9500lb vs 7600 lb trailer

[Keen_Family]

If you have seen our other posts, we are in the process of buying a new old stock travel trailer, a 2014 Forest River Cherokee Grey Wolf 29BH. We haven't confirmed the deal yet, but we are close to signing on the dotted line.

A 2014 new old stock Forest River Cherokee 284BH has just come available, at a slightly better price, from a different dealer. The Grey wolf has a GVWR of 7753 lbs, and the 284BH has a GVWR of 9985 - so 2200 lbs heavier. Both have very similar floor plans - Queen bedroom with solid doors, living room slide, and quad bunks for the kids.

Our tow vehicle is a 2015 Ford F150, with the 3.5 ecoboost and max tow package - it is rated for 10,500 lbs. Both are under our tow capacity, but the 284BH is getting close.

We've never towed anything as heavy as either trailer. To date, the heaviest thing we've towed (on a 6000km round trip), is a 3500 lb tent trailer. We'll be getting a weight distribution hitch and sway bar combination. We expect to be doing lengthy tows (1000 - 3000 kms) with the trailer - as we will be using it as a base to explore Canada and the U.S.

What comments do you have on these trailers? Which would you be most interested?

[Keen_Family]

Thanks for the messages everyone - very helpful.

[SoundGuy]

Keen Family wrote:
That's the link to the 2016 models. The 2014 Grey wolf has a CCC of 2456 lbs. I couldn't find published data for the 2014 284BH. From similar trailers, its probably between 2500 and 3100 lbs

Which is why it would have helped enormously if you'd provided links in your original post to the two models you're considering. To properly understand exactly what it is you're dealing with you want the numbers listed on each trailer's yellow weight sticker ... since these are both lot models a phone call to the dealer(s) involved will provide that information ... until then, you're just guessing.

It would also help if we knew how many kids, current ages, and approximate weights, knowing of course that every kid grows like a weed. :E What else do you want to carry in the truck? - dog(s), trailer setup gear, generator, etc, etc, etc? It ALL counts and will directly affect how much gross tongue weight your truck can deal with and not exceed it's various ratings, particularly it's GRAWR (Gross Rear Axle Weight Rating) and as likely it's payload capacity.

[Keen_Family]

SoundGuy wrote:

Keen Family wrote:
Payload capacity for the truck is about 2050 lbs. The tongue weight of the lighter TT is 650 lbs, and the heaver is 950. Again, within our capacity, but once we have passengers and gear, only just.

Not even close ... gross tongue weight of any trailer should ideally be in the 13% to 14% range of it's gross trailer weight loaded and ready to camp. With any trailer this size that means a gross tongue weight way beyond these unloaded hitch weight numbers as the trailer sits at the factory ... WAY higher.

That's the link to the 2016 models. The 2014 Grey wolf has a CCC of 2456 lbs. I couldn't find published data for the 2014 284BH. From similar trailers, its probably between 2500 and 3100 lbs

[TomG2]

2050 pounds (estimated) payload minus four people, generator, tools, gas can, bed cover, lawn furniture, bicycles, etc. etc. can leave well under 1,000 pounds for tongue weight. My personal thinking is that if I might have to leave a couple of the kids or their friends at home, then I want more payload.

[SoundGuy]

rbpru wrote:
You will most likely be at or over the F-150s cargo limit with either TT.

With a "stock" F150 that could well be the case but the OP stated earlier they have an F150 Eco with the HD payload package of ~ 2050 lbs, which should allow sufficient capacity for even 1200 lbs of gross tongue weight.

[3oaks]

dodge guy wrote:
Unless your going to be towing either trailer fully loaded the GVWR is just a guide. What I recommend is using the dry weight and adding approx. 1200-1500lbs to it. This would get you close to your real world ready to travel weight. Some trailers have a very low CCC, some have a CCC that is very high. For instance my trailer has a 4100lb CCC so if I went by the GVWR I probably wouldn't have bought it, however the dry weight is 7100lbs and the GVWR IS 11,200lbs. The trailer weighs 9200lbs loaded for a week long trip.

So I would recommend taking the dry weight and adding 1200-1500lbs to it. Much better to use the weights you will be towing at instead of a weight you will likely never see!

Well said. That is the most logical approach.

Our TT has a GVWR of 10,000 Lbs with a dry weight of 6,100 Lbs. No way am I ever going to haul 3,900 Lbs CCC in the TT. Even when we travel for a couple of months at a time, we don't carry half the CCC.

