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RE: Question on weight distributing hitches
That is the payload capacity.. If you go here: https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/rv_trailer_towing/2005/2005_default.asp and look under "Slide in Campers" it gives the payloads. Some of the newer Ford's had a Max Tow package, least it did in 2010 when I was looking, that bumped the payload from the ~1500 to ~1900#.
- Ken
My 2005 F150 came with the tow package, but did not come with the heavy duty cargo package designed to carry a slide in camper. The paperwork that came with my PU clearly states it's good for towing, but NO for slide-in camper use.
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Atlee
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02/09/12 06:17am |
Towing
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RE: How much over dry tongue weight?
Rough estimate and I mean rough is to take the GVWR of the trailer and multiply by 13%.
To be very safe and cover all bets, use 15% of the GVWR.
How often do you load to GVWR? I for one would have to put over 4000 lbs in my TT to reach GVWR.
I wish I had your trailer. I think the actual difference between my dry weight and GVWR is a couple hundred pounds. In fact, the GVWR is 500 pounds less than the sum of the GAWR of the two axles. I am typically running 2000 pounds over the GVWR. Many of the potential trailers I have looked at as a replacement has a cargo carrying capacity less than 1500 pounds.
It depends. One trailer I'm looking at has a NCC of 1200#. Another one has NCC of 2500#.
I would suspect I'd load the 1st trailer almost to the full GVWR. The 2nd trailer would probably be loaded to within 1000# of GVWR.
If I had a trailer that could carry 2 tons of "stuff" I probably wouldn't worry to much about GVWR either.
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Atlee
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02/08/12 04:26pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: The one specific suggestion you would make to RV makers...
I would like to see sales brocures with real weights, and the weight that all options add. Then people wouldn't have to guess if thier truck would haul it. Also more areo dynamic trailers for better MPG.
I'm not sure they can put the real weight since each trailer may have different options added at the factory. That said, they should add the pounds of each option they mention in their brochure. Also, what a filled 20# LPG bottle weights, and what the weight of the battery they put in the TT.
If they would just put those numbers in the brochure, it would help a great deal.
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Atlee
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02/08/12 01:56pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Estimating Hitch Weight?
Atlee, no offense intended as we agree but I think were saying the same thing differently. We see posts here in the "Can I tow this?" threads where folks think because their TV is rated to tow "X" they are good to go with a TV at that weight (besides the salesman said so). As you pointed out, start with the TT's GVWR and go from there. The curse of the ever popular half ton has always been (and always will be), payload or the lack thereof.
No problem, and I agre. That's what I have found out very quickly while researching which trailer I want and can pull. And you are correct about the "you can pull this trailer with your truck" statement. Even a month ago, I wasn't very educated about the role the TV's cargo capacity played in the whole scheme of things.
I have a nice 2005 F150, and that's what I'm going to tow with. That said, I must fit the trailer with the cargo capacity of my truck. It's fortunate that DW & I both want something small, and that we do not have children, other than the small furry kid, that we have to have a bed for. Our only requirements are 1) walk around bed, 2) Separate sitting space, either dinette or sofa, and 3)dry bath.
Any other goodies are just so much gravy. :B
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Atlee
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02/08/12 12:42pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: dealer run around
GVWR is 7800 jayco 32' bunkhouse
What you need to find out is the cargo capacity of the proposed tow vehicle. With any 1/2 ton, you will almost run out of cargo capacity before you get to a trailer whose GVWR is greater than what your proposed TV is rated to pull.
I've found that to be true for my F150. The yellow sticker on the door says I'm limited to 1496# of cargo. I have to substract the weight of DW and me, plus the hard bed cover I installed after I bought the truck. I must also substract the tongue weight and the weight of the hitch itself. The remaining number is how many pounds of "stuff" I can actually put in the pickup bed itself.
And depending on the tongue weight, you can get very close to the max cargo capacity of the pickup, before any passengers and other stuff.
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Atlee
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02/08/12 10:03am |
Towing
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RE: Estimating Hitch Weight?
...
"However, I just think it's prudent to use the GVWR. If my truck can safely tow the GVWR then I never have to worry about that part of the equation."
