setup recommendations
Greetings! We're a family of 6 with a 70lb "puppy" as well. We bought our first camper secondhand which really wasn't built for us. It's time to sell it. It boasts 4710 dry which i know means noth...
Forum Discussion
APT wrote:
Spend $14 at a CAT scale to find out where you stand with respect to all your ratings. Large families and RVs tend to max out GVWR and rear axle well under tow rating. For example if you have 1500 pounds of payload and the family (and dog) weighs 750 pounds, you have 750 pounds left for loaded tongue weight. That sounds really close to what you currently have.
This.
I learned the hard way that a "standard" SUV (wondering if you're using beefy as in "fat and bloated" or "a beast") with a large family has a surprisingly limited towing capability.
The Armada is a great vehicle for a large family, and can easily pull a cargo trailer or a boat. Once you start talking about any reasonably-sized TT, you use up its capabilities quickly.
The problem with most SUVs is that they already have a lot more weight on the rear axle than an equally-sized pickup. Add in people, pets and cargo, and there's not much left for tongue weight. Most 25-30' TTs are going to put you over on your RAWR.
Get your weights nailed down as mentioned above, then go out and find a 25-30' lite trailer. Our first TT was a 30' TrailCruiser. Attached below is the weight slip. We were right at our max RAWR (4000) and our GVWR (7200). Trailer was 4500 empty, close to 6000 when loaded for a trip. This rig worked great. As soon as we upgraded to a heavier trailer, stuff started breaking.
I had two vacations interrupted by mechanical breakdowns because I was at/over the ratings of a half-ton Suburban. The rear axle was the culprit both times. On one trip we spent 4 days in Mitchell, SD instead of Yellowstone. Nice trade, eh?
This is why we upgraded to the Suburban 2500. If nothing else, the rear axle is absolutely bulletproof.
