Buying a Used Travel Trailer

hjcihak46 wrote:
Now, have I miscalculated any of the above or overlooked anything I ought to have considered?

GrandpaKip wrote:
To give you an idea of dry weight, here’s my experience with my present camper. The factory sticker proclaimed a weight of 3820 pounds leaving the factory. On the way home, I stopped at the cat scales. The camper weighed 4150 pounds without me putting a thing in it.

That Passport has a published weight of 3711 pounds. Unless you have seen the actual sticker, that is probably under the leaving the factory weight. Then, there is the real weight when leaving wherever you buy it.

I have not read of anyone that has not had this experience.

Another example ...

My own trailer has a published dry weight of 3535 lbs ...



... but it's stickered dry weight as it left the factory was 280 lbs heavier ...



... and this is before anything was added to the trailer. Install a battery, fill the two 20 lb propane tanks, fill the water heater tank, and with a few gallons of water in the fresh water holding tank my so-called 3535 lb trailer weighed ~ 4000 lbs before I added anything else. Averaging ~ 4800 lbs loaded & ready to camp it's almost 1300 lbs heavier than it's so called advertised dry weight of 3535 lbs. :E

hjcihak46 wrote:
Well folks, here's what I've learned.

My 2008 Nissan Xterra has a GVWR of 5400 lbs. and a GCWR of 9658 lbs.

I weighed it this morning loaded as it would be if I were towing a travel trailer (full gas tank, all my photo gear in the back, spare tire, tools, and 1 passenger (me), and it tipped the scale at 4830 lbs. I calculate that as meaning it could handle a hitch weight of up to 570 lbs although the Xterra is only rated by Nissan for 500 lbs.

The good news is I've been looking at a 24 foot Keystone Passport Ultralight (Mod. 195RB) and, fully loaded, it would top out at 5200 lbs. However, since I will be traveling alone I can't imagine adding more than 500 lbs of cargo just for me. That would make the TT's loaded weight at around 4211 lbs.

The big question mark now is the Xterra's trailer frontal area is limited to no more than 60 sq. ft. The 195RB is either going to just make that or just miss it. So far, I haven't been able to pin down that statistic. Guess I'll have to take a tape measure to a dealer and check it for myself.

Now, have I miscalculated any of the above or overlooked anything I ought to have considered?

To give you an idea of dry weight, here’s my experience with my present camper. The factory sticker proclaimed a weight of 3820 pounds leaving the factory. On the way home, I stopped at the cat scales. The camper weighed 4150 pounds without me putting a thing in it.
That Passport has a published weight of 3711 pounds. Unless you have seen the actual sticker, that is probably under the leaving the factory weight. Then, there is the real weight when leaving wherever you buy it.
I have not read of anyone that has not had this experience.

hjcihak46 wrote:
Well folks, here's what I've learned.

My 2008 Nissan Xterra has a GVWR of 5400 lbs. and a GCWR of 9658 lbs.

I weighed it this morning loaded as it would be if I were towing a travel trailer (full gas tank, all my photo gear in the back, spare tire, tools, and 1 passenger (me), and it tipped the scale at 4830 lbs. I calculate that as meaning it could handle a hitch weight of up to 570 lbs although the Xterra is only rated by Nissan for 500 lbs.

The good news is I've been looking at a 24 foot Keystone Passport Ultralight (Mod. 195RB) and, fully loaded, it would top out at 5200 lbs. However, since I will be traveling alone I can't imagine adding more than 500 lbs of cargo just for me. That would make the TT's loaded weight at around 4211 lbs.

The big question mark now is the Xterra's trailer frontal area is limited to no more than 60 sq. ft. The 195RB is either going to just make that or just miss it. So far, I haven't been able to pin down that statistic. Guess I'll have to take a tape measure to a dealer and check it for myself.

Now, have I miscalculated any of the above or overlooked anything I ought to have considered?

Newbee mistake.

Acutally, you WILL be shocked just how much additional weight in "stuff" you WILL "add" to the trailer.

No one ever travels and camps with an empty trailer.

I will also reiterate that if you are going from SALES BROCHURES you will also be mistaken on the empty weight.

Sales brochures only give you an APPROXIMATE empty weight, typically the BATTERY AND PROPANE are not included in the brochure empty weight and the brochure weight is often without any factory "options"..

You ALSO need to take the WD hitch weight into consideration, some folk who wish to justify a badly overweight condition like to say the WD weight is "shared" by the trailer and vehicle.. In truth, it IS DEAD WEIGHT ADDED TO THE TONGUE.

