Will It Tow?

Most small SUVs can tow a lightweight teardrop trailer, and many mid-size SUVs and pickups can tow a fully equipped off road model. The figure that decides it is not always your tow rating. A trailer's tongue weight presses down on your hitch and counts against your payload, the same allowance carrying your passengers, your cooler and your dog. Four adults in a mid-size SUV can use up the payload a Black Bean needs for its 350-lb tongue, while the tow rating still looks comfortable. That is why the calculator above checks both and tells you which runs out first.

Comparing models side by side? See the full trailer comparison.

Your payload is on the yellow sticker inside the driver's door jamb, on the line reading "the combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed". Your tow rating is usually in the owner's manual towing section, in a table by engine and axle ratio, because it changes with your engine, your axle ratio and whether you have the tow package. Gross Combined Weight Rating, or GCWR, is often on the jamb as well.

Tongue weight is the downward force the trailer places on your hitch, typically ten to fifteen percent of the loaded trailer. It does not come out of your tow rating. It comes out of your payload, alongside every person and every bag in the vehicle. A family of four at roughly 170 lbs each plus a hundred pounds of gear leaves under 400 lbs of payload on many mid-size SUVs, which a heavier trailer's tongue will consume on its own.

Every Bean is built with electric brakes as standard, and your vehicle needs a compatible brake controller to use them. Requirements vary by state, and your Bean specialist will confirm the hitch class, the brake controller and the wiring for your specific vehicle before you tow.