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Report: Towing Near Max Rating.

jeremyjeep

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What are everyone's thoughts on single axle vs dual axle? It appears that dual axles has a lighter hitch weight (compared to a same length camper). And does a dual axle camper tow a lot better regarding stability than a single axel camper?
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jeremyjeep

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Rated tow weight and max tongue weight are not the whole story. You need to know the maximum combined weight your vehicle is rated for. This include the dry weight of your Jeep, all fluids, passengers and gear plus the same for your camper. sams has a good webpage on the subject.

I towed several campers with my Tundra that all ere bear tilts towing limits. It towed them, but I was never fully comfortable while doing it. And don’t forget brakes and a brake controller. And Jeeps are very short wheelbase trucks, think about weight distribution hitches and hydraulic anti sway controllers.

Sams link:
https://rv.campingworld.com/towguide
So for example, if you have two passengers with a combined weight of 350lbs in the Jeep (not the camper), 300lbs worth of stuff (chairs, tarps, canned food, water, gas in the tank, etc.) in the Jeep (not the camper), then the maximum dry weight of your camper must be 2,850lbs or less if your JLU can tow 3,500lbs? From an insurance point of view.
 

FWB FL

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Spring City.
I've got a project at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant that will take a few months.
I spend every year there for the last 50 years at Watts Bar Lake, what a great place in the summer, but very little to do in town, Spring City.
 

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So for example, if you have two passengers with a combined weight of 350lbs in the Jeep (not the camper), 300lbs worth of stuff (chairs, tarps, canned food, water, gas in the tank, etc.) in the Jeep (not the camper), then the maximum dry weight of your camper must be 2,850lbs or less if your JLU can tow 3,500lbs? From an insurance point of view.
Insurance companies won’t deny you for that, no more than they will if you were going 5 miles per hour over the speed limit, and got into an accident. They might very well dump you after the claim, but most of that crap you hear is BS. 99.9%of these accidents are because people are stupid and not because they were overloaded.
 

RavenJeep

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Yes, pointing things out others may not of thought of is very much appreciated. I'm thinking of buying this exact model because of the dual axles (for more stability). I'm in brainstorming mode, not being defensive, so I appreciate the sounding board opportunity. :) In my particular case, there wouldn't be 4 people in the Jeep, so could but just the heavy stuff in the back of the Jeep and put the light weight stuff (dishes, coats, lawn chairs, etc.) in the camper to keep it at the proper weight. The Geo Pro's hitch weight is way higher and even the Tab/Tag campers hitch weight is too much, so the Falcon campers are one of the only ones. Falcon has a lighter weight but it is single axle. I'm not worried about overloading the JL, but I'd rather have piece of mind incase of an accident. The exact same JL in Europe can tow 5,500lbs, so I know it can tow this with ease. The original poster said no problem and there is another thread of someone towing a larger airstream that is over 4,500lbs. I wonder if the 5 extra pounds on the hitch weight (355lbs for the Falcon 23B and 350lbs for the JL) would trigger an insurance denial. 5lbs isn't much, but it is heavier than the spec. Thoughts?
You may want to check out Prolite campers. They have two dual axle campers that are under 3000 lbs. We own a Prolite Evasion that is 1800lbs and a Viking 17BH that is 2800lbs. Both tow great but they are single axle. They aren't set up for offroad camping, though we are doing an axle flip and bigger tires on them this winter, which will make them more off road worthy. But at 25 feet your not going to be pulling that Falcon on any trails either. Just wanted to give you another option to look at.
 

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jeremyjeep

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You may want to check out Prolite campers. They have two dual axle campers that are under 3000 lbs. We own a Prolite Evasion that is 1800lbs and a Viking 17BH that is 2800lbs. Both tow great but they are single axle. They aren't set up for offroad camping, though we are doing an axle flip and bigger tires on them this winter, which will make them more off road worthy. But at 25 feet your not going to be pulling that Falcon on any trails either. Just wanted to give you another option to look at.
Thanks for this info. I checked out their website at https://www.roulotteprolite.ca/produits/new-trailers/ I found the Evasion, but I didn't see the Viking. The "Max" is dual axle and is 2950 dry, 245lb hitch weight, and even has a slide out, so that would work great. The only problem is, need to see one in person before a major purchase and they don't have a few dealers in the U.S. and they are all in the extreme north. https://www.roulotteprolite.ca/dealer/
 

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saved to read later. we will be going to gattlinburg later in sept. interested to see how that falcon is working out for you. we are considering a Vintage but were concerned w/ towing.
 
