Looking for TT to fit our needs. Newb.
Hello learned sages! Taking the family on a tour of the US and Canada this summer. National Parks, etc. I think we have basically decided to get a travel trailer, and tow it with my vehicle. It's m...
Forum Discussion
BarleyCrusher wrote:
I guess everyone is different, I think we would be okay in a Viking 21BH, for example. Dry weight under 4100lbs means a full water tank (40gal) leaves us 566lbs of "stuff" to load in. We will be traveling for 12 months or so with just what we can carry on our backs so packing light is welcome.
There are lighter options, too.
I think we can make the weight/capacity work out but is there some other reason not to tow something like this with my GX470?
Back in 1964 my father bought a 15 foot TT which he towed behind a '61 Chevy BelAir with a 283 V8. That would be the equivalent of a small V6 today, maybe not even that good. That Chevy struggled to haul that little trailer around. He used that for a year, then traded up to a Dodge Polara 383 Magnum in '65.
For that first summer, 5 of us camped in the trailer (Parents and 3 kids) and it worked quite well for what we did, but we just stayed in national forest campgrounds around Montana, aside from a 2 week trip to Banff and Jasper. Mom was a good camp cook and and good kitchen organizer, so between using a campfire and the little 2 burner stove in the TT, we got along okay. We mostly just used the TT for sleeping and playing cards in the evening - most of our living was outside. After all our intent was to go camping, not RV'ing.
My point is that if you go with a TT small enough to really be safe for your Lexus, it's going to take some compromise to make it work for a family of 4. If you get a TT too big for the car, then you have a much more difficult problem.
Right now we have a 5500 lb (gross) Jay Feather X213 TT, and we traded our Honda Ridgeline for a Ford F-150 to pull it. With the 3.5L Ecoboost V6 that has 420 pound/feet of torque and a full tow package (meaning transmission cooler, 3:55 rear end, tow/haul option on the transmission, etc) the Ford has twice the towing ability of the Honda. We are still going to be right at the limit for tongue weight, even with all that, but otherwise we have a vehicle which can take the full load without even breathing hard.
It doesn't pay to try and max out the specs, especially on an older vehicle that you are planning on taking a long trip with.
