Family of 6! wrote:
Hello! I would appreciate it if someone could advise me on our situation. I have been doing a lot of research but want to make sure that I am not mistaken. We thought that we would be able to pull a lightweight trailer with our Toyota Sequoia, but it looks like we were wrong.
-We are a family of 2 adults and 4 teens/preteens and a Golden Retriever. All of us combined weigh about 1015 pounds.
-We are hoping to buy a hybrid trailer with a dry weight of 3000 lbs. and a GVWR of 5900 lbs.
-Our tow vehicle is a 2004 Toyota Sequoia 2WD with a towing capacity of 6500 pounds and a payload capacity of 1430 pounds.
So, the payload of 1430 pounds minus our 1015 pounds of weight only leaves 415 pounds of capacity for the weight of the trailer tongue and hitch and any cargo in the car.
If the tongue weight is 12% of the trailer's weight, then we could only pull a trailer with a loaded weight of 3458 pounds. A WDH would help the setup tow better but wouldn't fix the payload capacity problem and might just decrease the available payload even more because of its own weight?
I don't think that there are any trailers that would sleep 6 people and weigh less than 3458 pounds, are there?
I think that we are going to have to stick with tent camping! Or we would have to drive two vehicles... Are there any other options? Does anyone have any other insights? Am I missing anything?
Thanks in advance for your help and knowledge!
Your assessment appears to be pretty spot on.
A possible solution would be a pop up camper. Had 2 of them early on and they can be deceiving as to the number of people that can be accommodated. Easily had 6 in StarCraft popup that I had back in the day. Get one with a screen room attachment for some extra space outside.
Another solution would be a different tow vehicle. Given your family size, a full sized 2500/3500 van may fit the bill for you and your family.
