Help with choice of TT

[Musicman]

Hello folks,

I apologize for starting a thread for Tow capacities but I am thoroughly confused and have a decision to make. My family depends on the decision that I make (6 year old girl and 3 year old boy) so I thought that I would ask for help here.

I have read all of the forums regarding weights and towing but as I am a musician (artsy) math is not my forte!

Here is the dilemma:

I have a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 5.7 Hemi. It's capabilities are here: Jeep Grand Cherokee WK - Dimensions and specifications

I am making a decision on which TT to purchase and I have a choice between two. They are the Forest River Surveyor SP191T and the SP192T. Both of their specs are here: Forest River Surveyor Specs

Now according to some of the calculators it seems that the SP191T is well within the capabilities of the Jeep and the Sp192T, if fully loaded is over. The question is how likely are you to load 3000 lbs of gear into your trailer when going camping. The load capacity of the SP191T is only 808 pounds and then you have to take off 400 pounds for the accessories that come with the trailer.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Mike

[NLOVNIT]

Hi Musicman, welcome to iRV2. You've come to the right place for answers.

It's good you are using GVWR's for the TT calculations - you are on the right track there. One thing to remember is the 7200 lb towing specs for your JGC is for a base vehicle, no options & only 1 150 lb driver. For everything you load into that JGC (wife, kids, gear, bikes, full gas tank...etc) you have to deduct that weight from the amount you can tow. My first impressions are that the 192 is outside of your tow vehicle's capacity, even though it's probably doubtful you'd load it up with the nearly 3700 lbs of stuff the brochure says you can put into that base model TT (also, that base model dry weight would not include things like a TV, awning, A/C, the water that sits in the hot water tank...etc. All those would add to the dry weigh specs listed in the brochure).

The best thing to do is to load your JGC with all people, gear, full tank of gas & head to the truck scales to get it weighed. Then take that loaded up weight & subtract it from your 12,200 GCWR to get what you can safely tow.

Lori-

P.S. On edit, looking at the Forest River website, the Roos (or even the Shamrocks) appear to have many more models that would fall safely within your towing capabilities with more variety of floorplans (i.e. multiple bed options for you & the kids). That is, if you're not set on the Surveyors.

[TXiceman]

First thing to do is to visit this site:
RV and Tow Vehicle Weights
And learn all of the terms and the weight issues for towing.

There is more to towing than the power of a 5.7L Hemi. You still have a small SUV with a short wheelbase and a high center of gravity. By the tow rating, you will be able to tow a lot more weight than the GC should have behind it with an RV. The trailer has a large projected area front rear and sides. You have to have enough vehicel to control the trailer and for a family of 4, I would be very careful of trailer size as well as weight.

We started with an small SUV and just a 21' trailer. It pulled it OK, but it was a very tiring rig to drive.

Good luck shopping.

Ken

[Musicman]

Thank you both for your comments. I am struggling with the decision as I seem to be getting mixed messages. I haven't taken the dealers word for it as I know that they are just trying to sell trailers.

I am leaning more toward the SP191T as it seems to be less likely to cause me problems with towing capacity. That being said the trailer is only able to take on another 400 lbs of gear before you hit the GVWR after you include the factory options. I do like the fact that with the SP192T that you have a little more room to play with and it is a double axel trailer and not significantly longer than the 191.

I, of course, would be using a WDH, Sway bars and a Prodigy P2 brake controller.

I am making a mistake?

Mike

[450Donn]

Disregard the weights for a couple of minutes and consider one other factor that is as important. Wheel base of the tow vehicle vs trailer. With a relatively small and short wheel base SUV you will be wise to get as short a trailer as you can be comfortable in. Think of the times you have seen a really happy dog. And think of tail wagging the dog. get the idea?