mass-hole

Well thats weird. Mine is 5500 lbs and I just towed in 30-40mph winds going down to MOAB last weekend and it was straight as an arrow at 65 mph.

Nighthawk87

Well mine was 7000 and 30’ so maybe the threshold is between 5500 and 7000 then. Otherwise it’s just a difference of opinion on what “feels” ok. Mine wasn’t out of control. It was merely uncomfortable.

acdii

Are those GVWR or "dry" weights? Should never buy based on dry weight, but on GVWR as you never know what the load out will be until you are ready to hit the road.

RedsRock302

Those are dry #'s. And I know exactly what I am adding to the camper when it is loaded for a trip.........It's not rocket science.

Most people will never load more than 600-700 pounds into a small/medium travel trailer. Only large variable is if you are filling a fresh water tank in prep of going to a place with no water hookup.

But, my point was mainly to keep apples to apples. Why look at GVWR? All a GVWR ultimately is a max weight the axles can hold. So if one camper A is 5500 dry, but a 7000 GVWR.....and campre B is 5500 dry with a GVWR of 8000, odds are loaded down it's going to weight EXACTLY the same, because you aren't going to load more in camper B than camper A just because the axles can hold the weight. No one looks at the GVWR of a travel trailer and says "wait, I cant take this cast iron pan with me".

chimmike

Nope, but a lot of people throw a ton of junk in their campers, and go OH LOOK, DRY WEIGHT OF 5000lbs, OUR FRONTIER CAN TOW THIS! and the GVWR is 8500lbs and they have 2000lbs of crap in it and don't measure/care.

Remember, 80% of folks just look at 'max trailer weight' specs for half ton trucks and buy camper A because the dry weight is only 8500lbs "That's below 10,700lbs that our truck can tow".

acdii

Exactly. Those who go by dry weight have never actually weighed the trailers the day the bought them. I did mine and it weighed 500 pounds more than the posted "dry" weight. Listed dry weight was 4676, and the scaled weight, with a missing TV, came out to 5168 pounds, and the tanks were all empty.

Reason to use GVWR is actually very intuitive. 13% is the split where most trailers will come in on the tongue weight, so take the GVWR of the trailer and multiply by .013, and that will be your maximum tongue weight at 13%, and that is used to determine if you will have enough payload in the event you actually do load up enough stuff to reach GVWR. Also keep in mind that a lot of trailers are heavy to start with and the load limit varies greatly, some trailers with a 7000 GVWR can have 1800 pounds of payload, while an 8000 GVWR may only have 1200 pounds payload.

chimmike

Great example is something I saw this morning in a facebook camping group. Single older woman with a Toyota sienna wants a camper to tow, she wanted a 5er, but figured she didn't want to buy the 'requisite half-ton pickup to pull a 5er'. I told her her best option is a pop-up, that even small TT's will exceed the tow rating for her van laden with gear, and then suggested she do some research and not listen to dealers, because most likely you need a 3/4 ton or better for a 5th wheel.

Same group a guy is selling a 33' TT he towed with a chevy half-ton. Claims it did great and he had no problems. I suggested folks with half tons may reconsider given they were probably exceeding one or more weight ratings in most half-tons....and of course the OP gave me all sorts of sh*t about it....so I said hey, I never said it wasn't capable, I said you're taking on what could be a huge financial risk should something go wrong.

acdii

That falls into that Just because it could, doesn't mean it should category.

Even though my Coleman at 28' falls within the towing capacity of the truck for GVWR and GCWR, it is borderline for the F150 in the handling category, at least with the 2016, it was fine with the 2014 though. I just can't see towing anything longer than that with the F150. Maybe the 2018 models are more stable now, but 15 and 16 and maybe even 17 models are a bit borderline with long trailers, based on the number of complaints. If you do, make sure you use a really good hitch like Equalizer or Blue Ox, or it can be a handful.

thrifty biil

Not exactly. Manufacturer dry weights tend to be that model trailer with no options. Depending on the manufacturer, people can end up with a lot of options like A/C, awning, list goes on and on. So often, the dry weight is not the dry weight of your actual trailer. My trailer's dry weight is much higher, as I have about a page worth of options on it.

thrifty biil

Plenty of "small campers" are a lot less than 12 feet tall. Our trailer is 9 foot 4 inches at the highest point (roof AC). my carport is 10 feet tall with plenty of room to spare. There is just the two of us, plus our dog. Smaller trailers are easier to store, and fit in more campsites. We particularly like camping at state and National Parks. Many of the park campgrounds were built decades ago before trailers and RVs got big, really big.

Weight is well under 4,000 pounds.