First time travel trailer buyer few basic ?

[zebrex]

Agreed on Lance quality. It is outstanding and heads and shoulders above the rest. If you want quality you should also look at livin lite campers. they are not as pretty on the inside but they are all aluminum construction, everything, the walls, roof, floor, cabinets, frame, everything. no rust no rot.

[Rookie1]

So i called to confirm with chevy again and i talked to a very knowledgeable guy that tows a camper with a silverado exactly like mine exact same specs. He explained it to me this way he says while my truck can tow 9000 lbs max he says he keeps his at a loaded weight of about 7500 lbs maybe a little more and uses a weight distributing hitch and has never had a problem on trips all over the country.

He said with the emphasis on towing that modern vehicles ,at least speaking for chevy, when theu say a vehicle can tow 9000 lbs and that its has 800lbs tongue weight or 1200 with weight distributing hitch no further math is needed. It was his opinion that those calculations were more relevant in the past when the vehicle companies didnt do so much extensive research to find out exact towing weights and what those vehicles could handle it was necessary to figure out tow weights by doing your own math.

He went on to say that he knows for a fact that chevy purposely leaves off about a 1000lbs to be safe on there towing capacity. I actually took notes so this is pretty accurate to what we talked about.

He did go on to mention that he never recommends going up to 9000lbs but if you stay below that number by 1500lbs you should have no problems as long as you arent speedracer and take your time.

With the emphasis on towing these days it wouldnt make sense for them to quote all these numbers and then have you be unable to tow anything even close to that number it would open up every truck company to civil liability claims and also to damage claims from towing there recommended weight. Newer trucks are built way more like 3/4 tons than half tom basically is what i got out of it.

Now i would never over load my truck and put my family at risk but i have to say much of his information is sound and Chevys own manual and website states curb weights of truck gvwt and what to not exceed also. Hitch ratings and tow capacity.

I guess my question is why are we unable to trust these companies not saying load it up to 9000lbs and go but a fully loaded trailer at say 7600lbs and and weight distributing hitch should allow for that size trailer to be towed easily.

I really appreciate all the info here but i feel like im missing something. If ever truck manufacturer is lieing dont you think theyd all be getting sued and have problems with people maki g civil claims against them for misrepresenting what there trucks can do. Again not saying im gunn about a 9000 lbs trailer or even close but if i keep my gvwr at 7600 or less i feel like based on all this info i would be ok.

I guess im just looking for clarification because it seems theres a disconnect somewhere. I have watched the you tube videoes and read threads about this and I still get the same result confusing because the trailers loaded weight and hitch weight if kept below your trucks maximum overall weight which mine is 6400lbs fully loaded including hitch weight .....15000 with everything hooked up as long as these numbers are not exceeded and even kept 400 lbs u der or even more like 3000 lbs under why would this not work.

Sorry about this being long winded but this is very confusing for me. I trust my local dealership very much my dad grew up with this gentlemen and i see his camper everyday. Also i already own the truck hes not trying to sell me anything only keep my and my kids safe thats how I explained it. This is not a camper or rv dealer either its my local Chevy dealership of a truck ive owned for years theres no benefit to lieing i have a bumper to bumper warranty for another 7 years.

So confused here i trust everyone here but have times changed on how to look at what modern trucks can tow and how they calculate payloads? Anythi g thats loaded tl its max is eventually gunna have performance issues bit if kept at a safe distance below to me it seems they should perform well.

[tuffr2]

If you want to tow comfortable for 1000's of miles you realize the lighter the camper the better.

Have you towed anything before? A 1/2 ton truck IMHO is good for around 5,500 lbs. comfortably up to 6,000 lbs. It is not pleasent being it a truck that struggles to go up a hill. Downshifting, RPM's going up, more noise and still losing speed.

Oh, if you are camping a lot I recommend putting a cap on the truck which adds more weight but gives you a lot more covered storage.

If you buy a 7,000lb trailer you will be looking for a bigger truck.

