Hey Guss & Glenda! Nice to see another happy 2499 owner online.
We've owned a 2004 model T2499 for about 2 years now. It's a great floorplan for 2 people.
We pull ours with a 3/4-ton pickup. Ours is not an HD model, nor does it have a diesel engine. Our LD (light duty) 2500 Chevy has the 5.3 liter gas engine and a 3.73 limited slip rear axle ratio.
You can tow the 2499 with a properly equipped 1/2-ton truck.
There may be SUV's out there that are rated to pull it as well.
But here is why I would prefer to use a heavier tow vehicle...
The heavy tongue weight the 2499 has puts some serious load on the rear suspension... a 3/4-ton (or even a 1-ton) rated vehicle is better equipped to handle that payload AND whatever else you may carry in your tow vehicle much better than a 1/2-ton rated vehicle. I also prefer a truck to an SUV because the truck gives me a place to store stuff I cannot or would rather not haul inside.
I would also recommend a longer wheelbase tow vehicle. Ours is an extended cab short bed model with the same wheelbase as a Suburban. I like the additional interior space the extended cab provides... we do sometimes have my daughter along on trips OR other campers hitching a ride to the store or restaurant. I think longer wheelbase vehicles are a more stable platform for towing, especially a relatively large camper like the 2499.
Our truck has a combined gross vehicle rating of 13K pounds... and we're very close to that weight when heading down the road. The rating would be HIGHER if we had a different engine in the truck, say the 6.0 liter gas or the Duramax diesel. I am one of these people that doesn't like to push the hardware to it's rated limits very often... it makes things wear out faster. I'd like to have a heavier-duty tow vehicle than I have now.
We manage OK with our little 5.3 on the fairly flat lands around south Georgia and north Florida where we do most of our camping. But when we venture north to the Georgia mountains or even western North Carolina (as we did in June 2010), the small gas engine is hard pressed to handle the steeper grades. It is these situations that make me wish for a bigger motor.
If I was to have the ability to choose a tow vehicle for THIS camper, I'd aim for a 3/4-ton or 1-ton diesel pickup with either an extended cab or quad-cab.
Good Luck in your search for the perfect tow vehicle for your Sunline.
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Dave & Cindy
'99 Chevrolet 2500 ext. cab (2WD)
5.3 liter V8, 3.73LS, Prodigy, Hensley Arrow
2004 Sunline Solaris SE T-2499 #5527
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