Does anyone know what the approximate tounge weight would be with U-Haul's auto transport trailer and a 951 on board? Planning a trip here and know I am pushing the limits with my ML. Just want to know how far I am pushing them. . .

 

mercedes ml towing a 951 trailer is perfectly legal and should not present any problem at all for your ML.

for tounge weight you need to look at manual, but around 75kg would probably work for a big car like that. just watch that you don't get negative weight as that lifts the car and makes it unstable, and also that its not to much so it lifts frontwheels.

 

I've always heard that the tongue weight should be about 10% of towed weight.

 

not true.

usually on regular size cars max is 75kg, but for larger 4x4 you can have a bit more, but 10% is not right! way! to much as the weight goes up.

tounge weight should be what manual of car suggest regardless of how heavy the object beeing towed is. to much or to little is both dangerous.

 

My ML is rated for 5000lb trailer and 500lb tounge.

The trailer weighs 2200 lbs and the 951 is close to 3000. That just puts me over the 5000lb trailer weight. That doesn't scare me, but I would like to know what the tounge weight will be with that combo. . .

 

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/towing.html

some info

as you see, your car is rated 7715lbs here in europe, as a sidenote you also see max tounge weight here is 300lbs on it.

2200lbs is massive for a trailer, is it enclosed with lots of extra storage or what?


I don't think you will have any trouble at all, as you probably know tounge weight is changeable by just haveing the car further back/front on trailer.

 

Yah- different setup for ROW. Us trucks with oem tow kit (and most aftermarket) are 5000lb / 500 tounge

That's the weight (2200lbs)of the standard uhaul auto transport trailer-- also there is not much room to move the car, the way the trailer is designed.
I have used their trailer several times, just never with such a girly tow vehicle. . .

 

US is weird sometimes, here a trailer that can have a 5000lbs load only weights around 1400-1500lbs

I actually have a ram 2500 for towing now, but used ml, x3, x5, cayenne etc before and none of them had an issue with car towing.

I'm actually gonna replace the ram 2500 with an E39 as daily driver and race tow veichle.. now thats girly :|

now the humour here in europe is that my ram 2500 is still only rated for 7715lbs, and 300lbs tounge allthough manual says 12000.

pretty much all 4x4 suvs and such are rated 7715lbs here, heck, even a jeep cherokee is!

 

I respectifully disagree with anders44. I just googled the subject and all sources recommended 10 to 15% of the towed weight. I know that your orginal question related to calculating the tongue weight but the only way is with scales with the hitch at the aproximated towing height.

 

I guess it could be different rules and possibly different hardware for same cars? (ref ml link)

but if you drive in Europe with 10-15% on a 5000 load you will not be able to drive again before you have less. you will also get a ticket for incorrectly loading of trailer.

 

The uhaul auto transporter is a beast Last one I had was 2300 lbs empty!
I've towed my 951S with everything from a Trailblazer (Ok) to Yukon (great)

Usually the tongue weight is a little higher on the uhaul because of the design (car isn't really center over the wheels when strapped down, too far forward - some trailers are better than others)

I've tried reversing the car on, don't do that -- not enough tongue weight - trailer gets squirrely at higher speeds.
If you can get airbags for the rear of your truck, do it. The extra overhang + tongue weight will drop the rear of the truck alot (which lightens the steering alot). Airbags will help stabilize the truck.

In any case, you should be Ok. Drive slower and leave yourself alot of extra braking room

 

I've used the same UHaul auto transport to tow two 951s on 1000mile trips. They are definitely heavy beasts, and they are slightly tongue-heavy. I'd check with UHaul before towing anything with it, though I'm sure you can load the car on there so that the tongue weight won't be excessive.

UHaul has a computer database with vehicle information in it that can tell you if the ML can handle it or not.

 

Thanks guys-- that's all good info-- good discussion.

I'm not to worried about it, especially since the engine will be in the cabin on the car, right over the wheels on the trailer- not in front of them. So, that should help out tounge weight. It's only about 200 miles to my friends house where I will stay the night, then another 650 miles to where I am. I will just pump up the rear tires to max rated and take it slow and try to avoid rush hour when I go through atlanta

There are people online who have towed 5000#s with the 320 which has a lot less power/torque and half the brakes compared to the 430, so I think I will be okay.

 

this gives you an idea of what our trailers usually look like, how is yours compared?
the dodge is porsche and bmw alpina assist veichle alpina had to have more rust welding done again! silly thing that huge car is 100KG less than my 951, and has a 3.5liter with 245hp (now beeing na tuned)

 

I ended up borrowing an old trailer and while it doesn't look so pretty, it worked well. I prefered using it over the uhaul auto transport.

The ML430 pulled it as if it wasn't even there. . . Needless to say I was worried for nothing and am very impressed with this truck as a tow vehicle.

A few pics from the trip: