Drewbie....I did tow the TT with the half ton from the dealer to the house and then to the storage lot we used about 30 miles away. That experience was enough for me to say nope....getting a larger truck. For reference, our TT is a 2019 Grand Design Imagine 2800BH, so very similar length and weight wise to yours. My half ton truck was a Ram 1500 with 5.7 hemi, Max tow package, and airbags....still a big nope, even with the Equalizer hitch we had then. The Equalizer was okay with my F250 but still experienced some sway on a trip through Michigan and when I towed the TT from Ohio down to Oklahoma. We upgraded to the Propride after moving to Oklahoma last fall to improve the towing experience in the winds of Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Our first trip was just before Covid lockdown and we pulled to South Texas, then the hill country for a few days before returning to Central Oklahoma. Pulled through storms, etc and even my wife kept talking about how it is so worth the money. It has virtually eliminated the sway so well that my wife now wants to try driving when he go camping. We were considering going fifth wheel when the kids outgrow the current bunks but may just go for a larger TT and use the current truck with the 3P.

Again, thanks to everyone helping me. I've learned a great deal. Granted, I should have learned this before buying a TT....

Can ya'll help me understand payload capacity. I know what it is, but I'm thinking of payload in the context of Excursion vs 2500 Suburban. We are 95% sure gonna get a 3/4 ton SUV. Many people recommend the Excursion, and I agree it does look nice and I like them too. I know it has the power to easily tow my TT, but the payload is not much higher than what we have now of 1441#. Google says Excursion has payload between 1500-1900#. With our current trailer, 4 kids (who will only get bigger), 2 adults and a dog, we are gonna be getting close to it. This might also limit us from bringing along anyone else (e.g., kids' friend, MIL, etc). Compare this to the 2500 Suburban w/ a payload of 2270-2560#.

Since the Excursion is so big and powerful, is it generally ok to be a few pounds over on payload as long as the overall combined weight is within limits?

'90s F-350, problem solved!

That Excursion.

When I was 8-9 years old (mid 90s), my stepdad bought a huge bumper pull travel trailer to take to deer camp and park. Old timer sold it with a late 70s piss yellow suburban with the 454.

Man, that truck was bad ass.

Revisiting this now that we got our new Expy EL. 3.31 axle, HD Tow Package has the rating at 9200#.

Calculating out the curb weight, total payload, and the WDH weight gets me to about 7000# total load without the trailer.

With a GCWR of 15,200# that should leave me with a 8,200# delta for the trailer. I've also heard that a good rule of thumb is to size your trailer at 70% your tow capacity for ease of use and room to scale. That would be around 6,500#

I guess to be on the safe side I should look somewhere in the middle of those numbers, or err on the lower side? The trailer we are looking at is 31', dry weight of 5866, and GWVR 7635. That feels like it's getting pretty close to the max.

Hard to find anything much lighter that can hold multiple kids, dogs and cargo.

Thoughts?

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Revisiting this now that we got our new Expy EL. 3.31 axle, HD Tow Package has the rating at 9200#.

Calculating out the curb weight, total payload, and the WDH weight gets me to about 7000# total load without the trailer.

With a GCWR of 15,200# that should leave me with a 8,200# delta for the trailer. I've also heard that a good rule of thumb is to size your trailer at 70% your tow capacity for ease of use and room to scale. That would be around 6,500#

I guess to be on the safe side I should look somewhere in the middle of those numbers, or err on the lower side? The trailer we are looking at is 31', dry weight of 5866, and GWVR 7635. That feels like it's getting pretty close to the max.

Hard to find anything much lighter that can hold multiple kids, dogs and cargo.

Thoughts?

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Here are my general thoughts after researching this extensively and taking into account my limited experience.

You are in a very similar situation as us with the vehicle (although you have the EL) and trailer size.

Your vehicle can tow it. Our vehicle towed ours this weekend; however, I am still a little worried with the movement it makes when passing semis. Your trailer is about the same length as us so I would assume you'd get the same movement. If you are seasoned at towing, you will likely fair better than me; however, it is something to consider. Many people have recommended to get the ProPride3 hitch. I got it and am installing this weekend, so I can give you real life feedback next week. So, I'd recommend a very good hitch if you plan on getting a trailer this size.

