Under 3500 lbs

Thank you SoundGuy. I’ve got your message loud and clear! I’ve had some great ideas (like one vehicle for gear). I’m gathering information and appreciate yours as much as anyone else’s.

D2Forever wrote:
We don’t live anywhere near the Rocky Mountains. We have young kids in school and full time jobs. This is for long weekends and likely less than 100 miles (in many cases 30). We are blessed with many great choices nearby. I will continue my homework ...

Just keep in mind the TV doesn't know or care how far you're towing, be it 10 miles or 1000 miles - if it's underrated for the trailer you want to tow it's underrated regardless. No question, towing along relatively flat terrain is certainly easier on the TV that mountain towing BUT only insofar as weight is concerned because significant wind resistance of any full height trailer will be the same regardless of where you're towing and will excessively stress any TV with limited towing capability. Homework is good but you've already been given several suggestions as to what will work for you and they all come down to about the same thing - a single axle TT about 20' long with an UVW not exceeding 3000 lbs, a GVWR 3500 lbs to 3800 lbs, and limited cargo capacity. Anything larger and you need a more appropriate TV.

Thank you all for your help and concern. This started as different posts with different questions. We haven’t purchased anything. There are folks towing this with an Explorer, how comfortable, who knows. We don’t live anywhere near the Rocky Mountains. We have young kids in school and full time jobs. This is for long weekends and likely less than 100 miles (in many cases 30). We are blessed with many great choices nearby. I will continue my homework ( as I understand it, the purpose of this forum).

I see you went with a three bunk hybrid. And that Starcraft is the lowest UVW on that layout I am aware of. I'd do it on the flat and do my best to keep the weight as low as possible in the TT. Wish you well and I'm not sure how many Rocky Mountains you should go over. Remember, you are going to need something like a Fastway E2 WDH/antisway hitch. They weigh about 60/70+ lbs all by themselves and impact carrying capacity of your vehicle. And you will have 500+ lbs of hitch weight. You are at or just over your max. Most prefer to stay under per Sound Guy's observations.

D2Forever wrote:
You all deduced correctly that the TV has a 5000 lb rating with the factory tow package. I have calculated that 3000 - 3500 pounds, with our young family, will keep us below max. We have had a 2016 StarCraft 187tb come available in our market. I will be looking at it in the next few days and hope it will work out.

I'm confused :? - a 2016 Starcraft 187TB with a UVW of 3615 lbs and a GVWR of 4475 lbs is WAY too heavy for your Explorer. With a so-called tow rating of just 5000 lbs you need to be looking at single axle trailers with a UVW of no more than ~ 3000 lbs. Sorry, but I don't see how this can "work out" as you just don't have sufficient TV for a dual axle trailer of this size. :h

D2Forever wrote:

afidel wrote:
If the payload is near the top for that year Explorer (1750 pounds) and the kids are smaller then a 3k dry trailer is probably fine. My trailer is just over 3k dry and had 2 bunks and a front full bed with a large dinette on the slide. 4 is very comfortable for us as former tent campers. I'd love a couch but that would have required a bigger tow vehicle.

Hello Afidel - what are you towing? and what is your TV? thanks

It's in my signature and profile but in case you can't see them for some reason:
2017 KZ Sportsmen Classic 181BH
2015 GMC 1500 Sierra 4x4 5.3 3.42 long bed
E2 WDH

afidel wrote:
If the payload is near the top for that year Explorer (1750 pounds) and the kids are smaller then a 3k dry trailer is probably fine. My trailer is just over 3k dry and had 2 bunks and a front full bed with a large dinette on the slide. 4 is very comfortable for us as former tent campers. I'd love a couch but that would have required a bigger tow vehicle.

Hello Afidel - what are you towing? and what is your TV? thanks

Thank you all for your replies! You all deduced correctly that the TV has a 5000 lb rating with the factory tow package. I have calculated that 3000 - 3500 pounds, with our young family, will keep us below max. We have had a 2016 StarCraft 187tb come available in our market. I will be looking at it in the next few days and hope it will work out. I also like the larger bunks with the Q murphy bed. I would love to find more folks that have had success with our TV. When the kids get older (and heavier, and want more stuff, and friends) we might be ready to upgrade the TV by then!

Hmmm...no response from OP regarding Explorer payload.