Are TT or 5vr Toy hauler handling better with trike loaded?

[KingDad]

We are looking at getting a Toy Hauler and down the road, get a trike to take with us. It seems to me that a TT with such a loaded rear end would be a nightmare to control on road. Is this the case? This is why we are thinking about going to a 5vr. But they are so much bigger and much more expensive. Wish someone would come out with a smaller 5vr.
I looked at a front load toy hauler(side load, but in the front). Problem is door is too small to fit a trike. And we also love the idea of the rear "porch" when the ramp is not in use.

P.S. I have a F250 6.7L Diesel as tow vehicle

Thanks for any insight!

Chris

[KingDad]

Wow! Awesome info! Thank you so much!!!

[rhagfo]

dedmiston wrote:
Where did the OP go?

The OP may be busy, it has only been 24 hours.

[dedmiston]

Where did the OP go?

[dedmiston]

Hi KingDad - Long time Toy Hauler owner here.

We've owned two toy haulers, and both of them were/are big. There are a lot of variables to look at, but one general rule is that the bigger the hauler, the less impact the toys will have on towing.

Our first hauler was a 30' bumper pull (Weekend Warrior FS2600). We owned it for about twelve years and traveled plenty with it both loaded and unloaded. My truck at the time was a RAM 2500 Cummins. The truck pulled the trailer well, but I could definitely tell the difference when I was "heavy" or not. Loaded up for a week long trip, we would have five bikes in the hauler, plus 120 gallons of water, a full bed of firewood, and however much gas fit in the fuel station (I don't remember anymore). Honestly, the bed full of firewood was the biggest factor in being "heavy".

I had a good Reese Dual Cam anti-sway hitch and it worked well, but I could definitely feel the big rigs push us around on the road.

Again though, having bikes in the garage or not didn't ever make a difference in the handling. The trailer was long enough with enough weight up front (and the axles were placed just right) that having the bikes in the garage or not really didn't impact us.

That was then.

Now we're HUGE. We have a 44.5' fifth wheel and a full ton dually to tow it. We're a big slow dumb pig cruising down the road. We cruise great though. The whole thing handles way better than the shorter bumper pull did.

The fiver is so heavy that it makes zero difference whether the garage is full or empty. Our two fresh water tanks are over the axles, the three waste tanks are in front of the axles, and the two fuel tanks are in the rear. I honestly can't feel any difference between a loaded garage or not. Same goes for full or empty fuel tanks, or full fresh vs full waste tanks. The fiver is heavy, period.

I've camped with two people who had the side-loading toy haulers and both of them absolutely HATED the experience. The bikes were right there in the living area and it made a mess. The geometry of the ramps was also completely different than a rear ramp, and the angle was always too steep to be comfortable going up or down. If the trailer wasn't on perfectly level ground, then the side ramp was always tweaked too far out of square to be comfortable with. With a rear ramp though, you can easily block one edge of the ramp if the ground is uneven from side to side, and you can jack up the nose to make the rear angle less steep.

My advice is to study the weight capacities closely and look at the layout of the tanks and inside furnishings with respect to the axles. Also look for user groups for that brand and look for feedback from actual owners.

My guess is that your trike will be so heavy that any hauler designed to carry that much weight will also be designed to tow well whether it's empty or full.

The two most common misconceptions that I see about toy haulers is:

* How could you load a motorized vehicle into your RV without the whole thing constantly stinking of gas?

* You can never tow a toy hauler without the toys loaded in the rear, because it won't have enough tongue weight when it's empty.

The first point is definitely not true unless you actually leak/spill gas all over the place. Our side-by-side car has big tires and there's definitely a tire smell while it's loaded, but there is zero smell back there once you unload the toys. Opening that ramp lets a ton of air into the space, and any possible smell is 100% gone by the time you've unloaded the toy(s) and all the other stuff (chairs, bbq, etc.).

And the second point is hyperbole. Yes, you will see a difference in the numbers if you weigh the tongue/pin full vs. empty, but the delta isn't as large as you'd expect and it rarely translates into a noticeable difference in handling.

