NEW PURCHASER NEEDS INFO ON TOW VEHICLE

[marywhotoo]

HI EVERYONE. I AM LOOKING AT A SUNLINE SOLARIS T-257SR. IT WEIGHTS IN AT 5034 LBS. FROM THE FACTORY. I OWN A DODGE
2003 RAM 1500 WITH A LONGBED. I BELIEVE IT WILL TOW 6200 LBS. I PLAN ON USING
THIS TRAILER AT THE BEACH AND ANTICIPATE TRAVELING OFF LONG
ISLAND TO FLORIDA FOR THE WINTERS. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY
IDEA IF THIS TRUCK WILL BE SUFFICENT TO TOW THIS TRAILER? THE
DEALER WE ARE BUYING THIS TRAILER THINKS IT WILL BE FINE. THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT.

[ChiliPepperD]

TrailerLife Towing guides are a great resource. Here's the link: http://www.trailerlife.com/downloads/03towingguide.pdf
You'll need to know your engine and rear-end gear ratio to find the tow rating.
A caution too: The advertised weight and the actual weight can be quite different. My T-2653 advertised at 4465 lbs, but the sticker on the inside of the trailer was 4975 - over 500 lb difference due to the A/C, awning, and other options added on. You'll probably be OK, especially because the trip you're planning is relatively flat, but I'd double check your truck's capability,including GVWR and GCWR and the actual trailer weight. If your RAM has 3.55 gears, a swap to 3.92 gears could gain you as much as 1000 extra lbs in tow capability (if you have 4WD, you'll need to chang both front and rear gears).

Chili

[PTHutch]

You need to get some info on your Tow Vehicle like:

GCWR (Gross Capacity Weight Rating)
and
GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating)

I’ve always used the GVWR of the trailer as a guide. Your T-257SR will have a GVWR of 7,000 lbs.

A simple way is to have a tow vehicle that has a tow rating at least equal to or 10% more then the trailers GVWR.
But when I want to look at specific capacities, I use a 2 step process which is:

Step 1:
Estimate the weight of you tow vehicle (or better yet have it weighted) as it would be loaded for a trip (i.e., full fuel tank, passengers, cargo, etc.).
Add this weight to the GVWR of the T-257SR and if it’s less than the GCWR of the tow vehicle, then you’re ok for step 1.

Step 2:
Take your estimated (or weighed) tow vehicle weight and add the trailer’s hitch weight to it. Sunline spec’s the hitch weight for the T-257SR at 625lbs but it will be more once loaded. It should be between 10-15% of loaded weight. So if you want to take worst case, take 15% of trailers GVWR, which is 1,050 lbs. If the weight of the tow vehicle plus 1,050 lbs is less then the tow vehicles GVWR, you ok with this.

If you’re ok for both step 1 & 2, your within the capability of your tow vehicle.

Good luck.