Just because you have are under your TV's tow rating does not mean everything is hunky dory to tow. Most half ton trucks will run out of payload way before they even approach their tow rating. My TT is 4,000# under the F-150's tow rating of 8,600# but when we are loaded for a trip we are only 3 to 4 hundred pounds under the trucks GVWR. If you have a half ton and are towing anywhere near you max tow rating it is almost a certainty that you are exceeding your trucks payload/GVWR. :C
I know that. I was just talking about the original subject. I always use the GVWR of the trailer since I don't know exactly how much will be loaded in the trailer on each trip. I like to err on the conservative side. The last thing I want when I start towing is a maxed out GVWR, TV payload, and combined GCWR.
So GWRV of the trailer is but one of the numbers I look at. I know very well with my "half ton" pickup, the payload of the pickup is likely to be the number where I have the closest margin of error.
That is why I use the GVWR of the trailer x 15% to determine the max amount of tongue weight that I must work with in determining the amount of payload I have available, after hitching up the trailer.
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Atlee
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02/08/12 09:38am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Anyone have a Skyline Koala, or seen one at a RV show?
If I had the extra money, I'd just move up to a late model Roadtrek, ie 2002 or later 190, but that isn't an option, from what I've seen on the internet. Within the next 18 months, I want a newer RV. We'll be retiring and I want to travel to the west coast. I don't want to do it in the old 1996 RT I have now. It already has about 140K miles on it.
I have a good TV now, 2005 F150, so I think I can get a pretty decent smaller trailer that will do the job for us at a lot less cost than a good late model RT or similar B.
Atlee, we also have been looking at smallish trailers to supplement but not replace our Roadtrek. We saw the Koala at the Tulsa RV show last year and spent a good bit of time looking it over.
The manufacturer had the regional guy there and he was very, very helpful...as was the Tulsa dealer. I think we examined every inch of two different models, particularly the 21 CS and the next one up, the 23 something.
Going from a RT to a trailer, I know quality is going to go straight down unless I spend a fortune for a trailer, and we don't want to do that. We want one for boondocking in the Rockies in the summer for a month or so at a time.
Given that, after spending two years looking, we concluded the Koala and the Viewfinder models of CruiserRV met our needs more than most. Unfortunately, compared to Roadtrek, both of their websites are pretty primitive as to quantity of information. Roadtrek.com spoils me for other manufacturer's website. Koala was making these things a year ago and appears to have never updated the info on the site. CruiserRv is worse.
The Koala fit, finish and quality were certainly acceptable to us. I probably spent an hour pulling out drawers and looking at construction, crawled underneath and looked around. I certainly liked most of what I saw, much more than most trailers for our purposes. AND, the weight factor is such we can easily pull behind our Jeep GC, a very important consideration.
I would encourage you to seriously consider Koala on the basis of our research for two years. Being a "B"er for a very long time, I think I understand a lot of your concerns and issues since we are coming from the same perspective. We are going to go down to Dallas to their big RV show in a couple of weeks and look at some more stuff, and Koala is made right in that area (at least the ones sold in the SW are made in Texas).
Now.......if I could just learn to back up a durn trailer!
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Atlee
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02/08/12 08:24am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Anyone have a Skyline Koala, or seen one at a RV show?
We are trying to negotiate for one now. Really like them. Our choice has been the 21CS. Fit and finish are nice. Hubby likes construction. We have found the Skyline line good so far. Azdel is light weight and strong, and the units are eco friendly.
The 21CS would be my second choice. We want the smallest possible unit that gives us a permanent walk around bed, and a permanent place to sit or eat.
We plan on using ours to travel, not camp. We would not expect to do a lot of "living" in ours.
Besides, for us, going from a Class B to any TT larger than a Casita, would seem like going to a palace.:)
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Atlee
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02/08/12 06:36am |
Travel Trailers
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Anyone have a Skyline Koala, or seen one at a RV show?
I've only seen them on line so far, and read their brochure, also on line.
I really like what I see "on line". I'm just wondering what it's like in person. I'm particularly interested in the 19rb model.
If anyone has seen one at a RV show, what is the fit and finish like?
From my searches on this board, I've gotten the impression that Skyline is a pretty decent manufacturer.
It's my understanding that the Koala line is new for the model year 2012, and that it's walls are constructed with Azdel. I'm also under the impression that the roof is rubber.
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Atlee
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02/08/12 05:30am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Estimating Hitch Weight?
A typical TT should carry between 12 and 15% of its ready to camp weight. Since you dont have that number use 15% of the GVWR as your base line.
Why is everyone so into GVWR? How often does anyone actually load that much. For instance my actual empty weight is 6300# and my GVWR of 10600#. There is no way I will ever get even close to that GVWR so why in the world would I ever use it.