[Rookie1]

Are you saying 6000lbs gvwr for trailer

[325BH]

I will start from scratch and ask you where the “1,750” payload number came from?

I would post the payload number found in your yellow sticker in your driver’s door jamb and then we can calculate from there.

If that has already been stated, I apologize in advance. I didn’t see it and don’t want to go down the calculation road with incorrect fact ls from the start.

[Desert Flyer]

Rookie1, a very important concept to towing a trailer is the difference between “towing” and “hauling”. For a mind excercise, imagine you have a flat trailer that is loaded to 9,000 lbs with flat cargo so that it doesn’t present any wind resistance. Now imagine that its cargo is loaded in such a manner that it balances all its load on the axles and the hitch weight is zero. A TV-Tow Vehicle could “tow” that 9,000 lb trailer and thus be rated by the mfr for a 9,000 lb “tow” rating. That is Tow Rating.

However, that setup is not stable because there is zero hitch load and the trailer will fishtail badly. You need some hitch load for towing stability. For travel trailers the range is 10% min to 15% max and most people are recommending about 12-13%. That hitch weight puts load onto your TV at the back end. That load must be “hauled” by the TV.

The “hauling” capacity of a truck is how much heavy weight you can put in a truck. The manufacturers call this Cargo Capacity or sometimes Payload Capacity. There is a yellow or white sticker on your TV driver door frame that will give you this number. It is simply the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR, or max allowed loaded weight of vehicle) minus the actual weight of the truck alone. This allowable cargo/payload capacity is the maximum amount of weight or load that your truck can “haul”.

I hope you now understand the difference between TOWing and HAULing. To determine how much TT you can tow, you must check both limiting conditions of “tow” capacity and “haul” capacity. Most of the time it is the hauling capacity of your truck that will be reached before you reach its towing capacity.

One final note that complicates the HAULing capacity calculation is that all tow vehicles have two axles and you must also check the rear axle capacity as that is the one that is loaded by the hitch and it is critical.

[Freqz]

Originally Posted by Rookie1

So i called to confirm with chevy again and i talked to a very knowledgeable guy that tows a camper with a silverado exactly like mine exact same specs. He explained it to me this way he says while my truck can tow 9000 lbs max he says he keeps his at a loaded weight of about 7500 lbs maybe a little more and uses a weight distributing hitch and has never had a problem on trips all over the country.

He said with the emphasis on towing that modern vehicles ,at least speaking for chevy, when theu say a vehicle can tow 9000 lbs and that its has 800lbs tongue weight or 1200 with weight distributing hitch no further math is needed. It was his opinion that those calculations were more relevant in the past when the vehicle companies didnt do so much extensive research to find out exact towing weights and what those vehicles could handle it was necessary to figure out tow weights by doing your own math.

He went on to say that he knows for a fact that chevy purposely leaves off about a 1000lbs to be safe on there towing capacity. I actually took notes so this is pretty accurate to what we talked about.

He did go on to mention that he never recommends going up to 9000lbs but if you stay below that number by 1500lbs you should have no problems as long as you arent speedracer and take your time.

With the emphasis on towing these days it wouldnt make sense for them to quote all these numbers and then have you be unable to tow anything even close to that number it would open up every truck company to civil liability claims and also to damage claims from towing there recommended weight. Newer trucks are built way more like 3/4 tons than half tom basically is what i got out of it.

Now i would never over load my truck and put my family at risk but i have to say much of his information is sound and Chevys own manual and website states curb weights of truck gvwt and what to not exceed also. Hitch ratings and tow capacity.

I guess my question is why are we unable to trust these companies not saying load it up to 9000lbs and go but a fully loaded trailer at say 7600lbs and and weight distributing hitch should allow for that size trailer to be towed easily.

I really appreciate all the info here but i feel like im missing something. If ever truck manufacturer is lieing dont you think theyd all be getting sued and have problems with people maki g civil claims against them for misrepresenting what there trucks can do. Again not saying im gunn about a 9000 lbs trailer or even close but if i keep my gvwr at 7600 or less i feel like based on all this info i would be ok.

