Towing T-3075

[maryamore]

Hello. I think this web-site is really cool. I've been looking at the Towing Forum and couldn't find the answer to my question. We are seriously considering buying the T-3075 to haul our 800 lb. Gold Wing Motorcycle. We have a 2002 F250, 4X4, Extended Cab, Automatic Trans., 5.4L, V8, Gas, 3.73 Axle, 7300lb. max towing cap. truck (with tow pkg.). Does anyone have any suggestions for how we can make sure that we can safely tow the 3075 with our F250? Thank you, Mary

[Poppy & Nana]

Mary - I know one of the "guys" will want to know what year your truck is!
To confirm the towing rates.

[kanyonkitty]

Some of the guys should chime in shortly. The GVWR of the 3075 is 8600 #'s, that is the MAX the trailer is allowed to weigh once loaded, it might not weigh that much, depending on how you load it.

As to your truck, somewhere on the door jamb, glove box, owners manual you will find a label that should tell you info about your towing capacities. Is your truck 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive, standard cab, extended cab, crew cab, stick or automatic tranny, axle ratio, factory towing package, fatory installed hitch (might have weight ratings on it)

OOPS. I see axle ratio of 3.73, and max tow capacity of 7300 lbs.

SO, just taking a "WAG" I'd say it "will" tow it, BUT you won't like it and I really don't think it would be the best towing combo.

I'm sure the guys will explain better than I can.

[maryamore]

Thank you, Kanyonkitty, I updated the posting and I am suspicious about the towing though I'm told by the dealer that it will tow it.

[kanyonkitty]

The dealer is only interested in making a sale, once you drive it off his lot, he's not gonna have to deal with any problems you might encounter. The old saying about a salesman "If his lips are movin', he's lying"

I'm sure some of the "guys" will have more info to offer to you.

Sunline did make a smaller transport, have you considered one of those ?

Your signature does not state where your located, so hard to tell if there is a smaller Transport near you.

OH, WELCOME to the group and hopefully you'll mamage to become a happy Sunline owner. Still one of the BEST trailers on the road.

Kitty

[maryamore]

LOL. They say that about pilots too!!! We live in the Niagara Falls area. We like this Transport because of the barrier wall between the garage area and the living area. Thanks for the welcome.

[Sunline Fan]

Hi Mary,

Well, JohnB's response is really what you need, but in the meantime, here's the opinion of one of John's "students".

According to the 2002 Ford Towing guide, your truck is actually rated to tow, conventionally, 7100 #'s. You could meet the req's barely if you changed the gearing to 4.10, but that is costly.

There's no doubt in my mind that your truck could tow that coach out of the dealer right now. I might even let you have a full tank of gas . The 3075 weighs 5855 dry, so that would be a nice combo. However, add in the camping gear, and of course the cycle, and you'll be way over the capacity of your truck.

I believe John will describe it in terms of the GCWR of the rig, the GVWR of the truck minus the cargo in the truck (and passengers), and other numbers. It's usually recommended to stay under 80% or so of that. In your case, here's the figures:

2002 Ford F-250 SuperCab
5.4L Triton V8
4R100 Auto Trans
3.73 RA
GCWR- 13,500
GVWR- 8,800
Max cargo carrying cap- 1712 (158" WB) or 2379 (141.8 WB)
Ford Spec towing limit: 7100

2006 Sunline T-3075
GVWR- 8,600
UVW- 5855
CCC- 2835 (1735 left for camping gear)
TW (dry)- 1040 (I'd recommend 1200# WD Bars)
Cargo area dim's: 104" x 93" (compared to 93" by 70" in the 2675)
Cargo area weight limit: 1100
Exterior length: 30' 11"
Exterior Width: 8'
Exterior Height: 10' 1"

Jon

[kanyonkitty]

Morning Mary,

The smaller Transport, the 2675 has a GVWR of 7000#'s. Now, that might work for you. The living area floor plan is exactly the same as the 3075, the diffeerence is the garage area is smaller and sideloading. You still have the solid wall between garage & living area. Of course, need to wait for the man folks to check in again! And should you seek out a 2675 you'll have lots of eyes from this group looking for you.

Kitty

[maryamore]

Hello Jon and Kitty,
I believe the 26's garage is too small. We need a minimum of 105". 'The Pilot' loaded the bike into the 3075 and it fit with the front wheel w/in 1/2 inch of the bathroom door. There were 3" of clearance when the cargo door was closed. I know, the floor plan says the 3075's cargo area is 104" but it fit anyway.