There are definitely units out there that were engineered poorly and they're too close to capacity even unloaded, but those are rare. Just make sure to pick a manufacturer who has been building toy haulers for more than a year or so.

I hope this helps.

[Sandia_Man]

Our experience is we have been towing our nearly 33' TT TH for over a decade, loaded with or without toys it tows well. We tend to carry our own water most times out and tanks are mostly forward of axles, either way it has enough tongue weight for a stable ride behind our 3/4 ton Chevy gasser with over 3200# of payload. Having enough truck is paramount, we added a stout WD/SC hitch making sure it was dialed in properly. Sway is virtually non-existent and no noticeable push/pull effect from passing semi trucks at highway speeds.

[schlep1967]

When shopping look closely at where the trailer axles are in relation to the garage. A toy hauler with both axles in front of the garage is suitable for a couple of light weight dirt bikes. If you can find one with at least one of the axles under the garage so you can get some of the weight over the axle, you have a better chance of not making the nose too light.

[valhalla360]

If they just cut a hole in the rear of a trailer designed to be at 10% tongue weight and you cram a 2000lb toy at the very rear...sure that would be a big concern.

Most toy haulers (5er or TT) start out heavy in the front so when you load them up, you still have a reasonable tongue weight. That doesn't mean you can do stupid things but if TT toy haulers were death traps, they wouldn't be building them.

We recently purchased a 25ft TT Toy Hauler and there is almost nothing but box behind the axles when empty. Just the fold up couches and table (maybe 100lb). Kitchen sits over the axles, Bathroom & Bedroom with storage are all in front of the axles. Tanks are at or in front of the axles. The axles are a bit further back compared to similar TT also, so a pound added up by the bedroom will cancel out more than a pound in the garage area in terms of determining tongue weight.

We didn't weigh it empty (we do have to swing by and weight the rig soon) but according to the specs, empty is 15% tongue weight. We've seen a lot of TT that start in the 8-10% range (they assume it will increase when you load it). So if you put 400lb of personal effects in the front, that might cancel out 600lb of toy in the back, which might result in the tongue weight dropping to 12-13% loaded (you need the weights and positions of everything to do the calculations) which would generally be fine.

[Grit_dog]

KD, I’ve never owned a toy hauler, but from what I know about the physics of trailer length, tongue weight, axle placement, load placement from hauling many other kinds of trailers, I’d say you’re partly right that something as heavy as a trike will affect the handling some.
But first, TT toy haulers are designed tongue heavy when empty so there is tongue weight to balance against large loads aft of the axles. That’s good for tongue weight but with the distance the load is behind TT axles, that load will be inclined to accentuate wiggling side to side or even sway. (Literal tail wag the dog).
A 5ver will generally control this better due to its design, mainly hitch design and axle placement.

That said I’ve seen plenty of TT toyhaulers driving straight down the road so I’m sure it’s not prohibitive.

[rhagfo]

KingDad wrote:
We are looking at getting a Toy Hauler and down the road, get a trike to take with us. It seems to me that a TT with such a loaded rear end would be a nightmare to control on road. Is this the case? This is why we are thinking about going to a 5vr. But they are so much bigger and much more expensive. Wish someone would come out with a smaller 5vr.
I looked at a front load toy hauler(side load, but in the front). Problem is door is too small to fit a trike. And we also love the idea of the rear "porch" when the ramp is not in use.

Thanks for any insight!

Chris

Well yes, 5ers are more expensive and heaver, but also far more stable. One just needs enough truck to carry them.

[lap527]

We bounced those ideas around for awhile. Hubby was worried about tongue weight when the trike was not with us. There are a lot of times when we just don't have time for the trike while camping. We have a harley trike. Ultimately we decided on a truck camper and towing a v-nose trailer when we want the trike with us. Not as much room but we sure have an easier time finding campsites too. Last year we also bought a tt that stays on our seasonal site in NC. Lots of decisions for you...Good Luck!