8,500 lbs plus dry weight

[aarond76]

In the last year or so I am seeing a slew of new bunk house campers with dryweights in the 8,500 lb range. Mostly the triple slide island kitchen bunk house campers that I would love to have. What in the world are people towing these things with? We two a 7,000 lb dry camper with an E-350 V-10 and I cannot imagine adding another 1,500 lbs to it. The typical travel trailer buyer does not have a diesel dually. To those that have purchased these what are you towing with and how is your experience with it?

2002 E350 V-10 3.73
2006 Cherokee 32B

[dodge_guy]

The E350 van will be a great TV. even better if it is the standard length van and not the extended length version. plus the axle to ball distance is shorter than most, if not all pick up trucks. and yes the V-10 even with the 4.10`s will tow that kind of weight with no problems.

[kidscamp2]

We pull a 8200lb Starcraft BH with a Chevy 2500HD with the 8.1L & the Allison tranny. I'm not giving this trk up until it dies off the side of the road....then i'll diesel shop as we pull up a lot of hills to camp.

[usmc616]

We tow aur Jayco 32BHDS with our V-10 Excursion. Dry weight is listed at 8380lbs so loaded to tow it is closer to 9300lbs. Have traveled to Disneey and to Maine from NY and have not had any issues.

[Lantley]

jwstewar I checked out your picture and honestly it doesn't look OK to me but I knew it wouldn't. TT and truck appear nose high. Ground appears sloping but combo is not. But that may be just my take due to the angle of the picture.
AS to how well the combo tows it gets very subjective.
What you consider OK, I probably would call inadequate. What you refer to as working it is probably unacceptable to me. I want to tow wherever I want, without regard to terrain or grades. I tow frequently and prefer not to be fatigued or concerned about the capabilities of my rig. More importantly I want the tow to be relaxing. I don't want to "work it".
I have towed lots of things before where I've had to work it, which was to use your words is OK, however I do not want to tow in that manner in my spare time for recreation. My goal is to go somewhere neat with the family and relax. I prefer a combo that is capable of allowing me to relax and not work it.
Staying within all the towing parameters allows the driver to relax. As a combo strays away from the parameters,more work is required of the driver and the relaxation factor decreases.
Staying within the parameters allows you to relax on a good day. It also gives you more margin for error on a bad day,when the wind is blowing,the rain is pouring, or the traffic in front of you suddenly stops. Bad day scenarios are the real reason I choose to tow with a capable combo that is with in its parameters vs. one that is not or one that is OK.

But in the end what I think really doesn't matter. It's your rig and your combo. If you are content and satisfied with how it performs than that's all that matters.

[dragr1]

aarond76 wrote:
In the last year or so I am seeing a slew of new bunk house campers with dryweights in the 8,500 lb range. Mostly the triple slide island kitchen bunk house campers that I would love to have. What in the world are people towing these things with? We two a 7,000 lb dry camper with an E-350 V-10 and I cannot imagine adding another 1,500 lbs to it. The typical travel trailer buyer does not have a diesel dually. To those that have purchased these what are you towing with and how is your experience with it?

2002 E350 V-10 3.73
2006 Cherokee 32B

I think that V10 would have the power to tow one of the 36' triple slide campers (10,000 lbs loaded) if it had the 4.30 gear option. I would be concerned with the wheelbase of the E350 though. We actually considered getting the Coachmen version of the camper we now own b/c the Coachmen weighed a lot less. We were going to tow that one with my previous 2500 Suburban, but the wheelbase is what scared me, not the power. My crewcab Dodge has almost 2 feet more wheelbase than that Suburban.

[jwstewar]

Lantley wrote:

jwstewar wrote:
We have a Jayco 32BHDS. It weighs 7984 as shipped from the factory. I'm towing it with the '99 1500 Silverado in my signature. Looking to upgrade. But probably not for another year or so. Haven't weighed it loaded, but I know with 5 of us and all of our toys (5 bikes, 2 grills, full of water, extra 35 gallons of water, etc), I know we are heavy and over our weight limits. The truck actually does OK and sits level. If you were to just "look" at it, you would have no clue it is over weight.

