Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-14-2016, 09:28 AM   #1
Member
 
Mama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Indiana
Posts: 83
Confused About Weights

Hi there! My husband and I are new to the "camper" world. We are back packers by nature but our bodies are revolting against that method so we're looking at the next best thing.

We are hoping to buy one of the new A Frame Rockwood's this summer. However, we're a bit confused as to whether our vehicle will support the weight of the A122. (I know - don't throw stones at me please! I'm asking "that" question!)

I've used the schnazzy calculator provided in this forum but I feel like I'm entering something wrong because it's telling me the vehicle cannot tow anything at all which I know is inaccurate as the owners manual clearly states it can. Surely I'm doing something incorrectly.

We own a 2010 Mazda CX7 2.5 liter. Any advice? I have a call in to the dealership but...as eloquently pointed out in a thread by red.jimbo - I'm trying to collect as many "opinions" as I can by experienced people to form my own opinion on what we should do.

Ideally, we'd like to upgrade to a truck or full size SUV next year when my car is paid off but looking to get the camper this year and use it with the Mazda.

Thanks for any advice - info you all can provide! We're super excited to join the FROG nation!

Mama
Mama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 09:44 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
raspivey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Brazoria County, Texas
Posts: 1,460
You're not going to like this answer. Your vehicle is rated at 1500 lbs tow rating. The A122 is about 2000 lbs UNLOADED. Keep in mind that you'll add a few hundred lbs to a loaded unit and you'll also loose a few lbs off the tow rating depending on how much is in the car (tow rating is usually calculated by the difference in vehicle curb weight and the GCWR, so...the more you put in it, the less overall weight you have left). I wouldn't say you can't tow anything, but you're going to be extremely limited...probably in the 1200 lbs dry weight range.
__________________
2015 Chevy Silverado LTZ - HD tow package
2017 Rockwood 2703WS Emerald Edition
raspivey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 09:51 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: West Jordan, UT
Posts: 877
The calculators are near correct in your case. Looking up your tow vehicle it has a towing capacity of 1500 max. An A frame is in the 2000 range once loaded and ready to camp.

I wouldn't say it cant tow anything but it will probably be hard to find something it can tow.

Also look at payload weight, I would bet you are limited on that as well. The payload info is on the sticker in the drivers door jam with the tire info.
__________________
2018 XLR Nitro 36T15
2015 GMC 3500 6.6/Allison

Nights Camped (2018-16) (2017-16) (2016-13) (2015-13)
SuicideSaints is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 09:57 AM   #4
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: D'erm NC
Posts: 87
Think small, then go smaller. It's easy to overload the tow vehicle and don't believe the sales pitch...there's a big difference in being able to "can" do something and should do something. I'm set at about 75-80% of max weights with my tow vehicle / trailer (2014 Tundra / 2016 Surveyor 251RKS) payload / towing.
__________________
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Mustang
Presently a librarian @ Duke
2016251RKS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 10:12 AM   #5
Member
 
Mama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Indiana
Posts: 83
Ugh...so frustrating

Just got off the phone with lead mechanic for Mazda at Dealership. He looked in the book with me and it shows a GCWR (Gross Combo Weight Rating) of vehicle and camper of 5569. He said although the max trailer rating is 1500 lbs, he said it would be ok. We obviously wouldn't want to load it down with potable water and extra weight we don't need.

We're also looking at a Sunray Mini 190 - which is incredibly dinky and would do for what we need but I'd rather have the Rockwood because it's awesome and we wouldn't need to upgrade again for many years.

We are pretty minimalist since we are used to back packing. We also are not planning to go on long trips - only within an hour or 2 away. We're in flat land Indiana as well so it would be unlikely we'd be towing on grades larger than an over pass.

Given we'll be upgrading vehicles within the next year, I wonder if it would be a massively huge deal or a massively bad idea. ??
Mama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 10:26 AM   #6
Always Learning
 
ependydad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Four Corners, FL
Posts: 21,890
Take your Mazda to get weighed. Load it with you, hubby, pets, and anything that you would typically carry in the vehicle while camping.

Truck stops, bulk supply places, dumps all have scales. Get numbers and make an educated decision.

Once you know your weight, subtract it from the GCWR and see what's left over.
__________________
Officially a SOB with a 2022 Jayco Precept 36C
Checkout my site for RVing tips, tricks, and info | Was a Fulltime Family for 5 years, now we're part-timing on long trips
ependydad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 10:29 AM   #7
Member
 
Mama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Indiana
Posts: 83
Quote:
Originally Posted by ependydad View Post
Take your Mazda to get weighed. Load it with you, hubby, pets, and anything that you would typically carry in the vehicle while camping.

Truck stops, bulk supply places, dumps all have scales. Get numbers and make an educated decision.

Once you know your weight, subtract it from the GCWR and see what's left over.
That ....is actually genius. So simple!!!!! Thank you!!!!
Mama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 02:21 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Restcure's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 967
Quote:
Originally Posted by ependydad View Post
Take your Mazda to get weighed. Load it with you, hubby, pets, and anything that you would typically carry in the vehicle while camping.

