Advice from my experience

[itgoes211]

I posted this in another section on the Forum but thought some people may find it as good info....

Just some advice from my very recent buy. GET YOUR TV FIRST!!!! I had a Hummer H3 Alpha rated at 6000lb towing. I searched and searched for something light to tow that I liked. Everything I loved was too heavy. But I found the 2104S. So I bought one. I have had it about 2 months. It weighed in at 4100lbs so I should be more than good right. WRONG. It was painful towing. So what did I do, I went out and bought a brand new Ram 1500 rated at a little over 10,000.... So now I have a TT I like, don't hate it, but don't love it either. If I had to do it over again I would have bought the truck and then shopped for my camper.

So anyone want to buy a very gently used (3 nights) 2016 2104S??? :-)

[n-e-d]

I did it TV first after looking at a KZ. Had little 6 cyclinder s10 and figured I'd need a bigger TV so bought a Ram 1500 Hemi beautty of a truck stated looking for the KZ couldnt find one I liked then moved to Jaycos and windjammers and finally ended up ordering a sunseeker-yes a motorhome. Ended up trading the truck for a Jeep for the DW to drive and us to tow behind the motorhome. Moral of our stories is You Never Know

[mud yapster]

Well I didn't because I thought my old F350 7.3L diesel could handle the new 42' 5er 18,000#. Well I was wrong also because it had to hard a time towing up hills. So got a new 2015 Ram 6.7L diesel 3500. No problem towing in hills now. Older 1 tons weren't rated to tow such heavy loads back then. Love the new Ram 3500 with the 6.7L and it is a lot quieter and has no problem.

[JustB_Rad]

Yup! I originally was towing a 1997 Coleman Sea Pine pop up with a 2011 Ford Explorer with a V6...almost 300 HP. The Mrs and I wanted a full size camper so we searched and searched and searched for what we thought would work for us and the current TV. We had to avoid slide outs and such to stay under my 5k weight rating. We ended up buying a 2011 Crossover with a dry weight of 3300# and the Explorer towed it like crap! With a head wind, it never dropped below 3500 RPM on a 300 mile trip. 2 weeks later, I bought a new Ram 1500 Outdoorsman (basically a year+ earlier than my wife wanted me to). Towed that camper like a dream. Well then in September, we found out we were expecting, and even though we thought our unit would be able to house kids, we didn't think so much about where we'd put all the crap and had nowhere to sit inside beside the kitchen table....so we traded up to a new Grey Wolf 26DBH. If I would have known this, I would've gotten the truck and then the bigger trailer and saved $2500 that we lost on the camper for trade in value!

As my Dad told me when I said "The explorer will tow it just fine".....There's no replacement for displacement!

[CWSWine]

Here are my experience with trucks.

1. Chevy 1500 - Found just to light duty of truck to pull the campers that I wanted. It was fine as long as I stayed with smaller lighter TT.

2. Chevy 2500HD Diesel - Found that it could tow over 15,000 lbs but the limiting factor was cargo capacity which was less than some 1/2 tons at 2375 lbs. If i ever purchased a 2500hd/f250 I would make it gas instead of diesel and gain the extra weight of the diesel engine added on the CC. Lot of the gas 2500hd have cargo capacity of over 3,000 lbs.

3. Ford F350 Diesel - The tow ratings are about the same as diesel F250 but where they shine is in cargo capacity with yellow tag on the truck at 3744 lbs. My Chevy was rated to tow about the same weight but without the cargo capacity of 2344lbs fell short of what I needed. I needed a truck with a cargo capacity of closer to 3,000 lbs pin. weight

I didn't buy dually because of where I live we have a unwritten rule about parking in the garage and the only truck I could find that would fit and meet my current needs was F350 Super Cab.

[bikendan]

Most will advise to find the trailer model you want FIRST, then buy the tow vehicle that can tow it.

[itgoes211]

I think there are way too many variables for each individual to say which is best to buy first for everyone. That was just the way I wish I would have went.

[Brother Les]

I thought Hummers were made to run over stuff, not pull stuff???

[itgoes211]

Well I was hoping to do both. That is why my preference was to keep it.

[schrederman]

We're going to upgrade to a larger TT next year. Last year I upgraded the truck from an F-150. Current TT is in at 7,200# and the new one will be between 9,000 and 10,000... should be no problem.

