Hello from Kingston Ontario Canada

[rycej]

I've already made a post and have gotten a lot of useful information on my question, so I thought I'd better jump over here and say hello.

My family is looking at getting our first travel trailer (started out with me thinking we should get a tent trailer, but my wife thinking not lol). We have an 8 year old son so it is just the 3 of us. I am now researching what is going to best suit our needs as far as what we can camp in and what we can pull with my Ford Ranger. We have already ruled out a few larger ones that we liked, but there are still a number of smaller trailers which look fantastic.

Looking forward to browsing the forums around here.

James.

[onthelake]

Welcome to the forum.

[Wiscampsin]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your research and decision.

[fredm.seven]

From another Kingstonian - Welcome to the forum!

Over the years we have had two tent trailers, and we're now on our second (read final) travel trailer.

RV Select at Taylor-Kidd & Princess has some interesting TT's including Rockwood Mini-lites (we almost didn't go there thinking that it was used only or something) and there are R-Pods by CT near Gardiners.

I did a pretty wide search last year myself so send me a PM if you have any questions. Be happy to help.

Happy Camping!

[itat]

Welcome to the forum! You'll find several members from the Kingston area on the forum. I'm originally from Gananoque and now live just east of Toronto, but we still have family in Gan.

If your wife doesn't like the idea of a tent trailer, there are a couple of options - Rockwood's "hard side" series trailers, or you could upgrade your tow vehicle to something that will be able to tow the larger trailer she really likes.

[bikendan]

it would help if you posted the specs of your Ranger:
year, cab size, bed size, 4x4 or 4x2, engine size, factory tow package or not, auto or man. trans and rear end ratio.

you can easily find your towing capacity by going to that year's Ford Towing Guide and find the truck's specs for the tow capacity.

[rycej]

Thanks for the welcome all. Very exciting researching the different trailers.
Here is the specs on my Ranger;
2011 Ford Ranger V6 4.0 Auto 2x4 extend cab (two little jump seats in the back)
Class 3 hitch rated for 6,000 lbs with WD
Truck is rated for 5,700 lbs going by Ford's chart.

[itat]

Your Ranger is probably similar to my previous TV which was a 2008 Toyota Tacoma "double cab" 4x4 TRD with a 4.0L V6. A great mid sized truck, it was rated at 6,500 lbs towing capacity and 650 lbs. max. on the tongue. But with just me and my lightest son in it, towing my 5,240 lbs. Roo hybrid (560 lbs. tongue wt.), it was within 20 lbs. of its GVWR and it didn't have enough power to accelerate up hills adequately for me. It held the weight OK with the Equalizer WDH, but it did sink the back end a lot until I put the WD bars on. I just wasn't comfortable with that setup so I upgraded to my current F-150 that's rated for towing 11,000 lbs. (I wouldn't go anywhere near 11,000 lbs with it - any more than 8,500 lbs or 26 ft. long and I'd be looking for a 3/4 ton truck. That's just my comfort level).

So, my advice is don't believe the hype that salespeople will tell you. Research it to death and be conservative with your weight numbers.

When considering trailers, look at their GVWR, not what the brochure says it weighs, and assume 12-13% of the weight will be on the tongue. Account for batteries, full propane tanks and at least some weight in the grey and black tanks. Tow what you are comfortable with, but don't exceed the GCVWR and the GVWR on your Ranger. If it feels comfortable, take it to a CAT weigh scale to confirm your weights are within or at least close to spec.

Pick the floorplan you'll enjoy within those parameters and you'll be good to go.

Good luck with your search!

[Doering]

You are getting lots of great advice. When I knew the specs on my truck I determined my approximately trailer limits to be around 75-80% of the max tow and max payload. This gives you the range of trailer to consider and allows for some safety room if you find a unit that exceeds the 75-80%.

[mTn_biKer65]

Originally Posted by fredm.seven

From another Kingstonian - Welcome to the forum!

ditto!!

Sounds like you doing things in the right order getting your numbers first and then going shopping.

Paul

[Nammy]

Hi James and welcome to the forum!
I'm also in the Kingston area and it just happens that I'm towing with a Ford Ranger with specs very similar to yours. We're not new to camping but we are new to travel trailers. After looking at all the dealerships within a reasonable distance we ended up with a Rockwood Mini-Lite 1905 from Select RV. Dry weight comes in at a tad over 2800 # so I figure even if we pack in 1000 # of people and gear we are still a good 1500 # under our max. It's just two of us but we''ll have room for a couple of grandkids when the time comes (hint hint DD's) It tows very nicely but the Ranger certainly feels it on the hills, revving around 4000 to keep up the speed. (I have a tranny cooler)
Not a lot of storage space and after reading the forums might have opted for a similar double axle model for safety in case of a tire blowout. All in all tho we are very pleased with unit, everything works, no major issues.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Oh and you can see pics of the rig in the Canada forum here under "maiden voyage Bon Echo PP"
Norm