I'm surprised there's not more posts here

A "less skilled and less experienced" driver is much more likely to say, "This is as good as it gets" as they chase their combination down the road, than those of us who have the experience to know what "good" really is.

My point is that you took a shot at "less skilled and less experienced" drivers. The more one tows, the more they will appreciate that little extra. I am not talking a one hundred percent cushion, but twenty percent is nice to have sometimes. I have seen people on here who have to leave a kid at home to make things work. Not for me.

TomG2 wrote:

gmw photos wrote:
A less skilled driver, or one with less towing experience might feel that same tow vehicle is "inadequate". The result is a lot of these well intentioned but less experienced/less skilled drivers simply default to recommending "a bigger tow vehicle".

Even more likely, experienced and skilled drivers know the improvement an adequate tow vehicle makes and appreciate this difference. Especially in difficult situations.

Yes, but Tom, you'll notice I said that an experienced and skilled driver will recognize and be able to handle "a smaller tow vehicle" as a, to use your words, "adequate tow vehicle".

I am not advocating using truly inadequate tow vehicles.
I am however saying there are plenty of vehicles capable of being effective at towing these smaller trailers. To put is bluntly, you don't need a 2500 or a 3500 dually to safely handle these smaller trailers, that is the subject of this thread.

Good discussion. Keep it coming. Post more pictures of these "smaller trailers".

gmw photos wrote:
A less skilled driver, or one with less towing experience might feel that same tow vehicle is "inadequate". The result is a lot of these well intentioned but less experienced/less skilled drivers simply default to recommending "a bigger tow vehicle".

Even more likely, experienced and skilled drivers know the improvement an adequate tow vehicle makes and appreciate this difference. Especially in difficult situations.

The tow capacity of my Nissan Frontier is stated at 6100 pounds. If I were to set up a 6100 pound trailer with 12% tongue weight, that would be 732 pounds.

The truck payload is stated as 1150. The difference is 418 pounds. I travel solo and weigh 180 pounds. That still leaves me 238 pounds.

With my weight dist hitch hooked up for instance on my 4100 pound travel trailer ( 600 lb.TW ) I distribute 140 pounds of TW back to the trailer axle, so we could argue that I "gain that 140 pounds" back as truck capacity. In this example I'm back up to 378 pounds of available truck payload. I easily stay under that.

I would say that Nissan's stated tow capacity meshes easily and accurately with not only payload, but I'm also well under the axle capacity as well as tire capacity.

I would not call that a farce, I would call that a good match-up, which is likely a big part of why this truck tows either my travel trailer (4100 pounds ) or my horse trailer ( approx 5500 pounds at max, but usually around 4800 ) very well, and within stated limits.

"The right tool for the job", for the last 150,000 miles, of which over 60,000 have been towing.

Oh yeah.....normally aspirated 4.0L V6 gas engine. Original clutch, transmission never needed to be apart, only one set of brake pads replaced.

And yes, we also have a turbo diesel here as well. F350 dually for the two large GN trailers. It's also the right tool for those jobs.

SoundGuy wrote:
Sorry, but as one who owns a 19' couple's model (22' 6" coupler to bumper) I wouldn't tow it with any V6 vehicle, other than an F150 Eco which is an entirely different animal and should be compared to competing V8 offerings such as my Silverado. Unless the trailer in question is particularly small / lightweight most V6 aspirated vehicles IMO just aren't sufficient for this task, regardless that some may choose to do it anyway. :R

mountainkowboy wrote:
Yup...need a TV with twice the tow capacity of the TT to tow it safely.:S

So-called "tow capacity" is a farce, the primary limitation with 1/2 ton and less is payload capacity, or more correctly lack thereof. Add to that less grunt under a V6 hood and the picture isn't pretty. :S :S

Over the years talking to many folks who tow various trailers, one thing I have concluded is that sometimes, a persons comfort level of using an "appropriate sized" tow vehicle has to do with their personal level of experience.

Drivers with a lot of experience and skill might find a given tow vehicle a good match. A less skilled driver, or one with less towing experience might feel that same tow vehicle is "inadequate". The result is a lot of these well intentioned but less experienced/less skilled drivers simply default to recommending "a bigger tow vehicle".

To get back on topic, one of the many beauties of these smaller trailer is they can in fact be a good match for a smaller tow vehicle, providing one does a good setup with a quality WD hitch, and of course, has the requisite driving experience and skills.

Also back on topic, I have notice where I snowbird in the winter, I'm seeing more and more smaller travel trailers staying in the resorts. Some of the folks I've talked to have in fact downsized from Class A's or large fifth wheels.

Another pic of my Frontier and funfinder on a rainy day in a Arkansas state park.

SoundGuy wrote:
Sorry, but as one who owns a 19' couple's model (22' 6" coupler to bumper) I wouldn't tow it with any V6 vehicle, other than an F150 Eco which is an entirely different animal and should be compared to competing V8 offerings such as my Silverado. Unless the trailer in question is particularly small / lightweight most V6 aspirated vehicles IMO just aren't sufficient for this task, regardless that some may choose to do it anyway. :R

Yup...need a TV with twice the tow capacity of the TT to tow it safely.:S

DutchmenSport wrote:
I hate to stir the pot, but last Fall there was an event that happened (political) that turned a lot of folks off, or should I say, turned them against the CEO of Camping World and the TV show "The Profit".

Was it an episode of the show, or some other event??

RockDodger wrote:

Campteacher wrote:
This is my first trailer, a 2012 Springdale 179, ... I'm looking forward to seeing how it feels behind my new 2017 Ram 3500 CTD. It does have a GVWR of 6000, so it's not super light.

Kevin

A Ram 3500? I think you'll have to keep checking your mirrors to make sure it's still back there.:B

With the tow mirrors flipped UP of course.

pfidahospud wrote:
Some more reasons...this is an outdated website that doesn't jive easily with smartphones. And to post a picture or a video requires an IT degree. And don't dare accidentally post a picture that's too large. It's no wonder this forum is losing interest.

Ditto.

It wasn't that long ago that rv.NET finally allowed posting a photo bigger than 640x480. But to rezize bigger photos, RV.net had the dimensions backwards int he resize option, you had to select the HEIGHT of 480 followed by the width (640). TOTALLY BASS-ACKWARDS

I stopped posting much when Photobucket started forcing people to pay to allow forum posting of photos.