Just starting out.

[tamooreindy]

Hello everyone, I'm Terry from Indianapolis. I got ill and retired last July. In the past year Kim and I have traveled around the country in a Honda Civic staying in VRBO, or hotels. We decided it would be much nicer to have our own portable hotel room. So we're off on this adventure. I'm looking for a vehicle large enough to tow a small travel trailer. I've narrowed this to Tacoma Limited or Honda Ridgeline RTL-E. Leaning toward the Ridgeline for the sake of comfort. We are checking it out today.

The search for the right trailer appears daunting for sure. Especially to someone that's never been a camper (military experience excluded). Both of us have some physical limitations. But we can get up the steps and setup the water lines, etc.

The first unit I want to go see is the 21DS. I'm open to helpful thoughts, suggestions, etc.

We're hoping to find somewhere with a nice pool to park(store) it in Illinois to use as a quick get away when we're not traveling.

[Shawn.O]

first determine what your new tow vehicle is capable of, the Tacoma might have more capacity for towing than the Honda but I'm not sure on that, definitely something you should look into before making a purchase.

you may also want to look at potential campers before deciding on a specific tow vehicle. It would not be good if you fall in love with something but not have the ability to tow it with your new truck.

and most important have fun

[B and B]

Ridgeline is really light on towing capacity for 2 WD at 3500 lbs. The AWD can do 5,000 lbs. A Huge issues is no weight distribution hitch is recommended. Stay Away from the Honda.

The Tacoma has a low payload of 1,120 lbs. You can eat this up really quick. You also need the towing package to get this payload and total towing capacity of 6400 lbs.

A Ford F 150 with Ecoboost and Lariat trim is a nice smooth quiet ride. This truck will tow your first trailer and second trailer as well when you upgrade.

You sound like you want to travel, get the right Tow Vehicle to start with. SUV or toy Honda trucks are just not up to towing. Tacoma can do it but depending on the situation white knuckle driving might happen in windy situations.

[Shawn.O]

Originally Posted by B and B

Ridgeline is really light on towing capacity for 2 WD at 3500 lbs. The AWD can do 5,000 lbs. A Huge issues is no weight distribution hitch is recommended. Stay Away from the Honda.

The Tacoma has a low payload of 1,120 lbs. You can eat this up really quick. You also need the towing package to get this payload and total towing capacity of 6400 lbs.

A Ford F 150 with Ecoboost and Lariat trim is a nice smooth quiet ride. This truck will tow your first trailer and second trailer as well when you upgrade.

You sound like you want to travel, get the right Tow Vehicle to start with. SUV or toy Honda trucks are just not up to towing. Tacoma can do it but depending on the situation white knuckle driving might happen in windy situations.

not to mention that you're probably gonna pay the same or possibly even less for a nicely equipped full size truck as you would for either of those smaller trucks

[tamooreindy]

That's probably an excellent idea to go look at trailers first. I'm going to do that. Whatever vehicle I use to tow will also need to be my daily driver when not traveling. Two things I was considering was finding a vehicle that will still fit in the garage of my condo. Secondly, I really like the Honda Sensing safety technology. I'm not sure what it's called on Toyota but every Toyota now has it I believe. The auto cruise control, lane departure warnings, etc. I'll be using the vehicle a lot more time when I'm not towing than when I'm actually towing. But I'm going to check to see if the Ford has safety technologies yet. Thanks for your ideas.

[MillMitch]

Welcome to the forum from MN.
Good luck with your search.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by Shawn.O

you may also want to look at potential campers before deciding on a specific tow vehicle. It would not be good if you fall in love with something but not have the ability to tow it with your new truck.

and most important have fun

x2

You might also want to look at the full size Toyota Tundra pickup. Those things are hard to kill. We've got a 2006 Tundra pickup and it's been really dependable.

[bikendan]

Forget the Ridgeline if you want the 21DS.
Loaded, it will be over the Ridgeline's hitch capacity and towing capacity.
The Tacoma will be marginal.

Forget using fictional "dry" weights. They are fantasy numbers.

[heyboom1]

I had a 2014 Ridgeline, loved the truck. We decided to get an RV to tow, we bought a 21DS. Had an equal i zer WDH. The Ridgeline was adequate, towed and stopped okay, no sway problems even in a nice Texas crosswind, but the engine was weak, even on shallow hills. One day instead of the wind blowing out of the south as normal, it was blowing around 25 mph out of the west, a direct headwind. Even though I slowed to 55, mileage was dismal, less than 6 mpg, I didn't think I was going to make a gas station. Put almost 21 gallons in my 22 gallon tank. Traded in my beloved Ridgeline on an F150 with 3.5 EB, still fits in my garage, gets better mileage around town than my ridgeline, and pulls the 21DS wonderfully. And has a 36 gallon tank.

[rockfordroo]

Full size 1/2 ton pickup minimum for a 21DS, IMHO.

Looking at the Mini Lite website, the 21DS has a GVWR of 6028 lbs. This means the tongue weight, at about 13% of GVWR, will be about 783 lbs. Add a WDH weight of another 100 lbs and you’re at 883 lbs tongue weight. So you need a TV with a payload that will cover 883 lbs PLUS any occupants (you, wife, kids, dogs, etc) PLUS any “stuff” you put in it.

