Grateful Camper wrote:
1st post. To sum it up. I did all the wrong research and listened to all the wrong people. Family and I have been pop up campers for years. We decided to make the jump to a travel trailer, and quite the jump we made. Shopped for the better part of a year, and a local dealer gave us an incredible deal on a 2018 forest river vibe 285bhs. I was assured it was well within the specs for my 2010 tahoe LTZ, from the dealer (I know), but as well from some friends, and a chevy dealer. it is a 33' trailer, with a dry weight of 6500. I know all about dry weights, but we pack light. With a towing capacity of 8,200 lbs. my calculations had me at about 7,800. After towing home with a newly installed equalizer hitch, I felt it was fine for in town tows, but our intent is to vacation in it (600 mile one way trips). I did not feel safe with 116" wheelbase, and the "shimmy" it got at 60 mph.
To make a long story short, I spent all weekend reading threads on here, and losing sleep from the fear I made a huge mistake based on the knowledge here. I traded the tahoe in today (got 20,000) on trade, and bought a 2010 F250 power stroke king ranch 4x4 for 25,000. So basically I paid 5,000 more to feel comfortable and to rest easy knowing my family is a little safer on the road. Also love driving my first diesel. BTW, I'm an experienced tower of bass boats and pop ups, but this is first travel trailer.
Basically, Thanks to you all for posting such useful info on this site. Look forward to learning more from you all.
Grateful Camper wrote:
1st post. To sum it up. I did all the wrong research and listened to all the wrong people. Family and I have been pop up campers for years. We decided to make the jump to a travel trailer, and quite the jump we made. Shopped for the better part of a year, and a local dealer gave us an incredible deal on a 2018 forest river vibe 285bhs. I was assured it was well within the specs for my 2010 tahoe LTZ, from the dealer (I know), but as well from some friends, and a chevy dealer. it is a 33' trailer, with a dry weight of 6500. I know all about dry weights, but we pack light. With a towing capacity of 8,200 lbs. my calculations had me at about 7,800. After towing home with a newly installed equalizer hitch, I felt it was fine for in town tows, but our intent is to vacation in it (600 mile one way trips). I did not feel safe with 116\" wheelbase, and the \"shimmy\" it got at 60 mph.
To make a long story short, I spent all weekend reading threads on here, and losing sleep from the fear I made a huge mistake based on the knowledge here. I traded the tahoe in today (got 20,000) on trade, and bought a 2010 F250 power stroke king ranch 4x4 for 25,000. So basically I paid 5,000 more to feel comfortable and to rest easy knowing my family is a little safer on the road. Also love driving my first diesel. BTW, I'm an experienced tower of bass boats and pop ups, but this is first travel trailer.
Basically, Thanks to you all for posting such useful info on this site. Look forward to learning more from you all.
Grateful Camper wrote:
1st post. To sum it up. I did all the wrong research and listened to all the wrong people. Family and I have been pop up campers for years. We decided to make the jump to a travel trailer, and quite the jump we made. Shopped for the better part of a year, and a local dealer gave us an incredible deal on a 2018 forest river vibe 285bhs. I was assured it was well within the specs for my 2010 tahoe LTZ, from the dealer (I know), but as well from some friends, and a chevy dealer. it is a 33' trailer, with a dry weight of 6500. I know all about dry weights, but we pack light. With a towing capacity of 8,200 lbs. my calculations had me at about 7,800. After towing home with a newly installed equalizer hitch, I felt it was fine for in town tows, but our intent is to vacation in it (600 mile one way trips). I did not feel safe with 116\" wheelbase, and the \"shimmy\" it got at 60 mph.
To make a long story short, I spent all weekend reading threads on here, and losing sleep from the fear I made a huge mistake based on the knowledge here. I traded the tahoe in today (got 20,000) on trade, and bought a 2010 F250 power stroke king ranch 4x4 for 25,000. So basically I paid 5,000 more to feel comfortable and to rest easy knowing my family is a little safer on the road. Also love driving my first diesel. BTW, I'm an experienced tower of bass boats and pop ups, but this is first travel trailer.
Basically, Thanks to you all for posting such useful info on this site. Look forward to learning more from you all.
