Hey everyone! Travel trailer question..

[FeelsBradMan]

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I've been toying with the idea of spending a couple years traveling the US with my family full time before my kids are off on their own. My question is, what do you guys tow travel trailer wise? Model number and weight? Also, how do you feel the vehicle performs?

I bought a 2019 XLT 4x4 w/ max towing because I was uneducated about towing and thought with a 9,200 tow capacity I would be fine with anything under that number.... well as you know it turns out there is more to it than that.

Payload is shaping up to be our biggest hindrance in determining what we can tow since there are six of us total.

For any more experienced towers, how reliable is published hitch weight on a trailer? Should I go by that number or should I just assume 10 to 12 percent of the overall trailer weight?

Bonus points if you've got any pics of your rig, I'd like to see them!

 

[Greg Parker]

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I've been toying with the idea of spending a couple years traveling the US with my family full time before my kids are off on their own. My question is, what do you guys tow travel trailer wise? Model number and weight? Also, how do you feel the vehicle performs?

I bought a 2019 XLT 4x4 w/ max towing because I was uneducated about towing and thought with a 9,200 tow capacity I would be fine with anything under that number.... well as you know it turns out there is more to it than that.

Payload is shaping up to be our biggest hindrance in determining what we can tow since there are six of us total.

For any more experienced towers, how reliable is published hitch weight on a trailer? Should I go by that number or should I just assume 10 to 12 percent of the overall trailer weight?

Bonus points if you've got any pics of your rig, I'd like to see them!

Brad ...Here's my take; and this has always been my take about towing. Once you get past 75% of max trailering (6900# with a 9200# tow-rating), you have to be willing to be a slow-poke. Especially up the steep grades. I have just one towing experience with my new (holdover) '19 Limited (4WD w/HD towing), and my tendency to wanna pull grades at 55mph+ is going to have to change, if I want this transmission to survive the life of the vehicle.

Our current camper is a Jayco X23E. It' the "hybrid" that has tent beds that tilt-out of three of the sidewalls on the camper. It's super convenient to have 3 full-time beds (for the 6 of us); however, it's just NOT a hot-weather camper. On our recent camping trip, we were in a KOA, with full hook-ups and ran the A/C constantly, and still had hot-spots all over the camper (especially near the tent beds, of course). We saw daily highs of 92-95F.

Anyway, we will be upgrading to something of fairly equal size, and probably a "bunkhouse" model so that we can still have 3 full-time beds. Here are the models on my list of consideration so far...

Gulf Stream Envision 284QB
Keystone Bullet 290BHSWE
Grand Design Imagine 2800BH
Cruiser - MPG 2800QB
Highland MR2802GH
Pacific Coachworks 26BHS
Forest River Apex 300BHS

There are many others. My "pie in the sky" coach would be the Lance 2445 travel trailer, or the Lance 2685 Toy Hauler (but they are very pricey).

Here is my current setup...(6200# GVWR / 620# tongue-weight; Husky WDH).

View media item 7186View media item 7189

 

[LovinPSDs]

Payload is shaping up to be our biggest hindrance in determining what we can tow since there are six of us total.

What is your actual payload rating via the yellow sticker?

Also, I'm not going to lie... I don't think I'd full time as a family of 6 in anything you'd want to drag all over the country with an Expedition. I guess if you start looking at this 30+ foot trailers maybe but your going to be on the razors edge weight wise.

 

[duneslider]

Brad ...Here's my take; and this has always been my take about towing. Once you get past 75% of max trailering (6900# with a 9200# tow-rating), you have to be willing to be a slow-poke. Especially up the steep grades. I have just one towing experience with my new (holdover) '19 Limited (4WD w/HD towing), and my tendency to wanna pull grades at 55mph+ is going to have to change, if I want this transmission to survive the life of the vehicle.

Our current camper is a Jayco X23E. It' the "hybrid" that has tent beds that tilt-out of three of the sidewalls on the camper. It's super convenient to have 3 full-time beds (for the 6 of us); however, it's just NOT a hot-weather camper. On our recent camping trip, we were in a KOA, with full hook-ups and ran the A/C constantly, and still had hot-spots all over the camper (especially near the tent beds, of course). We saw daily highs of 92-95F.

Anyway, we will be upgrading to something of fairly equal size, and probably a "bunkhouse" model so that we can still have 3 full-time beds. Here are the models on my list of consideration so far...

