In search of large family Bunkhouse

iM SURE THEY MAKE 6 BUNK MODELS LIKE THIS ONE..

http://www.noblerv.com/rv/owatonna+mn/forestriver+traveltrailer/4715/forest+river+wildwood+31qbss

With WD hitch I am not sure youll have an issue with tongue weights with that truck..

Whats the hitch say on the truck for TW with WD..???

Some on here are worry worts when it comes to weight/ That truck has a lot of capacity..Stay under your axle ratings and you should be fine...

I've got a 2004 KS Frontier. It has quad bunks up front, a couch that folds down into a bed and a table that makes into a bed, plus a queen bed slide-out in the back.

My kids are 10, 7, and 4. This is an excellent set up for us, at least for the next several years. Not sure how old your kids are, but a set up like ours could work for you. Camper is about 25ft running down the road and expands to about 30ft with the rear slide out. GVWR for the camper is 6900lbs I believe. I've never weighed it, but I'd guess we're at 5500-6000lbs read to camp.

I pull it with a 9 seater 2008 3/4 ton Suburban. In theory my set up could handle your entire family both vehicle and camper. In reality, I think both would be a little cramped.

Also.... TTs really need 12-15% tongue weight for stability. This is because so much mass is away from the axles. Boats on the other hand have the most mass close to the axle, so they can be stable with only 6-8% tongue weight. Cargo trailers tend to fall in between.

My trailer is more stable with full water, especially with gusty cross winds. That 840 pounds of ballast sits almost directly over the axles, which effectively lowers the center of gravity of the trailer, and also ends up adding a little more tongue weight as well.

BEWARE OF DRY WEIGHTS!

(Sorry for shouting...)

Anyways... dry weight are notoriously mis-leading. Some MFGs are better than others, but nobody makes a camper whose "dry" weight equals "ready to camp" weight. Not included in the dry weight are "options" like the batteries, propane tanks, awning, microwave etc. Stuff that really isn't optional, but they include in packages so they can keep the published dry weights low. Most TTs weight hundred to thousands more than their dry weights, before you even load them up.

FWIW my creekside is 38' overall. It's about 800 pounds heavier empty than "dry". Published carrying capacity was nearly 3,000 pounds. Way more than anybody would ever need, right? Turns out not even close. My actual payload (which ORV thankfully includes, after doing a weigh-in at the factory) is only 1800 pounds. But it carries 103 gallons of water, so now I have about 900 pounds of carrying capacity. By the time I add in the rolling kitchen island, the folding tables, folding chairs, food for a long weekend or even a week, a week of emergency food, and a few gallons of booze.... I'm maxed out!

Krobbe,

thank you.

In theory our Outback will sleep ten. I do not think it would live eight.
Four in bunks, two on bed made up from the table and two on the sofa bed and two in the queen bed.
Two of the bunks are a little longer than average and might hold two if the children were small enough, with something down the center.

Are any of your children old enough to sleep in tents?

jadcox wrote:
What I'm I missing here?

the 2016 KEYSTONE RV PASSPORT 3220BHWE has a dry weather of 6300, with a tongue of 580lbs?

even if I put 1000lbs in the trailer for good and toys, that still seem to be way under the limits, right?

That model starts out with a tongue weight of 9%. I'm guessing when you load it up, most of the weight will be forward of the axles to achieve 11 - 15% for stable towing. You could be forced to carry water even if you don't want to.
But with only a 1167# carrying capacity, I would be hesitant to choose this model for a large family. But that is just me. I don't like to run up against limits. The wife and kids like to collect rocks when we go up to Lake Superior. :E

The cargo capacity(payload) sticker on the TV door jamb will show you the max weight your TV can carry. From this number you can calculate the maximum dry weight of a TT to help in your search.
1. Subtract any weight(all passengers, weight distribution hitch, anything you carry in the bed) from the payload number. That is what is available for the TT tongue weight.
2. From the available TT tongue weight, divide by .13(13%) to get the maximum loaded up weight for a TT.
3. From the maximum loaded weight, subtract everything you might load into the TT(all weight added to TT including food, water, batteries, propane, etc.) This is the TT Dry Weight not to exceed when looking to purchase.

SO, based on this example sticker of 1607, my weights calculation goes like this:
1. 1607 lbs - 800 lbs(passengers, WDH, gen, gas can, firewood, bikes) = 807 available.
2. 807 lbs / .13 = 6207 lbs (max loaded up for camping TT)
3. 6207 - 1500(weight of stuff in/on TT for 6 people) = 4707 lbs
I would look for a TT with less than 4707 lbs dry weight for this example.

What I'm I missing here?

the 2016 KEYSTONE RV PASSPORT 3220BHWE has a dry weather of 6300, with a tongue of 580lbs?

even if I put 1000lbs in the trailer for good and toys, that still seem to be way under the limits, right?

My F150 specs are 12,200 trailer weight and tongue weight of 1,220.

I don't expect to ever be carrying water or waste in the trailer.

Most of these trailers that I've seen are 6500 dry weight with tongue weights of less then 1000lbs.

I'm sorry I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack when it comes to this discussion. I truly appreciate your input.