Towing a Jay Feather trailer and parking on an incline

[DigiCrazy]

have a Model Y on order, which is scheduled to arrive next month. But now I'm having second thoughts because of its towing capacity. We have Jay Feather EXP Series M-17 C trailer, which has weight well within 3,500 lbs limit at 2,935 lbs. But the hitch weight is 480 lbs (that seems high, but that's what the specs say). Will this be a problem? Another issue is that our trailer is parked on an incline facing upward. So hooking it up and getting out of its spot is often a challenge. We currently use Toyota Highlander for towing. Model Y has less ground clearance than Highlander (I think about 2" difference). So I'm afraid the hitch ball, the hitch, or something else connected would hit the ground once the trailer is connected. Has anyone had this problem?

One solution I thought could be using a hitch raiser like this one. But that adds a bit of length and may not be as good as directly connecting to the car.

In short, I have two part question: (1) can the trailer we have be towed with Model Y? and (2) does anyone have a good solution for low ground clearance or uphill parking situation?

Thank you for reading and helping out. My wife and I are quite stressed out about this because the big reason we are getting Model Y is for towing and if we can't do that, it'd be a huge loss (not just money, but our family's love for camping). And we have may be just a few days to be able to cancel our order if this is a bad idea.

 

[Mattemsmy]

I Thought that you did not want the tongue weight over 10% of the trailer weight. Here is my aliner expedition 15 foot trailer. 480 is a lot of tongue weight for the model y.

 

[glide]

have a Model Y on order, which is scheduled to arrive next month. But now I'm having second thoughts because of its towing capacity. We have Jay Feather EXP Series M-17 C trailer, which has weight well within 3,500 lbs limit at 2,935 lbs. But the hitch weight is 480 lbs (that seems high, but that's what the specs say). Will this be a problem? Another issue is that our trailer is parked on an incline facing upward. So hooking it up and getting out of its spot is often a challenge. We currently use Toyota Highlander for towing. Model Y has less ground clearance than Highlander (I think about 2" difference). So I'm afraid the hitch ball, the hitch, or something else connected would hit the ground once the trailer is connected. Has anyone had this problem?

One solution I thought could be using a hitch raiser like this one. But that adds a bit of length and may not be as good as directly connecting to the car.

In short, I have two part question: (1) can the trailer we have be towed with Model Y? and (2) does anyone have a good solution for low ground clearance or uphill parking situation?

Thank you for reading and helping out. My wife and I are quite stressed out about this because the big reason we are getting Model Y is for towing and if we can't do that, it'd be a huge loss (not just money, but our family's love for camping). And we have may be just a few days to be able to cancel our order if this is a bad idea.

The tongue weight is going to be a problem. Additional gross weight could likely be handled by the MY but I would not go that far over the recommend tongue weight and still expect to be “safe” on the road.

 

[KeithFWaters58]

Not sure about the tongue issue but with regard to towing efficiency:

I have a MY LR and get about 160 watts/km (256 watts/mile) with normal driving in town (i.e. with no trailer).

I have a 590 kgs (1,300 lb) teardrop trailer and when towing with a somewhat loaded vehicle for camping I get about 290 watts/km (464 watts/mile). This is based on a trip from Victoria BC to Campbell River BC which has several elevation changes of about 130 meters (425 feet) each.

Hope this helps you in trying to determine what your efficiency might be with a 2,935 lb trailer.