Gulf Stream Envision 284QB
Keystone Bullet 290BHSWE
Grand Design Imagine 2800BH
Cruiser - MPG 2800QB
Highland MR2802GH
Pacific Coachworks 26BHS
Forest River Apex 300BHS

There are many others. My "pie in the sky" coach would be the Lance 2445 travel trailer, or the Lance 2685 Toy Hauler (but they are very pricey).

Here is my current setup...(6200# GVWR / 620# tongue-weight; Husky WDH).

View media item 7186View media item 7189

Wish you lived closer, that's one of the trailers I am looking at getting in a few years. I have an older 2005 21SB which is that same trailer but 2 feet shorter. To help you with the heat until you go full hard look at the popupgizmos, they make a pretty significant difference on the heat/cold. I have even added that silver bubble insulation stuff in the popup windows and it helps a ton with keeping heat out and heat in depending on time of year. I probably don't camp at temps as hot as you do in Arizona but they make a big difference for me. We rarely need the AC and the couple of times we did need it we had no trouble keeping things cool. In July in the mountains it might hit low 80's and we don't bother with AC during the day because we aren't in the trailer, obviously cools down at night.

 

[shane_th_ee]

what do you guys tow travel trailer wise? Model number and weight? Also, how do you feel the vehicle performs?

For any more experienced towers, how reliable is published hitch weight on a trailer? Should I go by that number or should I just assume 10 to 12 percent of the overall trailer weight?

Bonus points if you've got any pics of your rig, I'd like to see them!

I have an Outdoors RV Creekside 18CK. It has a GVWR of 5900lbs, and weighs about that fully loaded. It also has tongue weight of about 900lbs. I've got about 12,000 towing miles on the Expedition with the trailer and have been really happy with the Expedition's performance. Over flat ground, it's very happy trundle along at 70mph in 10th gear at 1800rpm. And it'll do whatever I ask it over the passes, so long as I'm willing to pay for the fuel. And tow-haul mode uses as much engine braking as can be provided by a 3.5L v6.

As for tongue weight, you should not use the published hitch weight! It doesn't include batteries, or propane, or... My tongue weight is over twice the published tongue weight because my trailer has 500lbs of water just behind the front wall. But that doesn't mean you should use 12% either, as 12% is the minimum TW required for stable tracking. For a "can I tow this", use 15% (or use the internet to find out the tongue weights measured by existing owners of a given make/model).

 

[shane_th_ee]

Here’s a pic, although not a good one...

 

[Greg Parker]

What is your actual payload rating via the yellow sticker?

Also, I'm not going to lie... I don't think I'd full time as a family of 6 in anything you'd want to drag all over the country with an Expedition. I guess if you start looking at this 30+ foot trailers maybe but your going to be on the razors edge weight wise.

Ian...I think it kinda depends. If I was going to take my family (also 6 of us) on a year's-long, or more, "tow about" ...I would just be dedicated to doing 95% of that in well-established campgrounds with full hook-ups and amenities. I sure wouldn't want to boondock with a "smallish" camper and 6 people. But, I think if you pick the right layovers (campgrounds) while your moving about ...and you stay in one place for 3-4 weeks and can establish a nice outside screen tent / cooking area ...the 24-26 footers would be fine for a family of 6.

Wish you lived closer, that's one of the trailers I am looking at getting in a few years. I have an older 2005 21SB which is that same trailer but 2 feet shorter. To help you with the heat until you go full hard look at the popupgizmos, they make a pretty significant difference on the heat/cold. I have even added that silver bubble insulation stuff in the popup windows and it helps a ton with keeping heat out and heat in depending on time of year. I probably don't camp at temps as hot as you do in Arizona but they make a big difference for me. We rarely need the AC and the couple of times we did need it we had no trouble keeping things cool. In July in the mountains it might hit low 80's and we don't bother with AC during the day because we aren't in the trailer, obviously cools down at night.

Dune...excellent point. I had researched those back when I had a regular pop-up camper and wanted to get some. Probably the cheaper option for me for the time being. That being said, I seem to have my wife super interested in the Lance 2445. As I said, it's dang pricey, but I see that bugger as our lifetime camper (with proper maintenance). Lance just makes some of the best stuff, hands-down.

