Towing KZ Sportsmen Classic/Escape160rbt with Class 2 hitch

@luscimbet8f sorry to disappoint but I got my wagon picked up today with class 2 hitch installed, with redacr brake controller and 7 pin, and I spoke to lead Stealth Hitch rep (someone who who’s towed vehicles in his time and had the understanding of hitch engineering they sell and tested). He sounded very confident if I watch and do proper loading of the trailer (60% rule), watch gross weight and tongue weight within limits, don’t go fast (60-65 mph seems like a sweet spot), check the hitch after “each” stop/frequently I should be fine to tow 3500 lbs gross weigh trailer.

He also acknowledged that my vehicle isn’t rated to tow in the US but is rated to tow in Europe so it is “powerful” enough to tow ~4400lbs in the US too (I did further research as well to find a comparable European version of my car - V6 3.5L gasoline Mercedes wagon 2015-2016 AWD automatic transmission — it goes by Mercedes Estate in Europe btw - and how much it can tow. The number is 2100kg for braked trailer =~4400lbs )

I cannot use WD and/or Sway control bars as stealth hitches don’t support those and are in fact not recommended for unibody vehicles like mine. So I have no choice but try to tow without those.

And I found a person on one of the rv rental sites who is okay with renting2021 KZ Sportsmen Classic 160RBT to me to tow with Class 2. ~2700-2800 gross weigh, 300lbs hitch weight. He said he towed it fine with Ford Escape before he traded in.

I haven’t rented it yet - I’m still strategizing how to execute a trial tow and when before I put my family in and take everyone to a camping trip.

If I don’t feel comfortable towing (any issues, wind gust control, braking etc.) then it’s definitely a no-go, but for now it is not over yet. The journey continues for now.

Good luck with your venture. Just remember, there are many "salesman stories" out there... and their goal is to sell! After that, you are on your own and they are 'scot-free'. A salesman's promise is like a politician's promise. Just sayin'. Drive safe.

Ok my two cents; Try contacting someone in the UA that tows with that vehicle and see what weights they tow. Another possible would be have someone build a class 3 for you vehicle?

I tried to find info and found this on foreign car towing

Thanks everyone for the advice/feedback.

So I took the KZ camper for a dry run ( ~200miles of towing round trip)

I asked the owner to fill up the water tank (20g) as well so the camper was heavier. I ended up towing in different weather throughout the day - with heavy winds at some point (that was a little shaky but the winds were really heavy that even some semis seemed struggling as I watched them on the highway).

I listened to the engine and settled at 65mph on cruise control that stayed steady at 2000rpm in the 6th gear. The gas consumption went up significantly when towing. That’s all I could monitor to see if if there was any strain on the car…can’t know for sure. I read some use scangauge - maybe I should get one. I “experimented” with lower and higher speeds (eg I tried going 70mph with no wind but the engine started sounding more stressed, rpm went up of course and the car went into 5th gear)

Towing and manoeuvring the camper at lower speeds off the highway (in the city) was easy breezy.

My verdict I think it’s safe to tow if you go “slow” and steady and if you only go on a small number of trips and not far. That’s the verdict for now but if I end up towing this camper more I’d know more.

P.S. too bad I can’t post pictures

johnr Is there a way to do this specific test? The trailer was stopping pretty well all the way - I was in traffic at some point and then there was no traffic and then I drove and towed in the city, the brakes were responding pretty well.

I have RedArc Pro Tow Liberty brake controller installed and I tried to push the controller know just to apply brakes on the trailer itself and that worked too.