[fullofdays]

Curious to hear from other owners what their towing experience has been like so far. What types of trailers and loads have you pulled?

I haven't pulled the trigger on a metris yet but plan to pull my aluminum open trailer with 1800 lb race car. Probably 3k lbs all together. Pulling on the east coast so no crazy mtn passes to cross.

 

[1681]

Just pull the **** trigger already.

 

[Sadragna]

According to mbvans.com you can tow up to 5,000lb

 

[Greenmanedlion]

You can pull it effortlessly. Come on dude, the Metris ramps up to 101 and it's like you hit a brick wall. 5000 lbs is bupkis.

 

[Styles]

Two items to consider; you must order the PSM module if you want integrate a normal trailer brake controller, you can tap the esp module or something but MB does not support this, the only other option is something like a tenkosha RF. Neither are show stoppers just something to think about. Second; the metris hitch is pretty low and you might need a large rise or low coupler to get the trailer were it needs to be. The hitch height is also a not a show stopper but if you are like me you might need to modify your trailer to work with the metris. BTW I bought mine for family duty and towing a 2400lb car and 1600lb trailer. So far I've just moved the trailer around in the yard with out issues. The backup camera makes hitching a snap. There was one person here that seems to trailer a lot but they are not active.

 

[howvood]

I pull a utility trailer, less then 2000 lb total easily but what I like most is the trailer feature on the rear view display that makes hook up a dream.

 

[LeslieB]

I took a 2 hr trip towing my 2000 lb dry weight, 3000 loaded weight. My Metris cargo pulled it great. I had no trailer brake controller set up yet. I had no problem stopping. The Van Specialty business was going to install the Prodigy brake controller, but they were having a new problem with the 2016 Sprinters, so they would not try with the new Metris model until they figured out the Sprinter brake control wiring problems. This was a few months ago, so I do not know if they have figured out the problem yet.


I got the Tekonsha 90250 Prodigy RF brake controller. It is a self install. The main controller installs on the outside of the trailer frame. The inside remote controller, plugs into the 12v socket for power and there is a wireless connection with the outside main controller. I had a problem confirming if I got the wireless connection working, so I am going to take it to my local Uhaul to make sure the connection is working and to install it on my trailer frame.

 

[fullofdays]

Very good info. Thanks all! Is there a difference in the rear of the passenger version of the van vs cargo version from a towing perspective? Is everything the same? Any difference if I go passenger van route vs cargo van?

Cheers

 

[Styles]

the passenger van can have/has? "comfort" suspension and a rear sway bar but on paper it doesn't change the towing capacity. Would be interesting to do a side by side comparison between the two suspensions. Both are available with rear doors or a lift gate. The lift gate is nice since it would offer a sun shade for the track but also note that it's big and can interfere with a trailer jack mounted close to the trailer coupler.

The passenger/cargo decision will probably be made based on whatever else you plan on using the van for.

 

[Greenmanedlion]

There is one front suspension, based on the equipment book. All three use a MacPherson-strut/control arm style front suspension supported by standard straight coil springs with a stabilizer bar.

There are three rear suspensions, all fully independent with the common elements of being a semi-trailing arm location set up with basically rigid differential mount and flex joints at both the wheel and differential ends of the half shafts, and are all sprung by coils (rather than leafs, torsion bars, air springs, or magnetoheroelogical springs).

This system was developed by BMW for their Neue Klasse four cylinder cars (1600/1800/2000/1602/1802/2002) and first adopted by Mercedes on the W108 S-class. It was the standard for independent suspensions from BMWs adoption of it until it was rendered obsolete by the Mercedes Multi-Link first introduced in 1983 on the W201 190. Semi-trailing arms are used in the van because they are flat and can provide independent action without intruding into cargo space- a multi link could not.

They use a barrel-type coil spring. A barrel type spring has a varying diameter to its coils, getting larger diameter towards the center and smaller diameter towards each end. This provides an ability for the springs to compress beyond their frequency (that is, lower and upper coils can move within the more central coils) increasing the available spring travel. The drawback is less precision and a lesser willingness to lateral movement, creating a stiffer ride.

They vary as such:

1) Cargo van, code CF0- it lacks an anti-roll bar, and uses a reinforced barrel spring, maximizing weight loading- at the expense of handling and ride.

