Weight questions
Hello, we have a 2004 BT cruiser 5250, it currently has a class 2 hitch with max weight of 3500 lbs. We are setting it up to tow our 2013 manual Jeep Wrangler.
We have weighed both jeep and almost fully loaded rv ( we will be adding food, clothes and 1 more person to the weight of the rv). We used certified scales. Jeep weighs 4040 and rv weighs 12040 and GCWR for the rv is 17550. This puts us at 16,080 plus maybe another 400 max for food, clothes and myself. This puts us at 1000 lbs under. I have looked all thru owners manual of the BT cruiser and can find no tow rating just the GCWR and GVWR. I looked at the owners manual for the E450 v10 and it says we can tow 10,000 lbs. however I have also ran the vin number at the ford site and it says for this specific vehicle we can tow 5900 lbs. We will be towing 4 down so tongue weight should not be an issue.
Questions are 1- does the towing of the jeep add to the rear axle weight, it is at 7780 lbs now and front weighed 4260?
2- is that a normal weight distribution for front and rear axle or have we loaded the trailer poorly? So far on the 2 trips we made without towing a vehicle the handling of the rv was awesome even on twisting mountain roads.
3- we are going to change to a class 3 hitch but will this add significantly to the weight? again it has a class 2 now
4- I know you should try not to overload your vehicle and I am thinking at 1000 lbs under we should still be ok? Most of our driving is in the mountains.
I am making 2 other posts re towing but they are more specific to the tow vehicle and the system we are using.
Thanks zigpep
We have weighed both jeep and almost fully loaded rv ( we will be adding food, clothes and 1 more person to the weight of the rv). We used certified scales. Jeep weighs 4040 and rv weighs 12040 and GCWR for the rv is 17550. This puts us at 16,080 plus maybe another 400 max for food, clothes and myself. This puts us at 1000 lbs under. I have looked all thru owners manual of the BT cruiser and can find no tow rating just the GCWR and GVWR. I looked at the owners manual for the E450 v10 and it says we can tow 10,000 lbs. however I have also ran the vin number at the ford site and it says for this specific vehicle we can tow 5900 lbs. We will be towing 4 down so tongue weight should not be an issue.
Questions are 1- does the towing of the jeep add to the rear axle weight, it is at 7780 lbs now and front weighed 4260?
2- is that a normal weight distribution for front and rear axle or have we loaded the trailer poorly? So far on the 2 trips we made without towing a vehicle the handling of the rv was awesome even on twisting mountain roads.
3- we are going to change to a class 3 hitch but will this add significantly to the weight? again it has a class 2 now
4- I know you should try not to overload your vehicle and I am thinking at 1000 lbs under we should still be ok? Most of our driving is in the mountains.
I am making 2 other posts re towing but they are more specific to the tow vehicle and the system we are using.
Thanks zigpep
