Thoughts, Opinions and...HELP!

"Yes! We made sure to check with Chevrolet; we're rated for 8300lbs"

That's not that much. My 2015 Tahoe is 8,600 with a 1,595 payload. Get a smaller TT or a bigger TV.

Please re-think the truck / trailer combination. My guess is it's a 1/2-ton crew cab? If so, you'll run out of yellow-sticker payload before hitting your max tow rating. Don't believe me? load up the family and all the gear you'll take and get it weighed.

GrandpaKip wrote:
I would be very leery of that salesman. When they start bad mouthing their own stuff, it's not a good sign. He's not pushing the Vibe for your benefit.

The first salesperson we spoke with at a CW right out of the door said, "You aren't looking at a Coleman are you? Because they are pieces of C**P."

I said, "No, but if it is a piece as you said, why do you sell them?"

He didn't say anything after that about them.

I like the Vibe. U dinette is nice plus water In the outdoor kitchen is a must for hand washing and such. I couldn't tell if they both have sinks or not from a brief look.

Since the choir is now singing, then you can't hear how bad my voice is...:p

With a tow rating of 8,300Lbs on a Chevrolet, (sounds like a 1500), you need to be aware there is an evil troll under that happy travel trailer bridge you are fixin' to cross, and he goes by the name "Payload". He's got an even more belligerent and loudmouthed cousin that goes by "Tongue Weight". Get these two in a small space (your truck bed and/or cab), with some beverages and such, and well the storm clouds start brewin', and you don't want to see what goes on at that family reunion, especially when you're hosting them at your place. Just set the ground rules ahead of time and put the proper preparations in place.

Now you can knock both of 'em off the bridge and proceed safely across, but you need to be prepared, and have the right equipment.

The Vibes dry weight is about 6,100 lbs, add about 1,500 lbs of stuff, and you're nearing 7,700 LBS. Tongue Weight makes his appearance, if he's lean and in good condition, well he weighs about 770 lbs, but if he's fat and lazy as usual, then figure about 980 lbs.

Your Chevy has a sticker that shows maximum cargo weight, (gear, passengers, etc.) You'll need to add all the stuff plus that loudmouthed Tongue Weight's (weight), (he came even without invitation remember), and make sure he, "y'all" and your stuff don't exceed your Payload capacity on the sticker. More than likely those two will eat all the "food" available prepared by your Rear GAWR (gross axle weight rating). It sounds like this deal isn't going to be any picnic for sure.

In the best case scenario, you only have about 600 lbs left for passengers, stuff, etc. I'd cancel this family reunion, get a bigger place to hold the event, (tow rig) or invite smaller cousins with better manners (Payload and Tongue Weight that go with the trailer).

Seriously, if you want, post up your tow rig info, truck, cab, engine, gear ratio, etc. We'll take a look at it. (Wait...is that sirens I hear in the distance...It might be the Weight Police!)

Hopefully you'll create a happy ending to this story.

Best,

David

Shep1478 wrote:
My family is about to pull the trigger on our very first TT. We're looking at the Vibe 315BHK and also the Sunset 289QB.

We're very, very new to this, and although we know we'll make mistakes along the way, just wanna try to minimize those issues!

Anything anyone could add would be greatly appreciated!

SoundGuy wrote:
Those are both fairly large trailers - have you made sure that you have a tow vehicle capable of safely towing either while also transporting your family and all the junk you're sure to want to drag along with you? It's vitally important, especially for newbies. ;)

Shep1478 wrote:
Yes! We made sure to check with Chevrolet; we're rated for 8300lbs :)

Oh boy, here we go, a classic newbie mistake. :R You've provided no details about your truck (assuming it is a truck) but it sounds like you have a 1/2 ton Chevy so regardless of it's so-called tow rating you'll be limited by it's own typically limiting payload capacity long before you get anywhere near that tow rating. :( Trailers you've mentioned are likely to weigh close to 7000 lbs loaded & ready to camp so that by definition means you'll be running at least 900 lbs of gross tongue weight, leaving not a whole lot to account for weight of everyone and everything else in the truck when you're towing. FWIW, I've been towing with GM's ubiquitous 5.3L for 10 yrs now, both with the older wide ratio 4-spd and now with the current narrow ratio 6-spd in my 2012 Silverado, in every case coupled to a 3.42 axle ratio, and there's no way I'd want to be towing any more than ~ 6000 lbs fully loaded with this truck. My current couple's trailer typically averages ~ 4700 lbs loaded with an average gross tongue weight of ~ 625 lbs yet even with just the two of us and our son's dog in the truck I'm just about out of payload capacity. Your situation, with a family chewing up some of that valuable payload capacity, will be even worse.

I would question the tow vehicle, you are close to your max, even it you don't consider payload.

Having towed in your area, I'll toss out some insight. My max to is 10,200 and my campers dry weight is about 400lbs more than the Sunset. When towing over Blood Mountain to go to Vogel, my truck is working it's tail off. 2nd gear on the straights, and down to 1st around some of the switchbacks, and turning 3-4+K rpms.

Also coming down the hill you will have alot of weight pushing sideways on you around those turns.

I don't know what your tow vehicle is, but you might want to post that to give us a better idea.

My RAM 1500 HEMI is rated for 8850 lb. and I wouldn't tow either of those TTs. You'd be much happier/safer making sure that you don't tow more than 75% of your truck's tow capacity. For your truck, that would be a gross weight of 6,225 lb. That includes the TT, the WDH, battery, propane, your family, and all of your stuff. I'd stay 5500 lb. dry weight or under.

First don't listen to a salesman, you will learn more off of the internet, they are only there to make a paycheck. If you're willing to wait, start visiting RV shows that way you see many different units without pressure from a salesman.

Take your time, loom through as many units as you can, drive out of state of you need to look at a particular unit. When if co.es to pricing use rvtrader.com as a good source for wait a fair price might be. You are in a sellers market right now, in December it will be a sellers market and yoh can get a better price.

Above all make sure your truck can handle the RV, don't listen to the salesman as he will tell you it can

Best of luck in your search.

naturist wrote:
Salesmen push because they are on commission. Just be aware of that and don't let them push you into a bad decision. My guess is that the profit on the larger Vibe is higher, and thus the commission is higher, which may be the REAL reason for that particular push. I do not, however, have any info re the quality of either.

As @APT says, most folks get into trouble via TV payload before they run into towing gross weight limits. Besides checking that tow weight is not exceeded, you should also add up the weights of all passengers, the tongue weight, and the rubble you carry along to see that you are under the payload limit. Don't forget to add in the weight of a full tank of fuel (at 7.4 lbs per gallon) as that is also part of the payload, and not included in the truck's dry weight.

excellent points