Dry Weight of the T-1950 & Can I Tow it with This...?

[TurtleBax]

Hello,

Does anyone know the dry weight of the T-1950? I have seen 2 weights listed; 3,900lbs and 3,500 lbs.

The weight makes a difference, as I have yet to select a Tug.

I'm considering a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the new V6 Pentastar Engine.
Tow Capacity is 5,000 lbs.

3.6-liter V6 24-Valve Variable Valve Timing engine produces 290 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 260 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm.



What do you think? Can I tow the trailer with this vehicle?


Thanks and Best Regards,

TurtleBax

[JohnB]

Hi Turtle,

What year T-1950 are you looking at? In our files tab up top there are brochures on just about all the Sunline made. It will list the dry camper and dry tongue weight for the year.

Towing, this one will take some more figuring out. Need to know what year and dry weight you are starting at and what the cargo load is inside the truck. If you have that 3,900# dry one, and you add 500# of gear your at 4,400# loaded and that up against a 5,000# tow rating on a TT means we need to dig deeper to to see what else may be in the truck. You could be sitting right on top of the max pull rating of the truck or over.

In our towing forum is a sticky, Towing a TT - Info for those new to Towing

I know that is a lot to read but it may answer a lot of questions. If you want to size up a TT to a TV, you will need to tell us some of the questions. We are glad to help explain and even help you figure it out.

This post may help too as Wayne asked the same thing. Which model Sunline can I tow?

Good luck and hope this helps

John

[Tod Osier]

Originally Posted by TurtleBax

Hello,

Does anyone know the dry weight of the T-1950? I have seen 2 weights listed; 3,900lbs and 3,500 lbs.

The weight makes a difference, as I have yet to select a Tug.

I'm considering a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the new V6 Pentastar Engine.
Tow Capacity is 5,000 lbs.

3.6-liter V6 24-Valve Variable Valve Timing engine produces 290 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 260 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm.



What do you think? Can I tow the trailer with this vehicle?


Thanks and Best Regards,

TurtleBax

We just bought a T-1950 and have just 4K miles towing to date. My experiance towing is with 2 Toyotas: a 2006 Tacoma with the 4.0 L V6 (produces 236 hp) and a 2006 Tundra with the 4.8L V8 (produces 271 hp). Both trucks towed in fine in hilly, but not mountainous terrain. The Tacoma is not ideal and the Tundra was closer to ideal. I'll be buying a full size 1/2 ton next fall and I'd expect that would be ideal for me. The hp the Jeep produces would be fine for me, but you won't be passing a lot of people.

The concern that I'd have is the capacity of the Jeep, since the GVWR of the trailer is 5500 on all the ones I've seen. Being that close to max would be a problem for me. Both the vehicles I've towed with were trucks with a solid rear axle (vs. the Jeep) as well with tow ratings at 6500 and 7000 lbs, I'd be concerned about tongue weight more than hp for the Jeep, specifically.

My opinion is that if I owned the Jeep you describe I'd use it, but I wouldn't buy the Jeep specifically as a tow vehicle for that trailer.

[Diane]

I seriously doubt you will like towing a T-1950 with your vehicle. We towed our former 1950 ONCE with our 2005 Ford Explorer and realized we needed a bigger tow vehicle.

[Steve Collins]

Jeep is touting the '12 Grand Cherokee with 5,000# towing capacity standard and up to 7,200# with the 5.7 Hemi.

Curb weight of the car with the Hemi is around 5,210# with a payload of 1,590#. Payload has to include driver, passengers, gear, and tongue weight of the trailer.

You can get a Grand Cherokee with a much lighter curb weight, but you have to give up the Hemi and you loose 300# of GVWR. And it pushes you back to that 5,000# towing max.

It's kind of interesting because the tongue on the 1950 should figured to be at least 660# (12% of GVWR) which would leave 930# for passengers and gear. Those numbers are getting pretty reasonable.

I don't think the V6 will be satisfactory for pulling a 1950, but it sure looks to me like the 5.7 Hemi might just work pretty well. You'd need a good WD hitch - probably the Reese dual cam or equivalent.

The only thing I can't give you numbers on right now is the rating of the receiver on the Grand Cherokee. And that's because DW has it in Albany for the day... Ours is the 5.7 Hemi Grand Cherokee Overland with tow package.

If we still had the '99 T-2453 (same GVWR as the T-1950), I would seriously consider outfitting the Jeep to pull it.

[Poppy & Nana]

Originally Posted by Diane

I seriously doubt you will like towing a T-1950 with your vehicle. We towed our former 1950 ONCE with our 2005 Ford Explorer and realized we needed a bigger tow vehicle.

I think we did it twice and the Explorer was gone.....

[Tweety]

You are smart to choose the trailer before the tow vehicle. Since you haven't gotten the Jeep yet you can either downsize the trailer (alot) or upsize the vehicle. Our experience with towing a QUE (3000# and only 7' wide) with a 5200# capacity Chevy TrailBlazer was that it would tow it but we weren't happy. Gas mileage dropped from 20 mpg with no trailer to as low as 9 depending on wind/terrain etc. Going up a mountain, forget it...we were down to 45 mph on the highway. (specifically Afton Mtn on I64 in VA) You'd be fine with a nice half ton truck. Our friends were using a Toyota 4Runner for towing their 1950 and moved up to the half ton, and are very happy with that combination.

[TurtleBax]

Hello All,

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I'm are going to look at a 2006, T-1950 this weekend. It is supposedly in excellent shape. I'm excited since this will be the first Sunline I have seen.

JohnB. - I will read the information that you suggested. It is probably the information that I'm looking for/need.

Tod -I have considered a half-ton truck. I don't think I want to use it for a daily driver as I commute in the 2d worst traffic in the USA every day. Thanks for the line on the Toyotas. I have been researching them also. Let me know what 1/2 ton you choose.

Diane, Poppy&Nana - Wow I would have thought the

[TurtleBax]

sorry, fat fingered the reply.

explorer up to the task.

Steve - Thanks for the vote on the GC. I agree that I probably have to upsize to the Hemi. I just wish they sold an efficient diesel version.

Thanks Tweety. I don't know how many Mtns I'll encounter whilst here on the east coast, but definately a few larger ones in the mountain west.


I still have some time, as I haven't purchased anything yet. Research, research, research. I just want to get camping now.

Thanks Everyone. I'll keep you posted.

Wish me luck on the trailer shopping.

Best Regards,

TurtleBax

[Diane]

We upgraded our tow vehicle to a 2006 Expedition and it towed the 1950 with no issues through the mountains of New England. It was easy to maintain speed up the mountains and the TT never pushed the Expedition on the down hill trek. We were also able to fully load the Expedition with two people, two standard poodles, and lots of "stuff" with no rear end sag when hitched to the 1950. It was a great towing combination for us and a good daily driver as well.

Hope that the 1950 you are looking at is in great shape as it is an awesome camper.

[Steve Collins]

Originally Posted by TurtleBax

Steve - Thanks for the vote on the GC. I agree that I probably have to upsize to the Hemi. I just wish they sold an efficient diesel version.

For towing, I would agree, but boy oh boy, is that Hemi ever fun to drive!