cwmoser wrote:
Good information about your Coachmen 192RBS and Honda Ridgeline truck.
I see that your truck is rated to tow 5,000 lbs and you report that
it tows great. That is good information to me. My Lexus has a tow rating
of 6,000 lbs but has an older technology 4-speed transmission with OD.
This information makes me think that the Coachmen is a candidate for me too.
Also like what you posted that you purchased a Wal-Mart reflective tarp that
you protect your RV with. That too is a concern of mine as I would like to
protect my investment. I did look at a used 2014 Apex RV and the first
thing I noticed was that the outside had faded quite noticeably.
I've also read in other forums that custom RV covers are un-wieldly to put
on and take off, and tear easily snagging on antenna, AC cover, etc. I think
your suggestion to just throw over a tarp and secure it with bungy cords
is a better idea.
Couple of more thoughts as I finish my last cup of coffee . . . and then start to load up our Freedom Express for tomorrow's trip over to the Texas Hill Country for a week.
Like you, we sort of were backwards in our decision process for choosing a travel trailer; i.e. we already had our tow vehicle (2011 Ridgeline RTL) and then searched for a trailer within the truck's capabilities. We found out that the common and probably better approach was first to select the travel trailer that best suits your lifestyle and then buy the tow vehicle. But, we were not in a position to do things in that order, hence the long search and decision process.
Do not want to go sideways into a discussion about the Ridgeline, other than to say that, despite lots of uninformed opinions, Honda actually designed this truck to be a very capable tow vehicle if you stay within its limits. It comes equipped standard with a heavy duty transmission cooler, dual, high capacity radiator fans and a power steering cooler. The suspension is very robust and augmented by full time AWD, and you virtually cannot make the thing lose traction (I've tried!). It's also factory prewired to receive a third party electronic brake controller. Plus, the Ridgeline's unibody frame and internal bracing makes this platform extremely stiff and therefore a surprisingly pleasant towing experience.
So we knew all of this going into the search for our travel trailer and carefully evaluated the Freedom Express for its suitability for the truck. We even went to the rather "OCD" approach of listing on a spreadsheet virtually everything we might conceivably load in that trailer and WEIGHED each item(s) to be sure we stayed "legal!" And then, the night before we depart for a trip, we go to a local CAT Scale with a full tank of fuel, wife and dog and all gear loaded up to check critical weights. Honda does not recommend using a weight distributing hitch since the truck is designed to be a stable and balanced platform IF you load correctly. We do use a friction sway bar. Result: we've towed in all kinds of crosswinds and the usual passing semi traffic with only the slightest notice of buffeting.
I say all of this to restate that you will need to throughly evaluate your Lexus for what it can do. There will be the technical side with making sure that it can mechanically manage towing not only the weight but more significantly the wind loads of a full form travel trailer. Then there is the subjective side; i.e. get in the Lexus user forums and discover what other owners are experiencing in a travel trailer towing environment. This is important, because just because a vehicle manufacturer provides all kinds of ratings for towing, it is just as important to discover the actual towing experience. The physics are very complex.
Re the issue of covering your trailer . . . we saw the same challenges of managing an unwieldy, large custom cover, so whether out of laziness or pragmatism or being "cheap," we sprung for the tarp from Walmart. But we are blessed with our residential development being heavily wooded with attendant shade, so we're in good shape. You may not enjoy such an ambience and therefore might need to go for the whole rig covering. The sun will do nasty things to plastic and rubber over time, so just think that process through in order to protect your investment.
Back to the 192 RBS, like Sound Guy said earlier, this plan has an abundance of storage space, and you guys will have fun trying to figure out how to make the best use of what's available. I sort of got out of the way of most of that process and let my wife turn the interior into our home away from home! So consequently she is very comfortable managing the spaces in the rig. She recently made some custom curtains for the two windows in the sleeping area that color coordinate with the bed covering and new pillows. Then I installed a curved ceiling channel to hang a pair of drapes to physically and visually divide the sleeping area from the living area/galley (she hits the sack before I do, and I sit on the sofa and watch TV with the speakers over the bed muted). The point is that despite its dimensions, we've figured out how to manage each area of the rig to be an effective living space . . . for a few weeks, anyway. I don't think this size camper would suit us for any kind of long term ventures ("murder" might be an option if we were in this thing for a couple of months continuously!), but it sure does suit our typical trips of one, two or almost three weeks over our first year.
Just figure out how you want to live when you are away from your home base; try to establish some baseline expectations of what you must have in conveniences, amenities and basic functions. So far, we've found the 192 RBS has presented us with the fewest compromises among those factors. It's a calculus you have to work through, but if you put some work into the process, you will be a satisfied customer no matter which trailer you choose.