Because the trailers I'm looking at have a NCC of 2k or less. I don't think I would put 2k amount of "stuff" in a trailer. However, I just think it's prudent to use the GVWR. If my truck can safely tow the GVWR then I never have to worry about that part of the equation.
On the other hand, if any trailer I was looking at could carry 2 tons of "stuff", I probably wouldn't be concerned with the GVWR either.
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Atlee
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02/08/12 05:01am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: How do you use your trailer?
We will use ours (as soon as we get it) just like we currently use our B. We are not campers. We don't go to National Forest Service locations to boondock, nor do we go to RV camp grounds, and throw out an anchor for a week at a time.
We boondock at college football weekends, and we use it to travel. We will use camp grounds to park for a day or more, depending on what there is we want to see at the place we happen to be.
We also use it house the dog while we're at the game, etc.
Plus we use it as an escape pod in case of hurricane damage, etc.
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Atlee
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02/06/12 03:44am |
Travel Trailers
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I've found 3 trailers that really interest me.
One is the Visa by Gulf Stream, the 19ERD model. There were two main items that were/are minuses. The first being no drawers in the kitchen. The micro was mounted low, which isn't bad in it's own right so there was no room for drawers. The early 2012 model year 19erd's had this layout, but I noticed that the new brochures and factory site shows that problem fixed. The micro was moved high above the stove, and three drawers put in the place of the micro. The only problem is all the ones I've seen on dealer lots still has the old style kitchen.
The other problem with this unit is it's a single axle. That can't be fixed very easily.
What I like about this one is the bathroom placement. It's amidship and split with the shower on the curb side and the commode and lavatory on the street side. What's interesting about this is the door to the potty & sink. It will swing 90 degrees and will shut off the bedroom/bathroom area from the kitchen/dining area, effectively making it a two room rooming apartment.
The other trailer I really like is the Skyline Koala 19rb. It's about the same size as the Visa, but has tandem axles. And for me, who likes anything Australian, I love the outside design, along with the inside layout, which includes a Neo-angle glass enclosed corner shower.
The last one is an old standby, the Fun Finder X210. It will not get anyone's attention looking at it, but it's a solid TT with a very nice floor plan.
This coming weekend is the RV show in Richmond. Hopefully there will be a copy of each of these at the show. I'd really like to see them in person.
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Atlee
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02/05/12 02:34pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Relative light weight trailer recomendations.
The skyline koala line has several floor plans that would possibly fit your needs. Of course Im a little biased.
www.koalarv.com
I like the exterior look of that Koala 19RB, which is the only one that pretty much fits my bill. It's just under 1 ft shorter than the Fun Finder X-210, but it lacks the closet that's close to the fridge. This closet could double for a pantry.
But I really like the shape and the way it's decorated on the outside.
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Atlee
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02/04/12 12:11am |
Travel Trailers
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Relative light weight trailer recomendations.
Currently, I'm investigating the possibility of replacing my Class B with a Travel Trailer.
I'm looking for something at GVWR of 5500 or less. Prefer a tandem axle TT. It should have a walk around queen bed, and obviously a dry bath. It would also need a separate dinette or possibly a sofa.
Slide out's are not needed. There will only be the DW and I plus a 20# dachshund.
I'm very familiar with the Shadow Cruiser/Fun Finder line of light weight trailers. I've also become very familiar with the Visa by Gulf Stream line of trailers. Their chief draw back is to get a tandem axle Visa, one must get their 26 footer. The 23 footer is single axle.
My TV is a 2005 F1510 4x4 Supercab with 6.5', 144.5" WB and factory Tow Package. The yellow sticker in the door says I have a payload capacity of 1496# which must be shared by DW, me, the dog, plus tongue weight, hitch weight, and any traveling stuff in the bed.
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Atlee
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02/03/12 07:49pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: TV has an 8K lb.weight limit. What can I pull? Makes/models?
This advice is coming from a "newbie" WRT trailers, but I've been doing a lot of looking, reading, researching lately because I'm considering going over to a trailer.
It's not mentioned much, but I've found on my 2005 F150 4x4 Supercab, 5.4L w/ tow pkg and 144.5" WB and 9300# tow weight rating, that I will run out of pickup cargo capacity well before I run out of tow weight.
From the info on the door of my truck I am limited to 1,496# of cargo. From this I have to substract me, my wife, the hard bed cover. Also from this cargo weight limit, you must substract the weight of the hitch and the tongue weight.