Also, the owner's manual for the truck says we can tow 7300 lbs. I just found out we have the tow package on there. That may be the reason for the 7300 lbs. I don't know. I'll update my first post with that info.

We also discussed that, depending on what happens when we start towing it, we may be in the market for a diesel truck in the near future.

[Tweety]

Because of the position of the door on the smaller Sunline toy hauler, you have the diagonal of the back area, which may or may not be large enough. Here's one with photos.

http://www.stoltzfusrvs.com/pre_owne...6R0&veh=891321

[maryamore]

Thanks for the info Tweety,
Those bunk-beds look like a great plus! I just checked the Rear Cargo Area Weight Rating for the 2675 and it is 750 lbs. (I found the floor plan on this wonderful site).

Bummer! The bike weighs 800 lbs. so even if we could angle the bike in, it weighs too much.

But let's see, if my math serves me correctly, the 93x70 cargo area (A2 + B2 = C2) would have a C2 hypotenuse of about 116". We need 105" but who knows if we could actually jockey it in there if the weight weren't a problem.

[Sunline Fan]

I really wonder how they determined the weight ratings. I suspect it's just so you don't lose too much tongue weight.

I'll second your math. I just ran it through and that's it; however, and it really wouldn't be that much of an issue with all that excess, but the width of the tires and any fenders or attachments at either extreme would need to be if it were closer.

Another thing I noticed though, in the '06 brochure at least, it says the "Cargo Tie-down Area" is that. I wonder if the room itself is actually larger, but dimensions given are actually a square made by the tie-downs in the floor.

What year 3075 are you looking at?

For your situation, I'd recommend sticking with the 3075 and looking for a new truck. You could take the coach on a couple trips with the old truck without the cycle just to try it out. I would recommend staying local though, don't head into the mountains.

Jon

[maryamore]

Hi Jon,
We're looking at an '06 Transport. Thanks for the idea about taking it out for a 'shake down' before adding the bike. Wouldn't the bike in the back decrease the tongue weight though?

[PTHutch]

Originally Posted by maryamore

Hello. I think this web-site is really cool. I've been looking at the Towing Forum and couldn't find the answer to my question. We are seriously considering buying the T-3075 to haul our 800 lb. Gold Wing Motorcycle. We have a 2002 F250, 4X4, Extended Cab, Automatic Trans., 5.4L, V8, Gas, 3.73 Axle, 7300lb. max towing cap. truck (with tow pkg.). Does anyone have any suggestions for how we can make sure that we can safely tow the 3075 with our F250? Thank you, Mary

Hi Mary.

Welcome to the club.

Wrt to your question if your F-250 is sufficient to tow the T-3075.
In my opinion, I don’t think the F-250 is enough truck to safely tow the loaded T-3075.
I based my opinion on the following weight estimates.

T-3075 UVW – 5855 lbs
Note that the UVW typically does not include any factory or after market options added to the trailer. So if the T-3075 has any factory or after market options, you need to add the weight for them.

To do an analysis you need to know or estimate the loaded weight of both the T-3075 and your F-250. But to do some preliminary analysis we can estimate the load weights.

For the T-3075
UVW = 5855 lbs
Add weight:
Gold Wing Motorcycle = 800 lbs
Full LP Tanks = 60 lbs
Water @ 8 lbs/gal (fresh (10gal), HW Tank (6gal), Blank & Gray tanks (1 gal)) = 136 lbs
Personal Food & Cargo = 600 lbs
Factory or After Market Options = 200 lbs
(Note, if there are no factory or after market options - your personal food & cargo could easily = 800 lbs)

So my guess would be that the T-3075 loaded weight would be around 7651 lbs.

This is already over the towing limit of 7300 lbs of your F-250.
Plus you have to remember that the towing limit as reported by truck manufacturers only includes the weight of the driver in the truck. It does not include passengers or cargo in the truck. Therefore to get a more accurate towing limit of your F-250 you need to subtract the weight of cargo and passengers that will be in the truck when towing.
So let’s estimate that the weight of passengers and cargo in the truck will be 500 lbs.
Then a more accurate towing limit of your F-250 would be closer to 6800 lbs. Which is way under our estimated loaded weight of the T-3075 (estimated at 7651 lbs above).

Even without the bike in the back the estimated loaded T-3075 is still over the estimated towing limit of the F-250 (i.e., 7651 – 800 = 6851 vs estimated towing limit of 6800 lbs)

Now these are just my estimates. You can change the estimates based on what you think are more applicable to you. But in my opinion the weights are too close.

