Is this truck and trailer combo safe??

Lula85 wrote:

romore wrote:
It will work, you will be legal, but the truck is not going to like the Grapevine or Donner Pass with that load. For safety's sake no more than 80% of your towing capacity, in your case 4960 lb, is recommended.However, it's your call.

Ah yes, I think I would feel a lot more comfortable at 80%. And we will head through the Grapevine from southern California a couple times a year to go to Kings Canyon, maybe Yosemite. I do figure that on the way there we will have empty water/black tank, which will obviously help with the weight. Fill them up at the closest possible stop before heading down the canyon.

So far, this has been the best trailer under 6200 pounds, that still has a 6 cubic ft fridge and decent water tanks at 45/45/45.

I have a Grand Cheokee with a V6 and recently tried towing a 1685 from Castaic to Frazier Park. I had it mostly loaded 4100 lbs at the CAT scale. It didn't have any problems. My tongue weight capacity is 620 lbs and that day it was 600 lbs. The 1685 seems to be a nicely balanced trailer and is easier to tow than I had expected. I have more stuff in it at the moment, but it still handled the breezy weather without a problem going across hwy 138 yesterday.

California has a 55 speed limit for vehicles towing trailers, and my V6 JGC seems to go along nicely between 55-60.

Whether your vehicle came with the factory tow package or not might make a big difference- the JGC would be rated to tow 3500 instead of the 6200 with tow package.

I'll probably will know more tomorrow as I'm heading to Death Valley, probably by way of Trona. At the moment I've only driven the Grapevine and the 138.