Truck stops, bulk supply places, dumps all have scales. Get numbers and make an educated decision.

Once you know your weight, subtract it from the GCWR and see what's left over.
To take this one step further, let's pretend you've found a camper that you like with a GVWR of 1500 lbs. multiply that by 12 to 15% to get the proper tongue weight (that's 180 to 225 lbs). Will THAT fit in what's left over?
__________________
2012 Rockwood Ultra-Lite 2701SS, Goodyear Endurance LRD, ProPride 3P 1400 hitch
2013 F-150 FX4 7700# GVWR SuperCrew 3.5L EcoBoost 157" WB Max Tow 3.73:1
John, Dawn and Emily... and Bella the camping kitty

visit our website at www.restcure.ca
Restcure is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 02:34 PM   #9
Site Team - Lou
 
Herk7769's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: South Eastern PA
Posts: 23,268
What can go wrong?

__________________
Lou & Freya the wonder dog
2008 GMC Sierra 3000HD Allison Duramax
2019 Flagstaff 8529FL
Herk7769 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 05:00 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
raspivey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Brazoria County, Texas
Posts: 1,460
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mama View Post
Ugh...so frustrating

Just got off the phone with lead mechanic for Mazda at Dealership. He looked in the book with me and it shows a GCWR (Gross Combo Weight Rating) of vehicle and camper of 5569. He said although the max trailer rating is 1500 lbs, he said it would be ok.
Just looking at the published curb weights, that looks closer to the numbers on the 2.3L turbo model with the 2000 lb rating. At any rate, and I'm not one of those people that freak out if I were to be 50 lbs over a rating, but you're going to be upwards of 150% of your tow rating with that combo....not ok. It's not just the power, but stopping and steering as well.
__________________
2015 Chevy Silverado LTZ - HD tow package
2017 Rockwood 2703WS Emerald Edition
raspivey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 07:05 PM   #11
Sham183
 
mopwr4me2003's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 626
Quote:
Originally Posted by Herk7769 View Post
LOL now that is a well put statement. Nothing to see here. As for the towing stuff I went to a certified scale for my vehicle loaded up with family and full tank of gas and some gear and did a lot of calculating and found out the TT we wanted would pretty much max out our GCVW. I would have about 100-200 lbs of a safety margin which to some may be ok but to me its just to close. Not to mention how hard is my vehicle going to have to work up hill and with a head wind. If I were you I would either go really light or just save your money until your car is paid off and buy a vehicle that can tow a unit you actually would want. Good luck.
mopwr4me2003 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 07:29 PM   #12
Member
 
Mama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Indiana
Posts: 83
Quote:
Originally Posted by mopwr4me2003 View Post
LOL now that is a well put statement. Nothing to see here. As for the towing stuff I went to a certified scale for my vehicle loaded up with family and full tank of gas and some gear and did a lot of calculating and found out the TT we wanted would pretty much max out our GCVW. I would have about 100-200 lbs of a safety margin which to some may be ok but to me its just to close. Not to mention how hard is my vehicle going to have to work up hill and with a head wind. If I were you I would either go really light or just save your money until your car is paid off and buy a vehicle that can tow a unit you actually would want. Good luck.
Thank you all for your input! You've convinced me to hold tight. We'll get this Mazda paid off - give it to our daughter and he can pick out a pretty new pickup truck. But I get to pick the camper.

Gah...I hate waiting! Hoping we can find one to rent/borrow a few times this summer. Itching to get out into the wilderness again!!!
Mama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2016, 11:44 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
raspivey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Brazoria County, Texas
Posts: 1,460
You'll be much happier in the long run. Waiting kind of sucks though, lol. The new one I just picked up was supposed to happen last year. Didn't quite work out. I kept catching myself trying to justify it and just buy it. Worked out for the better, I'll probably enjoy it more now anyway.
__________________
2015 Chevy Silverado LTZ - HD tow package
2017 Rockwood 2703WS Emerald Edition
raspivey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2016, 07:14 AM   #14
Member
 
Mama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Indiana
Posts: 83
Quote:
Originally Posted by raspivey View Post
You'll be much happier in the long run. Waiting kind of sucks though, lol. The new one I just picked up was supposed to happen last year. Didn't quite work out. I kept catching myself trying to justify it and just buy it. Worked out for the better, I'll probably enjoy it more now anyway.
I absolutely understand!!! We have a lot of irons in the fire right now bi thought this would be a great distraction for us on weekends. Oh well, I'll just start squirreling away money and pay cash for a nice one next year. Really love the idea of the hard side pop up. I'm surprised there is no sub forum for those here. Or are they so new no one has one here?
Mama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2016, 07:23 AM   #15
Senior Member
 
KDHfan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 981
Hand it off to your daughter now. It will be a learning experience on car payments, insurance and budgeting. You'll instantly get nominated for "Mom Of The Year," and you can then get a new TV and camper. 😏


