Travel Trailer weight vs vehicle hauling

[jkrhouse]

I have a 2014 Ford Flex with the towing packing that allows us to tow up to 4500lbs. We are interested in purchasing Forest River Rockwood Mini Lite 2306 which says the UVW is 3890 and the GVWR says TBD. We are concerned with the weight and do want to over due it. We do not know much about hauling travel trailers and we also do not know how to determine how much we can tow. There are so many specifications such as GVWR and dry weight, etc. Can someone enlighten me please? We are interested in a travel trailer (no canvas) that has bunks and a queen size bed. Like I stated earlier, we really like the model mentioned above. We will be travel within our state (no mountains) and will mostly be doing long weekend trips. There will be 4 people and a dog in our vehicle. We want the most bang for our buck. Thanks for taking the time read this. I would appreciate any feedback.:)

[westend]

you do know that the Flex is NOT a small car don't you? 23 MPG highway is pretty good for a vehicle that can carry 8 people. You do know it is sized and looks more like the "Station Wagon" of old that congress legislated out of existence.

And that is just a bad outcome, IMO.
I owned an second generation Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon. One of the most comfortable and trouble-free vehicles I've had. It approached 20 MPG with just passengers loaded. I never towed with it but I'm sure it would handle a small trailer with no problem. I think that platform was the largest passenger vehicle ever built. It rode like a limo because of the long wheelbase and total GVW.
Today's vehicles that can carry 8 or 9 passengers are all about MPG and not about comfort or towing (maybe a new Benz or Audi SUV would challenge for comfort). It's too bad we lost that station wagon platform, it was a winner for function and use for a lot of folks.

[Terryallan]

Grit dog wrote:
I didn't know what the flex was til I looked it up. The toaster model!
Yeah, full car plus a hard side TT is probably not in the cards. People have towed more with less, but that doesn't mean it's right.
On the downside, just the quick summary showed 16/23mpg rating. That is horrible for a little fart box car. You can get something big enough to pull a trailer that still gets that kind of mileage, or better.

you do know that the Flex is NOT a small car don't you? 23 MPG highway is pretty good for a vehicle that can carry 8 people. You do know it is sized and looks more like the "Station Wagon" of old that congress legislated out of existence.

And I don't know what you are towing with. But in reality. Few full sized trucks that can tow get 23 MPH. A new F150 with the 5.0 is rated for only 21, and that is with a rear gear that won't tow anything. Same for the Chevy. All the MPG rating are for high / non towing rear gears.

[souraider]

Take a look at these. They are pretty popular here on the west coast.

R-Pod

[Grit_dog]

I didn't know what the flex was til I looked it up. The toaster model!
Yeah, full car plus a hard side TT is probably not in the cards. People have towed more with less, but that doesn't mean it's right.
On the downside, just the quick summary showed 16/23mpg rating. That is horrible for a little fart box car. You can get something big enough to pull a trailer that still gets that kind of mileage, or better.

[westend]

According to the Ford towing guide, if your Flex has the towing package, you'll be limited to maximum 450 lbs. of tongue weight. Also, they place a limitation of 30 sq. ft. of trailer frontal area and that is going to be real difficult to overcome with a hard-sided trailer.
Evidently, the Flex, with it's smaller engine, is not a real good tow vehicle. You would probably be happier and have more worry-free miles by buying a tow vehicle that suits your needs.
Good luck with the trailer hunt.

[2012Coleman]

It's not about how much you can tow, its about how much you can carry. Check the payload of the Flex - good luck.

[ChooChooMan74]

The dry weight of that particular camper comes very close to the yellow sticker weights I see online. I really like the dealers that post the yellow sticker.

[dodge_guy]

Yes, the TT the OP has in mind will not work. But I have to laugh at some of the responses, such as the fridge is not included in the dry weight? Maybe 20 years ago on a PuP but not today. And the other stating they'll never find a trailer that will match up with the Flex, and quite a bit agreed, even after a member found one that will work! And of course there is the myth about only using 70-70% of a vehicles tow capacity even when the manuf. already has that figured into the tow rating!

To the OP, what you want is out there it will just take time and patience to find it.

Good luck!

