Rockwood Roo 21SS, pulling with 92 tow package - help

[hemway26]

Hi,
I am new here! We are about to buy a Rockwood Roo 21SS. A bad salesman told us we would be fine with our old 2009 Traverse without the tow package. After researching ourselves, we decided to buy a 2012 Traverse with the V92 tow package (and saved a bunch!).

Anyway, the Traverse with the V92 tow package can tow 5200 lbs. I have studied alot of info on all the different ratings and just want to be sure I get it and we are safe to tow this Roo!

Here is some info, can someone tell me if we are safe?

Traverse Curb Weight 4658
Total of All Passengers Weight: 505
Tongue Weight 570
Traverse GVWR 6411
Traverse Max Tow weight 5200
Traverse GCWR 10,250
Rockwood Roo 21ss Sry Ship Weight 4311
Roo GVWR 5743

THANK YOU!

[LadyWindrider]

Should be simple math, with a few variables. Curb weight plus passengers equal

5153 pounds. Lets add 600 pounds tongue weight, to be sure, equals 5753. Now lets add 20 gallons of gas in the tow vehicle tank, equals 5873. That leaves you about 500 pounds on the tow vehicle. Should be fine there.

Now let's say the tow vehicle weighs 5900, (round numbers, with tongue weight). Now the camper dry weight is 4300, (your spec). add 1,000, for awning, propane, television.........etc. That's 5300, plus vehicle at 5300, (5900 minus tongue weight of 600), and you have a combined weight of 10,600 pounds. Slightly over your max combined tow weight of 10,250.

Now it is late, and I hope I didn't make any math errors. I apologize if I did. You are close. Since we don't know where you are, what kind of places you are towing, you may be ok, or maybe not. Stay out of the mountains. Plan to camp where you have full hook-ups, as carrying water will put you in overload. Someone else will chime in I'm sure.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by hemway26

Hi,
I am new here! We are about to buy a Rockwood Roo 21SS. A bad salesman told us we would be fine with our old 2009 Traverse without the tow package. After researching ourselves, we decided to buy a 2012 Traverse with the V92 tow package (and saved a bunch!).

Anyway, the Traverse with the V92 tow package can tow 5200 lbs. I have studied alot of info on all the different ratings and just want to be sure I get it and we are safe to tow this Roo!

Here is some info, can someone tell me if we are safe?

Traverse Curb Weight 4658
Total of All Passengers Weight: 505
Tongue Weight 570
Traverse GVWR 6411
Traverse Max Tow weight 5200
Traverse GCWR 10,250
Rockwood Roo 21ss Sry Ship Weight 4311
Roo GVWR 5743

THANK YOU!

dry weight doesn't include the weight of "options". my Roo 23SS weighed 400lbs. over its "dry" weight with options.
so, that 21SS will weigh around 4700lbs. on the dealer's lot. that's without battery, propane, water and cargo.
now, deduct the weights of anything or anyone other than a 150lb. driver, from the Traverse's 5200 number. that also includes the weight of the WDH.
i'll also bet that the 21SS's tongue weight, with the WDH, will exceed the Traverse's max tongue capacity.

so, bottom line is that you'll be at or over your tow max and probably well over the tongue capacity, when loaded for camping.

so, it's your decision if that's "Safe".
you should have asked here before you bought either the Traverse or the 21SS.

[Triguy]

hemway,
You have a solid crossover vehicle in the Traverse, but also own a relatively heavy trailer. I've been looking at that vehicle with my folks for when they want to replace their current Jeep GC. Its perfect for them because all they tow is a walleye boat.

From what I understand about the Traverse, its great for popups and other lights trailers, boats, that kind of thing.

I agree with the other that this will be close to or over a number of weight caps for your vehicle. But I just eye-balled it and I recommend you play around with this towing calculator.

[hemway26]

Thanks for everyone who has commented so far. We have not yet bought to Roo 21ss, just have a deposit on it and doing our homework. We have really fallen in live with it, but safety for us & our kids absolutely comes first. It is just so confusing! We'll listen to all the advice you have! I think we'll head back to the dealer today with all our numbers and have them walk us through each calculation to be sure. Worst case scenario, since we love this Roo 21ss, do any if you have any suggestions for something else maybe lighter in our range that we may equally love but have not discovered yet? Can't wait Ti be campers like you all and enjoy this forum, you guys are great!!

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by hemway26

I think we'll head back to the dealer today with all our numbers and have them walk us through each calculation to be sure!

That might not help you. RV dealers are all across the board with recommendations. Many, maybe most, will tell you what you want to hear. I'm really busy getting ready to travel this morning but let me see what I can come up with.

One thing. What is the max tongue weight for your Traverse? It should be stamped on the receiver and in your manual.

[hemway26]

The max tongue weight stamp on the Traverse is 600. Thank you!