I guess im just looking for clarification because it seems theres a disconnect somewhere. I have watched the you tube videoes and read threads about this and I still get the same result confusing because the trailers loaded weight and hitch weight if kept below your trucks maximum overall weight which mine is 6400lbs fully loaded including hitch weight .....15000 with everything hooked up as long as these numbers are not exceeded and even kept 400 lbs u der or even more like 3000 lbs under why would this not work.

Sorry about this being long winded but this is very confusing for me. I trust my local dealership very much my dad grew up with this gentlemen and i see his camper everyday. Also i already own the truck hes not trying to sell me anything only keep my and my kids safe thats how I explained it. This is not a camper or rv dealer either its my local Chevy dealership of a truck ive owned for years theres no benefit to lieing i have a bumper to bumper warranty for another 7 years.

So confused here i trust everyone here but have times changed on how to look at what modern trucks can tow and how they calculate payloads? Anythi g thats loaded tl its max is eventually gunna have performance issues bit if kept at a safe distance below to me it seems they should perform well.

Trucks are amazing now, no doubt but the math hasn't changed. Let's figure up your 'safe distance' from that rating.

Let's try to get at this problem a different way: take the trailer out of it for a minute. How many bricks can you load in the bed of your truck? We're going to assume we have bricks that weigh exactly 1 pound each.

If you want to bring your family along on this brick hauling adventure, bricks can you now carry?

We can estimate this based on the payload capacity of your truck found on the yellow sticker: 1750, right?

Very well, load 1750 bricks into the truck. It is now sitting there loaded to a weight that is the highest weight it can travel down the road according to Chevy. That number is called GVWR.

Problem: you can't go any where because all of your payload capacity is taken up by bricks. Remove 200 bricks and get in the truck. Congratulations! You can now safely drive down the road with 1550 bricks.

You want to take the family? Remove another 400 bricks and go for a nice drive with the wife, kids and 1150 bricks.

It'd be kind of weird to take a vacation with a bunch of bricks, so let's buy a travel trailer! We just need to figure out how to swap our bricks for trailer weight.

First thing remove 100 bricks to account for the wight distributing hitch: 1050 bricks remain.

So now we can trade those bricks for trailer tongue weight. For every 7 to 8 pounds your trailer weighs, remove one brick. Travel trailers almost always fall into this range and that's good for lots of reasons. Let's pick a 7500 pounds trailer.

At 8 pounds per brick (12.5% tongue weight-- the low end), you remove 938 bricks leaving you with 112 bricks. At 7 pounds per brick you need to remove 1071 bricks. Uh oh, you're out of bricks! Never run out of bricks.

There are lots of reasons to keep some extra bricks around...TTs are challenging on truck suspensions especially on windy days. Keep some bricks in reserve please-- you'll have a lot more fun

[WA Larry]

Hi again Rookie1, you are not the 1st person confused by all of this, and you are getting some great responses by folks trying to help you out, so hang in there.

So, you ask about why can't you trust what Chevy says and wouldn't they be sued if wrong, etc. Well, the answer to this is that they are using maximum towing or hauling numbers for base trucks, and not your truck, or my truck, or his truck or her truck. They build all sorts of trucks, all with different options and features, and they are all different, so even you can't really compare your truck with your trusted Chevy guy with the "same" truck. They are not the same truck, similar, but not the same. You have to figure out what will work for your truck, bottom line.

What are these base figures and how are they figured? They take a truck with a certain engine, drivetrain, and body configuration, in your case a crew cab Silverado. They add fluids and a 150 lb. driver to the truck and weigh it. This is the CURB weight of their base truck in that configuration. How do they get the PAYLOAD rating to put in the brochure/spec sheet/manual? They take the GVWR of the truck and subtract the CURB weight of that base truck. Then, they can say "The Silverado can haul ***** lbs." How do they get the TOW rating? They take the GCWR (you said yours was 15,000 lb) then they subtract the weight of that base truck again and with the difference they can say, "The Silverado can tow 9,000 lbs."...and then the put a asterisk or other marking to note at the bottom that they got these numbers using base weights and that your numbers will vary depending on the options, etc. of your truck.

