Towing KZ Sportsmen Classic/Escape160rbt with Class 2 hitch

That camper has a dry hitch weight of 340 lbs. Load it up and you’re overloaded to tow safely. I had a 21’ hybrid years ago that I was selling. I turned down a few people asking if their mini van would tow it.

It’s not the vehicle that’s restricted too. It’s the hitch max tongue weight of 350 lbs and you’re going to have at least 425 lbs on it. Do want you want but you’re overloaded.

Actually, another question would a dealer who sells KZ 160rbt sell me this trailer if I have Class 2 hitch on my car?

I've never bought from dealers - only private sales.

If they’re reputable, no.

luscombet8f

Hmm. Pretty presumptuous and rude to lump “German vehicle” drivers as entitled drivers without knowing a person and his/her personal situation and means.

If you don’t have thoughts/recommendations of value to share no one is forcing you to comment. No one is dragging anyone into “my problem”.

I’m simply seeking an opinion/ideas/thoughts. Ultimately I’ll be making a decision and will be responsible what to tow or not to tow, and how to tow it, not anyone else.

And I’m definitely not here to impress you. You are free to ignore the thread if you don’t have anything worthy to say on the topic other than throwing insults and bigotry.

Exceeding manufacturers recommendations is never a good idea, as we all know there is a safety factor built in, but we don't know how much.
One thing to keep in mind is crash standards are different for the U.S. VS the rest of the world, and this might be why the US model of your vehicle isn't approved for towing. Some bends or holes in the structure allow it to meet U.S. crash standards may weaken it for towing. Same thing with emission standards, it may overheat or overstress the drivetrain while towing. There are reasons why the U.S. model isn't recommended for towing.
Moving things around to lessen tongue weight is going to be tricky, as two things cause sway; to much tongue weight and to little tongue weight. And lets not overlook you have only towed pop ups, not a lot of side surface area there. Get hit with a good cross wind and hang on.
Based on all this I am going to assume that sway might be possible and since you're probably going to be exceeding the vehicle's capacity, any amount of sway will quickly get out of hand and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out what happens next.
Much as I don't want to discourage a sale for KZ, I don't think your proposed combination is safe

nvguy thank you for the feedback.

The towing capacity of my vehicle is expected to be ~4400lbs - we’ve owned it for over 5 years and have towed with it since 2019.

It’s 2016 E350 Wagon 4matic AWD w/40k miles on it now.

Again, the after market hitches formally exist and are available for sale in the US for this car so it’s not like I’m the only one towing with this type of vehicle. As I mentioned Stealth Hitch company sells class 2 hitch. Curt sells class 1 only (Uhaul installs it).

I once towed Jayco pop-up with gross weight of 3500 (not sure if it was loaded that much but dry weight would have been 2800) and dry hitch of 280 and we didn’t have issues (4-5 hr trip each way).

Good point about flat surface of hard shells vs pop-ups - i haven’t considered that — I wouldn’t know how it’d tow since I’ve never tried…

Would sway control bars be recommended?

This is about light weight trailers. You still need the proper vehicle/hitch combo to pull them.
As nvguy noted, you can get into dangerous situations quickly.

660catman yes, I've been looking at the payload capacity as well. And thanks for all the responses 660catman and nvguy.

Assuming I'm not exceeding manufacturer recommendations for my TV, I don't understand why a camper with the specs below (like the Hummingbird) can't be towed with Class 2 hitch. The hitch weight is fairly low, dry weight is 2500 lbs.

From what I'm gathering it sounds like no one here so far would want any hybrid camper to be towed with Class 2. With proper brakes and hook-ups if we take the specs below and Class 2 hitch specs a vehicle with max towing capacity of 4400 lbs should be able to tow a trailer below with no issues, though 660catman you are indicating that'd be a no-go. What might I still be missing in this case? Maybe not the most optimal setup and experienced RV'ers would opt for Class 3 TV and hitch but shouldn't this be acceptable to tow this with Class 2 TV and hitch IF class 3 setup are not an option/not available?

P.S. Not trying to convince myself that it's okay but truly trying to figure out what I might still be missing

Dry Hitch Weight (lbs) 270
Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs) 2,535
Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs) 965
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (lbs) 3,500

Regarding gust winds, I'd say that'd be something to consider sort of separately -- I get caught up in gust winds and when passing semi trucks on a highway when pulling my pop-up now (not fun but I tackle it carefully) -- don't know what the experience would be with a hardshell hybrid until I try. Well, actually I towed a Cricket with Class 1 hitch on my wagon before taxaoutdoors.com/habitats/cricket/ and it's not apples-to-apples comparison - rented it once before purchasing our current pop-up - it's a hardshell and is a higher profile than a typical pop-up -- towing it was a breeze, supper easy and very stable (of course it's pretty light weight too)

Thanks again!