[Triguy]

Hemway26,

This is long so I'll summarize. I think a good weight to shoot for in a trailer would be 3,800lbs dry and 4,615lbs fully loaded.

I think the most limiting factor will be the Traverse's max tongue weight of 600lbs. Which is true for any Crossover vehicle.

The max towing is also a limiter at 5,200lbs.

The GCWR of 10250 is also a limiter.

The Traverse has plenty of payload capacity at 1,753lbs. This seems high to me but I'm going with the specs as listed through Edmunds.

The simplest calculation is just take the 600lb max tongue weight and divide by 10%-15%, which is the recommended percentage of trailer weight (common sense and Chevy).

600/10% = 6000lb trailer
600/13% = 4615lb trailer
600/15% = 4000lb trailer

My vehicle tows best at 13%. Too light of a tongue weight and you have real problems. Same thing with too heavy but that's rarely the situation

So, just from that basic calculation, you can tow a trailer that weights fully loaded between 4000-6000lbs. Not really...

You have a towing max of 5200lbs. You could tow up to this max as some people claim that there is a margin built in at the manufacturer. I used to believe that but they play so many games with tow numbers that I don't recommend you count on it. I recommend now-a-days that you do not tow the max 5200lbs but leave some margin. A 10% margin would bring this to 4,680lbs. Plus, where you tow matters. The mountains in the West will require more margin than the plains in the Midwest.

I have attached some links from calculations I ran using changing gears. Hopefully this demonstrates some of the issues involved.

I increased the tow vehicle weight to 5163lbs to allow for your family (4658+505).

This calculation provides you a safer towing situation that is not over any of your ratings. The trailer needs to weigh less than 4,615lbs fully loaded with a reasonable 13% tongue weight.

This calculation shows what happens if you load that trailer to the max 5,200 for your vehicle (not recommended but some people do it). You can see you are over your vehicle's gross combined weight rating.

So, I would say that, in looking for a trailer that you can use with your Traverse you should stay with one that will weigh less than 4,615 loaded.

That would probably be a dry weight of 3,800lbs, allowing for options (200lbs), battery, propane and a little water (150lbs) and the cargo (465lbs).

Does this help? I am sure its not want you wanted to read but this is how I would calculate it for my family. The decision is yours, of course, and I just mean this as a guide you can use.

[bikendan]

since the 21SS has a fictional "dry" tongue weight of 570lbs. and your Traverse has a 600lbs. max, this is where your biggest issue is.

that 570lbs. number is for a stripped-down 21SS without the weight of the battery, propane, water, cargo, WDH and typical options like: awning, oven, spare tire, a/c, microwave and so on.

so, by just including a ballpark 400lbs. for the options and 40lbs. for the propane and 40lbs. for the battery and 100lbs. for the WDH, that's nearly another 600lbs. of extra weight before you even add water and cargo.
even if you're conservative and add only 10% of that to the tongue weight, it's now at 630lbs. before water and cargo.

the 21SS is very tongue heavy but there is no other hybrid like it, since Jayco dropped the 21M, which i think had a heavier tongue weight.
that big slideout adds a lot of weight to the trailer.
it's weighs about the same as my 23SS and i know a number of other 23SS owners that attempted to tow it with a TV that had a similar 5000lbs. tow capacity. it didn't take them long to change tow vehicles.

so, either you pick another trailer or look at upgrading the tow vehicle.
a good rule for this kind of trailer is find one with a GVWR under your Traverse's max tow capacity.
like the Roo/Shamrock 21BH or Jayco 23B or 20E.

can you do it with the Traverse, Yes.
whether it's safe or not, is your decision. we can only quote numbers and give you our opinions. the final choice is yours.

when we were shopping for a hybrid and tow vehicle, i luckily learned from forums like these, to find the trailer we like and then find a tow vehicle to pull it.
many newbies have been where you are, already having a newer vehicle and then trying to find a trailer that would be a good match. most bought the vehicle never intending to buy a trailer, only to find out the vehicle's limitations when discovering that the trailer they like, is to big/heavy for it.

[hemway26]

Just to add another bit of our info, we are in the Buffalo, Ny area. Plan to do most of our travel with it locally within 1-2 hours distance at most.

[hemway26]

And also wanted to add thank you for all the great info!

[baldy]

Here's my story.

2010 21SS towed by a 2008 Chev Colorado. It was fine up to 70 kms all by ourselves on the road in perfect weather. Anything else it was beyond a handful. I almost ended up in the side of a tractor trailer once. Long expensive story short I bought a 2010 F150. I could relax on vacation now.

My dry actual weight was 4574 lbs. I figured 5500ish lbs loaded. I weighed the Colorado and 21SS together with family at 9850 and the trailer was empty.

My recommendation is to forget the 21SS if you stay with the Traverse. Go to something without the slide which will save weight.

Unfortunately, you love the 21SS. You are so close that you will not likely be happy in less than perfect conditions.