When we get options and packages and upgrades and whatever from the factory, the manufacturer factors in the weight of this extra stuff, subtracts the new weight of that truck from GVWR and puts that truck's PAYLOAD on a white and yellow sticker inside of the door jam area, which says what that truck can carry AS IT LEFT THE FACTORY.

Now, do you weigh 150lbs? I don't. Will you be traveling alone? Did you get any DEALER add-ons put on the truck? Do you have aftermarket tires, wheels, bumpers, brush guards, winch, mud flaps, windshield wipers or floor mats? How about a bed liner or mat? Do you carry maps, sunglasses, a garage door opener, a fire extinguisher or road flares? What about a canopy or tonneau cover? Do you get where I'm going? Every single thing you carry extra in or on your truck makes your truck unique and different then even "that guy's" truck that is the "same" as yours. All of that stuff adds weight, and it must be factored in, including the family, the dog, lawn chairs, firewood, sunscreen, breath mints, bug spray or ANYTHING else you plan to take with you in that truck.

The recommended thing to do is to load up all of it, everything you might possibly carry on a camping trip, all of the people and pets and their wallets, purses, water bottles, snacks, etc., and get weighed with a full tank of fuel. A Cat scale at a truck stop is the usual, because it can also tell you the weight on each axle. But, if you need to you can go somewhere else... the gravel pit, the dump, a freeway weigh station, anywhere with a vehicle scale. Now you will have actual numbers that you can work with as explained by the other helpful folks.

For reference, here is another video by a great truck and rv related YouTuber that speaks about these things and shows the sticker... https://youtu.be/I6RIJrwu9AM?t=44s

[cdoorider]

[QUOTE=Rookie1;4078139]So i called to confirm with chevy again and i talked to a very knowledgeable guy that tows a camper with a silverado exactly like mine exact same specs. He explained it to me this way he says while my truck can tow 9000 lbs max he says he keeps his at a loaded weight of about 7500 lbs maybe a little more and uses a weight distributing hitch and has never had a problem on trips all over the country.


Hi Rookie1

First let me say I've been there done that. I'm in exactly the same shoes as you are as far as tow vehicle and it's ability.

The previous poster illustrated this pretty clearly by explaining that yes your vehicle can tow its tow rating but it's the payload that'll mess you up.

Chevy is not lying, do some more research. Chevys towing specific literature clearly list gcvwr and payload and says not to ever exceed them.

I've camped since I was a kid sitting in the back of a Ford Galaxy 500 towing the travel trailer with hitch chained to the bumper, engine screaming as we climbed the passes, that car lasted years.

One guy who pulled trailers with a half ton said he did pretty well until 8000lbs then they became difficult to manage. I suspect as a general rule that's probably true. I drove big rigs as my second career almost 25 years so I'm comfortable towing, you maybe different

In many of my post you'll see that I say the newer trucks will tow up to there ratings just fine. I always recommend a good weight distributing hitch if you are going to get close to your limits. A Hensley or Propride P3 are what I consider top quality, don't skimp here.

Both of our trucks can tow roughly 9000 to 9400 , mine is exactly 9200lbs. Our gross weight limit varies mine is a crew cab and my limit is 7200lbs. Chevy didn't lie it says 7200lbs right in the manual. It's not Chevys responsibility to figure out all the different trailer combinations possible or how much cargo you will carry. If you really study their literature all the facts are there. Your friend is right, the axles are rated 3950lbs or 7900lbs combined which is 700lbs over you gvwr, so yes a safety margin.

So you got your heart set on a big trailer huh? Yep I've been there actually still am. So go ahead buy that trailer just don't exceed the tow rating, hitch rating, or payload rating. If you exceed the ratings you could be jeopardizing your families safety and possibly opening yourself to a lawsuit, yeah that would be rare. Remember don't cheap out on the weight distributing hitch.

