Taking the plunge

[Score300]

Ok.... So my wife and I are buying a TT. We currently own a pop up and have loaned it to some friends this weekend in hopes that they will buy it. My wife has had enough of camping without a bathroom. We've used a motor home a few times and we think we have a pretty good idea of what we want for a floor plan.

Must have:
Bunk beds
Full bath
Separate room for master (prefer doors over curtains)
Slide outs for extra width
Good storage capacity

Likes:
Corner shower
Outside kitchen
Outside entry to bath
Separate room for bunks
Power awning

We're tossed up on length. The two models were looking at are the Hideout 31RBDS and the Hideout 28BHS. I've checking the towing capacity of my Ram and it's 10,050lbs so I think I'm ok there. My concern is the quality of the units. I know that in the 20-25k price range I'm not getting top of the line, but I don't want a problem child either. Do any of you have any experience with this brand? ALL advice is appreciated.

[Doug33]

I have a 28BHS model, and it puts me at the weight limits of my Chevy 5.3L truck. Fortunately it is usually just me and the wife and we travel on mostly flat terrain over relatively short distances.

[AH64ID]

442nut wrote:

ah64id wrote:


If you look at the 26BKS in my sig, it weights about 8200 loaded for camping which is a lot heavier than sticker, and when the batteries where still on the tongue it had over 1350lbs of tongue weight...

.

I have the same TT and have noticed how heavy the tongue weight is.
Where did you move your batteries to? I was thinking of doing that as well as adding one more.

Thank for you help. .. Dave...

I moved them under the "wardrobe" that is just to the right (aft) of the fridge.

It was a VERY tight fit, as I had to build the box in place but they are now within feet of the converter and are always warm.

[442nut]

ah64id wrote:


If you look at the 26BKS in my sig, it weights about 8200 loaded for camping which is a lot heavier than sticker, and when the batteries where still on the tongue it had over 1350lbs of tongue weight...

.

I have the same TT and have noticed how heavy the tongue weight is.
Where did you move your batteries to? I was thinking of doing that as well as adding one more.

Thank for you help. .. Dave...

[APT]

A 2009 Ram half ton will be payload limited well below its tow rating. The Keystone Outback 301 looks to meet your needs, but I would not recommend that for you. Start with the sticker love2rvcamp listed on driver's door or door jam. It does include full tank of fuel, but no driver or people. Subtract the 625 estimate you have for people/cargo. Multiply by 7 for a reasonable dry weight.

You may be thinking I want a Prime Time Lacrosse 318 but you'll be much happier towing a Keystone Passport 2920. You will likely be compromising things from your wish list.

[rbpru]

Same thing here Score. My F-150 payload is 1411 lbs.

Mom, Pop and dog 500 lbs.
Truck cap 200 lbs.
Tools and WD hitch 100 lbs.
Loaded trailer tongue wieght 600 lbs.

Not much wiggle room though there is a small gain, maybe 100 lbs, from the WD hitch weight shift back to the trailer.

Works for us but it is at the truck limit.

[love2rvcamp]

This example has a cargo capacity of 2051 pounds.

Look at the yellow sticker on your drivers door. These are specific ratings for your truck. There will be a number that shows you the max cargo capacity of your truck. This number is how much cargo your truck can handle. This number includes a tank of gas (26 gallons) and the driver weight. Any other weight you add will have to be deducted from this weight. So that is weight in the bed of the truck, other passengers and the hitch weight of the trailer and the weight of any WDH you will add. There will also be weights for front and rear axle. You will find you will run out of cargo weight way before you run out of trailer weight on some of the 1/2 tons. You can figure the hitch of the trailer will be any where from 13 - 15% of the GVWR

[hmknightnc]

Score300 wrote:
You guys are killing me.

Quick estimations:
6800 GVWR per my sticker
5600 truck weight close guess from the internet
625 passenger weight

That only leaves 575 for cargo and tongue weight. That would mean I would need a TT with a weight of 4500-5000 lb. is that really so?

Yep, that is really so. If you use Axle ratings instead of GVWR you might get to something less than 7,000# for a TT. Pretty typical for 1/2 ton with a TT and family.

[AH64ID]

The hitch will likely take about 100lbs off of that number as well, leaving 500lbs at most for cargo/tongue weight. Assuming you family like to take a few games, books, food, etc.. I would plan on a TW of 450lbs to be safe. That's leaves you with a trailer that is in the 3,000 - 3,500lb area, once loaded.

The only way to increase your capability is to get a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

If you look at the 26BKS in my sig, it weights about 8200 loaded for camping which is a lot heavier than sticker, and when the batteries where still on the tongue it had over 1350lbs of tongue weight...

I am sure a empty 1/2 ton would be rated to tow a trailer that big, but having towed it with an upgraded 1 ton I sure wouldn't want to.

Airbags add stability and load leveling, not capacity.

Anti-sway bars and shocks also add stability, but no capacity.

