Towing Question

[Amppayne]

We have a question regarding towing for our 2012 Sequoia. The rating to tow is 7100 based on our VIN. We are debating between the Grey Wolf 26 DBH which weighs 5800 and the 23 DBH which weighs 5200. We really enjoy the thought of the couch and extra living space the 26DBH but are afraid it's pushing the limits of our towing capacity. We do want to use this trailer for long trips and even mountain camping, so in that regard we feel the 23DBH might be more comfortable. We even have concerns that might be too big, but it offers the bunkhouse we need for our family of 4. Does anyone have advice? Thank you!

[HONDAMAN174]

You are going to be at max tongue weight with the 23 and over with 26. Not to mention once you load the 23 with everything you need, I figure be right at 6300 loaded and 29’ long will be a challenge. If you switched over to a pickup, you would have more wheelbase which will make it more comfortable to tow.

How many in the family? You may be over in cargo weight with tongue weight and passengers before loading anything in the truck.

Others will chime in soon

[AlaskaErik]

Forget about the tow rating. It is the most misused number there is in the RV world. It is a bragging rights number only. You will run out of payload capacity way before you'll ever run out of tow rating. Check the yellow sticker on the driver's door jamb. That is the amount of weight you can put in your vehicle. That includes you, the rest of the family, the dog, all your gear, the weight of the hitch and the weight of the tongue. And don't just use the factory advertised empty hitch weight. Your hitch weight will be several hundred lbs higher once the trailer is loaded. As someone mentioned earlier, it looks like you're already close to max tongue weight of your receiver or even over. Most manufacturers rate their tongue weight at 10 percent of tow weight, but you'll need to check for the actual number on the receiver or in your owner's manual.

This is the sticker you need to start with...

[IMG][/IMG]

[007matman]

With those starting numbers you're going to be way over. Add the kids, the luggage, and the essentials along with everything in the trailer and that vehicle is really going to struggle.

There are folks on here (and more than likely at your dealership) that will tell you you're fine but speaking from experience here you're not. I was sold the same lie and unfortunately bit into it. 32' Rockwood that everyone said was comfortably under my max tow of 7900. Two sets of Magnaride shocks, a transmission, engine mounts, and broken exhaust manifold bolts later, I gave up on the Escalade and bought a F350 so I didn't need to freak out about it again. Even with a bunch of upgrades I couldn't keep the engine temps down and feel comfortable when towing.

If you want the camper and think it best fits what you want to do, I'd either wait a bit to get the camper and save up for a truck or sell a current vehicle (for me, it was my Jeep and not the Escalade) and use that money to purchase something more suitable.

[AlaskaErik]

I just looked up those two trailers and you gave us the empty weights! You're going to be so over gross that it's going to be a white knuckle drive the whole way. You're definitely going to be over your payload capacity and your max tongue weight, to start with.

[Boomerweps]

Is this your first travel trailer (TT)? Glad you started here before buying.
Your best bet is to allow a little cushion from the ratings first time out.
Most will say that the ratings are based around flat bed trailer weights in the flat lands.
That said, look at the GTWR, Gross Trailer Weight Rating. Once you load your TT for camping and if running with full freshwater tanks, you can easily reach the GTWR. Now, I recommend looking at TT with GTWR that stay at or below 3/4 to 4/5 of your tow vehicle (TV) factory tow rating. Can you tow at the max, yes, with experience. Will towing at the max be hard work or a semi-pleasant drive? Definitely, the former.
You will need an electric brake controller and a Weight Distributing Hitch. You may need additional mirrors depending on TT width.
My current TT GTWR 3877# with my previous TV (factory tow rating 5225#) would lose speed on gentle interstate rises. And was not a fun drive on steep backroad hills. Hence my recommendation.
Do not be afraid to run the engine at higher revolutions than you are used to, nor to downshift or lock out higher gears to keep the engine in its power band or slow down to keep speeds slower on downhills.