 

[Greg Parker]

Wish you lived closer, that's one of the trailers I am looking at getting in a few years. I have an older 2005 21SB which is that same trailer but 2 feet shorter. To help you with the heat until you go full hard look at the popupgizmos, they make a pretty significant difference on the heat/cold. I have even added that silver bubble insulation stuff in the popup windows and it helps a ton with keeping heat out and heat in depending on time of year. I probably don't camp at temps as hot as you do in Arizona but they make a big difference for me. We rarely need the AC and the couple of times we did need it we had no trouble keeping things cool. In July in the mountains it might hit low 80's and we don't bother with AC during the day because we aren't in the trailer, obviously cools down at night.

Dune ...also meant to say "closer" is all relative man. Utah is nothin'. I just bought my '19 Expy up in Kemmerer, Wyoming and drove it back to the Phoenix area. We flew to Ogden ...the dealership picked us up there and drove us the 2-hours to Kemmerer/Diamondville and we took a day-and-a-half to get it home (had a stay-over in Beaver, Utah).

If you're serious, LMK. Like I said, I have the wife's interest piqued in upgrading and my RV dealer has a new Lance 2445 showing-up in a month. If "the boss" signs-up, I'm either selling or trading the Jayco X23E in.

 

[Greg Parker]

View attachment 37076 Here’s a pic, although not a good one...

Shane ...do you have a WDH on that? It looks a little "squatty." If you don't ...I can't recommend one enough. I bought a Husky TS for the 800-1000# tongue weight for under $400 and is was the best towing investment I've ever made. The backend of my Expy only squatted half-inch once I got it all tuned and setup right.

 

[shane_th_ee]

Shane ...do you have a WDH on that? It looks a little "squatty." If you don't ...I can't recommend one enough. I bought a Husky TS for the 800-1000# tongue weight for under $400 and is was the best towing investment I've ever made. The backend of my Expy only squatted half-inch once I got it all tuned and setup right.

Yes, I have a WDH with 1400lb bars. There’s a little squat (did I mention the 900lb tongue weight?), but this picture/angle exaggerates it.

 

[duneslider]

Dune ...also meant to say "closer" is all relative man. Utah is nothin'. I just bought my '19 Expy up in Kemmerer, Wyoming and drove it back to the Phoenix area. We flew to Ogden ...the dealership picked us up there and drove us the 2-hours to Kemmerer/Diamondville and we took a day-and-a-half to get it home (had a stay-over in Beaver, Utah).

If you're serious, LMK. Like I said, I have the wife's interest piqued in upgrading and my RV dealer has a new Lance 2445 showing-up in a month. If "the boss" signs-up, I'm either selling or trading the Jayco X23E in.

I'm probably not ready to do anything about trailers for a couple years. Ours is getting old but works fine and we are building a house right now so new trailers aren't in the picture at the moment. But if you still have it in a couple years I would certainly be interested.

 

[Wayne Decker]

I've only towed my 6600lb (7300 max, but 6600 for us loaded to travel) 25' Airstream a few times with the Expedition but it handles it well.

Actual hitch weight depends on how you load the trailer. I only travel with my wife, two dogs, two bikes and some other stuff in the vehicle. Proper set up is key. It's not hard to do but does take some time.

 

[FeelsBradMan]

We have a payload of 1603 if I recall correctly. There are six of us so with cargo we're at about 1000. Doesn't leave much for hitch weight.

 

[duneslider]

We have a payload of 1603 if I recall correctly. There are six of us so with cargo we're at about 1000. Doesn't leave much for hitch weight.

We just make sure to not put cargo in the expedition and keep it all in the trailer. Other than snacks and stuff we don't have much else in the expedition when we tow.

 

[shane_th_ee]

The real issue is the receiver is only rated to 930lbs...

 

[Greg Parker]

We have a payload of 1603 if I recall correctly. There are six of us so with cargo we're at about 1000. Doesn't leave much for hitch weight.

Brad, I know that the towing guidelines are 900-930# max tongue-weight (with HD package), but I'm of the opinion that a WDH that is a little over-sized can help that a little bit. My camper has 620# of tongue weight and I barely notice it at all (except from an overall towing weight perspective). I got the Husky "Straight Line TS" and I oversized my weight distribution bars. Rather than get the ones rated for 600-800#, I opted for the ones that are 800-1000# ...and I'm glad I did. It's important to remember that the manufacturers rate their tongue weight empty. So, by the time you put anything in the camper in front of the trailer axles ...add a couple of batteries ...and two full propane tanks ...it's gonna be more than they state in the camper specs.

