Winnebago minnie construction
Long time reader first time poster. My family of four is in the market for a travel trailer. We have quite a bit of experience with travel trailers as we have always had free access to a forest river ...
Forum Discussion
It's not that I won't ever tow with water, it's just that we usually don't need to. I figure why have the extra shifting weight for no reason. We pretty much go to commercial campgrounds and state parks.
I went through my truck manual, pulled all the correct numbers out and weighed the truck at he dump. Should be just fine towing either model at their full weight carrying capacity. I will be near the top towing capacity of the truck, but still within safe limits. Surprisingly the amount of payload weight in the TV was the restricting number. An accurate weight of the tow vehicle loaded and taking passenger weights in to account really starts adding up quick. But 500 lbs in the truck vs 500 lbs in the TT really changed the capacities. Meaning, it seems weight is better if balanced in the trailer instead of filling the back of the truck.
In the future it seems it makes more sense to leave the truck nearly empty except passengers and put all the luggage, bikes, etc in he trailer.
On a separate note I learned the roof trusses in the Winnebago is mae with aluminum trusses, 3/8 decking and tpo.
I also can't believe how many ppl are against the welded frames that most trailers are built on. I'm no professional welder but I've done a fair amount of MIG over the years. A lighter weight frame held together by "huck bolts" sounds like a cheap gimmick of cutting corners. Everyone seems to think otherwise. I think weld quality depends more on the guy laying the bead in the trailer shop. I did google the lippert frames and see they do seem to have a reputation of weld failures.
Neither one seems like a great option, pick your poison I guess!!!
I went through my truck manual, pulled all the correct numbers out and weighed the truck at he dump. Should be just fine towing either model at their full weight carrying capacity. I will be near the top towing capacity of the truck, but still within safe limits. Surprisingly the amount of payload weight in the TV was the restricting number. An accurate weight of the tow vehicle loaded and taking passenger weights in to account really starts adding up quick. But 500 lbs in the truck vs 500 lbs in the TT really changed the capacities. Meaning, it seems weight is better if balanced in the trailer instead of filling the back of the truck.
In the future it seems it makes more sense to leave the truck nearly empty except passengers and put all the luggage, bikes, etc in he trailer.
On a separate note I learned the roof trusses in the Winnebago is mae with aluminum trusses, 3/8 decking and tpo.
I also can't believe how many ppl are against the welded frames that most trailers are built on. I'm no professional welder but I've done a fair amount of MIG over the years. A lighter weight frame held together by "huck bolts" sounds like a cheap gimmick of cutting corners. Everyone seems to think otherwise. I think weld quality depends more on the guy laying the bead in the trailer shop. I did google the lippert frames and see they do seem to have a reputation of weld failures.
Neither one seems like a great option, pick your poison I guess!!!