2015 Coachmen Apex 288BHS
2014 Toyota Tundra 5.7L CrewMax

Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums
__________________
2015 Coachmen Apex 288BHS
2014 Toyota Tundra CrewMax 5.7L
KDHfan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2016, 01:26 PM   #16
Site Team
 
bikendan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,607
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mama View Post
Really love the idea of the hard side pop up. I'm surprised there is no sub forum for those here. Or are they so new no one has one here?
There is, it's the A-frame sub-forum.
It's in the section with tent campers and truck campers.
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
bikendan is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2016, 02:34 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 3,083
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mama View Post
Thank you all for your input! You've convinced me to hold tight. We'll get this Mazda paid off - give it to our daughter and he can pick out a pretty new pickup truck. But I get to pick the camper.

Gah...I hate waiting! Hoping we can find one to rent/borrow a few times this summer. Itching to get out into the wilderness again!!!
Being an owner of an A122, most of us end weighing about 2,700+lbs when loaded for a camping trip (the front platform or storage area adds more weight). A vehicle rated to tow 3,500 lbs is the minimum to be comfortable with. Typically, you need a 3.3L V6 or better with a solid transmission (turbo-charging may allow a smaller displacement engine).

The mainstream minivans (Chrysler with the big engine, Toyota, Honda, Kia) are all available with the 3,500lb tow rating.

Most of the mid-size SUVs - Ford Explorer, Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Jeep Grand Cherokee - also usually have enough to tow an A122. Some of these can tow considerably more.

The smaller SUVs - CRV, RAV, Escape, etc, do not have what you need.

We do love our A122. The very quick, single-handed setup, the compact size that fits in the garage, and the comforts make long weekend and even overnight camping trips a lot of fun.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage (minivan)
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time
next trip Rocky Mountain National Park
pgandw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2016, 09:25 PM   #18
Member
 
Mama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Indiana
Posts: 83
Quote:
Originally Posted by bikendan View Post
There is, it's the A-frame sub-forum.
It's in the section with tent campers and truck campers.
What!?!?! Thank you! I looked all over but apparently missed it!

Quote:
Originally Posted by pgandw View Post
Being an owner of an A122, most of us end weighing about 2,700+lbs when loaded for a camping trip (the front platform or storage area adds more weight). A vehicle rated to tow 3,500 lbs is the minimum to be comfortable with. Typically, you need a 3.3L V6 or better with a solid transmission (turbo-charging may allow a smaller displacement engine).

The mainstream minivans (Chrysler with the big engine, Toyota, Honda, Kia) are all available with the 3,500lb tow rating.

Most of the mid-size SUVs - Ford Explorer, Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Jeep Grand Cherokee - also usually have enough to tow an A122. Some of these can tow considerably more.

The smaller SUVs - CRV, RAV, Escape, etc, do not have what you need.

We do love our A122. The very quick, single-handed setup, the compact size that fits in the garage, and the comforts make long weekend and even overnight camping trips a lot of fun.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage (minivan)
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time
next trip Rocky Mountain National Park
Thank you for the info!!! Very helpful!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KDHfan View Post
Hand it off to your daughter now. It will be a learning experience on car payments, insurance and budgeting. You'll instantly get nominated for "Mom Of The Year," and you can then get a new TV and camper. 😏


2015 Coachmen Apex 288BHS
2014 Toyota Tundra 5.7L CrewMax

Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums
If we could trust her to actually hold the job, get the degree and pay the bills, we'd do that. lol She'll graduate in December 2017 - hopefully she'll have a good job when she graduates. The Mazda will make an excellent graduation gift for her. <3

Ya'll are so nice here - thanks for the guidance!!
Mama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2016, 09:56 PM   #19
Member
 
Mama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Indiana
Posts: 83
Update!

We just brought home a 2016 Flagstaff! I haven't been able to get it off my mind. Decided we could rent a UHaul pick up truck for less than $150 for a weekend that hauls up to 6000 lbs. Eff it. Life is short. Rented the truck, drove to Indy, just got it set up in the drive and fiddled with dials and such. Gonna get a good night sleep and get it cleaned up and moved in to tomorrow!

Plan for tow vehicle forthcoming. Husband does not want to mess with rental. Dealer sent us home with an Escape but we thought it was an Edge. He left the keys for us and went home. When we picked it up, wasn't the car we were asking for so we'll fiddle with the Escape this weekend and go back next week for the Edge. Love my little Ford Focus but it might be wise to go ahead and trade that on a tow vehicle now. Really really glad I found this forum. Going to talk hubs into joining too. I'm sure he'll have more technical questions for you guys!
Mama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2016, 11:15 PM   #20
Site Team
 
bikendan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,607
It would help if you posted which model of Flagstaff that you bought.
It's not listed in your profile.
That way we can get the specs to advise you.
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
bikendan is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
fuse, weight

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:58 AM.