Sooo. Honestly, I can't remember if it was this thread or another, but I have stated a time or two, I don't think I personally would go over 7000# GVWR on a camper ...which translates to 700-800# of tongue weight. Driving a safe speed (65mph or less) ...I wouldn't worry too much. If you're not comfortable with it, have a your RV joint setup a tune a WDH for you. They make all the difference in the world and take 35-50% of the tongue weight off of the axles.

There are a TON of decently-sized campers that fit that mold. The last thing I've mentioned is getting tires that are better than the typical "maybe they last 40K miles" factory shoes that every vehicle manufacturer puts on their brand new cars. I will be upgrading to the Cooper Discoverer AT3-4S in my tire size (285/45R22) probably sooner than the expected life of the factory shoes. They are rated for more weight and speed ...and are 12-ply tires. PLENTY for slightly oversized loads.

I would just add ...again ...that the key is to maintain a safe speed and be ready to slow-down to 25-45mph on steeper grades to keep trans fluid temps down outta the yellow/red zone.

 

[ETC13]

IMO for six of you full time in an RV I would ditch the thought of using the expedition for such. You are rapidly going to find that you will want more space than any trailer the expedition is going to handle for extended stay in an RV.

I have a Forest River Grey Wolf 26DJSE which has bunks in the back a full time couch and a queen size bed. Longest we have done is two weeks with 2 dogs, 2 kids and the wife and myself.

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

 

[Greg Parker]

IMO for six of you full time in an RV I would ditch the thought of using the expedition for such. You are rapidly going to find that you will want more space than any trailer the expedition is going to handle for extended stay in an RV.

I have a Forest River Grey Wolf 26DJSE which has bunks in the back a full time couch and a queen size bed. Longest we have done is two weeks with 2 dogs, 2 kids and the wife and myself.

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

I said it already ...but I think it's possible. There are two situations ...I have found some sub-8500 GVWR ultra-lite campers that actually have a completely isolated bunkhouse (from the kitchen / living) and have 4 single-size bunks (one is usually a small convertible, 2-person dinette). Personally, I think I could "glamp" all summer long ...or longer ...if I had that kind of setup, and with the front "master bedroom."

I would bring my 10'x14' screen tent and outdoor kitchen and strategically setup on the KOA / Good Sam's camp spot. Throw-in a good collapsible dog fence, and it would be doable for extended period of time. That's not to say I wouldn't want to also do some dry-camping / boon-docking, but those stays would obviously have to be contained to 5-7 days, depending on fresh water / grey water / black water capacities.

Out of all of the "economy models" that I have looked at, the Forest River Apex 300BHS is quite roomy (but obviously "cheap"). I wish Lance made a 26-28' camper, but I'm in the middle of considering a Lance 2445.

 

[ETC13]

I said it already ...but I think it's possible. There are two situations ...I have found some sub-8500 GVWR ultra-lite campers that actually have a completely isolated bunkhouse (from the kitchen / living) and have 4 single-size bunks (one is usually a small convertible, 2-person dinette). Personally, I think I could "glamp" all summer long ...or longer ...if I had that kind of setup, and with the front "master bedroom."

I would bring my 10'x14' screen tent and outdoor kitchen and strategically setup on the KOA / Good Sam's camp spot. Throw-in a good collapsible dog fence, and it would be doable for extended period of time. That's not to say I wouldn't want to also do some dry-camping / boon-docking, but those stays would obviously have to be contained to 5-7 days, depending on fresh water / grey water / black water capacities.

Out of all of the "economy models" that I have looked at, the Forest River Apex 300BHS is quite roomy (but obviously "cheap"). I wish Lance made a 26-28' camper, but I'm in the middle of considering a Lance 2445.

With six of them total and all the stuff that kids would have???

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

 

[FeelsBradMan]

This thread actually turned me on to the Lance brand. I hadn't looked at any of their options. The 2455 fits what we need weight wise but obviously we'd like something a little longer with a dedicated couch.

The only problem in finding a trailer that would work for us was the hitch weight. The hitch weight puts us over max payload if it goes over 600lbs and any of the dedicated bunks are like 700 to 750 if not more. From what I understand if we're over payload even a little it could lead to insurance claim problems and even worse I dont want to endanger anyone, least of all my family.

Believe me, if I didn't have to eat 10k by trading in this Expedition, we would be looking at a 5th wheel and a new truck. (We bought this last year before the full time idea came around) Love the Expedition, just wish it had a bit more payload.