Just purchased X19h; need vehicle now

[Renjea]

Hello, we just purchased our first travel trailer, a hybrid, jayfeather ultra-light X19h. (2014). Now we need a vehicle to tow it and would appreciate your advice and experience. The GVWR is 4950 lbs. Other weight was either 3700 or 3900 lbs (it's getting delivered next week). Any vehicle with a 5000 lb towing capacity good? We are thinking of Toyota Highlander. Are there others? The Sequoia seems a bit large and fuel-hungry. We think we might have 700 lbs of 'stuff' max for inside trailer or vehicle. THank you!

[Ryan79]

A Highlander will tow it. Having it hitched up properly with weight distribution and an anti sway bar you shouldn't have any issues. Pack the camper over the wheels more than towards the front of it to ease up adding extra tongue weight. Keep it under 65 on the highway and keep an eye on the transmission to make sure it isn't "Hunting" for gears.

I have the same camper and towed mine with a 2009 Nissan Pathfinder V6 (6000 lbs Towing Capacity) for 3 years with no issues. Some long stretch of hills can be a pain in the ass because the power just isn't there, but I would downshift to 3rd gear and let the transmission do it's thing without trying to shift into another gear.

This year I upgraded to a new RAM 1500, not because I didn't want tow with the Pathfinder anymore but because we had another child so the wife wants to take half of the house supplies and furniture with us on trips.

Happy Camping!

[Scott91370]

Any 1/2 ton truck will do great with this size trailer. I've used a 2001 Ram with the Cummins and my current is a 2015 F-150 with the 3.5 EcoBoost and both are awesome.

As far as smaller or SUV I will let other continue to comment on those.

One thing to watch for is your payload of the vehicle. This will usually run out before you reach your tow capacity.

[bankr63]

Highlander will probably be fine, but rather than the towing capacity, pay close attention to the payload capacity (found on the yellow/white sticker on the drivers door jamb), not usually published in the brochures.

One thing I like about my Traverse for this trailer is the 1600lb payload. That's better than a lot of half-ton pickups. The 19H is pretty tongue heavy, so you need to be aware of how you are loading and keep the tongue within the specs for the vehicle. My closest spec is my rear axle weight rating; fully loaded I am just under the maximum capacity.

I'm thinking about trading in now (coming up on 7 years), and at the recent auto show spent a lot of time looking at payloads. The Ford Expedition was shocking, big towing capacity but only had 900 lbs payload. For an 8 passenger vehicle. So you can only have like 8 small people in those seats, or only tow big trailers with about 8% tongue weight and the vehicle empty.

ETA: for my real-world example of dialing in WDH for our 19H, see the thread: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...lts-39804.html

[paul_ottawa]

I had a 2012 Highlander and towed a 2009 1206 Jayco Tent trailer. The trailer was 2800lbs dry, ~3300lbs loaded (no scales, just the numbers that were on the side of the trailer)..

I had an anti-sway bar and weight distribution hitch (along with a brake controller).

It towed reasonably well (Most of the stuff in the trailer, but food/bags of stuff in the Highlander, 2 kids and 2 adults as well).

It was a bit slow going up the hills between Sault St. Marie and Thunder Bay, but we made it (topped some hills ~50km/h). The worst was starting from a dead stop behind a loaded dump truck at the bottom of a hill. He maxed out at around 30km/h going up the hill, and halfway pulled on to the shoulder to let me pass... I think I got it up to 40km/h, but wasn't willing to punch it harder to go any fater.

One thing to note about the Highlander (this was true for the 2012, don't know about other years), was the base is rated for 3500lbs, but the transmission cooler and something else (brake cooler? can't remember) brought it up to 5000lbs. I don't know if I would have been comfortable towing over 4000lbs with it, as I did notice the trailer back there when driving. Some other forums suggested that over 4000lbs would be Ok for flat-level driving, but it would struggle on hills.

A 4Runner might be a better option. It is rated for 5000lbs as well, but it is built on a Tacoma frame & engine, so it would have more power. The Sequioa is built on the Tundra frame & engine, so it would be more than enough, but I agree it is quite large (speaking as someone who upgraded to a Tundra).

I upgraded to the Tundra when we got our X213 (5500lbs loaded sticker weight)..

Good luck!

[Clay]

I would buy more tow vehicle than you need, weight really adds up fast in cargo area, firewood,etc.
I have the same camper in 2017 form and started with Nissian Frontier, truck did ok but was not stable going down interstates and had issues going up large hills. I upgraded to much maybe to a Titan XD, no issues and go anywhere without and hesitations now. 1/2 ton truck or suv based from 1/2 ton truck will make much better experience. Gas milage is poor towing any camper ,if you can get 10mpg towing your good.