[dodge_guy]

After looking at the links for he specs on the 2 trailers I would skip the first one. The CCC is to small for a bunk house which will have a family and their stuff in it. I pack a lot of stuff for a week long trip, I'm 2k more than the dry weight. No family will ever only pack 500lbs of stuff. Even 2 people are going to be near 1k lbs of stuff!

The second trailer has a more realistic CCC of 3k lbs. i'de go with the second one.

Also the dry tongue weight is meaningless. You want the loaded tongue weight to be around 12.5% of the trailers loaded ready to travel weight.

[rbpru]

You will most likely be at or over the F-150s cargo limit with either TT.

As advertised, my 5000 lb dry weight TT has a tongue weight of 450 lbs empty. When loaded and on the scales, the true numbers are 5600 lbs for the TT and 600 lbs on the tongue. This of course varies with how much stuff we carry on each trip.


My max cargo is 1400 lbs. With 600 lb on the tongue, 500 lbs for two adults and a dog, 200 lbs for the truck cap, not much left for camp gear and toys.

So, do not be surprised if you exceed the cargo capacity of your TV, many folks do.

[Lantley]

Keen Family wrote:
Payload capacity for the truck is about 2050 lbs. The tongue weight of the lighter TT is 650 lbs, and the heaver is 950. Again, within our capacity, but once we have passengers and gear, only just.

Where are you getting the tongue weight figures? If they are from the brochure they are based on dry weight. That 950 will easily be 1200-1300 #s when loaded. 650 will approach 950.
What is the hitch rating on the F-150. you need to consider and understand all of the parameters

[TomG2]

Use the most optimistic (lightest) tongue weight and gvwr on the trailer plus the most optimistic (largest) payload number for your tow vehicle. The manufacturers love selling you tow vehicles with more capacity after you tow a few miles. I traded a F-150 for a F-250 in 2005 and a 1500 for a 2500 in 2013. That's how I learned what not to do. I am a slow learner.

[wannavolunteerF]

Be sure you look at the actual weights on the yellow sticker on the Trailer... In looking before I found some that were much higher than the published dry weight on the website. If you have a low published CCC, you may have almost none based on the true weight. With kids, you will need the CCC to carry all their stuff.

I would get the one with the higher GVWR, to give you the CCC you may need. You don't have to load that heavy, but it is nice to have the capacity if you need it.

[mtofell1]

dodge guy wrote:
Unless your going to be towing either trailer fully loaded the GVWR is just a guide. What I recommend is using the dry weight and adding approx. 1200-1500lbs to it. This would get you close to your real world ready to travel weight. Some trailers have a very low CCC, some have a CCC that is very high. For instance my trailer has a 4100lb CCC so if I went by the GVWR I probably wouldn't have bought it, however the dry weight is 7100lbs and the GVWR IS 11,200lbs. The trailer weighs 9200lbs loaded for a week long trip.

So I would recommend taking the dry weight and adding 1200-1500lbs to it. Much better to use the weights you will be towing at instead of a weight you will likely never see!

^^This

My TT has a 4700# CCC. If I went with the GVWR I'd be driving a dually. GVWR has to do with axles, frame size and other design things.

[SoundGuy]

Keen Family wrote:
Payload capacity for the truck is about 2050 lbs. The tongue weight of the lighter TT is 650 lbs, and the heaver is 950. Again, within our capacity, but once we have passengers and gear, only just.

Not even close ... gross tongue weight of any trailer should ideally be in the 13% to 14% range of it's gross trailer weight loaded and ready to camp. With any trailer this size that means a gross tongue weight way beyond these unloaded hitch weight numbers as the trailer sits at the factory ... WAY higher.

[SoundGuy]

Everyone keeps talking about the "lighter trailer" but in reality there really isn't all that much difference and is an example why it's always a good idea to include a link to the specific models being discussed ...

Grey Wolf 29BH

Cherokee 284BF

... the second of which is probably a 284BH when configured with quad bunk beds which is one of the options with this trailer.

Regardless, what you'll note is that although the GVWR for these two trailers differs significantly the UVW is not all that much different, with the former's CCC being about as marginal as you'd want in a trailer this size, the latter's CCC being way more than any reasonable person would need. The question therefore is - how much do you really expect to load into this trailer?

FWIW, I have a friend who tows a smaller 5th with a GVWR of ~ 9500s with his Max Tow F150 Eco and although he does well his truck is really towing at the max. IMO when it comes to towing less is always more even when towing with such a capable vehicle, especially when you're towing long distances over varying terrain in weather than can range from sunny & dry to torrential rain and heavy winds.