As for weight, I also think you're fine. Some of your trailer weight will be figured into the payload. Your tongue hitch weight will be in that number. That number will change based on how much you load into the trailer but it's a good starting point. For reference, our trailer is 6100# dry, #890 tongue hitch, and 8000# wet. Our total gross combined weight w/ our trailer this past weekend was 13,340#. This was a quick trip about an hour away, and I purposely didn't pack some stuff because I wanted to make sure our weight was good; however, I figure I would have only add about 300-400 more pounds if I brought all our stuff. I think if you pack good, you can make your numbers similar to ours. Also, what I've read is that you rarely reach the gross trailer weight. I was told that an average family will add about 1000# of cargo. That would put you about 6600-6800#. If that's the case, that would put you in line w/ our total numbers and ~13500#.

I've also read that some of those gross trailer estimates assume you will carry a full tank of water which could add 400-500#. We are starting out only camping at spots that have full hookups, so we will not travel w/ fresh water. If you plan to boondock, consider the added water weight into your trailer weight.

To sum, I think your Expy can tow it, especially if trips are short or fairly flat. When you start considering trips to CO, that is where I think you might have a little trouble. Those trips will also likely have more cargo because you'll need to pack for longer trips, so your total weight will increase. The older your kids get, they will also add more weight. For us, While our Expy can tow our trailer, I have already started looking at 3/4 ton vehicles. I'm not in a hurry to buy, but I won't be slow to pull the trigger if I find a good truck.

Great info drewbie, I'd really be interested in your thoughts on the Propride. It's a lot more than the Equal-I-Zer I've looked at, and I'm wondering if it's worth the extra.

I installed the ProPride three weeks ago but needed the extensions for the trailer-to-truck connections and just got that this past week. I think I need to go down one notch on my stinger, the trailer is nose up, but it rose fine on a 30 mile test run just now. Front and rear fender heights about where the need to be just want to level trailer. If anything I think it should be slightly nose down. Used a Sherline scale to get a ~700 pound tongue weight unloaded. It's only a 25' trailer, 5000 lbs unloaded, so maybe PriPride is overkill - no, probably not maybe - but my wheelbase is only 112" and I wanted to be as secure as possible. Got the hitch used off EBay.

Any tips for install or usage? Some of the ones I've come across is to put grease in your hitch and on the stinger to help unhitch, put some bright electrical tape where the stinger goes into the 3p hitch so it's easier to see on backup camera, and use a paint pen to mark where weight Jack's need to to up to.

Not enough personal usage by me to have any extra tips - I need to get better at hooking and unhooking. There is a Propride group thats active and helpful on Facebook, if you have an account there. The Facebook group includes the company owner and possibly other employees, and they seem to respond quickly. I used this install video: . There are a few, but preferred this one.

I would t worrymuch about the weight. It's the length that would worry me. That is a lot of area for the wind to catch. You'll get pushes around quite a bit driving east/west in Texas.

I took our 26' trailer west to Big Bend this spring break and I was getting pushed around quite a bit in my F250. Even with the WDH and sway bars. Granted it was blowing about 25mph cross wind.

03ki11erAG said:

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I would t worrymuch about the weight. It's the length that would worry me. That is a lot of area for the wind to catch. You'll get pushes around quite a bit driving east/west in Texas.

I took our 26' trailer west to Big Bend this spring break and I was getting pushed around quite a bit in my F250. Even with the WDH and sway bars. Granted it was blowing about 25mph cross wind.

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yep, one trip like that with a sequoia, half ton pickup, tahoe, or expedition and thats when either the trailer or the vehicles gets sold.

Successful first trip this past weekend, Land Cruiser maintained speeds and rose stable but unfortunately only got 7.0 mpg. Not too shocking I guess but makes me want a bigger gas tank, or aux tank ($$$$$).

Complete Idiot said:

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Successful first trip this past weekend, Land Cruiser maintained speeds and rose stable but unfortunately only got 7.0 mpg. Not too shocking I guess but makes me want a bigger gas tank, or aux tank ($$$$$).

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Nice! After going to numerous RV camp sites I've realized that there are a lot of people getting out and camping every weekend that would have been told "you don't have a big enough tow vehicle" if they listened to people online. Some of that advice is warranted but then you get the weight nazi's.