[go wild]

Jeep Grand Cherokee with Hemi would work. A newer Ford Explorer with the 3.5L ecoboost would be great too. In any case, get a model with the factory tow package.

[EmptyNest]

I travel pretty light with my 2015 X19H and the tongue weight is 550 lbs. I have two 20 Lb propane bottles and a standard size battery up front. I believe the max tongue weight for on the Highlander is 500 lbs.

[Renjea]

Thanks everyone. This is going to be tougher than finding the right traier! I must add we do NOT an on ant mountain travel

[Carl4570]

I had a Nissan salesman let me take a pathfinder home and try towing our X17Z before buying it. I have to say for a 6 cylinder SUV it did well u til we hit a hill! It was working hard to get to the top! Then we got the 2018 GMC Sierra LT with the 5.3 liter and all the towing options. Now that truck will throw that camper around like a toy. The best part is I feel confident and in complete control when towing.

[Renjea]

Thanks everyone for your advice. We got a 2012 Sequoia with its 7000 lb towing capacity. It handles the trailer beautifully with no problems. First time we towed the x119h with it, we remained in shock all day because of only getting 10 mpg, though. Asked our neighbor what he got with his truck and bigger trailer at the campground and he told us 7 mph. So we are adjusting to the idea...our other car is a Prius, so I am just averaging out the mpg over both the vehicles, lol.

[Desertpull]

Originally Posted by Carl4570

I had a Nissan salesman let me take a pathfinder home and try towing our X17Z before buying it. I have to say for a 6 cylinder SUV it did well u til we hit a hill! It was working hard to get to the top! Then we got the 2018 GMC Sierra LT with the 5.3 liter and all the towing options. Now that truck will throw that camper around like a toy. The best part is I feel confident and in complete control when towing.

What mpg do you get with your gmc truck while pulling?

[Carl4570]

Depends on the location we are going to. The last trip into the White Mountains we stared around 10 mpg. Our next trip is longer and much flater so I would be happy with 12 to 13 mpg. Now when I pulled a friend's 27 foot Apex home it dropped to 9 mpg and stayed there! My brother-in-law has the same truck but I went for the taller gears in the rear end. The difference when towing is noticed at the pumps!

[RogerR]

Whenever I th.V manufacturers have been known to make errors, almost always on the wrong side as to weight.

A 20% or better margin is my aim to allow for degradation of the "Factory New" ratings or under weight ratings or your RV

[jonisradical]

I just bought a 2017 X19H, and I pulled it from northern Ft. Worth back down to Houston with a 2014 Yukon SLT. It got a little squirrely at times, I need to get a weight distribution system and some sway bars, but the Yukon had plenty of power. It averaged about 7mpg though.

[RogerR]

Originally Posted by jonisradical

I just bought a 2017 X19H, and I pulled it from northern Ft. Worth back down to Houston with a 2014 Yukon SLT. It got a little squirrely at times, I need to get a weight distribution system and some sway bars, but the Yukon had plenty of power. It averaged about 7mpg though.

For that size try an Andersen hitch. Great sway control, light weight, easy on and off.

Check you aren't a little nose up and/or running a little fast. If those are Chinese cheapo tires 65 is the absolute max speed. Goodyear Endurance rated 87 mph.

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by Renjea

First time we towed the x119h with it, we remained in shock all day because of only getting 10 mpg, though.

Towing a box down the road, expect to get between 8-12. I get 10 towing our trailer, 8 if I'm towing into the wind. In other words you're doing OK.

[jonisradical]

Originally Posted by RogerR

For that size try an Andersen hitch. Great sway control, light weight, easy on and off.

Check you aren't a little nose up and/or running a little fast. If those are Chinese cheapo tires 65 is the absolute max speed. Goodyear Endurance rated 87 mph.

https://www.rvautoparts.com/33039-Hu...SABEgI9B_D_BwE

Someone recommended this one to me, they said they use it on the same model camper. Thoughts?

And yea, I plan to upgrade the tires, they're whatever came on the camper, and they're about 6 months old at the moment.

[jimovernon]

I tow a 2013 x17z with a 2013 Grand Cherokee V6. Travel with two people packing reasonably. Have WDH with friction sway control and is very stable to 65 and up to 70 on long flats. Last two trips from Connecticut to Green Mountains of Vermont did 12 mpg towing.

[Taresa]

2015 or later Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Explorer, and Kia Sorento will tow it.

I bought a 2016 Kia Sorento with 45k miles for around $20k and it's towed my 2005 Jay Feather EXP19H just fine for two summers, camping in Washington state national forests every other weekend!

I also got the Tekonsha prodigy brake controller and love it.