Buying first camper. Few simple questions...
Found the forum last night and read till 0300. Great info and community here. Wife and I got 9 month old son and 18 month old German Shepherd. All of a sudden, tent camping is losing its luster. Think...
Forum Discussion
clubhouse wrote:
This will be the longest reply I have made on any forum ever ;-)
Clubhouse, Great summary!
It took a while, of reading these forums, to accumulate all these points that you so precisely iterate here.
My camping history went from tenting one time and getting flooded out, to owning a very used 27' Class C before kids, to an SUV matched to tow a larger bunk room TT.
As far as the right trailer for your Tahoe with a GVWR of 6500# and 1671# max payload (Link), I would set 600# as a reasonable amount of cargo and passenger weight for your family giving you somewhat of a buffer. Adjust this as you see fit. So, 1671 - 600 = 1071# for the max hitch weight using a good integrated sway control weight distributing hitch for the Tahoe's shorter wheelbase.
1071# / .13 = 8238# is the max TT weight you could tow if using the payload. BUT, per your manual, 6700# is the max trailer weight for a 5.3L 3.42axle power train. It appears as if engine/transmission power is your most limiting factor. Based on that, I would take that number(6700) and reduce by 20% for the wind resistance involved with a TT. So now I get 5340# for a TT loaded up weight. So yes, looking at 4500# dry weight TT's is the highest I might consider. Steep grades will be a challenge.