For 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, this is much less a concern.
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Atlee
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01/30/12 06:57am |
Travel Trailers
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Wholesale RV Club?
Has anyone either heard about, or done business with this RV sales business. They are physically located in Cincinatti, OH.
Are they good folks to deal with, or is it Buyer Be Ware?
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Atlee
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01/30/12 06:45am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: buying a TT out of state
As others have noted, check with the state you are from, driving through &, of course, your home state. For example, My brother living in MA purchased a vehicle from me (NY) and had to register the vehicle in MA prior to entering MA. Seems that MA does not recognize NY temporary plates and will ticket drivers for an unregistered vehicle.
Quote from NY's DMV website: "Important information for Massachusetts residents: Massachusetts (MA) does not recognize the NYS in-transit permit. According to the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles, you can receive a ticket for no registration if you use an NYS in-transit permit in MA. This also makes the insurance on the vehicle not valid. MA authorities can impound the vehicle for no valid insurance. For more information, contact the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles ."
Interesting.
5 years ago, I bought the Roadtrek that's in my sig from a private owner in MA.
I live in Virginia. Virginia DMV will let you purchase over the internet a temporary transit permit. You must supply the Vin#. You have 5 or 10 days, don't remember now, to bring the vehicle back to Virginia.
Glad I wasn't stopped in MA on the way out.
As for TT's, I assume the DMV deal for transit permits is available for them also.
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Atlee
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01/27/12 05:32pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Sprinter Diesel - Propane Generator
We just bought a class B Xplorer on a Dodge 3500 chasse with a 4KW Owan generator that runs on gasoline from our fuel tank. Does anyone have any idea how much fuel it uses, in say an hour of run time?
Have you tried the Onan site? I know they have all the stats for the 2.8kw genny, including gas usage at various different load levels.
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Atlee
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01/27/12 05:17pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Question on weight distributing hitches
Whats your tow vehicle and TT. If you have a 3/4 ton or more you may not even need WD. Depending on what TT you have you need to find the real dry weight add about 1000-1200lbs (average cargo) to the dry weight number. X it by 10-15% and thats what your tongue weight SHOULD be. Then depending on whether you have stuff in your TV you may need to compensate for that some with your WD bar size. In other words if you have a 1/2 ton and have a 550lb TW and add 500lbs to the truck you should go with 1000lb er's or more. Your WD bars have to lift the TT tongue as well as lift the xtra weight in the truck thats made it sag. On a 3/4 ton you could get buy with 600lb er's because the truck can easily support the xtra 500lbs in the bed. Using the GVWR can be misleading at times. My TT has a GVWR of 8400lbs, but has a dry weight of 6189lbs. (door jamb sticker). Wife and I only add about 1000lbs so we are at 7200+ or -. We would be hard pressed to add 2211 lbs to our TT. With that being said our bars would need to be 1260lb if we went buy the 15% of GVWR rule since our TW would be 1260lb. In reality our TW is 900 + or -. We still use 1200lb bars because we put stuff in the the truck and have a canopy on the truck.
I don't have a TT yet. Just looking right now. However, my TV is a 2005 Ford Supercab, 4x4, 6.5 ft box, 144.5 inch WB, Triton 5.4L, 3.73 rear axle, with the Tow package.
Per Ford, my set up can tow 9,300# max, and has a GCWR of 15,000#. The GVWR of the truck is 7,200#, RAWR = 3,850#, and the FAWR is 3,750#.
One key number I do not have right now is the actual payload available. I need to weight it at the CAT scales at the truck stop. I know it's south of 1700##.
Still haven't weighted it on CAT scales, but the sticker inside the driver's door which has the tire size, etc indicated the following. "Including passengers and cargo, the max cargo weight is 1,496#. That's a little lower than I thought, but probably factors in the 4 wheel drive system.
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Atlee
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01/26/12 06:24pm |
Towing
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RE: Question on weight distributing hitches
I would use the EQ 1000 or Reese 800 of 550-650. How do you know 550 to 650 is your range? Few RV owners know their actual TW in their lifetime, let alone what we all estimate before purchasing one.
It's a guesstimate based on the GVWR of the trailers I'm looking at times 15%. I do not plan on going over the 15% mark, nor will I go over the GVWR of what ever trailer I eventually buy.
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Atlee
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01/26/12 10:34am |
Towing
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