Therefore, based on these basic estimates I would say that your F-250 isn’t enough truck to safely tow the T-3075.

The 80% buffer Jon mentioned is typically used to make sure you have enough power to handle towing through hills and higher elevations.

To get a sufficient buffer, I would think that a tow vehicle with a minimum towing limit of 10,000 lbs would be a better fit for the T-3075.

To do a full and complete weight analysis, these are some of the calculations to look at and consider:
Loaded Truck Weight + Loaded Trailer Weight < Truck’s GCWR
Loaded Trailer Weight < Trailer’s GVWR
Loaded Truck Weight + Loaded Trailer Tongue Weight < Truck’s GVWR
Loaded weight on Truck’s Rear Axel < Truck’s GRAWR

The most accurate way to perform the weight calculation is to have the loaded truck and trailer, weighed at a certified scale. However, estimates can provide some very useful insights to matching the correct tow vehicle and trailer together.

Originally Posted by maryamore

We also discussed that, depending on what happens when we start towing it, we may be in the market for a diesel truck in the near future.

Now, if you go with a diesel truck, there would be no problem.

Here’s a link to a post that may provide a little more descriptions on weight calculations. It provides information on when we had our trailer and tow vehicle weighed at a scale and compared the weights against the manufacturer's weight ratings.

Originally Posted by maryamore

Wouldn't the bike in the back decrease the tongue weight though?

Yes the bike in the back would off-set the tongue weight some. However, you still want to try to keep the tongue weight between 12 - 15% of the overall loaded weight of the trailer. This improves towing.
Other impacts to tongue weight is cargo loading (i.e., fore and aft of trailer's axles) and where HW Tank, Fresh Water Tank, etc. are located wrt trailer's axles.

Hope this helps some.
Hutch

[maryamore]

Thanks Hutch,
You all are confirming what I thought to begin with...we'll probably be in the market for another truck soon enough. I'll keep you posted when we get the 3075. Maybe it will help someone else.
Mary

[henryj]

I'm going to second Hutch's comments. I've weighed our rig and for two adults traveling lightly--no bicycles, no firewood, no beer--we've added at least 1200 lb. of stuff. If you do the same with a 3075 the towed weight will be 7000 lb. before you add the bike.

The bike will not unload the tongue by 800 lb. Think of it like a teeter totter. The bike is much closer to the axles than the coupler. However, with a toy hauler you can't load lightly to stay within your truck's limit. The tongue weight has to be at least 1000 lb. to minimize sway. That means with a toy hauler you have to carry extra weight up front--water or stuff--to offset the weight of the bike.

When manufacturers' set towing limits they usually say something like, "performance will degrade as you approach these limits." They aren't kidding. On top of that the tow rating may be limited due to axles, suspension, or transmission that are too light for anything more. In other words it's not a good idea to exceed any rating.

RV dealers will gag, choke and turn blue long before they can say, "you need a bigger truck." Going to another dealer won't help--they're pretty much all the same. In the absence of objective advice a rule of thumb some of us have used is never look at a trailer whose GVWR exceeds the tow rating of the truck. Even if you know you can stay under the trailer's GVWR, the numbers are just too close and remember, "your performance will degrade as you approach these limits."

Henry

[Hematite]

As many before have said, you need more towing capacity than you now have. The towing capapcity of your truck is reduced by passengers, gear, weight of a full tank of gas and anything that you carry in the truck. That said, as I believe Hutch said, you need a truck with about 10,000lb towing capacity to have some reserve with that Transport.

If you prefer to stick to a gas engine, the Ford V10 makes an excellent tow engine. I'm not trying to spend all your money but right now is an excellent time to buy a new truck, the rebates are excellent!

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by Hematite

If you prefer to stick to a gas engine, the Ford V10 makes an excellent tow engine.

It is indeed. While for towing heavy loads the 4.10 rear end is best, you could get away with a 3.73 with that coach because the TS's don't have the frontal area that an SR has. My 286SR is 6" taller than an '06 3075. It's a lot easier to drag weight than it is to break the wind.

Jon

[Hematite]

Jon,
You bring up a good point about wind resistance. The frontal area of a trailer is actually part of the equation in the Ford towing manual. The higher the trailer, the lower the tow rating on the truck. I can't find it right now but it is a very good reference for those interested in towing. I keep wondering if a cap on a truck would be a worthwhile addition, at least aerodynamically?

[maryamore]

Henry, Rick and Jon,
WOW! You all bring up some good points. I'm going to have the hubby look at these posts right away!
Thanks again!!!!!!!!