Tow vehicle - Event Date: 06 May 2017 - 30 Aug 2017

Hello, I am a hopefully new owner of a 179.  My tow vehicle is a 2010 Merc. Mariner with a 3.0 liter engine and a 3500 lb towing capacity.   My question is if this vehicle is adequate for towing an R Pod.

LarryL,

The 179 has an unloaded vehicle weight of 2656 lbs, cargo capacity is 1036 lbs. That should give you idea of trailer weight. For your vehicle the 171 and 172 are the Pods under your towing capacity. Barely. I agree, you need to consider a different tow vehicle, for safety reasons. Good used tow vehicles are readily available.

We started off with a Rav4 Sport with a 3.5L engine and a tow package for our 179.  We knew at the time that we were probably at the limit with it as it was rated for 3500 as well.  It did far better than I thought it would....lots of power, good pickup but you could sure feel it in the wind.  If we were only going to stay local then we probably would have stayed with it for a while but we did go bigger as we wanted to travel further with it.  We also had a E2 Fastway hitch set up for it and have just stayed with that for our new vehicle.  There are people here who have towed with the Ford crossovers and hopefully they will post something for you as well.

We started with a 2016 Ford Escape SE with 2L Ecoboost engine. It towed very well. The sturdier frame of the 2010 Mariner is a plus. The downside is the 3L engine. While it may perform adequately at low elevations, don't expect to pass anything at high elevations and uphill climbs. Naturally aspirated engines lose about 4% power for every 1,000 ft of elevation.

You did not say whether your Mariner is FWD or AWD. If it is FWD, you will absolutely need a good weight distribution (WD) hitch, preferably with sway control. We have the Equal-i-zer 4-point sway control WD hitch. Others use the E2 hitch.

I don't tow with the Escape anymore. We had an accident in December (combination of ice and wind) that put it out of commission for an extended period. We bought  a 2010 Nissan Frontier to get us and our R-Pod home. I'm not saying that you can't tow with your Mariner. It will be less than ideal. I really do miss the Ecoboost engine though.