#
Install and secur ethe ball coupling as
described in theb all coupling manufac‐
turer's ins tallation instructions. #
When theb all coupling has been ins tal‐
led, ensur ethat it is cor rectly secu red
befor eevery trip. *
NO
TEWearing out theb rake linings by
continuously dep ressing theb rake pedal #
Do no tdepress theb rake pedal continu‐
ously whils tdriving. #
Touse theb raking ef fect of thee ngine,
shif ttoa lowe rgear in good time. Alw
aysc ompl ywitht he operating instructions of
th em anufacturer of thet railer coupling and the
ball nec k.
Place your vehicle/trailer combination on sur fa‐
ces that ar ease vena spossible and secu reit
agains trolling away ( /pag e140). Coupl eand
uncoupl ethe trailer carefully.
When backing up thet ow ing vehicle, ensur ethat
th er eisn o-one between thev ehicle and the
traile r.
If yo udon otcouple thet railer tothet ow ing vehi‐
cle cor rectly ,the trailer ma ybecome de tach ed.
Onceith as been coupled and is roadwor thy, the
traile rmustbeinah orizontalp osition behin dthe
to wing vehicle.
No tethef ollowing rega rding thet ongue weight:
R Mak efull use of them aximum tongu eweight,
wher epossible.
R Neverfall belo walegally prescribed minimum
to ngu eweight ;the tongu eweight must
alw aysbep ositive.
R Do no texceed or fall belo wthe permissible
to ngu eweights –this mus tbeobservedd ur‐
ing loading and unloading of thet railer.
Do no texceed thef ollowing values:
R Perm itted braked or unbraked towing capa‐
city
The maximum permissible towing capacity for
unbraked trailer sis1,653 lbs (750 kg).
R Perm issible rear axle load of thet ow ing vehi‐
cle
R Perm issible gross mass of thet ow ing vehicle
R Perm issible gross mass of thet railer R
Perm issible grosscombination mass
R Maxi mump ermissible speed of thet railer
The releva nt pe rmitted values, whic hmustn otbe
exc eeded, can be found in thef ollowing places:
R Inyour vehicle documents
R Onthei dentification plat eofthe trailer hitch
R Onthet railer's identification plate
R Onthev ehicle identification plate
If th er ea rediscrepancies between thev alues, the
lo we stone shall appl y.
Befor edriving off, ensu rethef ollowing:
R The tir epressur eont herear axle of thet ow‐
ing vehicle has been se tfor them aximum
load.
R The headlamps ha vebeen se tcorrectly.
Va lues appr ovedbyt he manufacturer can be
fo und on thei dentification plates and in thes ec‐
tion fort he towing vehicle (/ page247).
Yo ur vehicle will beha vediffere ntly wi thatrailer
re lativ etow ithout atrailer:
R The vehicle/trailer combination will be heav‐
ier.
R The vehicle/trailer combination will be
re stricted in its acceleration and climbing
ability.
R The vehicle/trailer combination will ha vean
inc reased brakin gdista nce.
R The vehicle/trailer combination will be more
susceptible tocrosswind gu sts.
R The vehicle/trailer combination will require
mor esensitiv esteering.
R The vehicle/trailer combination will ha ve a
lar gerturning circle.
This ma yimp airt he vehicle's driving characteris‐
tics.
When drivin gwithav ehicle/trailer combination,
alw aysa dap tyour speed tothec urrent road and
we ather conditions. Driv ecarefull y.Ke ep asuffi‐
cient saf edista nce.
Co mp ly wi th th emaximum speed of 49 mph
(80 km/h) or 62 mph(100k m/h) ,eveninc oun‐
trie sinw hich highe rspeed sareperm itted for
ve hicle/trailer combinations.
Comply wit hthe legally prescribed maximum
speed forv ehicle/trailer combination sinforce in
th ec ount ry,s tate or Canadian pr ovinc einq ues‐
tion. Befor esetting off, consult thet railer's vehi‐ Driving and parking
16 9
Tr
aile rhitch Note
sont he trailer hitch &
WARNING Risk of accident du etoafter‐
mar ketins tallation of atrailer hitc hthat
is no tpermissible
If af term arke tins tallation of atrailer hitc his
no tp ermissible and youi nstallat railer hitch
or other assembly parts, thel ongitudinal
frame member will be weakene dand may
break .Inthis case, thet railer ma ycome
loose from thev ehicle.
Ther eisar isk of an accident.
Only ins tallat railer hitc haftermar ketifitis
pe rm issible. Obser
vethen otes on trailer operation
(/ page168).
Re trofitting atrailer hitchiso nly pe rmissible if a
to wing capacity is specified in your vehicle docu‐
ments.
Yo uc an obtain fur ther information on thet railer
hitc hataq ualified specialis tworks hop.
Mercedes-Benz recommends that youh ave a
traile rhitch retrofitted at an au thorized
Mercedes-Benz Center.
Onl yuseatrailer hitc hwhichh as been tested
and speciall yappr ove dbyM ercedes-Benzf or
yo ur vehicle.
Use onl yaball nec kthat has been appr ovedfor
yo ur vehicle and fory our Sprinter trailer hitch.
No tesont he permissible dimensions of theb all
nec kcan also be found on thei dentification plate
of thet railer hitch.
The maximum permissible towing capacity for
traile rswithout aseparat ebrakin gsystemis
1, 653 lbs (750 kg). Tr
aile rloads The permissible
weight sand loads whic hmust
no tbee xceeded can also be obtained from the
fo llowing sources of information:
R Vehicle documents
R The identification plates of thet railer hitch,
trailer and vehicle
The values appr ovedbyt he manufacturer can be
fo und in thef ollowing table. If thev alues dif fer,
th el ow estv alue applies. Use acalibrated weigh‐ ing machine
tocheckt he weight restrictions ha ve
been complied wit hbefor eyou star ty our journe y. Te
ch nica ldata 285
