DazedNConfused wrote:
So I'm looking to downsize to an under 30' TT. I'd prefer 26' or less, bunks for the kids, and have taken a liking to units like the Rockwood Mini 2504s with a murphy bed that gives us a couch during the day, single slide, 26', etc. Plenty for the 4 day trips we do. Will miss the outside kitchen...but oh well.
I'm trying to figure out what is reasonable for my truck. It's 2012 F-250 diesel which is more than up for the task of any TT we're looking at, of course. Something would further simplify things further would be the novelty of not having to deal with a weight distributing hitch. My tow bar is of the beefy 2.5" variety. Any rules of thumb out there on how much I can realistically load on the back of the truck without WD? The novelty of dropping on the ball of the truck and using a drill to bring up the manual stabilizer jacks should take all of a few minutes and would be nice.
Dry hitch weight on the 2504S is 480lbs. So maybe I'll be around 600 when we're loaded up? GVWR of that trailer is 6,200 lbs, but based on the results from weighing my current setup, we won't use all of the payload capacity available in teh camper -- so expect to land around 5,500 - 5,750 lbs -- half the weight we town now with the fiver.
So what are the rules of thumb for towing with and without WD? Truck already has airbags, btw.
Thanks in advance.
Since you have 2.5" hitch you are already ahead of the game so to speak. The 2" hitch is rated at 850 lbs hitch weight without WD so technically the trailer you are looking at is well with in the tongue weights for no WD for your hitch.
For what it is worth, I have a 2013 F250 6.2 SuperCab short bed and am towing a 26ft TT (empty 5K) when loaded we are about 6K not including stuff in the bed of the truck.
We run (GASP) barefoot (IE no WD)with this setup, sets the back of the truck down about 1.5" and the truck and trailer combo pulls nice.
Folks tend to use WD as a means to COVER up hauling to big of a trailer and or a poorly loaded trailer.
The only thing that you need to watch is making sure you have at least 10% tongue weight although 12%-15% being the range you really want and 15% being totally ideal..
My suggestion is to try it without WD BEFORE you dump bunches of money on a WD hitch..
