jerem0621 wrote:
I'm not sure that people understand that there are several manufacturers who build 30 ft TT's that are right around 5,000 lbs dry. These are not stripped down models either. Typically they use something like Adzel in the construction. The Apex 28BH is a great example.
If that was directed at my post, I do understand 30' travel trailers are available around 5000 lbs dry however its not because of using Azdel, its weight savings in other meat and potatoes areas. Azdel "claims" their material weighs 1/2 as much as wood. When they say "wood" they refer to solid wood. Its a marketing gimmick just the same as that Azdel is this miracle product, which its not. On the Apex line the only place Azdel is used is the layer behind the filon on the sidewalls. Not in the roof, for the interior wall substrate, the floor, or the end walls. Now Coachmen can put that they use Azdel on the website and in the brochures, and a sticker on the rig saying so. All marketing. 15 sheets would be used on a 30' box trailer and if it indeed weighed 1/2 as much as Luan plywood which in the thickness used for exterior substrate is about 15 lbs per sheet, that's only saving about 112 lbs. The only benefit is if water gets in the sidewall the Azdel will not come apart like Luan. The glue will release though between Azdel and Filon or Azdel and foam core of the wall. You still get delam.
Back to the OP. My 2013 F150 tows my 2017 Roo fine and its right at it's GVWR of 6400 when loaded for camping with 2 full 39 gal tanks of water per the tale-tell CAT scales. I do however have the 5.0 Coyote. Going up and down the ridges of the Alleghenies here in western PA its capable, but I surely would not want to go to a smaller motor like the 3.5.