Keep in mind what the people on here have told you, the drive won't be as comfortable if you're near capacity. Traveling lots as you've indicated you want to do, you would be much happier staying under 6000lbs gross weight.

I like to quote my wife a lot, she says we don't need a big trailer, we are camping, we are supposed to be outside. The trailer is a place where we can shelter in bad weather, a comfortable bed and reasonably roomy bathroom, hard to find. Counter space is important to some, everything is a trade off with RVs.

We go to a local lake a few times a year with a boat and being comfortable towing, I have no problem grossing 7000lbs on my trailer and always close on payload, but never over rating. So for me 7000 to 7100 on TV and TT at 7200 leaves me under on payload, under on gvwr and under on TWR. Some will argue that my truck is straining, bull, check out how tbey are tested to arrive at these specs! Read about the J2807, here's one link https://jalopnik.com/what-is-sae-j28...cks-1593305929

One place where many in this forum get it wrong, they say your truck is rated for one 150lb driver when in fact the test itself includes two 150lb drivers, or one fat old man like myself. A Place where folks here get it right is, if your traveling big distances, a lighter trailer will be so much more enjoyable to tow. I have had GM confirm to me that pay load is after two 150lb passengers and full tank of fuel. This is kind of a moot point since your gvwr is still 7200 or 7600 if you got the heavy rear axle.

There is also the consideration of some national campgrounds. Many national campgrounds will not accommodate trailers much longer then about 25 ft.

Here's a few of the trailers I would consider towing with my truck which is very similar to yours.

If you want to tow at your maximum there is Grand Design, built like most out of Indiana had a 27' bunkhouse that'll scale around 7000lbs loaded, it's gross I believe is about 7400. Loaded to the max you'll still be under ratings, just barely. This company while not built like ORV, Northwood or Lance has a stellar reputation for standing behind their product.

I like the Open Range a top of the line trailer, the 2510 is a nice bunkhouse that you can easily tow with your rig. Don't like bunkhouses both Grand Design and Winnibsgo make an almost identical rear bath with sleep sofa bed that will sleep six, the Minnie will be pushing you right up your your maximum tow ratings, I have towed this trailer and was legal.

Lastly I just read that our 5.3 gen3 v5 puts out more torque and hp than the 6L they put in their 3/4 and 1 tons. You won't have a problem towing at your rating. Yes the rpms will rev but as long as your not overheating so what.

I just saw a guy towing a 32' cougar with his Chevy half ton, he said he goes to E. WA twice year and it does fine.

Bottom line stay under your specs, you know what they are now. Don't go by what some well meaning guy says, that knows less about this than you do now. If you tow at your max get a good expensive weight distribution hitch. And do know that if your really going to tow thousands of miles at max rating you will go buy a bigger truck at some point. Also any Lance will be plenty roomy, will last much longer and a can be towed by your vehicle. On the cheaper side the Minnie 24' bunkhouse is pretty well made and so is the Open Range 2510 from what I read. Northwood makes Nash which is also a top brand and towable by your truck. After this there are dozens of other cheap brands that vary in quality.

Hope my long winded post helped, if you've taken the time to read this. Good Luck and drop back by with photos and weights of your new trailer hooked up.

God Bless and Happy Camping

[Rookie1]

Really appreciate all the feedback. My sticker on my door is 1750 actually more but i stay under and plan to stay even under that.

When i say thousands of miles i live in Wisconsin amd plan to go to Fort Wilderness 2-3 tines so those 1000s of miles will most likely be on about 2-3 trips everything else will be much less. However somebody decided to put some damn mountains in the way between Wisconsin and Florida thats really my main concern. The rest of my trips will be less than 400 miles roundtrip basically towing my kayak 150 lbs and clothes for long weekends and games for kids etc the camper will only be loaded down for Florida trips.

I agree with everyone here. Not risking my family which is why i keep on kicking this dead horse lol. Im going to make sure I dont over due it and i understand where Im at.

