New to RV, need encouragement

[winona1]

I travel with a Lab and Golden. Makes for great company even if the quarters are a bit cramped as my Trend is all of 26 feet. We all enjoy it!

 

[SpencerPJ]

You will be at the upper end of enjoyable towing. If you plan to stay somewhat local, do it, keep your speeds down and you should be fine. Maybe rent a similar trailer and see how the truck does. And lastly, in addition to this forum, get on a Toyo forum, you will get feedback from more people who have your exact setup and weights. Keep in mind, most RV published numbers tend to be on the low side, most truck towing information tends to be more generous than real world, and most underestimate high winds and the effect they have.

 

[Boat Bum]

You can do it!

 

[Bluesjam]

SpencerPJ, you’re correct. I printed out the papers from the link that RayIN posted. I’ve did all the math. The papers were quite easy to understand and follow. The Winnebago 2326RK is just at the max for my truck so I feel OK with that. I do understand it all better now. I’m going to tell the wife she has to lose some weight. I live in north Georgia, right at the Tennessee/North Carolina border so there are so many cool places to go that are within a 4 hour drive.

 

[SpencerPJ]

I’m going to tell the wife she has to lose some weight.

You might rethink that one Good luck, beautiful country, I travel the area often, have a kid NE of atl.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Welcome to The Forum.

As you have already found out, there are a lot of RVing/Camping experts here. The great part about the advice and suggestions passed along is that they are from seasoned RV veterans who have gone through the same trials you are now experiencing.

Since you have taken many of the suggestions seriously and have further educated yourself on towing capacities and weights, you should feel better about whatever decision you make, which is the one that counts.

All I can add to the conversation since I'm not a TT owner (although motorhome owners have to be aware of many of the same things) is to allow yourself flexibility with either the TT or your Tacoma. After you have gained experience using the combo truck and trailer discussed, you may want to change one or the other. A recent survey featured in RV Travel Newletter showed that 67% of first-time RV buyers are not satisfied with their first RV, and not long after getting into the lifestyle, they make a correction in their choice.

By the way, I looked at the Winnie 2326, and I like the floor plan. Should make for some comfortable camping and RVing travel through my favorite state No. Carolina, and who doesn't like everything Tennacesse?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I’m still confused, my truck is 6800 max and the dry weight of that trailer is 4510. Isn’t that in a good range. My truck said it had the tow package from factory.

Some questions to clarify things a bit:

1. Is that "6800 max" the truck GVWR, or its GCWR (combined truck & trailer weight), or its max tow capacity? Three very different weights.
2. Is that 4510 dry trailer weight from a brochure or website description, of the actual dry weight of a particular trailer as shown on its federal weight label. Brochure/website descriptions are notoriously lower than any actual example because they are a bare-bones minimum where as the model on a dealer sales lot near-always has options, often an entire package of upgrades. If you haven't yet, visit a dealer who has one in stock and look at the federal weight label affixed to that specific trailer. It will be actual weight & accurate within 100 lbs.
3. To drive safely and handle well, the trailer tongue weight will be a minimum of 10% of the actual loaded trailer weight. For example, if that trailer weighs 5500 lbs once it is loaded up, the actual tongue weight that the truck has to carry will be at least 550 lbs and more like 600 or so.

Your truck has to pull the loaded trailer weight, which could be as high as the trailer GVWR of 6000 lb (it's always a lot more than you expect!), but it only has to carry the trailer tongue weight. The rest of the trailer weight rides on its own wheels. The tongue weight becomes part of the truck payload, along with the weight of passengers and gear in the truck cab or truck bed. Including the trailer hitch itself.

 

[Kirk]

The issue is not quite as simple as you might think, You aren't likely to ever tow it empty so look at the gross weight, not dry weight, Second part is that towing it is not the most important thing but will you be able to comfortably maintain control in all weather and traffic conditions, and will you be able to safely stop it in an emergency?

 

[Bluesjam]

You guys have made me in to a math wizard. I’ve been working the math on the links you provided. Here’s a question, on a trailer listed at 4574 dry weight with max capacity of cargo of 1911 lbs. That’s a lot of stuff. What’s a safe cargo with water I can use when doing the math? Does this make sense?

 

[Boat Bum]

"One US liquid gallon of fresh water weighs roughly 8.34 pounds;" take it from there.

 

[Larry N.]

on a trailer listed at 4574 dry weight with max capacity of cargo of 1911 lbs. That’s a lot of stuff. What’s a safe cargo with water I can use when doing the math? Does this make sense?