WD systems are about 80 lbs - 100 lbs of weight so you NEED to allow for that.

Additionally, at 4211 lbs, at 15% you ARE not only way over your vehicles available cargo but also the HITCH weight.

4211 lbs at 10% hitch weight plus 100 lbs for WD puts you at 521 lbs on the hitch putting you OVER the vehicles hitch rating.

RETHINK, GO LIGHTER.

Something like 2,600 lbs empty which at 15% hitch gives you 390 lbs and add on WD gives about 490 lbs tongue, which gives you a whopping 10 lbs of hitch weight or 100 lbs of "gear" you can take..

Trust me, you DO NOT WANT TO TOW AT OR BELOW 10% TONGUE WEIGHT.. The results will be white knuckle driving..

Well folks, here's what I've learned.

My 2008 Nissan Xterra has a GVWR of 5400 lbs. and a GCWR of 9658 lbs.

I weighed it this morning loaded as it would be if I were towing a travel trailer (full gas tank, all my photo gear in the back, spare tire, tools, and 1 passenger (me), and it tipped the scale at 4830 lbs. I calculate that as meaning it could handle a hitch weight of up to 570 lbs although the Xterra is only rated by Nissan for 500 lbs.

The good news is I've been looking at a 24 foot Keystone Passport Ultralight (Mod. 195RB) and, fully loaded, it would top out at 5200 lbs. However, since I will be traveling alone I can't imagine adding more than 500 lbs of cargo just for me. That would make the TT's loaded weight at around 4211 lbs.

The big question mark now is the Xterra's trailer frontal area is limited to no more than 60 sq. ft. The 195RB is either going to just make that or just miss it. So far, I haven't been able to pin down that statistic. Guess I'll have to take a tape measure to a dealer and check it for myself.

Now, have I miscalculated any of the above or overlooked anything I ought to have considered?

rbpru wrote:
Well five pages, the OP should realize that things are rarely as simple as the adds show.

Yes, your half-ton will haul 9500 lbs. of logs, rocks or other such items but it is not going to haul a 9500 lb. TT if you want to carry your family, camp gear and food.

In the real world, a half-ton peaks out with a 5000 lbs. dry weight TT. Half of the weight of food, towels, pots, pans, chairs, tools and other must haves, end up as tongue weight which combined with family and TV gear, peaks out the max cargo long before the 9500 lb. Tow limit.

Don't take my word for it, go to the nearest truck w stop and get the true CAT scale numbers.

I was flabbergasted by my numbers.

Huh? What are you going on about? When did I write anything about having a "half-ton (that) will haul 9500 lbs?" That sounds like a pick-up truck. I don't own a pick-up truck.

Well five pages, the OP should realize that things are rarely as simple as the adds show.

Yes, your half-ton will haul 9500 lbs. of logs, rocks or other such items but it is not going to haul a 9500 lb. TT if you want to carry your family, camp gear and food.

In the real world, a half-ton peaks out with a 5000 lbs. dry weight TT. Half of the weight of food, towels, pots, pans, chairs, tools and other must haves, end up as tongue weight which combined with family and TV gear, peaks out the max cargo long before the 9500 lb. Tow limit.

Don't take my word for it, go to the nearest truck w stop and get the true CAT scale numbers.

I was flabbergasted by my numbers.

When you do get the TV issued figured out and are back to looking at trailers, don't forget to really take a good look at the roof of any used trailer you are interested in. Even though the roof is in good condition and the caulking is all good, they need to be inspected regularly. You may go through one rain with no problems only to find a leak the next time it rains. Case in point, checked roof in May, survived a snow storm that month with no leak, went through a couple hard rains in July but the one in Aug showed us a leak in the bath. It was stored under cover when not on the road. Luckily we were able to caulk it without interrupting our trip.

Nearest Cat Scale locations for Alexandria, VA.
There are usually other brands of scales at other truck stops like TA and Loves, in addition to grain elevators, landscape supply companies, and possibly others such as the recycling center you mentioned.
Barney

O.K., after reading some additional material from Nissan, I've got to find a public weight scale so I can weigh my vehicle with a full tank of gas and all the cargo I expect to be carrying in it while towing a TT. Looks like there's one at the Ft. Belvior Recycling Center. Given my own schedule and the coming snowstorm, I probably won't be able to get this done until the middle of this week.

I'll keep informed those of you who may be interested in my progress. Thanks for your suggestions and comments thus far.

Why is it that I keep seeing Ford 150's and 250's towing whole car carriers with a average of 5-7 cars on top? Yes, I said Ford 150!