[asquared]

I would ang on to your current trailer a bit longer and find out what you love and hate about it. Use that to your advantage when shopping next time. I played the game similar to you. I bought a tt to match my old armada. Tt had a gvwr Well within rated tow capacity. What a joke, I was over on payload and handling was downright scary. Traded for a used f250 diesel and had a great match for a couple of years. Then we got the bug to get a fiver. Payload on the f250 was only 1500 lbs after accounting for family, dog, etc. No go. We then researched our trailers and trucks until we new exactly what we wanted in a trailer. It was narrowed to two diversity similar in weight and length. I did all of my calculations for pin weight etc based on fiver gvwr and subtract weight of family from door jamb stickers on the trucks we shopped for. We came up with a new 2014 chevy 3500 duramax with a 4000 lb payload per door sticker. Bought the truck and then 3 months later we bought the fiver after we sold the old tt on craigslist. In mind this worked really well as it allowed me to carefully match my rig. Not all are fortunate enough to do both so close together. This is where weighing your existing g vehicle and knowing it's capacities from those weight as a very important thing. You can then do calculations us I g worst case scenario on the trailer of choice, if it works great. If not, then time to choose, get a different trailer or get the trailer you love and upgrade the vehicle simultaneously.

[TroyATudor]

For our family it's always evolving. Started out tenting, then a camper with a Chevy Camper Special, then Winnebago 32' motor home. Then we switched to trailers. Started with Coleman Bayview pop-up with an Explorer with a 4L HO V6. Loved that, and towed fine, but not great. Upgraded to Durango with 4.7L with 3.55s, and that was much better.

Then we wanted to move into a new TT. Found nice Salem Lite that we liked. Towing that on a flat road was fine, but over any grade about killed the Durango. Upgraded to a Jeep Commander with 3.73s, 5.7L HEMI, and it doesn't drop below 60 on most anything.

Hind site? We may have looked for nice crew cab truck from the start that could seat 6 when we decided to move into TTs. Sometimes life changes and you just have to roll with it. I'll probably have to do it again if we ever decide to go with a 5er!

[MacII]

I have usually bought more TV than I thought was the minimum necessary and have generally been satisfied with the results. Right now, I have a 2013 Chevy 2500HD crew cab diesel with 3:73 gears. It has towed a Keystone 24 ft Outback with an ATV in a front, side loading garage. Gross weight of truck as loaded averages around 7,600 pounds and the trailer, loaded averages around 6,600, weight on free Oregon log truck scales. The truck has plenty of torque to tow with the 3:73 gears instead of the classic 4:10/4:11. Towed through the Rockies going to Florida from Oregon. Never overheated and no trouble stopping. For me, the principle issue is no longer how much can I pull with my TV but can I stop the load once underway. Chevy exhaust brake, coupled to the Allison tranny, actually works and is great on 6 % or even greater grades. Coming in the back way to the Steens mountains there is one old 2 lane road that states an 8% grade and the combination works even on an 8% grade of narrow, curvy road. Further, in Tennessee last year, got 22.6 MPG (using an Edge Juice with an Attitude in economy mode or power setting) without the trailer and 16.2 with the trailer. Believe it or not, it was true. My advice, buy more TV than you need and feel safe towing whatever you hook to. Further, always tow level and buy airbags. Finally, do not tow an RV that weighs more than twice the TV grosses. You have to be able to stop the load and it may not always be at a time when you are on dry, level ground.

[Pockets]

The Mrs and I went to an RV show in Mar and found the trailer we wanted. I also knew the sales manager at FORD. I gave him the spec sheet for the trailer we were going to buy. Bought the TV first, then got the trailer. I'm happy with what I have. Mind you I haven't towed in the mountains yet. I've done the rockies in 09 with a 05 Freestar and towing a Coleman popup at 2500 lbs. It was slow going uphill but found out to just take your time. I never hit the speed limit but I never burnt out the motor or tranny. My F-150 is rated at 11300 lbs with 1900 lbs cargo capacity, the Flagstaff, is rated at 7600 lbs loaded.

[nomad297]

Is it possible to have too much truck and not enough trailer?

Bruce

[Pockets]

Bruce, better that then the other way around