So combined weight is 15000lbs for truck and trailer

Truck max 7200 even though axel rating is 7900

Most i can carry beyond curb weight is the 1750

hitch weight is 800lbs or 1200 with weight distributing hitch accordi g to chevy not me im not sure if a weight distributing hitch does that much

tow ratings says 9200lbs but i say 9000 max easier for math

My family and stuff in the truck weighs veing generous and giving roo. in case i been eating alot is 700lbs. Me 190 kids combined 180 wife 170 and that leaves some room for various stuff.

My plan was to throw my bags in the camper to keep truck weight down clothes a kayak and not buy any food til i get to where im going. I know how we travel and i cant see my trailer ever being loaded down to max but suppose for safety I wouldnt rule it out.

Not sure this matter but i do have the truck Tow Haul package as well although I cant find much info on what this means weird.

So with that info I cam to the conclusion that if my max trailer weight is 7500 lbs or less I should be ok. Feel free to tell me im wrong but i have done some figuring and I think im pretty close. Appreciate if any of the math experts can verify or tell me im a little off but i think thats most of the info you need above.

Thanks everyone for all the great info

[Drumby]

I'm no expert but I think you'll be OK. These newer trucks are much better for towing than the older ones. A 1500 is not a half-ton anymore. My little Tacoma has a payload of 1,200 so I call that my half-ton. My Ram 2500 has a payload of 3,210 and I sure have a hard time calling it a 3/4 ton truck.

I think you may be referring to the tow/haul mode on your truck? That feature will change the shift patterns and help your transmission. On my Ram it also automatically engine brakes on inclines which was a huge help in the Rockies. I have no idea how it works but it's awesome.

[Freqz]

7500 lbs is probably safe but a little squirrelly. Invest in a top line WD hitch, take it easy, and don't tow in high winds.

Spend some time and $11 at a scale once you get everything loaded to make sure the weights are right.

[tuffr2]

I know a 2011 F-150 5.0 litre can tow a 5,500 lb. camper and I felt that was a nice match. I towed this trailer a few 1,000 miles. Yes, I knew the camper was back there. To give you an idea the truck got 20mpg solo and 10.5 mpg towing this camper. I did not get any sway and only had a w/d hitch.

The truck was rated to tow 8,500lbs. So I figured correctly that it could tow a 5,500lb. trailer.

I would, no way try to tow 8,500lbs with the 2011 F-150 5.0 litre engine a few 1000's miles.

You really can not max out any truck and tow a camper comfortably 1000's of miles. You can however tow a 8,500 lb camper 25 miles on secondary roads to the local state park.

[Charmaine]

You've gotten a ton of info on the weight ratings and towing stats, and a lot depends on your axle ratio, engine, load range on your tires, etc. so I'm not going there... I want to tell you more about the Lance.

I have researched rvs for almost two years, flying around the country to shows and factories. I am a stickler for details, brand integrity, and customer service after the sale. And I have a 2019 Lance 1995 on order for delivery in May.

Several here have confirmed what I found regarding the best TTs made: Airstream (top of the line but nearly unaffordable), ORV, Arctic Fox, Grand Design, and Lance.

The only ones in this group that are lighter weight, low profile, and more easily towed by mid-size vehicles are the Lance. That's their niche. And I believe that even though they are "light" they are quality builds and take care of their customers.

Now, the customer service you get depends on your dealer, unfortunately. Hopefully, you're near a good dealer, but I have also called their corporate office a couple of times and have had no problems getting a regional manager, and even the national sales manager, to speak with me. Try that with any of the large rv companies.

They are NOT cheap, yet they are months behind in orders (because they are not sacrificing their quality to rush units through the production line). I believe that reflects their reputation.

Personally, my truck can tow a much heavier unit than the Lance, but I was very impressed with the brand, their floorplans work for me, and they are proven to hold their resale value similar to Airstream.

Whether you're concerned or not about exceeding your payload or towing capacities, you might want to check out the website and go see one to compare it to others. (and remember that the unit "weight" listed for each model is just the dry weight and will increase slightly with added options, water, and cargo - as will the tongue weight) Good luck.