I need some advice in choosing the size and weight of a travel trailer to purchase for retirement vacationing (2 people). We expect to travel about 4x annually for 2 - 3 weeks at a time, all over the USA and Canada.
Our tow vehicle is a 2013 Dodge RAM 1500 pickup truck with 5.7L hemi-V8, 6 speed transmission, 3.92 axle, crew-cab, and 5?7? box. I?m not sure of the towing capacity, but I think it is approximately 9,600 ? 9800 lbs.
To give you some idea of my towing experience: behind gasoline-powered GMC and Dodge dump-trucks (dual rear wheels, 8 ton payload), I towed a low-boy, 6-wheel equipment trailer with medium-grade paving equipment (medium-to-larger Michigan end-loader, 4 ton Buffalo-Springfield blacktop roller, Case backhoe, Huber maintainer, or (Huber?) road-grader) on board at my summer job in the Washington, D.C. area from 1966 ? 1971. Often the dump truck was empty when pulling the loaded equipment trailer, but sometimes the dump truck was also loaded with 8 tons of blacktop or crushed rock in the dump box. That was at/near the towing/hauling capacity limit and it certainly taxed my towing skills on some of those narrow, crowned, uneven Maryland blacktops. I also drove a 1,200 gallon asphalt truck. I occasionally towed a 26 ft Airstream trailer behind a 1966 Dodge Polara station wagon during those years. The Airstream towing was in the Blue Ridge mountains. I finally drove a semi-truck, but only briefly.
Later, after moving to Illinois, Arizona, Kansas, California, and Nebraska (in that order), for recreational activity I towed a Nimrod pop-up tent camper behind a ?68 Impala, which was actually sometimes a ?challenge? going downhill on vacation in the western mountains, given that the Impala had only a 2-speed ?power-glide? transmission (no 2nd gear ? just ?hi? and ?low?) and the smallest size V8 of the time. I was often confined to maximum 30 mph on a steep downhill grade, owing to lack of a 2nd gear. I know I irritated many drivers behind me (for going so slow), but what else can you do to avoid overheating brakes on a steep downhill grade with no 2nd gear available? (Answer: Go 30 mph in low gear, make everyone angry behind you, and pull over at each turn-out to let them pass.)
I also occasionally pulled the largest size of U-Haul furniture trailer behind that Impala (possibly an ill-advised overload condition), and have driven the largest size of U-Haul moving truck (fully loaded including household furniture, a grand piano and heavy floor-model Bridgeport milling machine) back and forth across the mountains and the country on several occasions.
I know mountain driving - no mishaps have ever been encountered. In Kansas, I upgraded my towing vehicle to a ?76 Pontiac station wagon (large V8 and 3 speed transmission), and with adding a 2nd gear and more vehicle weight, that was much better with the tent camper vacationing in the western mountains. Locally (in Kansas - flat country), I also towed two different 17 foot deep-vee runabout boats (4.3L V6 I/O) behind that Pontiac, and that was OK. In California, I towed a 16 ft aluminum fishing boat behind an ?85 Olds Delta 88. That was also easy. Later yet (after moving to Nebraska), I again towed an 18 ft deep-vee runabout boat (4.3L V6 I/O boat engine) behind a ?99 Tahoe. (I initially tried towing that boat behind a ?93 Jeep Cherokee Sport without trailer brakes or anti-sway bars and soon discovered my mistake (even on flat ground) ? which led me to buy the ?99 Tahoe). The Jeep was (officially) ?rated? for the tow, but in my book, it didn?t have anywhere near the ?ballast? or braking power to handle that boat comfortably. The old ?76 Pontiac station wagon was much better than the Jeep. The ?99 Tahoe was better yet.
Now we have the above-described 2013 Dodge RAM 1500 and are looking to buy a travel trailer for our retirement. I realize the RAM 1500 is generally too light for a 5th wheel trailer, and so I am looking at travel trailers. I need some advice on the size and weight of travel trailer to choose. My wife and I would like something that is reasonably roomy inside and gives us more evening & bad weather sitting options than just a small dinette set. We?d also like a bedroom door that prevents one late night insomniac reader (or TV watcher) from keeping the other one up at night.
We don?t want to overload the tow vehicle, and we are also concerned about crosswinds on I-80 in Wyoming. We?ve also encountered some nasty crosswinds in past travel across Utah. We survived the crosswinds (without incident), but our tent camper was short and ?low profile?. These are the places we?d like to visit. Mountain interstate roads and east-west interstate roads with north crosswinds will likely be encountered.
Our current tow vehicle is certainly more substantial than that ?68 Impala or the various vehicles that followed later, but I am still worried about what crosswind difficulty will be encountered with a taller hard-top travel trailer, especially if it is too long and/or possibly too lite in weight. We never towed our boats in these Utah/Wyoming crosswinds. (The boats were used only locally in Kansas and Nebraska, and we didn?t go boating when it was windy.) It is only our prospective new travel trailer that will encounter significant Utah/Wyoming cross winds.
