Buying first travel trailer...need advice

Our Rockwood Ultra Lite 2604 was dry 5585# and GVWR 6629#. Since we're trailerless now, can't recall the other #s. We towed with an '03 F150 CC with the factory tow and 5.4 - believe it was the next higher rear end. We triple checked all our weights and were good. The trailer towed well and the truck never strained. Our max tow was 8000#. You're looking a bit heavier...suggest you take a look at the Rockwood Ultra Lites or the higher end Classic Lites. Flagstaff is virtually the same, just different trim and some slightly different floorplans. With 2 little ones, you're going to be hauling more than an old retired couple, so lighter, IMHO, would be better. We always felt that the 26' - 27' size is easy to manage, you can fit most anywhere and has most of the amenities you'd want. Good luck and happy camping.

GCWR is the combination of vehicle curb lbs + max trailer lbs + payload. GCWR is always higher than vehicle dry weight + max trailer. Once you know GCWR, GVWR, Max Hitch lbs and Max trailer lbs you are ready to load it up.

Definitely.

Isn't there more than just GCWR, like hitch weight and tow rating?

My 2015 Keystone trailer is 6600 dry and my 2010 Tahoe pulls it well. I had a 2008 Keystone that was 6500 dry and my old 2002 Tahoe towed it all over the country with no issue. If you loaded my trailer to capacity with 1350lb worth of stuff, which we never do, plus add 2 people and 3 dogs totaling about 600lbs, we're close to our GCWR of 14,000. I've never had an issue with getting to where I need to go and we run around 65mph and an avg 8.5mpg.

We're going to MD from FL at the end of this month with the trailer and once I get it loaded up for our 3 week trip, I'm going to get it weighed. We haven't had it that long and only gone on a couple short trips with little gear in the trailer, so I want to weigh it now because this is one of the longest trips we'll be on and I can't imagine ever packing more stuff on another trip than this one, so it'll be a good gauge of an actual travel weight. I really don't think we'll touch the max of 1350 in cargo.

I would think you have absolutely no issue with a 5600lb dry trailer. There are times when I think may be I should have more truck just for the sake of having more padding on the specs, but my only SUV option would be the 2500 series Suburban or Yukons and that only gets me an extra 1000lb towing capacity. I can't justify upgrading when I have absolutely no issues with my current set up.

you are ok. 14000 gcwr-7900 trailer= 6100 - 5300 curb weight of truck = 800 lbs. you will only have capacity for 800 anything else you put in the equation. 7050 gvwr- 5300 curb of truck= 1750 - 800 tongue weight = 950. you have more payload remaining than you do combined capacity. Unless you pack the trailer to the max capacity and throw an atv in the bed of the truck you are fine. people will try to convince you that you can't tow at the max but they would be wrong. you will eat some gas and go slower but you will be fine. one thing to make sure you keep an eye on is elevation. your truck produces less power as you gain elevation. all this means is you will have to slow down. the truck will let you know if you are asking for more power than it can produce by slowing you down. if you have mountain passes in your route you may want to dump some weight i.e. water tanks on the trailer. i use a honda ridgeline to tow my TT. GCWR of 10,080 and I hit the scales at 9,600#. i run a max of 65 mph and don't pass up a gas station.

I towed my TT (6500-7000 pounds loaded) with the prior generation F150 5.4L/3.73 Supercrew for two seasons. It handled the trailer great and power was okay. Two gears to accelerate and one to cruise the flats. Your truck has a little more power, a little less gear. That dry TW is a little high, but with a RLS floorplan I assume you aren't taking a family. I say go for it. Get a WDH with integrated sway control and proportional brake controller.

Also keystone passport series... There's lots of great choices in the lite and ultra lite category. I just shopped that market and had so many choices it was hard to narrow it down to what suited us best. Good luck!

Look at the lite series TT's - Forest River Flagstaff has lites, Coachman Liberty Series and Open Range have lites - I'm sure there are many others. We have a Flagstaff Classic Super Lite - our truck could handle heavier, but we chose this type for no specific reason when we first started looking prior to upgrading our truck. Good luck!

Just wanted to say thank you for all your advice. I think I will look for something lighter to be safe.