[scbwr]

Terryallan wrote:
Here you go. All you asked for. Bunks, and within your TV capacities. To see it. Google Apex Nano. H


Apex Nano 185BH Floorplan Image
This Coachmen Apex Nano Ultra Lite bunkhouse model makes camping more enjoyable ... more about Apex Nano 185BH

Have a question about this floorplan? Contact Us


Specifications

Sleeps 5
Length 20 ft 9 in
Ext Width 7 ft 6 in
Ext Height 9 ft 7 in
Interior Color Cayenne Shadow, Latte, Pebble
Exterior Color Gray
Hitch Weight 350 lbs
Gross Weight 3800 lbs
Dry Weight 2830 lbs
Cargo Weight 949 lbs
Fresh Water Capacity 30 gals
Grey Water Capacity 30 gals

If you don't get carried away with gear, this may be the answer. You would be towing around 3,500 lbs. Get a good weight distributing hitch with anti sway. No personal experience with this unit...just speculating based upon what I saw on the web site, and I certainly don't know anything about the towing specs of your Ford.

I tend to agree with those that feel you should only tow up to 75-80% of a vehicles tow capacity, and that is where you would be at 3,500 lbs.

[fla-gypsy]

Don't even think about it

[bikendan]

Winterwolf227 wrote:

Allworth wrote:
Bluntly!

You are not going to fine a trailer with bunks and a queen bed that is suitable for that tow vehicle.

X2

the fictional "dry" hitch weight already exceeds the Flex's max.
you need to add the fictional trailer "dry" weight and the CCC amount, to get the GVWR.
which is 5316lbs., which WAY exceeds the 4500lbs. max of the Flex.

you have to realize the Flex is a VERY limited tow vehicle. that 4500lbs. towing is only IF it has the factory tow package. Class III/IV receiver, pre-wired for brake controller, trans cooler, 7-pin trailer connector and gearing for towing.

so, loaded for camping, the 2306 will be over the hitch weight AND the towing capacity of the Flex.

there will be only a handful of bunkhouse TTs, in the towing range of a Flex.

look for something with a GVWR(add the CCC to the UVW)of 4000.

your 4500lbs towing capacity is based on just a 150lbs driver in the car. anything/anyone else in it, lowers that number.
also, check what the driver's door payload sticker says. this is as, if not more, important as the towing capacity.

[handye9]

Your rating for "up to 4500 lbs" means ---- It is rated to tow 4500 lbs under perfect conditions. Those perfect conditions do not include passengers, pets, or cargo. As you add passenger / cargo weight, your available payload AND remaining tow capacity are going down, pound for pound.

If you put 700 lbs of people, pets, and cargo in the vehicle, it's max tow capacity is reduced to 3800 lbs. If you add a weight distributing hitch, that will take another 100 lbs.

Your Flex has a rating for what it can pull (up to 4500 lbs), a rating for combined truck / trailer weight, a rating for max weight on the Flex itself, and a rating for what the Flex can carry (that number should be on a sticker on drivers door post). If you load up on what it has to carry, you have to reduce the weight it has to pull. It can't carry a full load and pull max weight at the same time.

Some trailer sales people, will not even show you a unit that is too much for your tow vehicle. Some, are clueless about towing and will sell you anything you want to buy. Once you drag that thing off their lot, it's no longer their problem.

[Winterwolf227]

Allworth wrote:
Bluntly!

You are not going to fine a trailer with bunks and a queen bed that is suitable for that tow vehicle.

X2

[wirenutz]

naturist wrote:
Oh, yeah, one other small detail here: never believe the TT salesman, who will assure you that your TV is capable of pulling anything, no matter how ridiculous. They all lie.

TRUTH

[Terryallan]

Here you go. All you asked for. Bunks, and within your TV capacities. To see it. Google Apex Nano. H


Apex Nano 185BH Floorplan Image
This Coachmen Apex Nano Ultra Lite bunkhouse model makes camping more enjoyable ... more about Apex Nano 185BH

Have a question about this floorplan? Contact Us


Specifications

Sleeps 5
Length 20 ft 9 in
Ext Width 7 ft 6 in
Ext Height 9 ft 7 in
Interior Color Cayenne Shadow, Latte, Pebble
Exterior Color Gray
Hitch Weight 350 lbs
Gross Weight 3800 lbs
Dry Weight 2830 lbs
Cargo Weight 949 lbs
Fresh Water Capacity 30 gals
Grey Water Capacity 30 gals