From the weight standpoint (and ignoring crosswind (for the moment)), my ?93 Jeep boat-pulling experience in Nebraska taught me not to pull a trailer which encroaches on the rated towing capacity of the vehicle. (Though I realize my Jeep experience was made worse by the lack of trailer brakes ? even driving in flat country at only 55 mph.)
I?d like to keep the new travel trailer at 7000 lb or less (dry weight). That should be OK with this RAM 1500. In fact, in consideration of fuel mileage and crossing the various western mountains, we?d really prefer to keep the travel trailer at 5500 lb or less (dry). I?m willing to invest in a premium load-leveling hitch with premium anti-sway control.
However, MY QUESTION IS: if we choose a fiber-glass ultra-lite (e.g. Apex, by Coachmen (Forest River)), which weighs only 4370 lb (dry) at 28 feet long (including tongue) or a longer model of the same ultra-lite, weighing in at only 5300 lb (dry) at 31 feet long, are we going to get into unmanageable cross-wind problems in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah?
I?m particularly worried that in choosing such long, ultra-lite fiber-glass trailers, they may be exceptionally susceptible to western crosswind difficulty. Perhaps being too ?lite? (for the length) is a problem with crosswinds? There are other brands/models of trailers of the same length and similar price that would weigh 1200 lb more at 28 feet long, and 1700 lb more at 31 feet long.
In other words: is reducing the weight by 1200 lb to 1700 lb, via selecting a fiber-glass ultra-lite, really a good idea in a 28 ft to 31 ft trailer, or would extra weight be PREFERRED for western states crosswinds ? given my towing experience and the RAM 1500 truck that we currently have?
We really like the ultra-light travel trailer concept of reducing the weight by 1200 to 1700 lb (via light-weight fiber-glass construction) behind this RAM 1500, but will that put us into unmanageable western states cross-wind difficulty?
(We know to stay off the road when severe crosswind advisories are in effect, but there are still a few ?surprises? waiting out there, even with no advisory in effect.)
I have towing experience (including mountain and crosswind experience), but NOT with the particular combination of extra-long, tall, ultra-lite trailers that we are currently considering. What can I expect in Utah & Wyoming with a RAM 1500 truck, a premium load-leveling hitch, premium anti-sway control, and a 28 to 31 foot travel trailer with only 4370 ? 5300 lb dry weight?
Possibly, I should make sure the 50 gallon water tank is always full? Or maybe we should buy a shorter trailer, or possibly a heavier one at the same length? What is your opinion?
Our tow vehicle is a 2013 Dodge RAM 1500 pickup truck with 5.7L hemi-V8, 6 speed transmission, 3.92 axle, crew-cab, and 5?7? box. I?m not sure of the towing capacity, but I think it is approximately 9,600 ? 9800 lbs.
To give you some idea of my towing experience: behind gasoline-powered GMC and Dodge dump-trucks (dual rear wheels, 8 ton payload), I towed a low-boy, 6-wheel equipment trailer with medium-grade paving equipment (medium-to-larger Michigan end-loader, 4 ton Buffalo-Springfield blacktop roller, Case backhoe, Huber maintainer, or (Huber?) road-grader) on board at my summer job in the Washington, D.C. area from 1966 ? 1971. Often the dump truck was empty when pulling the loaded equipment trailer, but sometimes the dump truck was also loaded with 8 tons of blacktop or crushed rock in the dump box. That was at/near the towing/hauling capacity limit and it certainly taxed my towing skills on some of those narrow, crowned, uneven Maryland blacktops. I also drove a 1,200 gallon asphalt truck. I occasionally towed a 26 ft Airstream trailer behind a 1966 Dodge Polara station wagon during those years. The Airstream towing was in the Blue Ridge mountains. I finally drove a semi-truck, but only briefly.
Later, after moving to Illinois, Arizona, Kansas, California, and Nebraska (in that order), for recreational activity I towed a Nimrod pop-up tent camper behind a ?68 Impala, which was actually sometimes a ?challenge? going downhill on vacation in the western mountains, given that the Impala had only a 2-speed ?power-glide? transmission (no 2nd gear ? just ?hi? and ?low?) and the smallest size V8 of the time. I was often confined to maximum 30 mph on a steep downhill grade, owing to lack of a 2nd gear. I know I irritated many drivers behind me (for going so slow), but what else can you do to avoid overheating brakes on a steep downhill grade with no 2nd gear available? (Answer: Go 30 mph in low gear, make everyone angry behind you, and pull over at each turn-out to let them pass.)
I also occasionally pulled the largest size of U-Haul furniture trailer behind that Impala (possibly an ill-advised overload condition), and have driven the largest size of U-Haul moving truck (fully loaded including household furniture, a grand piano and heavy floor-model Bridgeport milling machine) back and forth across the mountains and the country on several occasions.
