Sovereign weight and Preferred tow vehicle

[J. Morgan]

I really doubt a big Diesel truck could out stop me. For the following reasons.

1. If it is not a dooley the big truck will have no more rubber on the ground than my 1/2 ton. On modern vehicles the tire contact area is the weak link in braking.

2. A big Diesel truck is heavier than my 1/2 ton,,,, more mass = longer braking distance.. (Remember the rubber on the road issue?)

3. I have trailer brakes in good working order. Adjusted properly, these should do most all of the trailer stopping.


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

[J. Morgan]

Lol,, sorry,,, I answered an answer to a four year old thread...


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

[suzuz22]

We just bought our first AS, a '79 31' Sovereign, center bath rear queen last week, and just yesterday traded our '07 4Runner V6 for a 2011 Expedition EL Limited. The Expedition EL Limited was the largest SUV we were able to find that would also double as my daily driver as a stay at home mom. Hoping we will be more than adequately equipped once we get the WDH and sway bars. We do plan to take it out west to Idaho and Wyoming into Yellowstone next summer (2017) with our 2 children who will be 7 and 3 at the time. Anyone towed with a similar setup and care to weigh in? I'd appreciate any experience you care to share.

[J. Morgan]

My Tahoe pulls my 72 quite well, the Expedition is big enough to do a good job.

Trailers from this era really aren't that heavy.


Brevi tempore!

[Jeff K.]

I had a 2013 Ford F-150 with the 5 liter engine and 3.53:1 gears. It wasn't enough to pull my 1975 31' Sovereign. The passes of Idaho and Montana about killed it. I now have a Dodge Ram with a Cummins diesel. 15 mpg towing and no issues with power. It's a 3/4 ton 4x4. My last Ford was 4x4 as well. Most folks I talked to towing RV's are on 200 to 300 thousand miles and still running strong.

[CBeckFJ]

Hello! I have a 2005 Lexus LX and was looking at used airstreams. They seem to be around 25' to 31'. Would this be doable to tow cross country?

[n2916s]

Probably not the best idea unless the hitch is reinforced, transmission cooler, good tires. My 31' weighs a little over 8000# road ready with 1100# of tongue weight.

Andy Thompson of Can Am RV in Hamilton, Ontario is the best person I know of for advice on atypical tow vehicles. He seems to be gracious about helping over the phone so why not give him a shout?

[drmox]

I tow my '76 Sovereign with a Ram 2500 and a Cummins diesel, so I also fit into the TV overkill category.
However, my father-in-law recently used his Ram 1500 to tow my trailer for a weekend trip. He has a gas hemi engine, so power wasn't an issue, but the tongue weight gave him some sway issues at anything over 65 mph. He used my WD setup, and his truck has a self leveling air ride suspension, but our trailers have a hefty tongue weight.

[Lumatic]

A pick up will give you better visibility than a van for backing and what is going on with the trailer and what's around you.

[betheroad]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

My 72 weighs about 6500 as it sits, it weighed about 5,000 stock.

My 1/2 ton Silverado does just fine pulling it as does my wife's 1/2 ton Tahoe, both 5.3 L gas equipped.

There will be folks who will tell you that you NEED a big diesel to tow the trailer, they are wrong.


1/2 Ton 4WD Truck, 72 Sovereign Hensley Arrow

Thanks for the info. Looking to potentially tow mine with a F-150 with 9,100 pounds max towing. Sounds like it'll be enough to safely use as a tow vehicle.

[betheroad]

Originally Posted by Jeff K.

I had a 2013 Ford F-150 with the 5 liter engine and 3.53:1 gears. It wasn't enough to pull my 1975 31' Sovereign. The passes of Idaho and Montana about killed it. I now have a Dodge Ram with a Cummins diesel. 15 mpg towing and no issues with power. It's a 3/4 ton 4x4. My last Ford was 4x4 as well. Most folks I talked to towing RV's are on 200 to 300 thousand miles and still running strong.

Any idea what the tow rating on the f-150 was? Google search for the model (4x4 with v8) is 6,100 lbs? Not surprising it wasn't enough.

Any idea what the towing capacity/torque of your Ram is that you like?