speediq99 wrote:
It is hard to tell the true height of TT because specs seem to include AC.
It looks like surface area (wxh) plays a bigger factor than just height. Instead of looking for a shorter trailer, it makes more sense to focus on a narrorer one if you can live with a smaller or no slides.
Getting to 8ft tall TT including AC, makes the thing difficult to stand on if you are 6+ ft tall.
Most TT in the 25-30ft range seem to be 10.5 to 11.3 ft tall including AC. Anything less than that and you are going into teardrop land. Even a Casita with AC is almost 9ft tall.
Also in my opinion, a new 1/2 truck equipped with the Max tow package and towing capacity of 14,000lbs should be able to safely tow a 6200 lb trailer. No need to go looking for 8ft tall trailers unless this is what you want for functional, practical or financial reasons.
Fuel tank size is my biggest gripe on the 1/2 ton trucks. They want to market these great towing capacities but the don't give it range. I don't care as much about mpgs and cost of gas as I care about range anxiety when towing in the desert and other remote area. I get enough anxiety driving an electric car already... Nothing worse than seeing half a tank evaporate on long hill in the middle of summer or having to cover 500 miles and make 3-4 gas stops(no bladder issues yet. Knock on wood :-)
Seems to be a bit of a disconnect.
bumper pull trailers have several options on the FLOOR height.
Depending on where the floor is in relation to the steel frame makes a huge difference in the overall height.
To get complete wide open space on some layouts without intrusion from the wheel wells, the floor is elevated ABOVE the wheel wells, this typically adds as much as two feet to the overall height of the trailer, has nothing to do with the A/C unit. These trailers typically have a "basement" storage area which is between the floor and steel frame, water tanks are also placed there.
To get a LOWER profile trailer, you will have to sacrifice your preferred layout for one that puts the floor height at the top of the steel frame and not elevated above the wheel wells. This unfortunately means you lose some floor space between the wheel wells and sometimes may mean slides may be shorter/smaller.
Your over all height plus width does come into play and when you try pulling something with 16 square feet to 24 square feet more frontal area, it should be expected to lose some mileage.
Put it another way, consider it like having three 4x8 sheets of plywood laying on the side stacked up (12 ft tall x 8ft wide (96 square feet).. That IS what you are up against. If you can reduce that profile by 4x8 (8ft high x 8 ft wide 64 square feet) it will take a lot less energy in fuel to move that billboard..
Someone a long ti,e ago, put it like this, a RV is like dragging one large cement block, it is not aerodynamic and it is heavy..
As far as gas stops go, you have a 36 gallon tank thats about 216 mile range at 6MPG. That's about 3.6 hrs worth of driving at 60 MPH..
At 8 MPG your looking at 288 miles and at 60 MPH that is 4.8 hrs..
Even 3.6 hrs straight driving without stopping for a break would be way past most folks endurance level for sitting still in a seat..
Plan your fuel strategy and take breaks and fuel stops anytime, there is no hard rule that says you must drive till empty..
Myself, I supplemented my 34 gallon tank in my 2019 and 2020 F250s with an additional 15 gallon "landscapers" tank that I mount in the bed of the truck. At 10 MPG average I have 340 mile range with the main tank and the 15 gallon tank I get additional 150 miles for combination of 490 miles..
But, I STILL stop every two hrs or a bit less at rest stops or store parking lots to get out and stretch.. I use the extra fuel to reduce the amount of fuel stops I need which reduces my time traveling plus I can skip over some of the very expensive states that have high gas prices..