The weight of water is correct above, but I'd still ignore ANY mention of dry weight (it's useless) and figure all of your towing with GVWR, Alternatively, load your trailer with everything you plan to take, including lots of (perhaps full) fresh water, then weigh your trailer. This is too important to your safety to figure it under the actual weight, though over isn't as much of a problem.

I wish dry weight were never provided -- that would eliminate a lot of incorrect figuring and a lot of trying to make people understand that it's a useless figure. I certainly don't want your trailer coming loose or have sway problems because of incorrect figuring/loading.

Incidentally, in some cases you may have to adjust your loading a bit to not have the tongue weight too low (actual weight) and causing handling problems.

 

[Boat Bum]

I wish dry weight were never provided -- that would eliminate a lot of incorrect figuring and a lot of trying to make people understand that it's a useless figure. I certainly don't want your trailer coming loose or have sway problems because of incorrect figuring/loading.

To suggest this spec is useless is naive at best. Now, not knowing what to do with it is something entirely different.

 

[old RV guy]

You guys have made me in to a math wizard. I’ve been working the math on the links you provided. Here’s a question, on a trailer listed at 4574 dry weight with max capacity of cargo of 1911 lbs. That’s a lot of stuff. What’s a safe cargo with water I can use when doing the math? Does this make sense?

That trailer has a gross vehicle weight rating of 6k, so subtracting the dry weight you have a margin of about 1500 lbs. Unless you're boondocking you don't need to travel with the fresh water tank full, and even at that you could likely find somewhere to top it off near your destination. Some travel trailers discourage traveling with full fresh water tank. Your unit's tank capacity is ~30 gal, so that's roughly 250 lbs or 1/6th your cargo capacity.
You'll be surprised how much weight you can add in a hurry when loading out.

 

[Kirk]

on a trailer listed at 4574 dry weight with max capacity of cargo of 1911 lbs.

If there is no GVWR listed then add the two together and that should be a GVWR of 6485# but that makes no sense as the trailer specs say that the GVWR for that trailer is only 6000# and a dry weight of 4510#. That leaves a total of 1490# for adding things to the trailer. From that you muse deduct 250# for water.

 

[Larry N.]

To suggest this spec is useless is naive at best. Now, not knowing what to do with it is something entirely different.

Interesting- So what use is a value that the trailer never can achieve? Actual unloaded weight can be useful, but how do you use something that doesn't exist?

 

[No cats]

that should be a GVWR of 6485# but that makes no sense as the trailer specs say that the GVWR for that trailer is only 6000#

The reason the numbers add up to 6485 lbs. is that the extra 485 are on the truck as part of the tongue weight. The 6000 max are on the trailers axles, probably two at 3000 lbs each.

 

[Boat Bum]

Interesting- So what use is a value that the trailer never can achieve? Actual unloaded weight can be useful, but how do you use something that doesn't exist?

It's a baseline, unlike a one time reading with numerous variables that start changing the minute you drive off the scale.

 

[Boat Bum]

To be clear, I'm not disputing the value of weighing your rig.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The "dry weight" (Unladen Vehicle Weight or UVW) is necessary to derive the Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC). Subtract UVW from GVWR to determine CCC (aka payload). so it has a use, but is NOT used to determine if the tow vehicle is adequate to the task. For that you need the Laden (loaded) Weight, but that's a variable somewhere between UVW and GVWR (hopefully!). Since you don't know how much the cargo load will weigh until you load it, it is best to assume the cargo will be at its max, making the loaded weight the same as GVWR.

Newcomers always underestimate the amount of cargo they will carry. And the actual loaded wight on the first trip inevitably grows with each successive trip as more & more things are deemed "handy to have" and even one-time use items get left behind in the RV. The RV Safety Foundation estimates that somewhere around 50% of all RVs are overloaded at at least one wheel position. That's based on actual weigh-ins done at RV rallies.

Here are some excellent videos of RV weight topics.

RV Education

RVSEF Official Site

rvsafety.com

 

[gwinger]

Total trailer weight is only one consideration. You also have to factor in the tongue weight. The trailer has a 412lb tongue weight empty.
Anything added towards the front will increase tongue weight, including the weight of the hitch.
Another thing to think about are the tires on the truck. Most come with P rated tires. These tires will squat and rebound when when going down the road, causing porpoising of the truck and trailer.