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EDIT - Numerous people informed me that the angle of the trailer was wrong, and after buying a drop hitch the car did tow better, however this trailer is simply too large and unaerodynamic to be practically pulled by the Ascent despite the fact that it is within the weight rating.
We have pulled numerous times with the ascent up to a couple thousand pounds small single axle trailers loaded with furniture and materials and it has been a champ.
but today I decided to test out the claimed 5,000 lb rating with my new 24’ enclosed car hauler that from the tag weighs in at about 4,400 lbs. I will use various vehicles to haul this trailer mainly my F250 or other trucks but I expected the Ascent to hold its own and really wanted to be surprised with its highway hauling given that it is within its 5000 lb rating.
well, The Ascent handled it well at low speeds, dare I say “it felt like nothing was back there” but accelerating was really a bear on the CVT and the instant gas mileage gauge on the center display was pegged barely above 0. On the highway I began to encounter some very scary wobbles at 65 mph and above. Some may say to me that the trailer needs to be loaded different (it was empty) or I should experiment with lower hitch ball. Perhaps I will one of these days, but the main takeaway here is that the trailer weighs close to as much as the car and things can get dicey in traffic at high speeds. My trailer is also flat in the front and very susceptible to wind resistance and crosswind.
This post is not meant to tell you that the rating is wrong or that a person cannot tow 5,000 lbs but I personally will not be loading my loved ones into the car and hauling this trailer combo on the highway. Around town, not a problem. And we will use this to move the trailer around town in the future.
However I think the practical tow rating for the ascent as far as being comfortable for many hours of travel over varying slopes and being of little wear on the components is more like 3500 lbs.
for those who are curious I am using the aftermarket draw - tite hitch with OEM wiring all installed by myself and torqued correctly. I am a huge fan of the aftermarket hitch and do not believe one ounce that the factory hitch would have towed any different in this same configuration.
Please see attached photos to show the size of the trailer and how the Ascent sits with that much weight hooked to it.
We have pulled numerous times with the ascent up to a couple thousand pounds small single axle trailers loaded with furniture and materials and it has been a champ.
but today I decided to test out the claimed 5,000 lb rating with my new 24’ enclosed car hauler that from the tag weighs in at about 4,400 lbs. I will use various vehicles to haul this trailer mainly my F250 or other trucks but I expected the Ascent to hold its own and really wanted to be surprised with its highway hauling given that it is within its 5000 lb rating.
well, The Ascent handled it well at low speeds, dare I say “it felt like nothing was back there” but accelerating was really a bear on the CVT and the instant gas mileage gauge on the center display was pegged barely above 0. On the highway I began to encounter some very scary wobbles at 65 mph and above. Some may say to me that the trailer needs to be loaded different (it was empty) or I should experiment with lower hitch ball. Perhaps I will one of these days, but the main takeaway here is that the trailer weighs close to as much as the car and things can get dicey in traffic at high speeds. My trailer is also flat in the front and very susceptible to wind resistance and crosswind.
This post is not meant to tell you that the rating is wrong or that a person cannot tow 5,000 lbs but I personally will not be loading my loved ones into the car and hauling this trailer combo on the highway. Around town, not a problem. And we will use this to move the trailer around town in the future.
However I think the practical tow rating for the ascent as far as being comfortable for many hours of travel over varying slopes and being of little wear on the components is more like 3500 lbs.
for those who are curious I am using the aftermarket draw - tite hitch with OEM wiring all installed by myself and torqued correctly. I am a huge fan of the aftermarket hitch and do not believe one ounce that the factory hitch would have towed any different in this same configuration.
Please see attached photos to show the size of the trailer and how the Ascent sits with that much weight hooked to it.