I know mountain driving - no mishaps have ever been encountered. In Kansas, I upgraded my towing vehicle to a ?76 Pontiac station wagon (large V8 and 3 speed transmission), and with adding a 2nd gear and more vehicle weight, that was much better with the tent camper vacationing in the western mountains. Locally (in Kansas - flat country), I also towed two different 17 foot deep-vee runabout boats (4.3L V6 I/O) behind that Pontiac, and that was OK. In California, I towed a 16 ft aluminum fishing boat behind an ?85 Olds Delta 88. That was also easy. Later yet (after moving to Nebraska), I again towed an 18 ft deep-vee runabout boat (4.3L V6 I/O boat engine) behind a ?99 Tahoe. (I initially tried towing that boat behind a ?93 Jeep Cherokee Sport without trailer brakes or anti-sway bars and soon discovered my mistake (even on flat ground) ? which led me to buy the ?99 Tahoe). The Jeep was (officially) ?rated? for the tow, but in my book, it didn?t have anywhere near the ?ballast? or braking power to handle that boat comfortably. The old ?76 Pontiac station wagon was much better than the Jeep. The ?99 Tahoe was better yet.
Now we have the above-described 2013 Dodge RAM 1500 and are looking to buy a travel trailer for our retirement. I realize the RAM 1500 is generally too light for a 5th wheel trailer, and so I am looking at travel trailers. I need some advice on the size and weight of travel trailer to choose. My wife and I would like something that is reasonably roomy inside and gives us more evening & bad weather sitting options than just a small dinette set. We?d also like a bedroom door that prevents one late night insomniac reader (or TV watcher) from keeping the other one up at night.
We don?t want to overload the tow vehicle, and we are also concerned about crosswinds on I-80 in Wyoming. We?ve also encountered some nasty crosswinds in past travel across Utah. We survived the crosswinds (without incident), but our tent camper was short and ?low profile?. These are the places we?d like to visit. Mountain interstate roads and east-west interstate roads with north crosswinds will likely be encountered.
Our current tow vehicle is certainly more substantial than that ?68 Impala or the various vehicles that followed later, but I am still worried about what crosswind difficulty will be encountered with a taller hard-top travel trailer, especially if it is too long and/or possibly too lite in weight. We never towed our boats in these Utah/Wyoming crosswinds. (The boats were used only locally in Kansas and Nebraska, and we didn?t go boating when it was windy.) It is only our prospective new travel trailer that will encounter significant Utah/Wyoming cross winds.
From the weight standpoint (and ignoring crosswind (for the moment)), my ?93 Jeep boat-pulling experience in Nebraska taught me not to pull a trailer which encroaches on the rated towing capacity of the vehicle. (Though I realize my Jeep experience was made worse by the lack of trailer brakes ? even driving in flat country at only 55 mph.)
I?d like to keep the new travel trailer at 7000 lb or less (dry weight). That should be OK with this RAM 1500. In fact, in consideration of fuel mileage and crossing the various western mountains, we?d really prefer to keep the travel trailer at 5500 lb or less (dry). I?m willing to invest in a premium load-leveling hitch with premium anti-sway control.
However, MY QUESTION IS: if we choose a fiber-glass ultra-lite (e.g. Apex, by Coachmen (Forest River)), which weighs only 4370 lb (dry) at 28 feet long (including tongue) or a longer model of the same ultra-lite, weighing in at only 5300 lb (dry) at 31 feet long, are we going to get into unmanageable cross-wind problems in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah?
I?m particularly worried that in choosing such long, ultra-lite fiber-glass trailers, they may be exceptionally susceptible to western crosswind difficulty. Perhaps being too ?lite? (for the length) is a problem with crosswinds? There are other brands/models of trailers of the same length and similar price that would weigh 1200 lb more at 28 feet long, and 1700 lb more at 31 feet long.
In other words: is reducing the weight by 1200 lb to 1700 lb, via selecting a fiber-glass ultra-lite, really a good idea in a 28 ft to 31 ft trailer, or would extra weight be PREFERRED for western states crosswinds ? given my towing experience and the RAM 1500 truck that we currently have?
We really like the ultra-light travel trailer concept of reducing the weight by 1200 to 1700 lb (via light-weight fiber-glass construction) behind this RAM 1500, but will that put us into unmanageable western states cross-wind difficulty?
(We know to stay off the road when severe crosswind advisories are in effect, but there are still a few ?surprises? waiting out there, even with no advisory in effect.)
I have towing experience (including mountain and crosswind experience), but NOT with the particular combination of extra-long, tall, ultra-lite trailers that we are currently considering. What can I expect in Utah & Wyoming with a RAM 1500 truck, a premium load-leveling hitch, premium anti-sway control, and a 28 to 31 foot travel trailer with only 4370 ? 5300 lb dry weight?
Possibly, I should make sure the 50 gallon water tank is always full? Or maybe we should buy a shorter trailer, or possibly a heavier one at the same length? What is your opinion?
