New to towing AS

[drewsully]

Wife and I are renting a 25' FC and are planning on towing it with our 2013 Jeep GC. It's an overland summit awd with the towing pkg and 5.7 V8 Hemi. Our towing capacity looks fine,b but concerned about hitch weight. Any thoughts. Thank in advance.

[CRH]

What is the payload on your Jeeps door sticker?

[AirstreamJim]

I wrote this in response to a similar question a couple years ago:

I love my 2015 JGC EcoDiesel, which has basically the same specs as yours. I towed our '07 Safari 25FB from Salt Lake City home to Long Island and it did a great job. But the payload capacity is a problem: with a 25FB you will be maxed out with just you in the Jeep and NO passengers or cargo. The 25FB has a tongue weight of almost 900 lbs, which, with driver, eats up all of your 1,050 lbs of payload. After a few trips, we upgraded to a RAM pickup.

You may be fine with a 23.

Check out these threads:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f238...le-146333.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...-140961-2.html

And there are more. Go to google and search for "cherokee site:airforums.com" (without the quotes) to get all the threads about the Grand Cherokee on Airforums.

Good luck!

The Diesel engine in my JGC doesn’t change any of the important specs for towing. The Hemi engine has the same tow capacities and max payload rating as the diesel. (Interestingly, I looked at several JGCs on a dealer lot, all configured differently and with different engines, and all had the same max payload rating: 1,050 lbs. Maybe coincidence, maybe FCA thinks it best to limit Jeeps for some reason.

What I’ve learned since then is that the 900 lb tongue weight I mentioned is probably a pipe dream. The 25FB fully loaded for camping often has a tongue weight north of 1,000 lbs, which means you’ll need to have a self-driving vehicle because once a driver gets in, the Jeep is over its payload rating.

We had a very well-regarded dealer tell us we would be fine with the Jeep pulling the 25’ Airstream. Of course he wanted to sell us the trailer. Don’t fall into the dealer’s trap.

Jim

[drewsully]

Thanks, great info. Renting from an individual on Outdoorsy. We'd be driving it about 200 miles all highway from Jax to Savanah. Also, owner says it weighs 6200 lbs. It is a 2010 flying cloud. Does this soung about right? Thanks again.

[drewsully]

1050 lbs

[AirstreamJim]

Originally Posted by drewsully

Thanks, great info. Renting from an individual on Outdoorsy. We'd be driving it about 200 miles all highway from Jax to Savanah. Also, owner says it weighs 6200 lbs. It is a 2010 flying cloud. Does this soung about right? Thanks again.

6200 lbs is the lightly loaded weight. Dry weight officially is 5,443 lbs., and max weight is 7,300 lbs.

Unless you’ll be dry camping and need to bring water, leave all the tanks empty when towing. No cargo in the Jeep; you don’t have capacity for it.

Jim

[tcrum]

We tow a 1978 31' Sovereign with a the Diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is a super tow vehicle. We have 20" low profile tires, a cheap weight distribution hitch, 2 friction sway bars and a P3 brake controller. Been all over the country without a problem. Even been side swiped at 65 mph and were straight as an arrow. Our tongue weight is around 650 lbs.

[drewsully]

To lighten the load, do we need to fill tanks if we are going to a site with all the hook ups. It will be our only stop on our maiden voyage. Thanks and sorry for all the ? Looking forward to our first time Rv'ing

[HHPJ]

Rent a 23 to give you some room TV wise...

[wulfraat]

or rent an F150 from AVIS or what have you

[mkcurtiss]

IMO your tow vehicle is a little too small......I would rent a smaller airstream. Pulling a camper with an undersized tv is not fun.

Remember, horsepower is the least important factor in a tv......Everything else is more important.....

