Purchasing used Weekend Warrior Toy Hauler

[turbotbird]

Hello, I am in the market for a toy hauler. I am looking at the 2004-2007 Weekend warriors. I am considering the 2600, 2800 up to the 3000. I have done a lot of research on the law suit and know what to look for when buying. I have a 3/4 ton pick up so towing it shouldn't be an issue. However, I am unsure of what the real world weights are on these trailers. I am being told the WW underestimates their weights and I can't go off of those at all... Does anyone have any unloaded and loaded numbers on these trailers? I am also wondering if a triple axle fs3000 is going to tow better than a Fsc2800 tandem. Anyone with any experience please chime in.

Thank you in advance!

[Hap_Hazard]

Turbotbird,

Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to find answer to your questions. However, beware it is sometimes difficult to separate facts from opinions or rumors. I’ll provide what I know about your question.

Our T/V is a 2012 Ford F-250 4X4 6.7L diesel short bed super cab. The T/H is a 2005 WW FSC2800 purchased new. I don’t believe we have any plans to part with this unit in the near future as we still love it.

Before the failure of WW warrior I called the company about the frame issues. I was told (by the owner) that at the time of the construction of our unit the frames supplied had addressed the bending-twisting concerns. We have never had a problem with the frame.

Our unit does about 80% of its time on highway use and has well over 25-30K miles. I tow at 65 MPH and don’t abuse the unit when going off-road or over rough surfaces.

Our normal towing package includes 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 large dogs, 2 full size street bikes, partial fresh water, and all the support equipment for all of us. We are usually on the road for 2-3 weeks at a time.

We did recently have a fiberglass siding issue that has been repaired. You can check on this website for further details on the repair and cost under my name.

The following are the weights from a CAT Certified Scale with the T/H loaded as described above:

Steering axle: 4080
Drive axle: 5480
Trailer axle: 10320
Gross weight: 19,880

Hope this helps. Enjoy whatever you decide to buy.
Hap

Just saw your last post. Sway is not an issue for us. (load lever bars, sway control, and air bags.)

[turbotbird]

Good replies. I had a TPD race trailer that I put the car in and Swaying was an issue.......

I will see if I can tow the 30' triple axle before I buy and see how it pulls.

[lincster]

I will throw another wrench into your equation.... LOL

If you are driving your sandcar in straight, you will get sway with a tow behind.
No matter what I did with my hitch etc, I always got sway above 55mph.
I got a 5th wheel.... no more issues.

[Bedlam]

My 2006 FB2200 was 7500 lbs dry, so you definitely should get the triple axle for the longer units you want. I was spoiled with capacities offered by WW and would still have mine if I didn't want more garage space.

[rivalrider]

My previous trailer was an '05 FS2300. With a RZR, a quad, two dirt bikes and full water and fuel I weighed it at 8800lbs. I don't have tongue weight or the scale sheet for that one, towed with my '08 Tundra no problem. Horrible gas milage, but plenty of power.

I now have an '06 FB3000, the front bath model which gives me 20ft to the first cabinet. My sand car is 17ft long so I need the room. The original owner had the entire frame strengthened as well as the tongue extended/strengthened to be able to fit an 80 gallon gas tank(picture a truck bed tank) up there. He had some sort of baja race car hence the need for that much gas...

Anyways, the trailer is 37.5 feet long which is a large tow behind, but it is strong and stable.

I tow with an '08 Duramax CC/LB with EFI live tow tunes and exhaust brake. I also have air bags, and a Curt XD hitch. Here is my weigh sheet with sand rail, water, truck bed filled with about 40gal diesel in my external tank and full firewood. I did not un-hook so no exact tongue weight. I know the weight police will yell at me but this set up tows very stable and the truck pulls and stops it with no problems.









In my opinion any normal WW without the modifications mine has will work just fine with your truck as it will be lighter overall. I do enjoy the triple axel for stability and I run two stabilizers on hitch also. I'm guessing my trailer is just shy of 15k with about 2300lbs of tongue weight.