SO: You need a TV with a tow capacity of at least 6000 lbs, with a hitch that can handle at least 883 lbs, and with a payload of 883 lbs PLUS whoever and whatever you put in it.

[asquared]

If you don't want a full size truck look at larger SUV's like a Nissan Armada. You can pull a decent sized trailer with it and the length isn't horrible. The height might be an issue depending on the size of your garage. Honestly the truck will tow better because of the longer wheelbase but it will be more difficult to get into your garage. Realize that things like decent fuel mileage go out the window when you want something big enough to tow a trailer like that. Towing a trailer you will likely see approximately 8 mpg towing no matter what gas engine you get. Towing Fuel mileage is better with diesel (ie tundra diesel) but the diesel engine is expensive, requires extra care, and is likely more than you need.

As others have said, do your homework on both tow vehicle and trailer. On the tow vehicle, ignore website/brochure specs. Go look at the vehicle. Inside the drivers side door will be a tire loading sticker. Look for "occupants and contents can not exceed X lbs" or a similar statement. This will be that individual vehicles true payload off the line with its options. Payload is anything you put in or on a tow vehicle. This will include drivers/passengers/pets and gear. Each item added into a vehicle needs to be subtracted from that payload number. Most manufacturers include 150 lb driver in their numbers though. So for example, Say the sticker says the vehicle has a 1300 lb payload. Say you weigh 160 lbs. Subtract 10 lbs for yourself from the sticker payload number to get 1290 lb payload. Say your passenger weighs 140 lbs. Subtract that from the 1290 lbs to get 1150 lbs. Now take out a dog that weighs 50 lbs. You have 1100 lbs available payload. Take a trailer with a 1000 lb tongue weight and you are right at the vehicle limits. You will always run out of payload before running out of towing capacity. The loaded trailer tongue weight needs to be less than your payload.

On the trailer, dry or unloaded weight and dry or unloaded tongue weight are useless numbers. Look at the trailers gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). You will never tow an empty trailer except maybe home from the dealer. Most people tend to add 1000-1500 lbs of stuff to their trailer (clothes, food, dishes, cleaning stuff, tools, grill, chairs etc). Not knowing exactly what you will be putting in it and not knowing exactly your tow vehicle specs, you are safest using the trailers GVWR for calculations. Keep the GVWR less than the vehicles towing capacity.

Ideal loaded tongue weight should be 13-15% of loaded trailer weight (too light on the tongue can cause sway). For your purposes, take 13-15% of the trailer GVWR for an estimated loaded tongue weight. This number needs to be less than the payload.

For example, take the flagstaff microlite 21DS- it shows a dry weight (UVW) 4543 lbs. Cargo capacity (CCC) is 1485 lbs. Add these two together to get a GVWR 6028 lbs. It shows a dry hitch weight of 548 lbs. That is only about 12% of the UVW. That is extremely low and you will be nowhere near that. Use the GVWR 6028 lbs. 13% tongue weight would be 784 lbs. 15% tongue weight would be 904 lbs. That is even pushing the limit for some SUVs. That trailer needs a full size SUV with a high towing capacity or a full size (1/2 ton truck) with a good payload. I would suggest you look at vehicles with at least a 2000 lbs payload on the door sticker. Hope this helps.

on edit: do not skimp on the weight distribution hitch (wdh). Get a wdh with integrated sway control like the equal-i-zer. It costs more than what the dealer will try to sell you but will be worth it.

[tamooreindy]

I am really glad I posted here. You guys are totally right. We spent all day yesterday looking at trailers and realize what I had envisioned won't work. So I'm definitely going to move up to Toyota Tundra probably (as opposed to GMC or others). Thank you for taking the time to write and hep me out.

[RSchleder]

If your looking for a small, reliable light weight RV, check out the SCAMP. The SCAMP is manufactured in MN and comes in a 13', 16' and a 19'. The 19' is a 5th wheel with a couple of inside steps to reach the bed area. Being fiberglass campers, you'll find they don't have water intrusion issues as there are no seams to seal and monitor.
Take a few minutes to "Google" Scamp campers and you'll learn a lot about this nifty small unit. They only sell direct (no dealers) and will deliver the unit to your location. The "deluxe model" is totally self contained with bathroom, shower, etc.
Whatever you decide, enjoy your now camper and have FUN!

PS--Also check out the ESCAPE Trailers as they are really sweet fiberglass units also!

[John.Debbie]

Originally Posted by tamooreindy

Hello everyone, I'm Terry from Indianapolis. I got ill and retired last July. In the past year Kim and I have traveled around the country in a Honda Civic staying in VRBO, or hotels. We decided it would be much nicer to have our own portable hotel room. So we're off on this adventure. I'm looking for a vehicle large enough to tow a small travel trailer. I've narrowed this to Tacoma Limited or Honda Ridgeline RTL-E. Leaning toward the Ridgeline for the sake of comfort. We are checking it out today.

The search for the right trailer appears daunting for sure. Especially to someone that's never been a camper (military experience excluded). Both of us have some physical limitations. But we can get up the steps and setup the water lines, etc.

The first unit I want to go see is the 21DS. I'm open to helpful thoughts, suggestions, etc.

We're hoping to find somewhere with a nice pool to park(store) it in Illinois to use as a quick get away when we're not traveling.

Welcome from a former Hoosier.