2016 Thor Gemini RUV and towing

[dbcassidy]

I am thinking of purchasing a 2016 Thor Gemini RUV and have a question on towing a 6' x 10' enclosed motorcycle trailer.

Does or have anybody done the above? I understand the Thor Gemini is fairly new to the market, built on the Ford Transit chassis with the I5 inline 3.2 liter diesel engine.

I have 2 motorcycles that go in the above trailer and want to know if I will have enough power out of the diesel enging for both the class C and the trailer.

Thank you,

DBCassidy

[RobertRyan]

tatest wrote:
Enough power to do what?

Diesel Transits, depending on equipment, are rated to tow 4000 to 7000 pounds. There are a number of GCWR options. If you are under GCWR, the manufacturer and industry standards bodies are saying there is enough power (and more important, cooling capacity) to meet their performance standards, but that will not mean winning drag races or climbing steep grades at maximum legal speeds.

Also depends on your load. Two motorcycles on a trailer for me means under 1000 pounds total weight, I ride bikes under 350 pounds. But if you are talking about 800-1200 pounds per bike, that's a different load. Still, it is unlikely you'll be hauling more than the 4000 the least Transit can handle.

Looks like Thor is using the 13,500 GCWR chassis. If you load the motorhome to max weight, you have a bit more than 2000 pounds capacity for your bikes and trailer. More if you don't run as heavy in the RV. This still has not much to do with "enough power." Power is not that much a factor in towing capacity, very power sport trucks can tow almost nothing, while the trucks towing the heaviest loads are usually down-rated in power for continuous full output duty cycles.

Similar towing numbers given for the 2.2 Diesel version sold here or more correctly the only version sold here.,Although a higher lower number. Transit has been passed in sales by a considerable margin, by the Renault Van, very similar characteristics

[CharlesinGA]

Aerodynamic drag increases exponentially and above 65 the load on the engine and transmission become much greater, the fuel consumption is frightening, and its simply not worth it to go much faster.

I would get a lighter trailer, and realize that on mountain grades and passes, that you will be manually downshifting possibly even as low as 3rd or 2ed gear.

Charles

[pauldub]

Everyone seems to have different expectations regarding how fast they "need" to ascend a grade. A lot of folks think they should have the same power to weight ratio as a car, but that's never going to happen. Take the motorhome for a drive and try to get a feel for how much reserve power it may have.

[dbcassidy]

Sorry, I should have mentioned, my concern is towing the above with 2 motorcycles (1174 lbs wet weight) with a 1500 lb single axle enclosed trailer. 2 adults and 2 dogs in the Gemini. Hilly / mountain driving on the interstates and back roads is my concern.

Will I be able to keep up with traffic at 65 mph and have enough power / torgue for hilly back roads.

DBCassidy

[tatest]

Enough power to do what?

Diesel Transits, depending on equipment, are rated to tow 4000 to 7000 pounds. There are a number of GCWR options. If you are under GCWR, the manufacturer and industry standards bodies are saying there is enough power (and more important, cooling capacity) to meet their performance standards, but that will not mean winning drag races or climbing steep grades at maximum legal speeds.

Also depends on your load. Two motorcycles on a trailer for me means under 1000 pounds total weight, I ride bikes under 350 pounds. But if you are talking about 800-1200 pounds per bike, that's a different load. Still, it is unlikely you'll be hauling more than the 4000 the least Transit can handle.

Looks like Thor is using the 13,500 GCWR chassis. If you load the motorhome to max weight, you have a bit more than 2000 pounds capacity for your bikes and trailer. More if you don't run as heavy in the RV. This still has not much to do with "enough power." Power is not that much a factor in towing capacity, very power sport trucks can tow almost nothing, while the trucks towing the heaviest loads are usually down-rated in power for continuous full output duty cycles.