Hello everyone,
I'm christine and new to this forum, and I'll probably start with the most asked about questions you probably hear all the time.I'll apologize in advance, but I'm very new to all this.
Next year we are planning a cross country trip from mass to Cali. We are moving and decided to take 3 months to just try and see and enjoy as much as we can... While we still can
that being said we are buying a travel trailer. Traveling 3 months and planning to probably live in the trailer afterwards. Therefore we want something big enough to accommodate both comfort and ability to travel across country safely. We are shipping everything in advance, so the trailer will only have to accommodate what is needed for the trip. I have tried doing a lot of research, crunching numbers and reading forums just to come up confused. It seems as though trailers we want come with all the limits, but maybe pushing those limits... I'm not sure, and would appreciate feedback with given information. Traveling across the country I don't want to ruin the car nor risk our safety but we also are looking for most room we can. All help will be appreciated. Thank you
Vehicle :
2015 jeep grand cherokee limited
3.6L Pentastar® V6 VVT engine
290 hp
260 lb-ft of torque
Eight-speed automatic transmission
Towing capability: 6200lbs
Cargo capability including driver: 1050 lbs
Gawr front : 3200
Gawr rear : 3700
Dealers suggested tongue weight between 10-15%
Tavel trailer:
27' with hitch
Dry weight : 4800-5000
Gvwr :7000
So we obviously wouldn't put a lot to bring the weight of trailer up to max gvwr, but hoping to minimize the weight. We figure the total weight of us and dogs is 335.. And misc add another 150 ? (Not sure if reasonable) with 500 lbs of cargo in jeep leaves us 550 lbs for the tongue jack correct? I little confused about the Gawr for the axles bc they carry a higher weight then 6200? Asking if this is a possibility? Am I missing or messing up how to calculate this or not? And since we are driving across country should we be more modest with our camper size and weight? Is a weight distribution hitch going to make any difference in the weight we can carry? How much additional weight is a sway bar and distribution hitch going to add? Is that added to gvwr of car or trailer?
Thanks again