Which Travel Trailer to Pick

[aliveguy5]

On 9/2/2020 at 9:56 PM, EXSlider400 said:

Make sure the travel trailer tires are rated for that speed. 

I have done this and thank you for posting it on here. Not every TT or RV has tires rated for that speed! 

[EXSlider400]

23 hours ago, aliveguy5 said:

I have done this and thank you for posting it on here. Not every TT or RV has tires rated for that speed! 

[horn4life]

Have you looked at the Coachmen?  I got lucky and bought used at the end of may and got a 2017 Freedom Express 246RKS.  VERY similar to what you are looking at, basically a couples trailer with a rear kitchen with best fits our needs.  I think the dry weight is 4700.

 

I can't tell you what to buy but I can tell you what I was looking for, with high humidity and heat beach camping our concern.  I wanted aluminum framing and Azdel siding for lighter, more rigid box and better insulation. Most importantly less potential for humidity to cause wood expansion and contraction with the Azdel and Aluminum framing.I wanted a sealed underbelly so that meant winterization package. The other thing that was a MUST for me was a 15K btu air conditioner.  As the Texas heat and my desire to go beach camp and fish means cold AC keeps myself and the wife happy.  Upgraded bed was also a must.

 

I got super lucky and bought it from a seller that was incredibly meticulous. And a ton of stuff I was gonna have to buy was included in the deal, like surge protector, weight distributing hitch. (which helps with sway and tongue weight limits.)

 

I know I am gonna tow probably faster than the tire are rated so my solution was to buy a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) for the trailer wheels.  It's a world of difference changing a tire that starts to get low, rather than a blown red hot destroyed tire by the side of the road.

 

My last warning is that I would be 100 percent willing to walk away from any trailer right now if I did not like the quality of the build.  With covid the demand went up like crazy and the production quality fell as workers fell sick and less experienced workers replaced them to keep the production lines working.  Travel trailers are already notorious for their poor construction standards so inspect VERY closely before pulling the trigger.  Getting ready to park ours at the coast for 6 weeks, and I will just leave it parked there unless I need to pull it out for a hurricane.

 

Good luck and visit an RV forum with the specific models you want.  I completely changed what I was going to buy and reading some horror stories about my first choices.

[UGADawgs]

We have been set on the Grand Design, just waiting to save up some cash during the pandemic. But when we saw the Winne Voyage with Azdel, King Bed option, larger fridge, and super closet, we plan to go check it out. The quality and design concepts in pictures and videos make it look very comparable to the Grand Design. We've been to a few RV shows and nothing out there in the travel trailer class has looked as good to us as the GDs. ymmv. 

Edit to add:
Not to mention, wife says whichever one we pick, has to have a fireplace. So that does limit our choices. lol

Edited September 13, 2020 by UGADawgs

[Wintersun]

Usually the limiting factor for the payload of a pickup truck is the tires on the rear wheels. The ones from the factory for my truck were rated at 3095 lbs and I replaced them with ones rated at 3750 lbs and gained 1300 lbs payload capacity at the rear. Then the limitation was the leaf springs and so I added SuperSprings.

 

There is no tooth fairy and there are no weight police - sorry to burst anyone's bubble. I wear a seat belt not out of fear of getting a ticket but out of concern for my life and the same applies to how I set up a vehicle for towing.

[amxguy1970]

On 9/3/2020 at 8:00 AM, bshort said:

Nobody will sue you if overweight and the weight police will not cite you............

Unless you get in to an accident, especially a severe one then yes, you will be cited and sued...

 

Tyler

[AlaskaErik]

On 9/17/2020 at 1:09 PM, Wintersun said:

Usually the limiting factor for the payload of a pickup truck is the tires on the rear wheels. The ones from the factory for my truck were rated at 3095 lbs and I replaced them with ones rated at 3750 lbs and gained 1300 lbs payload capacity at the rear. Then the limitation was the leaf springs and so I added SuperSprings.

 

There is no tooth fairy and there are no weight police - sorry to burst anyone's bubble. I wear a seat belt not out of fear of getting a ticket but out of concern for my life and the same applies to how I set up a vehicle for towing.

You do not gain any payload capacity by adding new tires.  I've never even heard that one before.  The tires that come from the factory have more than enough capacity to handle GAWR, GVWR and GCWR.  You also do not gain any payload capacity by adding extra leaf springs or air bags or anything else.  You are only beefing up one component of many.  If someone needs more capacity, then they need a heavier duty truck.   

