Hi everyone, I have no experience with towing a tent trailer so I'm looking for a little advice/suggestions.

I'm looking at purchasing a 2006 Starcraft tent trailer which is 12' with a slide dinette. I won't know the exact model until tonight but from googling I think it's an M-2409. Again, from the limited information I can find it seems to have a dry weight of around 2500lbs and wet weight of 3500lbs. When towing I certainly wouldn't be bothering with water but would have the propane tank attached and the necessary gear so I don't think I'll hit the max weight but would probably add another few hundred pounds.

Here's the current hitch I have installed,

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Mitsubishi/Outlander /2010/87444.html?vehicleid=20109911

I'm not sure what the tongue weight is of the trailer but according to the previous link my hitch's max is 400lb.

I have the XLS model with 7 passenger seating so I don't know if that makes a difference for weight/stability of the vehicle.

I've read through the other thread I could find on the board regarding towing a camper with an Outlander but was just looking for some specific information that would apply to my setup. More importantly will it be necessary to get some type of weight distribution system for the hitch? Could I pull the trailer without any other modifications?

Thanks for any help, I'm new to this so I just want to do my homework before I make any decisions.

 

I think I found the exact model of the trailer (it's a 2407),

Used Starcraft 2407 Tent Trailer located at Nelson RV - Tucson Arizona

According to the specs the hitch weight is 256lbs, dry weight is 2241lbs and gross weight is 3320lbs.

So it's a bit lighter than I had originally thought.

 

Also, does storing gear in/on top of the Outlander affect towing? I have a roof top carrier which we use for camping to store a lot of gear in. We normally fill the backseat and roof top carrier (dog gets the rear cargo area). Would it be better to put camping gear in/on top instead of loading it into the camper for towing?