Anyone go from 5er to TT? (growing family - need quad bunks)

When TV shopping I looked at 3/4 ton vans but then I also wanted a 4x4 for the winter months. As it turned out we found an Excursion. While it may not have as much cargo room as a van it does let us seat 8 and the 4x4 feature allows us to use it year round.

PUCampin wrote:

If you want a big trailer, you will have to find a 3/4t SUV (2500 Burb or Excursion) or go full size van. There is no other way to do it safely. Do people do big trailers behind Tahoes with 6 people inside? Yes, but they are overloaded and not particularly safe.

Can't agree more. Unless we drop into a much smaller trailer, I think I'm staying on a 3/4 or higher platform. I didn't like back when I towed with my last 1/2 ton and I like the stability (and peace of mind) of the beefier chassis.

Heavy Metal Doctor wrote:
Even though our kids are grown, they do travel with us often, so our traveling setup ended up being a big van with a TT behind it for much of the same reasons you mentioned. We went with a Nissan NV 3500 HD.
Take out the extra seats and there it ton of room for 6 adults without piling stuff up over the windows like we used to do in a Suburban or the Tahoe. And it's actualy easier to get in and out of for every one. The towing rating was the same or better than many SUV's and I like having a closed vehicle for security (don't like roof top luggage racks or open pickup truck beds when traveling).

Wow thanks for telling me about the Nissan. I had written it off because I thought it was a smallish cargo van without any towing capabilities, but that 3500 with the SL package has really good towing numbers and also has some nice options in it.

And I really like the idea of keeping everything inside instead of the truck bed.

What things do you like about it / what would you change?

My truck has 6 seat belts. Center front or rear is fine for smaller teens and younger. Too cramped for 6 adults or if using a car seat.

We pulled a 5K loaded TT for years using our 2004 Durango. Pulled it great but would not want to go much more than 5K unless I lived where it was flat.

Removed my posting after seeing that you have a 3/4 ton truck. Stick with 3/4 ton (diesel) for larger trailers.

TriumphGuy wrote:
Hi folks,
I am also curious what folks are doing in the lower weight range, pulling with a 1/2 ton Suburban for example with a 5-6k trailer. It seems the 1 ton vans and 3/4 ton SUVs are going the way of the Dodo.
I don't miss my earlier days of towing a TT and worrying about sway but it seems there's some better gadgets on the market these days for helping with that. And I admit back then I had an undersized truck and didn't get setup right.

Thanks!

We are a family of 5 and often take my aunt so that is 6 bodies in seats. We have an Expedition EL, the 1/2 ton SUV payload champ at 1675lbs, but after 3 adults, 3 kids, carseats, strollers, snack etc there is about 850-900lbs left, which is the max for the receiver. So even if you have only 2 people in the SUV, you are still limited by the receiver unless you install an aftermarket.

When you take 850lbs, divide by 14% you get a loaded weight of around 6100lbs. Take 1000lbs off for water and "stuff", and yeas, 6 people have a lot of stuff, and you end up with a dry weight of around 5100 plus or minus a couple hundred. This weight will naturally limit the size of the trailers. 32 ft quad bunk houses are most likely out. There are some longer models in this weight range, but be carefull. "Light" sometimes means construction shortcuts.

This is simply a limitation of 1/2t SUV. They can move a lot of people, OR tow something substantial, just not at the same time. Most 1/2t SUVs have less payload than the Expedition, some MUCH less, which will further limit what you can tow when carying 6 people.

Our 18ft is around 5100 fully loaded, so even with 6 people in the SUV we could go a little bigger, but we LOVE this size for where we camp. Both DW and I both grew up camping sharing small spaces, so this is no big deal to us. Everything has a spot when traveling, when set up, and at bed time. Not too much stuff has to move, and everyone has a bed. Dinette and couch fold in seconds and out come sleeping bags. By the time kiddos are ready for bed, so are we!

If you want a big trailer, you will have to find a 3/4t SUV (2500 Burb or Excursion) or go full size van. There is no other way to do it safely. Do people do big trailers behind Tahoes with 6 people inside? Yes, but they are overloaded and not particularly safe. And we are not talking about a truck with a Dana 70 rear axle that the mfr drasticly under rates (i.e my friends 93 Dodge 250 technicly has 1300lbs of payload with a Dana 70 and 7500lb springs). 1/2t SUVs are designed to haul people in comfort and DO NOT respond well to being overloaded. DW and I delivered a load of ceramic tile to someone, I figure it was around 1100lbs. With DW and I we were pretty close to max, the Expy did not like it and I had to drive carefully (LT tires might have helped). You state you have been in this situation before, don't be tempted to go there again. No fancy towing gadget can fix overloaded.

Good luck in your efforts!

I like the open pickup, gives me a chance to shoot at people.

Even though our kids are grown, they do travel with us often, so our traveling setup ended up being a big van with a TT behind it for much of the same reasons you mentioned. We went with a Nissan NV 3500 HD.
Take out the extra seats and there it ton of room for 6 adults without piling stuff up over the windows like we used to do in a Suburban or the Tahoe. And it's actualy easier to get in and out of for every one. The towing rating was the same or better than many SUV's and I like having a closed vehicle for security (don't like roof top luggage racks or open pickup truck beds when traveling).