Weight of trailer and my tow vehicle

Exploders are pretty stout for a midsize uni body SUV.
If they weren't, they wouldn't be the go to vehicle for police.
I also use my trucks at or above their rated capacities regularly and don't believe it is an issue in the least.
For you, the OP, your obvious, admitted, lack of experience should be considered thougn and IMO, you'd be well served to consider not exceeding any of your vehicle's capacities as a bit of additional factor of safety until you get some experience towing under your belt.

dodge guy wrote:
We have a 13 Explorer LTD with factory tow pkg. the manuf already built in a safety margin. They don’t build them so they break at 1 lb over the limit.

^This. There's no reason not to use the full ratings. Just beware tow rating isn't the only one to watch. GVWR is the other one as stated, when you factor in hitch weight. The good news is Explorer's payload rivals or betters most half-tons. It ranges from 1,400 pound on a Platinum model, to 1,800 pounds for a modest XLT model.

We have a 13 Explorer LTD with factory tow pkg. the manuf already built in a safety margin. They don’t build them so they break at 1 lb over the limit.

With that said, I tow a 3 place snowmobile trailer with ours. 2200lbs loaded. With 4 of us and our stuff in the Explorer and the trailer it is working to pull it all. Can’t imagine how it would be with a 5k lb travel trailer attached to it. I did tow a 5k lb TT with a 95 Explorer 4dr and it did ok, better than my 13 with less weight and lower profile!

No knowing anything about TTs we rented our first trailer. The trailer was fine, the 200 hp. F-150 not so much.

See if you can rent what you think you want. Then you can take it to the CAT scales for the real numbers.

Yes many folks do over load their tow vehicles, It is not a good idea because it increases the amount of wear and tear.

The numbers that come from the factory are based on what the factory considers the useable life of the car. Overloading decreases that number.

As already stated you will most likely exceed your cargo capacity before you exceed your towing capacity. Weigh your family, gear and toys, that you will carry in the Explorer, subtract that from the cargo capacity and that is your loaded for the road tongue weight.

My dry tongue weight was advertised as 400#, when loaded for the road, it was 750#.

Many long time pickup owners do occasionally push their trucks at or above the recommended limit but it takes it toll on shocks, springs, and brakes, They have come to accept that as normal for farming or construction.

An SUV is a different animal that is why it is rated to 5K.

At this moment, I'm leaning towards a KZ Escape Mini 181SS, which has a GVWR of 3500. It says it has a dry axle weight of 2,538 and dry hitch weight of 310 pounds. I believe this should keep me in the safe range. If I end up with this, is there anything I should look for in a weight-distribution hitch system? Again, I'd rather hear things other than a salesman spiel, so I can have more of an informed opinion based on other people's experience who aren't making a commission.

I got a fairly good vibe from the last salesman, but he is a salesman. He also mentioned that all of their RVs have a lifetime warranty, provided they are brought in for a $199 annual inspection. I'm just one that likes to do my own research; researching beyond most... trying to answer all the "what ifs" before I have even purchased anything.

I tow with a 2008 Ford Explorer with factory tow package, V6 4x4. Factory tow rating 5225#.
I prefer a little safety margin so I looked for and bought a TT with a GTWR of under 4000#. (See signature) . I could use a little more power but otherwise it tows, brakes, and handles well with my WDH. In this TT weight range, its mostly single axles. THAT is a concern because my GTWR (3877#) assumes part of it is carried by the tongue weight on the TV's payload weight (1452#). The TT has a single 3500# rated axle! My CAT scale TT axle weight was 3600#! I have hence had my TT on a weight reduction program ;) Additionally, my TV drive axle was also overloaded.
The camping trip before the trip to the scales we had my 12yo grandson along. Before that, on our initial run with this TT, no grandson but a load of wood in the Explorer. So I was likely even more overloaded on those trips.
This is my first TT but I've had two enclosed cargo trailers and a mid size boat for towing experience, but no brakes on the under 3K trailers.
Based on my current TV & TT experience, when towing with an Explorer I recommend shooting for a TT GTWR at 80% of the TV tow rating.

Never count on a trailer's dry weight. In the real world, you'll have food, clothes, bedding, camp chairs, grill, battery, propane... loaded in the trailer. While the vehicle will be full of family members and dogs. In my case I add a full tank of water and some solar panels because I boondock. Oh, and a kayak and fishing gear.

That 4300# trailer ends up weighing 6000# faster than you'd think. Evaluate any tow vehicle based the fully loaded weight of a trailer.

MitchF150 wrote:
Ha, my trailer has a dry weight of around #3500 and a GVWR of #5000 and I tow it with an F150 that has a tow rating of just a tad over #11,000...

I'm comfortable with that because I know it weighs every bit of that #5000 because I know I pack too much and will take any trailer I have to it's GVWR..

Give me a #7500 GVWR TT... I'll load it to that amount. Easy!

I'm just a weekend camper too, so those that don't load anything in their trailers, more power to ya!

I used to tent camp and always wanted more stuff when "camping" so got a trailer.. Loaded up all the stuff I want to take and there you go!

This is just me of course and I camp the way I want to camp and other's camp the way they want to camp..

How do you want to camp? That's the question. Bet that #4300 dry weight trailer has around a #6000 GVWR on it..

Good luck!

Mitch

I will second Mitch. My truck is rated at 7,000 lbs towing and payload capacity of 1,900 or so. I took months to find a trailer rated at less than 5,000 lbs dry to ensure I didn't get close to max. Add in six of us (rarely but it happens) and the truck is still happy. But personally I would never exceed limits. Could truck do it? Sure. Would she be happy? Not for long.

Once sat and listened to a salesman tell my DIL that the Weight Distrbution System takes care of all the tongue weight, so tongue weight really doesn’t matter. Poof. It just goes away.
Anyhow, as stated, first find your payload rating located on the door post of your truck.
When looking at campers, find the gross weight rating, located on a sticker on the camper. Take about 13% of that and you will get an approximation of max tongue weight.
Subtract that from your payload.
What’s left is for you, passengers, and any stuff you put in the truck.
Do the math a few times and you will get a good idea of what size campers you can really pull.