optimal 5er carrying capacity

waltbennett wrote:
First off, that 'dry weight' does not include water or propane. This is most likely why he believes in the ranges he does. The part that I don't quite go along with is that 5ers typically weigh a lot more than regular TTs. More slides, much bigger, etc. For something that much larger & heavier, a lower percentage shouldn't mean much - as long as you've sufficient cargo capacity AFTER filling the water and propane tanks. And, IMHO, any large 5er with under 3k capacity isn't one I'd want.

I believe you're right in that the author is aggregating data on too many small and large TT and 5ers and indicating too wide a range to be particularly useful. He uses an example TT GVWR of 10,200 with carrying capacity of 2,415, so 24% ratio, but 2,415 is only 17% of my initial post's example 5er.

If I understand you, you'd want carrying capacity to include 3,000lbs of "stuff" plus the fluids, batteries and propane? The longer Big Country units have carrying capacity of like 3,213ish. Looking at Heartland's Landmark line, some have carrying capacity of 3,600 and others like the 2014 LM Savannah 2,792.

It was never my intent to load all the way up to the trailer's GVWR. Rather, my goal is to have a reasonable amount of cargo + fluids, etc.; say 2,000 lbs, in a unit with a 3,500 capacity let's say, which allows around 1,500 as a cushion. The higher GVWR model selection would be for a cushion. I'm assuming what my "stuff" weights and this is what I'm not sure about.

Does this makes sense? Not counting fluids, propane, is 2,000 lbs reasonable for the average couple full timing?

Do you folks think having this "cushion" is desirable?