I think I could tell by looking. But I have an idea of the weights and tow ratings involved. I also believe once you upgrade and tow your TT with a more capable truck. You will realize that your current set up doesn't really perform as well as you thought. My comments are not meant to bash your set up, but to point out that many feel they are fine until they eventually use the correct vehicle and learn from the driver's seat they were just getting by. This idea applies to vehicles of all sizes not just 1/2 tons.

I towed my prior 10K loaded 11k GVW TT with a 7.3 PSD Excursion.
AS mentioned most 3/4 ton vehicles with diesels or big blocks are capable of hauling the larger bunkhouses without issue.
I also towed the same TT w a V-10 X as well. The PSD did a much better job. But the V-10 was capable as well.

I've pulled with diesel trucks before. I know how they pull. I've been towing campers since I was 16 years old, so I've been towing for a few years now. So I know how they are supposed to tow. This isn't a new adventure for me. I also tow our 18' utility trailer w/ tractor and our 16' stock trailer. Did I say this truck tows it great? No, I said it does OK. Am I having to work it? Yep. Would have to do that with a bigger truck? No, but again it does OK for what it is.

Again, I think just looking at this picture, you wouldn't believe this truck is as far over GVWR as I think it is.
Truck and trailer in driveway

[Lantley]

jwstewar wrote:
We have a Jayco 32BHDS. It weighs 7984 as shipped from the factory. I'm towing it with the '99 1500 Silverado in my signature. Looking to upgrade. But probably not for another year or so. Haven't weighed it loaded, but I know with 5 of us and all of our toys (5 bikes, 2 grills, full of water, extra 35 gallons of water, etc), I know we are heavy and over our weight limits. The truck actually does OK and sits level. If you were to just "look" at it, you would have no clue it is over weight.

I think I could tell by looking. But I have an idea of the weights and tow ratings involved. I also believe once you upgrade and tow your TT with a more capable truck. You will realize that your current set up doesn't really perform as well as you thought. My comments are not meant to bash your set up, but to point out that many feel they are fine until they eventually use the correct vehicle and learn from the driver's seat they were just getting by. This idea applies to vehicles of all sizes not just 1/2 tons.

I towed my prior 10K loaded 11k GVW TT with a 7.3 PSD Excursion.
AS mentioned most 3/4 ton vehicles with diesels or big blocks are capable of hauling the larger bunkhouses without issue.
I also towed the same TT w a V-10 X as well. The PSD did a much better job. But the V-10 was capable as well.

[dragr1]

We've got a Jayco 33bhts triple slide and tow it with a '12 Ram 3500 Crewcab 4x4 single rear wheel diesel. Tows it with ease.

[Passin_Thru]

7500 lb Arctic Fox and weigh in @ 18,995 GVW pulling with a Chevy Duramax, turned up 60 hp and I drove big trucks 2 million miles. Might make a difference. I'm allowed 22K but don't want to pull that much.

[SprinklerMan]

sunset creek bunkhouse 8800 lbs loaded , tow it with a v 10 excursion no problems on the east coast hills .

[MackinawMan]

Our Jayco Eagle has a GVWR of around 9500 lbs...we are typically 8700 lbs. when loaded.

We're towing with a 1 ton diesel....which is fun.:B

[NWKomfort350]

I wouldn't even think twice about towing an 8500# dry weight 10k ish loaded tt with my 02 f350 7.3 srw not a problem

[rode2nowhere]

My tt is 8200 dry, plus all the junk. Pull with a srw gmc2500hd, I can tell its back there for sure. Truck does ok. Equalizer hitch helps too.

[jwstewar]

We have a Jayco 32BHDS. It weighs 7984 as shipped from the factory. I'm towing it with the '99 1500 Silverado in my signature. Looking to upgrade. But probably not for another year or so. Haven't weighed it loaded, but I know with 5 of us and all of our toys (5 bikes, 2 grills, full of water, extra 35 gallons of water, etc), I know we are heavy and over our weight limits. The truck actually does OK and sits level. If you were to just "look" at it, you would have no clue it is over weight.

[69_Avion]

My 34' Avion is close to 10,000# fully loaded. I also put a quad in the bed of the truck, along with other items. The diesel is really nice with that kind of weight. Anything close to 7,000# and it is really nice to have a diesel. That is just my experience with towing many heavy trailers across the country over the years.