Travel Trailers for large families
We are looking to purchase our first travel trailer. We've been tent campers our entire lives, but we now have 6 kids and are looking to make camping a bit easier for us. We would like a travel traile...
Forum Discussion
There are multiple ratings you need to watch.
- Tow rating is how much the engine can pull.
- But often, the truck payload will run out before you hit the max tow rating.
If you have 2500lb truck payload (seems low for a 1 ton rating):
- 1000lb of people count against it.
- 100lb for the hitch counts against it.
- 6000lb trailer should have around 800lb hitch weight which will count against it.
- Any other cargo in the truck counts against it.
- Any bolt on items (like running boards and roof racks) count against it. Not sure if the seats are considered add ons as full size vans can be ordered without them.
It appears you are looking at empty weights if you think these are 6000lb trailers...no one travels with an empty trailer. Look at GVWR for a more realistic idea of what you can expect to pull:
Looked up the Jayco...That's a 7000lb GVWR trailer with only 1160lb of payload (in the trailer)...that's going add another 100-150lb to the hitch weight and you will probably have to move more cargo to the van to keep the trailer within ratings
The alpha wolf is better on cargo (1800lb) but weighs in at 7600lb loaded, so figure a hitch weight up around 1000lb.
PS: ignore the hitch weights listed in the brochures...they are for empty trailers. Take 12-15% of the GVWR as a good estimate. By the time you get below 10%, you typically wind up with an unstable towing trailer.
With a couple of teenagers, if they are reasonably trustable, I would put them in the van for sleeping. They will probably prefer it anyway.
- Tow rating is how much the engine can pull.
- But often, the truck payload will run out before you hit the max tow rating.
If you have 2500lb truck payload (seems low for a 1 ton rating):
- 1000lb of people count against it.
- 100lb for the hitch counts against it.
- 6000lb trailer should have around 800lb hitch weight which will count against it.
- Any other cargo in the truck counts against it.
- Any bolt on items (like running boards and roof racks) count against it. Not sure if the seats are considered add ons as full size vans can be ordered without them.
It appears you are looking at empty weights if you think these are 6000lb trailers...no one travels with an empty trailer. Look at GVWR for a more realistic idea of what you can expect to pull:
Looked up the Jayco...That's a 7000lb GVWR trailer with only 1160lb of payload (in the trailer)...that's going add another 100-150lb to the hitch weight and you will probably have to move more cargo to the van to keep the trailer within ratings
The alpha wolf is better on cargo (1800lb) but weighs in at 7600lb loaded, so figure a hitch weight up around 1000lb.
PS: ignore the hitch weights listed in the brochures...they are for empty trailers. Take 12-15% of the GVWR as a good estimate. By the time you get below 10%, you typically wind up with an unstable towing trailer.
With a couple of teenagers, if they are reasonably trustable, I would put them in the van for sleeping. They will probably prefer it anyway.