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saved to read later. we will be going to gattlinburg later in sept. interested to see how that falcon is working out for you. we are considering a Vintage but were concerned w/ towing.
Still gotter! Still loving it .
20190331_191702.jpg
Jeep tows it awesome! Been back and forth from TN to TX to AL to Tx and TX to TN right now. It's a quality trailer with no issues.
 
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I spend every year there for the last 50 years at Watts Bar Lake, what a great place in the summer, but very little to do in town, Spring City.
Fishing below the damn aint bad either!
20180915_043037.jpg
 
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Kurlon

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Is the factory hitch rated for weight distribution setups?
 

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Rated tow weight and max tongue weight are not the whole story. You need to know the maximum combined weight your vehicle is rated for. This include the dry weight of your Jeep, all fluids, passengers and gear plus the same for your camper. sams has a good webpage on the subject.

I towed several campers with my Tundra that all ere bear tilts towing limits. It towed them, but I was never fully comfortable while doing it. And don’t forget brakes and a brake controller. And Jeeps are very short wheelbase trucks, think about weight distribution hitches and hydraulic anti sway controllers.

Sams link:
https://rv.campingworld.com/towguide
The most important weight rating is the one you exceed first. At that point no others matter. Rear axle, gvwr, gcwr usually are exceeded far before max trailer.
 

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Are you sure your weight distribution hitch is set up correctly? I just picked up my camper on Saturday and when they were done, the vehicle sat perfectly flat. But you're right, what a difference and it did a great job towing it!

56879383_10157092659743610_6221976812268814336_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent.fdet1-1.jpg
 
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Are you sure your weight distribution hitch is set up correctly? I just picked up my camper on Saturday and when they were done, the vehicle sat perfectly flat. But you're right, what a difference and it did a great job towing it!

56879383_10157092659743610_6221976812268814336_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent.fdet1-1.jpg
I went tighter by a link and got level.

20190108_084932.jpg
 

SONofHELGI

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Something that sounds technical, but it's not.
Just chiming in here guys. When I ordered my Jeep I was hesitant due to towing (boat) and talked to an Engineer at FCA. I wanted to know if the towing capacity of the Diesel was going to be significantly more than the 3.6L. He told me the towing limitations on the Wrangler have nothing to do with power-train or suspension, it's all about wheel base.

This exact same engine, transmission and suspension with the wheel base of a standard pickup truck has max trailer weight rating of 6410-7440.
GCWR: 11900

He told me it's all about safety. Brakes play a small part in that, but the biggest issue was max highway speed control and stability.

I personally towed a JK & CJ linked together (wish I would have stopped to take pictures) out of an ORV park. My Jeep performed like a champ even through the rough terrain to get them out so a tow truck could pick them up.
 

Geos7812

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I went tighter by a link and got level.

20190108_084932.jpg
Have either of you hit a scale to actually get good numbers? I have a trailer that says it has a hitch weight of 648 pounds. It is weird, but almost like the trailer advertised tongue weight doesn’t include my two batteries, two propane tanks, tools etc. With that stuff added the tongue increased to about 1000 pounds. I have 1700 pounds of advertised capacity on my truck and once I add people a full tank of gas I am bouncing up to it. Please know that manufacturers will remove things like bumpers, seats, spare tires etc, when the test their weights. I think they most be trying to make the coolest commercial. This is why the numbers never match what is published. I am pretty no one is taking off their bumpers to tow.

I get that I sound like a broken record, but ya’ll are playing with fire. Go drive through a CAT scale, pay the $10 and be surprised at what you weigh. There’s an app for that. Use it.
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