2) Passenger Van Standard, code CF9: it also lacks the anti roll bar, and uses "reinforced" barrel springs, but different shock absorbers. My assumption is the shocks are modified to provide a slightly softer ride, but this should not actually affect overall travel or weight capability.

3) Passenger Van Comfort, code CF7: it uses a non-reinforced barrel spring, softer Comfort shock absorbers, and includes a rear stabilizer bar. This allows you to soften the suspension without increasing roll. Because of the less reinforced springs and the softer shocks, i'd think it has less theoretical capacity.

However, I would assume that since it's tow GCVW is 11.7k, and is it's GVWR plus its theoretical towing ability, I would assume that either vehicle can tow quite easily. It can only support a 500lb tongue weight, remember.

 

[Styles]

Dragged a new to me trailer a couple hours home on saturday without a brake controller. Aside from too much slop in the receiver everything was great but I let some air out the trailer tires to get it to settle down some. Empty trailers always rattle around. Used a 2" ( I think) rise on the ball and the hatch clears the coupler with a little room to spare but not much.

 

[fullofdays]

Thanks for the pic. My trailer is close to identical to your aluma

 

[Styles]

No problem. I'm pretty excited about it, I've been towing with the same 18ft open center trailer for the last 10 years and although it worked great behind my diesel E350 van it was too tongue heavy to work well with the metris. The aluma is a 16ft and it's 500lbs lighter than my open center steel. I'm debating a 2 3/4" riser hitch.

 

[Styles]

built a spacer to take up some of the slop in the receiver. some 0.060" sheet from an old van partition fit nice and snug. it's just 2 sides if that's not clear in the picture.

 

[Styles]

Finally made a real trip with the metris, race car and all the stuff that goes along with it on a +800 mile round trip. I have to say that I am quite happy with the turn out. Dragged the car all the way up the northeast extension and 81 into Canada and back. Averaged 16.5 mpg on cruise for most of the trip, van never felt like it was under powered or had to work all that hard was easy to control and you could have a conversation or listed to the radio as well (something you really couldn't do in my E350 Powerstroke van). Mine is a passenger van so it's pretty soft in the back but what seems to happen is you load up the back until it sits on the long bump stops and it just stays there. However it doesn't drive like it's sitting on the bumps or get thrown on the road or anything else, I kinda just think it's supposed to be working that way.

 

[Tree95]

Nice wheels. Thx for posting; it's hard to believe the Metris tows 5000lb.

 

[Lane on the fence]

Awesome...how much in total do you think you were towing and carrying? Looks like a fun form of racing. A buddy of mine races in the world rally car, Red Bull thing. He also races Porsche's as well. He has money problems...too much of it! Lol.

 

[Styles]

Awesome...how much in total do you think you were towing and carrying? Looks like a fun form of racing. A buddy of mine races in the world rally car, Red Bull thing. He also races Porsche's as well. He has money problems...too much of it! Lol.

Sounds like a terrible affliction. Most seem to cure their money problems by spending it all but maybe it's not working for them. Trailer is 1100lb, car is about 2500lb then another +500lb behind the second row (10x15 ezup, a couple fish totes full of spares, some tools, jack and stands, water, food, clothing etc) plus 2 people most of the time sometimes 3. Figure for every full tank that dually was going through I was burning 3/4 tank. Differences is it gets 11mpg towing a lawnmower or a house and runs regular.

 

[Lane on the fence]

Wow, that is great. Thanks for the reply.

 

[gogoKawi]

I did my first big tow this weekend. My buddy and I were very, very impressed with how well the Metris handled the trip. I went from Northern Virginia to VIR, about 240 miles, pulling a 6x12 v-nose trailer. The trailer is about 1300 lbs. Inside it was my friend's motorcycle, tools, tires, fuel, and other crap. We estimate that everything in the trailer was about 1500 lbs, which brings the total pulled to about 2800 lbs. My race motorcycle, tools, and gear were in the back of the van, which is about 1000 lbs. The trailer is his. So it made it real easy to just pick him up and drop him off.

As expected, the rear ride height was pretty low compared to the front. I'm really considering those Sumo Springs. But despite that, handling was not compromised. It rode similarly to when I put to motorcycles in the back of the van, just way worse gas mileage. Speaking of MPG's, I averaged about 11 mpg going down there, and a little over 12 on the way back. That's similar if not better than what I got in my Frontier and my friend's Tacoma.

I really appreciate those paddle shifters. They come in handy when climbing hills and mountains. But most of the time, I would let the van do the shifting.