There are a lot of variables to consider when picking the trailer and tow vehicle, and many things to consider when setting the combination up. I could pick a trailer 2/3 this size and if I didn't set up the hitch, suspension, and tires correctly, and didn't load trailer correctly, I could create a dangerous situation or at least something very uncomfortable to drive down the road. If I was going to tow every weekend or cross country I'd get a different tow vehicle. For occasional trips within 3 hours this works just fine.

Complete Idiot said:

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There are a lot of variables to consider when picking the trailer and tow vehicle, and many things to consider when setting the combination up. I could pick a trailer 2/3 this size and if I didn't set up the hitch, suspension, and tires correctly, and didn't load trailer correctly, I could create a dangerous situation or at least something very uncomfortable to drive down the road. If I was going to tow every weekend or cross country I'd get a different tow vehicle. For occasional trips within 3 hours this works just fine.

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Totally agree. I wasn't knocking you. Was glad you got out there and enjoyed it.

No no, I got it. I've towed a few trailers, and cars, with different trucks and SUVs and when researching I've seen the people who say "I wouldn't tow anything without a full ton pickup". And that IS the safest, most comfortable, towing experience. But it's not necessary if you do your research, set things up correctly, and alter your driving habits. In England I'd see cars towing caravans, and you can find old photos from the US where people would tow with a v8 sedan back in the 60's-70's. Don't be in a rush and you'll be OK, the main issue now is speed limits are high and you slow traffic down but oh well, I have no problem pulling over to let people pass if needed on a single lane road.

Tow ratings (GVWR & GCVWR) are based a variety of things and on the tow vehicle's braking capacity. It's relatively easy to move something on wheels. What happens when your trailer brakes go out on a downhill grade and your SUV doesn't have the brakes to stop all of that momentum? I've seen trucks pull twice their rated towing capacity. That doesn't mean it's safe to put your family in it.

Nice! Time for a 5th wheel

Very useful thread. Wife and I just finished camping and I'm researching smaller trailers and/or bigger trucks. We ultimately want to start making a trip each summer to the mountains of northern New Mexico. Our trailer is a Jayco 28BHBE which has a dry weight of 6680 pounds. Towing it with a Ford F150 with the 5.0L and 3.31 gears.

We are hooked though. RV life is the way to go in my opinion.

Yesterday said:

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Nice! Time for a 5th wheel

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Funny you mention that because I've already started looking...

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Very useful thread. Wife and I just finished camping and I'm researching smaller trailers and/or bigger trucks. We ultimately want to start making a trip each summer to the mountains of northern New Mexico. Our trailer is a Jayco 28BHBE which has a dry weight of 6680 pounds. Towing it with a Ford F150 with the 5.0L and 3.31 gears.

We are hooked though. RV life is the way to go in my opinion.

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Not sure of the year but nice trailer. I like how the restroom has it's own entrance from the outside!

We are also enjoying the RV life. Nothing like sitting outside under some shade, drinking a beer while you grill, and the kids running themselves tired.

I'm in the same boat right now, but damn it is hard to find the right truck with the current situation and inventory.

saltydog13 said:

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I'm in the same boat right now, but damn it is hard to find the right truck with the current situation and inventory.

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I agree. I felt like I was buying a house when I was looking. I really wanted a F250 but also considered a RAM 2500. I contacted at least 4 other dealers about trucks, and the trucks were always already sold or I got no response. When I bought mine, I probably paid a little more but I was tired of losing trucks and needed a truck fairly quickly for upcoming road trips.

Maybe expand your search range? I'm in the SA region, and I was looking as far as DFW.

Yeah I'm looking in a 500 mile range for lightly used Chevy 2500. Even nationwide search is tough

Those who've switched the 3/4 ton. How's it working out as a daily driver?

Curious of this myself

It sits in the driveway during the week and I drive my sedan

irish pete ag06 said:

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Those who've switched the 3/4 ton. How's it working out as a daily driver?

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Mine is working out fine. I have a 2019 F250 with the 6.7 diesel. I get about 16-17 mpg driving back and forth to work from Cedar Park to Austin. With the diesel prices the way they are now it's not bad.

Nm

Update. I installed a 2nd sway bar and relaxed the old one with a new one. Incredible difference. Sway is gone. Now, I need to get the weight distribution dialed in to get the truck To stop porpoising up and down so much when we hit bumps. I'm beginning to think a 3.5L ecoboosf would tow this rig in the mountains fine. I'm still heavily considering a 3/4 ton just because I'd rather have too much truck