Too Many Choices For Newcomer

[VOZ]

Looking for a Travel Trailer that sleeps 6-8.

Price Limit of 40k give or take a few.

Toyota Tundra Is The Pull Vehicle.

*Pitfalls?

* Which Brands To Avoid?

* Which Options To Avoid?

* Which Options Are A Must Have?

* We (Wife & I) Do Know We Want Master Separated Form The Rest Of The Place.

*Outside Entertainment Would Be Nice.

* I'm Pretty Handy & Don't Mind Cutting Up A Brand New Rig.

* Which Mods Are First?

[Durb]

Must have - A good weight distribution hitch with built in anti-sway. Plenty to choose from.

Avoid - Trailers where the foot of the bed butts up to a center mounted entertainment pedestal. Your pillow is going to push you to the foot of the bed and your feet will hit the wall. This was bad enough for my kids that they sold and she is 5'-4".

Nice to have - Slide toppers.

Avoid - Ganged automatic stabilizers. Make sure you can lower them separately.

Avoid - There are a lot of different slide mechanisms; Schwintek (?), cable, etc. Some may not be the best so do your research.

Nice to have - Front and rear fiberglass caps.

Avoid - Axles and tires whose capacities bump right up to the trailer's weight. I like a safety margin

Nice to have - Heavy duty entrance steps.

Nice to have - A large gray tank. Black also.

Have fun shopping

[FLY_4_FUN]

listen very carefully to what is being said above. Learn and understand all the weights associated with truck/trailer and stay safely below those max numbers. With your budget there is a lot of rigs you could buy...so go to a show, look at some of the ones that seem to fit your needs best then go home and do the math on those weights were all harping about!

Honestly rv's are such a personal choice that floor plan is in the eye of the beholder. Your asking a lot to sleep 6-8, separate master and tow with a Tundra, but I hope some folks here with similar needs will get you pointed in a good direction.

I say start with a few manufacturers websites and find some floorplans that look good

[Mortimer_Brewst]

My best advice would be to dig around this forum and do a lot of reading. Figure out what your tow vehicle can handle. I would then attend an RV show or two this winter to get an idea of what layout works best for you. Pay attention to lengths and weights and don't believe any salesman that says a unit is "1/2 ton towable." Good luck!

[kknowlton]

Tundras do have a low payload capacity for 1/2 tons. We towed a 34' trailer with a 7600-lb GVWR with ours, and I wouldn't have wanted to go any heavier (or longer). You could use that as a sort of guideline for max tow capacity if you like. (We have since downsized; current TT is 27' with a 6500-lb GVWR - much better match for our truck.)

[Old-Biscuit]

VOZ wrote:
10600 towing capacity, which would make tongue weight 1060 more or less..

Tow rating is a magical mfg. marketing tool used to boast my truck vs your truck.

Real world towing is about PAYLOAD capacity.....a real number

Look for sticker on door jamb that lists Cargo Carrying Capacity XXXX#
Weight of all occupants and cargo not to exceed


Can't find sticker...'
Then load truck up camp ready (your fuel, all passengers, all stuff in cab (bags/backpacks , under/in seats, door pockets ETC) and go get it weighed.
CAT Scale runs ~$10/$12 for weigh ticket
It will give you weight on Front axle, on rear axle and total truck weight
Subtract total truck weight from Trucks GVWR======= that is how much weight you can 'carry' before exceeding GVWR
Also look at rear axle weight vs RAWR....amount of weight left that can be placed on rear axle before exceeding axle rating

Then use 12%-15% of trailer GVWR to guesstimate trailers tongue weight

Got enough payload, rear axle, rear tire loading left even if you use Weight Distribution Hitch and move some weight onto front axle??????


Payload for Tundra (depending on year/trim level) could be 1700# to 2000# or 1200#/LESS

Your MAX tongue published rating (that magical mfg. number) would have a tongue weight of close to 1300--1600#

What is your trucks hitch receiver rated for with WDH?

[VOZ]

10600 towing capacity, which would make tongue weight 1060 more or less..

[bobndot]

See how much payload as well as allowable tongue weight you can haul with a Tundra. ( this is not a dig at Tundra's as TV's )
Tongue weight and payload of TT's are tricky numbers.
Ex: my TW (advertised dry wt) is approx 500 lbs. After i load it up, i put it on my scale and i can sit at approx 850 lbs to 900+ , depending how i pack the trailer as well as gear i carry in the trucks beds rearward of its rear axle. Gear that you carry in the trucks bed also gets calculated.

Point being, a TT that sleeps 8 may be heavy , depending on the floorplan and all the gear that 8 people require. Weight will creep on on you, you just have to be careful and keep your 'real weights' in check when towing with a 1500 type truck.