Better tires add stability, and a safety margin but no capacity on a 1/2 ton (might on a 3/4 or 1 ton thou).

[Score300]

Is there a way to increase my capabilities as in air bags?

[Score300]

You guys are killing me.

Quick estimations:
6800 GVWR per my sticker
5600 truck weight close guess from the internet
625 passenger weight

That only leaves 575 for cargo and tongue weight. That would mean I would need a TT with a weight of 4500-5000 lb. is that really so?

[handye9]

mbopp wrote:
Not to rain on you parade, but if the kids bring friends I assume it's a crew cab?
Tow capacity is only part of the equation. As others have stated, you'll run out of payload first. Welcome to 1/2-ton towing.
What's the yellow payload sticker say on the truck?

And don't listen to the salesman when he says "Sure, you can tow that." His only interest is making a sale.

Ditto !!!


You need to check your tire / loading sticker (on drivers door pillar) for your cargo capacity. What ever your cargo carrying capacity (payload) is, that is your weight capacity for fuel, occupants, cargo (in the truck), weight distribution hitch, and trailer tongue weight, combined. Payload and tow capacity are eaten up by everything and everybody you put in or on the truck.

Better option -- Weigh the truck and subtract that weight from the truck's GVWR. What is left is available payload. As other have mentioned, you will run out of payload, long before you reach that exaggerated towing capacity.

If Dodge says your truck has 10,000 tow capacity, that is as long as the driver weighs 150 lbs, and he is alone without any cargo. As you load up passengers and cargo, your tow capacity and payload go down.

[anaro]

As others have stated, there is a lot more than overall manufacturers stated tow capacity to look at as that number is given on a best case scenario with nothing but a driver in the truck..... let's look at how to figure out what you can tow.

First load your truck up with all passengers, pets and gear that will be with you when camping. Now go to a local Cat scale and weigh your truck with a full tank of fuel plus all of the above mentioned items. Put the front axle on the first scale pad and the rear axle on the second scale pad. (Bring a broom handle as the button to push us at truckers height).

Now take your trucks total scaled weight and subtract it from your trucks gcwr to get your adjusted towing capacity. Trade your trucks scaled weight and subtract it from your trucks gvwr to get your available payload. Take your rear axle weight (drive axle on the paper) and subtract it from the max rawr to find out how much room you have available on your rear axle. You need to stay within all of these numbers with your loaded tt weights.

Your trailer tongue weight will be applied to your trucks payload. The dry tongue weight listed is kind of a useless number as it commonly does not include propane, battery etc. Your ideal tongue weight is 13-15% of the trailers loaded (not dry weight). You will not be taking a empty or dry trailer camping. Since you don't know how much weight you will be putting in, it is safer to calculate using tt gvwr, although I will tell you that on average people tend to add 1000-1500 lbs of gear, dishes, clothes etc to their tt.

The 28bh has a gvwr (dry weight + cargo capacity) of 9695 lbs. That means a worst case scenario hitch weight of 1454 lbs (15% of 9695) although you will not likely be that heavy. 13% of gvwr would be 1260 lbs. If we just added 1500 lbs to dry weight you would be looking at tt weight of 8226 lbs loaded and hitch weight of 1069 - 1233 lbs. That is a lot of trailer for a 1500 level truck. If it is within all ratings then do it but if not then keep looking.

[mbopp]

Not to rain on you parade, but if the kids bring friends I assume it's a crew cab?
Tow capacity is only part of the equation. As others have stated, you'll run out of payload first. Welcome to 1/2-ton towing.
What's the yellow payload sticker say on the truck?

And don't listen to the salesman when he says "Sure, you can tow that." His only interest is making a sale.

[hmknightnc]

Score300 wrote:
I have a 2013 ram 1500 outdoorsman model. It has a 3.92 gear and was equipped for towing. We do like the extra sleeping space cause the kids like to bring friends on our trips. I'm aware that it's going to be a heavy load for this truck, but are you saying it CAN'T handle it? If not, what size do you suggest?

No, not saying it can't do it but am saying you need to find out. You needed to do it, nobody on this board can do it for you, we can only estimate which isn't good enough because you are going to be really close if it is even possible.

That trailer is going to have probably around 1200# tongue weight. Add the weight of your passengers and gear to that number to get your estimated load. Ideally this load will be within your rated available payload (listed on your door sticker), should be within your GVWR (you got to weigh your truck and then add the estimated load to the weight weighed, GVWR is also on door stickers), and you have to be under your axle capacity to legally be on the road (determine the same way except add you load to the rear axle weigh weighed, axle rating is also on your drivers door jam)

My guess you will over your payload rating and GVWR. May or may not meet Axle rating. Only way to know is get your truck weighed at CAT scale and do the math. Also check your trucks hitch rating, make sure it can handle the 9,000# trailer weigh with 1,200# tongue weigh using WDH.