[Blackdiamond]

Also to answer you stability question on the 2800 2 axle vs the 3000 3 axle, WW was having issues with the 2800 2 axel not meeting weight requirements and I think the 2008 model year they switched the 2800 to 3 axles, anyway yes the 3 axles are the way to go.

[dedmiston]

turbotbird wrote:
Thank you for the replies. The truck is a 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 Crew Cab Long Bed 4X4 auto. My issue is I am putting a long travel sandcar in it and need the length. However, those weights are wayyy more than published and obviously I will go off of your real world experience rather than the manufacturers published weight.. I hate the thought of upgrading trucks however it may be in order...

You're going to LOVE your new dually. :B

I don't know what the used truck market is like up there, but it stinks down here in L.A. I ended up shopping at http://www.texasdirectauto.com/ and got a great deal on a used dually. It was a fun adventure to fly to Houston to pick it up. They'll deliver it to you for a fee, but I wanted to see it in person before I signed everything. I got way more truck for way less money than anything I could have bought here in L.A.

[turbotbird]

Thank you for the replies. The truck is a 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 Crew Cab Long Bed 4X4 auto. My issue is I am putting a long travel sandcar in it and need the length. However, those weights are wayyy more than published and obviously I will go off of your real world experience rather than the manufacturers published weight.. I hate the thought of upgrading trucks however it may be in order...

[lincster]

I can help on weights.

3/4 ton truck won't be enough if you want to stay within the tow ratings of your truck. Here is the data to support that.

I had a 2004 FS3000.
Tongue weights in different configs using a Sherline tongue weight scale measured at the ball:
Empty trailer, no water, no fuel, no toys: 1400lbs of tongue weight.
Trailer with no toys, full water and full fuel: 1700lbs of tongue weight.
Trailer with 4 quads, full water, full fuel: 1400lbs of tongue weight.

Trailer weighed on a CAT scale with 4 quads, full water, full fuel, food etc. 12,800lbs.
Trailer weighed empty, no water, no fuel: 9600lbs.

My buddy owned a 2002 FS2600.
Tongue weights in different configs using a Sherline tongue weight scale measured at the ball:
Empty trailer, no water, no fuel, no toys: 1600lbs of tongue weight.
Trailer with no toys, full water and full fuel: 2000lbs of tongue weight.
Trailer with 4 quads, full water, full fuel: 1700lbs of tongue weight.

He said his fully loaded weights with 2 quads was 11,950lbs.

So, you can see that the tongue weights alone will be over most receiver hitch ratings, at least stock receivers.

A newer truck might be ok on GCWR, but depends on tow ratings.

Hope this helps.

[dedmiston]

Hi Turbotbird,

Welcome to the forum.

We recently upgraded from a 2005 FS2600. We cleaned it up real nice and put it on Craigslist. I was happy to see that the blast marks where derwud and I each electrocuted ourselves exactly one year apart scrubbed off the diamond plate and you can't even tell. :B

What kind of toys do you have? Do you need the longer haulers? We can comfortably fit five dirt bikes and all of our junk in the 2600.

These are really long bumper pull trailers. I don't think I would want to tow the longer 2800 or 3000.

What year is your truck? Is it one of the newer models with the improved tow-haul mode? If so you'll be fine with any one of these trailers. If not though, I wouldn't tow either of the two heavier ones. The FS2600 was just fine with my 2004.5 RAM 2500, but I wouldn't have wanted to tow anything heavier with that truck.

It's good that you already know about the recall & repairs for those units. If they were properly repaired, there shouldn't be anything wrong with them. I know the only thing wrong with ours is that all three of the detectors pooped out over time (smoke, CO, and Propane) and I just pulled them out and didn't bother to replace them. My wife's cooking tastes better without the smoke alarm blaring.

Good luck with your search.

[Y-Guy]

I can't help with the weights but I'm sure some of our members can, you can also try to Advance Search using the Archives from over a year ago.

Also just wanted to make sure you'd seen the WW Repairs which addressed the lawsuit but more important has been a good repository of information for WW owners and buyers.

Good luck with the search and purchase.