Need some advice

I would not buy from any of those places. There are only 2 in Michigan I will touch anymore. Haylette RV and fun-n-sun RV. These 2 will beat any price you find and the service is awesome

You have not shared any numbers for either trailer or your truck but neither one sounds towable by a V-6 half ton. If you will post more info then we can better respond to your original question.

The GWVR of both trailers and your truck along with the trucks payload would help a lot. Please don't bother with any so called "dry" weights as they are worthless.

:C

Half ton trucks are not all properly equipped to handle RV's. To get the Camper package and the maximum load package, it might cost as much as $2800. You can tell when a truck has the option because they'll have more than 5 lug nuts. And they'll all have V-8 engines.

You really should limit your towing to whatever your truck us rated to tow--including passengers and all their stuff. Although modern V-6 engines have relatively high horsepower, only the Ford Ecoboost has the torque of the older model V-8 engines. And trailer towing requires torque at low rpm's.

If you're going to purchase a travel trailer, make sure it's not aluminum sided. They all have leaking problems at one time or another--usually in the corners. I rebuilt my old travel trailer's interior 2x due to leaks.

First you need to know your truck's cargo capacity. Should be on a yellow sticker on drivers door jamb.

Secondly, while dry weight is not indicative of real world application, if used properly, you can use it to help. Get the dry weight and dry tongue weight of both trailes. Add roughly 1000 lbs to the dry weight. Multiply by 13 percent to roughly determine tongue weight the trailer may be at fully loaded, ready to go.

Take this rough tongue weight number, add weight of passengers and anything you plan on putting in the bed of the truck. If that number exceeds your cargo weight of the truck, the trailer is too much.

I suspect both trailers are going to be too much for your V6 truck. 28ft trailer is larger than what I was towing with my Sierra 1500 with 5.3L V8. I was towing a 26 ft trailer, loaded weight approximately 6500 lbs, and I really didn't want to pull anything larger with it.

Good luck

Mike

Trucks towing capacity is 7180lbs...trailer weight of Dutchman is 6150, and Shadow Cruise is 5900...Haylett was not willing to help us either time we were there, that was first place we went. ..we also looked at Jayco x254 that weighed 4560 lbs...had plenty of bed space but lacked interior room...I'm going to upgrade next year to a truck with 11k pound towing...also we were getting weight distribution system installed...thanks for replies

Lots of misinformation here:

"If you're going to purchase a travel trailer, make sure it's not aluminum sided. They all have leaking problems at one time or another--usually in the corners. "

This statement is absurd and flat out wrong. There are lots of very well built aluminum sided trailers and fiberglass has its own set of demons.

"Secondly, while dry weight is not indicative of real world application, if used properly, you can use it to help."

Said before and will say it again....
Dry weights, all dry weights, are at best a joke and often a dangerous joke. No one tows an empty trailer. Run {Forrest run!}, from anyone who gives you a dry weight, only salesmen trying to sell you to much trailer will ever quote them.

Your truck may have a theoretical towing capacity of 7,180# but that is about as accurate in the real world as your trailers dry weights. You will run out of payload and thus be well over your trucks GVWR and probably gross axel weights long before you even get close to 7,180#.

I had a very capable F-150 SCAB that was rated to tow 8,600# and it was nearly maxed out towing a 5,000# 22' TT. Not trying to burst bubbles here but towing too much trailer with too little truck is never a good idea.

As always.... Opinions and YMMV.

:C

Bamaman1 wrote:

If you're going to purchase a travel trailer, make sure it's not aluminum sided. They all have leaking problems at one time or another--usually in the corners. I rebuilt my old travel trailer's interior 2x due to leaks.

My last 3 have been aluminum sided, and I was meticulous about performing scheduled and preventive maintenance. Never had an issue with leaks.

My GVWR is 6800
Max trailer weight is 7180
Payload 1650
GCWR 12900

Desert Captain. If you read my response completely, you would see that I did not say use dry weight. No one buys a trailer, then weighs it, and says,dang, Im overweight.. or cool.. Im good. But, using dry weight, and adding 1000lbs to that weight, and taking 13 percent as an estimate to see if the truck/trailer combo is even doable works. Or, you can also take the GVW of the trailer, and then, take 13 percent or 15 percent of that, and determine tongue weight.

Having said that, with a payload of 1650, with 2 adults, 3 kids, 2 dogs, you aren't going to have much payload left for much of a trailer. I seriously doubt the trailers you're looking at will work.

Mike

Even if that v6 Tahoe was empty besides the driver and the trailer was also as empty as it was on the dealers lot you cannot tow that trailer. The wind resistance alone will make keeping up to highway speeds difficult on flat land, let alone in the mountains.

Add 800 pounds of people, pets and groceries and another 1000 pounds of water and camping gear and you are approaching 10,000 pounds. Don't forget the 100 pounds for the WD hitch.

How much trade-in value will the Tahoe have with a blown transmission? You should get a capable truck first and then buy a trailer that is appropriate for it's abilities. And for both of those trailers a 3/4 ton truck is needed.