 2010 are big fat lies so anything older best to add the carry capacity weight to the dry weight number. Newer units are a little closer to true but you still have to add in some weight for the true weight. Good luck with your search.

 

No confusion at all. I feel like every week I google someone's owners manual.

Don't shave a percentage off. So long as your within the following specs don't worry about it.

Do you have a FACTORY INSTALLED tow package? This does not mean you threw an aftermarket tow hitch on from UHaul or wherever but that it came from the factory that way. If not your max tow is 1500lbs. See the photo:

 

We tow with a 2017 Pacifica. As FR228D mentions, you need to make sure you have a factory tow package (we do) to tow up to 3500 pounds.

 

The westlake is heavy, mine was 3200 if i remembered correctly loaded up. It was a 2000.

 

On a side note it is refreshing to see someone asking advice before they actually purchase something vs after they
made the purchase and are in a bind....Above replies are seem to be on the money.

 

Well we're not towing anywhere close to 3500... my camper is just under 1500 dry, and loaded up we're probably not to 2000. Bought it when we had a Grand Caravan with no factory package... and frankly was overtaxing it-I put in a transmission cooler and we never towed further than about 2 hours from home. But with the Pacifica we've taken multiple cross-country trips, including just getting back from Glacier NP from the Minneapolis area.

 

Towing, it varies greatly based on terrain and the wind. If you have a tailwind I can get 21mpg. A strong headwind cuts it down below 18.

 

. There are too many factors here especially when you got wife and kids. I myself try and follow the keep it simple method so the heaviest items is the coolers, toolbox and camp chair. So if it was just me not much more than about 250-300 for a long weekend trip in the summer 4 nights. However, If your significant other decides to bring everything but the kitchen sink well that adds up VERY fast. Adding bikes, kayaks well you get the point. I was a kayak camper before and had a very strick weight I had to stick to. I will tell you even your lightest item adds weight fast. Camping with my family unfortunately breaks the payload limit on even my SUV..., this picture describes it better. YIKES! Never did weigh my setup with all this added.

 

Depends

Depends on your total Gross combine weight...... Car, trailer(and tongue weight) + passengers + cargo.

1 or 2 passengers is a few hundred pounds less than 4 or 5 + their additional cargo for clothes etc....

If you get a 3K camper and your 4 or 5 passengers expect your MPG to be significantly less than tfishcer.


Another point I should have made about towing is you can't just look at max trailer weight and call it good. There is more to tow weight ratings than tongue, trailer weight and the above spec image I posted.

Your car has a decal on it that tells you what the max weight you can put on each axle, front and rear. You could when you consider passengers, cargo and tongue weight overload that back axle and still be under GCVWR and your trailer is within spec.

The worst part is the only way to know axle weights is go to scales fully loaded with passengers.

 

I have a rule when I'm towing... I have to be able to use my rear view mirror and see out the back window, so I won't allow the wife to pile things in like that. I want to be able to keep an eye on the trailer as I tow, and with a PUP you can see traffic over the top of it as well.

Also be careful with stuff just piled up like that... a minor accident can cause one of those things to become a flying projectile and kill you.

 

As long as you dont have an ac. Lol otherwise you will not see over it.

 

Yep can't see over my popup with the AC sitting right dead center of the popup. I've learned to use my side mirrors when towing. If I had a TT you wouldn't see anything but a brick wall anyway. I agree through I do not normally like the car packed so full as I want to see out of my blind spots but this is only a once a year thing. I camp by myself more times than not.