[bshort]

2 hours ago, amxguy1970 said:

Unless you get in to an accident, especially a severe one then yes, you will be cited and sued...

 

Tyler

Know anyone that's been cited and sued?  Of course you don't.  

[Jglew82]

Know anyone that's been cited and sued?  Of course you don't.  

What exactly is your point? If you willfully go against the published GCVW and cause a wreck, there will be legal ramifications. Anecdotes be damned. Jim Adler would have a field day with this.

[bshort]

21 minutes ago, Jglew82 said:

What exactly is your point? If you willfully go against the published GCVW and cause a wreck, there will be legal ramifications. Anecdotes be damned. Jim Adler would have a field day with this.

My point is that no one will be cited or sued. Pretty simple to comprehend really. Are you a special agent with the Internet Weight Police? 

[Jglew82]

My point is that no one will be cited or sued. Pretty simple to comprehend really. Are you a special agent with the Internet Weight Police? 

I’ll go ahead and scribble this in crayon for you. Let’s say some idiot ass-ends me in his half ton in traffic with a trailer that exceeds his weight rating for his/her truck because they can’t stop/control it because, ya know, ITS OVER THE WEIGHT RATING FOR THE VEHICLE. I consult an attorney, we sue their insurance company/ them and win or at the very least settle because of negligence on their part.

Going down the road minding your own business? Right, no one cares. Until you are in an at-fault accident, which is my point to begin with.

Now put yourself in the other person’s shoes, wouldn’t you pursue legal action against negligence if you got in an accident where someone with an overweight rig was at fault? I bet you would.

[bshort]

13 hours ago, Jglew82 said:

I’ll go ahead and scribble this in crayon for you. Let’s say some idiot ass-ends me in his half ton in traffic with a trailer that exceeds his weight rating for his/her truck because they can’t stop/control it because, ya know, ITS OVER THE WEIGHT RATING FOR THE VEHICLE. I consult an attorney, we sue their insurance company/ them and win or at the very least settle because of negligence on their part.

Going down the road minding your own business? Right, no one cares. Until you are in an at-fault accident, which is my point to begin with.

Now put yourself in the other person’s shoes, wouldn’t you pursue legal action against negligence if you got in an accident where someone with an overweight rig was at fault? I bet you would.

It's ok to still believe in the boogie man........

[Wayfun]

We looked at similar trailers this year and settled on a Rockwood Minilite 2511.  I believe it's weights are very similar to the Grand Design.  I'm towing with a Yukon Denali.  Here are my weight numbers after adjusting my hitch.

[rolinox]

I also have a 2020 TBoss LT 6.2L 10speed, so I do need an additional trailer. It is a good investment for long rides and a large trunk. However, I find it difficult to drive it in big cities. It's too big and consumes a lot of gas.

[asilverblazer]

On 9/20/2020 at 8:52 PM, Jglew82 said:

I’ll go ahead and scribble this in crayon for you. Let’s say some idiot ass-ends me in his half ton in traffic with a trailer that exceeds his weight rating for his/her truck because they can’t stop/control it because, ya know, ITS OVER THE WEIGHT RATING FOR THE VEHICLE. I consult an attorney, we sue their insurance company/ them and win or at the very least settle because of negligence on their part.

Going down the road minding your own business? Right, no one cares. Until you are in an at-fault accident, which is my point to begin with.

Now put yourself in the other person’s shoes, wouldn’t you pursue legal action against negligence if you got in an accident where someone with an overweight rig was at fault? I bet you would.

Not denying the sue happy nature of people, I think it would be tough to prove though, unless the specifications are WAY over the truck.

 

...the weight offender might have been traveling with it empty, did someone gather up all the wreckage to weigh it? Maybe the owner took everything out of it so that it weighs less. My point would be how do YOU or your legal counsel know it was in fact over weight? Then you would have to legally establish that in a civil suit. The burden of proof would be on YOU to prove it was over to - I think the term that comes to mind is - a 'reasonable person'.  I think this legal standard is easier to reach than 'beyond reasonable doubt'. 

 

Most of these are probably settled, because you would run the risk of finding that a group of 'reasonable people' that think it was not over loaded. Then YOU'D have to pay some pretty large bills, likely including the defendants legal troubles.