[mkcurtiss]

Originally Posted by tcrum

We tow a 1978 31' Sovereign with a the Diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is a super tow vehicle. We have 20" low profile tires, a cheap weight distribution hitch, 2 friction sway bars and a P3 brake controller. Been all over the country without a problem. Even been side swiped at 65 mph and were straight as an arrow. Our tongue weight is around 650 lbs.

You got side swiped in a vintage Airstream and you are still using it?

[RobdaSlob]

Originally Posted by drewsully

Thanks, great info. Renting from an individual on Outdoorsy. We'd be driving it about 200 miles all highway from Jax to Savanah. Also, owner says it weighs 6200 lbs. It is a 2010 flying cloud. Does this soung about right? Thanks again.

I tow that area regularly and live in Savannah - a couple thoughts.

I’d keep the tanks near empty for the trip. With tanks empty it is unlikely the trailer is near gross. Go to any truck stop if you want an accurate weight. My local waste drop off site also has a scale but I question its accuracy.

You didn’t mention if you are setup with a brake controller or anything about the brakes on your truck. Stopping is typically more an issue than going.

The roads are generally flat - If needed I would go west of Jax on the bypass rather than east on the high bridge across the St Johns or thru the center on 95. ( If you have to go east look for the May port ferry - it’s more fun anyway). If you really want to take it slow travel US 17 that parallels 95 - keeping in mind there is another high bridge in Brunswick and a third in Savannah. Any number of good seafood places. If Dorian doesn’t wipe out the shrimp try B&J in Darrien for shrimp right off the boat.

Enjoy

[Specsalot]

I tow a FC 25' RB with an 07 Diesel Grand Cherokee. Not sure if they improved the rear suspension since 07, but my TV is really challenged to handle the tongue weight of the AS. I have a weight-distribution hitch that supports 1000#. Even with that, my back end used to really bottom out on bumps. I fitted helper airbags which have made a big difference in reducing suspension travel.

My sense is that with a stock rear suspension you will be bottoming out. If you are not using a weight-distribution hitch as a part of your tow set up, I think you are taking on a lot of risks. You also really need to have a decent brake controller for towing.

FWIW, I do not tow above 60 mph with my set up. The challenge isn't having the power to go, you need to be able to stop. Be Careful.

[waninae39]

your jeep looks underrated to pull that AS safely.

i would look into a longer base 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton Ford, GM, Ram truck

you need a vehicle with a long wheel base, and sufficient margin in both tow pull and tongue weight
as others have stated, don't be stuck under-powered as you can get into trouble fast

look at the towing video on the CANAM RV site
andy is a very good guy to talk to and he can give you great advice
https://www.canamrv.ca/

[drewsully]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. We unfortunately had to postpone trip due to Dorian. Looking forward to rescheduling and getting on the road. Cheers!

[mefly2]

Listen to W-39 above.
Search my other posts for experience with a GMC Yukon and 25' AS ...

[StreamDog]

Worse case scenario - Your trailer COULD weight 7300lbs and tongue weight COULD be 15% of that which would be 1095lbs of payload.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Regardless of what others have seen, the *only* thing that counts is the actual sticker on the real door post of the Jeep you will be using. If you are going to use numbers, that number is the one to go by. Once you have the number, you need to look at what is (or likely is not) already included before the number is calculated. You may already have more stuff in the Jeep that what they figured when they did the number.

The tongue weight *plus* the weight of the hitch have to go somewhere. They (at least in part) will show up on the axles of the Jeep. Depending on what sort of WD hitch you have and how it is adjusted, that gets into the calculations.

One example:

1,000 lb rated tongue weight
1,200 lb real tongue weight "as packed with our stuff"
300 lb hitch
450 lb of "needed stuff" in the back of the TV
1000 lb of passengers and dogs

It's unlikely that all will fit if the label on the post reads 1,050 lb

Bob

[dmackay]

I have used this same setup for the last couple of years. 2016 V8 Summit GC and 25 foot. Get an equalizer hitch and you should be fine with the hitch weight distribution.