[NECamper]

We have an Alpha Wolf 26DBH that we tow with a GMC Sierra 1500. With the truck as equipped, we are within but at the upper end of my comfort zone with the TT. GVWR on our TT is 7600, not sure what yours is but guessing it’s identical or similar. I wouldn’t tow our camper with anything less. The GMC is very capable but it’s not in the “you never know it’s back there” category.

I’ve gone up and down 10% grades with no issues but I know how we would load up an SUV. We would easily exceed payload. Keep it empty and you might be ok but I would suggest reassessing your TV.

[rockfordroo]

The GVWR on that Grey Wolf 26DBH is 7725 lbs. Assuming a tongue weight of about 13% (a good estimate until you can actually weigh it loaded) would be about 7725 x 0.13 = 1004 lbs. Add 75-100 lbs for a WDH (yeah, you need one) and you're up to 1100 lbs tongue weight.

You will most certainly run out of payload before you run out of towing capacity. So now look at your payload sticker, as in Post #3 above. Subtract the 1100 lbs from the payload sticker number. What's left has to cover you, wife, kids, dogs, and stuff.

The numbers for the 23DBH aren't much better. GVWR of 7621 lbs; tongue weight of 990 lbs, so with WDH, 1090 lbs, only 10 lbs better than the 26DBH.

Good luck.

[EdJunior]

Originally Posted by 007matman

With those starting numbers you're going to be way over. Add the kids, the luggage, and the essentials along with everything in the trailer and that vehicle is really going to struggle.

There are folks on here (and more than likely at your dealership) that will tell you you're fine but speaking from experience here you're not. I was sold the same lie and unfortunately bit into it. 32' Rockwood that everyone said was comfortably under my max tow of 7900. Two sets of Magnaride shocks, a transmission, engine mounts, and broken exhaust manifold bolts later, I gave up on the Escalade and bought a F350 so I didn't need to freak out about it again. Even with a bunch of upgrades I couldn't keep the engine temps down and feel comfortable when towing.

If you want the camper and think it best fits what you want to do, I'd either wait a bit to get the camper and save up for a truck or sell a current vehicle (for me, it was my Jeep and not the Escalade) and use that money to purchase something more suitable.

This is a very good post. Heed this. Especially since you mentioned going to the mountains. You need a better tow vehicle. Do yourself a favor...get the right tool for the job.

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by NECamper

We have an Alpha Wolf 26DBH that we tow with a GMC Sierra 1500. With the truck as equipped, we are within but at the upper end of my comfort zone with the TT. GVWR on our TT is 7600, not sure what yours is but guessing it’s identical or similar. I wouldn’t tow our camper with anything less. The GMC is very capable but it’s not in the “you never know it’s back there” category.

I’ve gone up and down 10% grades with no issues but I know how we would load up an SUV. We would easily exceed payload. Keep it empty and you might be ok but I would suggest reassessing your TV.

My 2016 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 huffed and puffed going up long hills. I got the 2019 Silverado 1500 with the 6.2 and Max Trailering package to remedy that. Transmission temps in the 2016 would go over 200°. With the 2019 and its 10 speed tranny, it's in the 140s. I don't like being at the upper limit of my capacities either. The 2016 has now been relegated to towing the 2800 lb 130RBSE on longer trips that don't involve Jeeping.

[dbledan]

I pulled a 7000lb trailer with an F150 "rated to tow 12000lbs" ignore that and figure out your payload and tongue weights...the F150 pulled fine but struggled to control it and I tried everything before I gave up and upgraded to my F350...I thought I had plenty of buffer [emoji854].

Not saying you need a 350 but know going in what you think you can handle is not going to work out well if referencing tow ratings so listen to these guys and learn. Upgrading TVs or swapping campers later gets expensive fast.

You are smarter than me by checking first and have already learned from my mistake.

Best of luck and happy camping!

[frank4711]

already mentioned ... the only capacities you need to know when matching tow vehicle to camper is the payload of the Tow Vehicle and the weight that will be added by the camper pin/tongue weight hitch and cargo/passengers ... if you can carry it you can tow it ... previous set up I was 1300 lbs under max tow and 400 lbs over payload ... new truck new payload 4394

[Amppayne]

Thank you all for the advice and being kind. It looks like we are keeping our popup for now!