Need Towing Advice, PLEASE HELP

don't think you would have the power you need to tow such a TT. IF you had the V8, I would say do it. As it stands you will be over capacity with that TT.

The frontal area square feet limit is because there's more to travel trailer towing then just weight. The other problem is wind resistance... Lots of it! And it puts a real strain on lighter duty tow vehicles like your, AND MINE TOO. (2006 explorer 4.0L with class 3 hitch)

I pull a hybrid that weighs 2300 pounds empty and about 3200 loaded.
Body is 13 feet long and 7 feet wide, and that's about the most I feel comfortable with, and I am slightly over my recommended GCWR.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO, wheelbase of vehicle way to short, the tail is gonna wag the dog

Thank you all for the replies.

I am a noob when it comes to towing a travel trailer but not a noob when it comes living a minimalist lifestyle which my family does very well. So I am confident in my weight amount for supplies and luggage.

As far as our decision not to tow water: The campgrounds that we are interested in have full hookups. We are only camping locally at sites that we have scoped out and do not have a desire or need to boondock.

However, you guys are correct that I failed to take in consideration the weight of my family which would be 400-500 lbs. Great point and thank you!

I am not sure if I understand the 40sq frontal section theory. Can someone explain that to me?

And my next question is, what dry weight (not style) of a camping vehicle would you recommend for a truck with the max tow rating of 5300 lbs?

We have also considered scaling down to the Flagstaff Micro Lite 19FBS which has a dry weight of 3300lbs.

You could try it but I would not want to tow with it.

kdking1976 wrote:


Our family of 3 packs extremely lite. And I plan to empty all tanks and hot water heater before towing. I am estimating 300 lbs max supplies/luggage/and etc.


- keith

That's an extremely and overly optimistic estimate on added wt and a typical NOOB mistake. Also, hope to not ever have any water onboard will either 1)put you and your rig/family in a ditch when the CG dump is closed and 2)is IMO a real poor plan not only limiting your camping options, but will get old real quick. If you're going to try and limit what you take just because otherwise you will be overweight will not make camping a positive experience, but one that you will always stressing out over trying to control the minutia that you should not be concerned with IMO.

W/O getting info on exactly what you TV capabilities are I would bet you are outside the safe limits of what your TV is truly capable of and with that you are putting your family unnecessarily at risk which at least in my opinion unconscionable and beyond me understanding WHY:h

Finally the 40 sqft frontal area recommended limitation clearly puts your vehicle outside any of the full profile TTs and limits you to the POPUP type trailers. The trailer you are looking at has a frontal area close to or over 80 sqft. and you IMO will be right at or over your max recommeded trailer wt. and maybe gross wt.

Larry

Just because you think you'll pack light don't count on it. When we bought a new TT I took everything out of the old hybrid and weighed it. This was with 2 adults, and the total weight coming out of it was 750lbs. It doesn't take long for weight to really add up over a year or 2 of camping. Then as old guy said you'll need to factor in every lb that you add into the truck, people, wood, coolers, bikes, pet, etc. Your max towing weight till with be 5300 OR 5500 not around that weight. I'd bet that you'd be over on BOTH towing capacity and the trucks GVW- gross vehicle weight.

no because you haven't figured in the weight of you and your family which does count as pay load also.