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Re: 1/2 ton Tundra pulling 8200 lbs
waynec1957 wrote: For what it’s worth…. My camper is just a shade under 6,000 lbs. loaded and I used to pull it with a ½ ton Silverado, 5.3l motor, and a tow package using an Equalizer hitch. Over the weekend I got a chance to hook up with my ¾ ton Silverado, Duramax 6.6l I bought last fall. I pulled the camper about 60 miles Saturday and... < ... So in MY world and MY world only, pulling the same camper with a ½ ton and a ¾ ton…there was a HUGE difference. That's just it, it's not your world only... There IS an enormous difference. I loved my wife's half-ton Ford -- preferred the softer suspension for driving in town too -- but there was no comparison between towing with that truck and towing with one of the shop Ford diesels or our 3500 Dodge cummins. It's a night and day difference. I have tremendous respect for the new Tundras too... But nobody really believes they tow like any of the diesel one-tons... Not even Toyota dealers. :-)503Views0likes0CommentsRe: Texas registration for TH
turner66 wrote: Seems a bit high to me... I just did the Texas annual registration on my 43ft 18,000lb GVWR triaxle toyhauler... < > As a side note, the reg on my truck was 126.50 but I was shocked at how cheap the annual inspection on it was the first time I did it. It's an F-450 Diesel and cost $12.00. Heck, my SUV costs 40.00... Annual inspection? For what? In the People's Republic of Oregon we get hosed on all kinds of things, including up to 11% income tax! but the registration fees are small, we have NO sales tax, no annual "inspections", no personal property tax, and no other annual fees. I can't imagine paying the state $400 or $600 year after year for a truck or trailer I already own... Personal property tax is an odd concept. Of course, since Clinton outlawed logging, we can't afford things like cops, roads and schools for our kids either. We can barely afford all our socialist welfare programs...396Views0likes0CommentsRe: 1/2 ton Tundra pulling 8200 lbs
I used to work for a boat manufacturer, so I towed small boats (up to about 10,000 pounds) all over Oregon and Washington. The company trucks were all Ford powerstrokes, but we were one truck short coming back from a boat show, so I agreed to use my wife's F-150 to pull a 6,000 pound boat the 200 miles to get home from the show. The trailer was well within the rating for the 150, and it pulled and stopped fine. My scare came on a downhill stretch of I-5 in Portland where the curves were tight. As I braked the trailer suddenly and violently swayed, wagged and shoved me into the neighboring lane. Fortunately, nobody was in the other lane, so I gradually slowed and got off at the next exit. I left the boat at a nearby dealer for us, drove home, and came back a couple days later with one of the big powerstrokes. I picked the boat up very early, so there was no traffic, and I tried every combination of turning, braking and swerving to make the trailer misbehave, but it just tracked like a gem, so I got back on I-5 and pulled the boat home. When I got back to the factory we discovered that the wrong boat had been put on the trailer I had pulled. The trailer had been set up for a different model. As a result, the tongue weight that was supposed to be about 900 pounds was only about 350 pounds. That's what caused the violent wag -- way to much weight to the rear. The big cc diesel was so heavy and had such a long wheelbase, it didn't "care" the 6000 pound trailer was improperly set up, but the much smaller, lighter F-150 needed things to be set up right. The moral of the story: As you get closer to the max rating of your tow rig the set up and balance become critical, and the vehicle/trailer become less tolerant of abrupt control inputs. For these reasons and others, I've always preferred to stay well below the max tow rating. I tend to buy more truck than I absolutely need. I still try to make sure everything with the trailer set up is in order, but I prefer not to sweat if we decide to buy/carry an ATV or a buddy asks us to haul a few hundred pounds of gear for him. Towing well below the capability of your truck just feels like less work too... Once you get used to having that kind of margin it's hard to go back to being right at the limits of your vehicle.291Views0likes0CommentsRe: need to understand how finance calculation work
Dick_B wrote: Compare how many RV's you have bought/sold in your lifetime vs the dealer. What chance do you have to beat them (or even tie them) at THEIR game? And your advice is? Give up and don't ever buy another trailer? Roll over and take whatever financial beating they administer? Dealers have many advantages, including access to all the numbers. They actually know what they have to get to make the sale. Others have already made many good points. I'll add a note on financing. I worked for a boat manufacturer and the marine business is quite similar to the RV business. We made a LOT of money on financing. The market is much tighter now, but we used to get paid 1% of the amount financed for every quarter point between our "buy rate" and where we financed the buyer. For example, if our buy rate was 6% on a particular buyer, and we financed him at 8.99%, the difference would be 3% . That meant 12 quarter points, so 12% of the amount financed. So, if the buyer financed $80,000 the bank would cut us a check the following week for $10,000 for the finance contract. Oddly, a lot of buyers thought we'd cut a better deal for cash. For obvious reasons, we cut better deals if we thought the person was financing through us. RVs are not an "investment", they're a lifestyle we pay for. Every purchase is a matter of balancing cost against benefit. It's possible to buy a used RV, use it, and sell it for a profit -- I lucked into that once on a used camper -- but most of us are just trying to get maximum joy/comfort/benefit at minimum cost. And life doesn't last forever -- so I agree with those who recognize some acceptable "upside down" cost to get what they want while they can enjoy it. I routinely hear people crow about beating the dealer down $15,000 on a $90,000 MSRP. Dealer cost on such an RV is probably to be between $55,000 and $60,000. Given the fact that your new RV is "used" the day you leave the lot with it, the dealer wouldn't buy it back for even $55,000. (Why would he when he can just get other new one for the same price? Remember, an identical new one would usually come with favorable manufacturer supported flooring/financing, while most dealers have to use their own money/credit to buy and carry "used" inventory, so I'd plan on the used rig being worth about $45,000 to the dealer -- or $70,000 or more on consignment.)Using this math and a $75,000 purchase price on a $90,000 MSRP, and assuming the buyer has no other trade/debt, he's starting out at LEAST $25,000 "upside down" in the new trailer. That's no different from buying the new trailer more "right" at $65,000 and including $10.000 in unrecovered debt from a trade that's worth $10,000 less than what's owed on it. It all settles out the same way: in the end it's a question of how much "negative equity" you have in your RV. It's similar for those who pay cash -- because they know they're probably going to sell for much less than they paid. The important thing is to decide your acceptable risk/cost for the benefit you'll get and stick with that balance so you're not anxious about it. Best of luck!713Views0likes0Comments
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