N00b from MD

[ciditad]

Hello everyone. I’m typing this on my last evening in a rented POC RV with a crappy camp ground WiFi connection. Joined this forum as both the wife and I realize, after taking a leap of faith to for the first time rent a very expensive and terribly filthy POC RV from Cruise America for our summer vacation trip down to VA, that Yo Ho Yo Ho the RV Life’s for us.

After a couple of evenings of research we decided on the Forest River Wolf Pup 16BHS or a Wildwood FSX 177BH - both seems to be clone of each other save for the brand, and price are basically the same. UVW around 3000lbs was our goal as our little SUV is rated only for 3500lbs (not sure if we need to upgrade our SUV as well?)

Anyway very happy to find this forum, hope to learn a bunch before we pull the trigger.

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Welcome from New Jersey, Well you got out camping ! Sorry to hear about the rental, Glad to have you here. What would your tow vehicle be?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by ciditad

After a couple of evenings of research we decided on the Forest River Wolf Pup 16BHS or a Wildwood FSX 177BH - both seems to be clone of each other save for the brand, and price are basically the same. UVW around 3000lbs was our goal as our little SUV is rated only for 3500lbs (not sure if we need to upgrade our SUV as well?)

If you want either of those, you're definitely going to need to replace your little SUV.
You're not looking at the tongue weight numbers. Your SUV has a max hitch weight of only 350lbs. Both trailers have fictional dry tongue weights that already exceed that. And that's before adding batteries, factory options, water and trailer cargo.
A tow vehicle with only 3500lbs of towing capacity, is pretty much stuck with Popups or A-frames.
And I'll bet that your SUV has a frontal area limit, which both trailers will exceed.

[GalsofEscape]

Welcome from another Marylander.


Agree with Bikendan - you are gonna need a bigger vehicle.

[ciditad]

Yeah after some reading looks like I'll need at least a used 2015+ Jeep Cherokee with Tow Package, rated about 5000lbs. Time to trade up.

[Rorschach]

Welcome from Southern Maryland!


As someone who currently tows with a Ford Explorer, I can tell you that getting a better tow vehicle is something you're gonna want to look into. My Explorer does an adequate job towing on flat roads and moderate hills, but it is not a comfortable experience in the mountains. Does it get the job done? Yes. But an F250 is in my future. I am within my rated payload capacity and tongue weight, but it is not an ideal towing experience.



When you are looking at tow ratings, numbers like up to 5000 lbs don't mean a whole lot. You will run out of payload and overdo your hitch weight way before then.


There is a lot of information on these forums about towing that should get you in the right direction. Also, check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwFLOBrADBs

And make sure to check out camping at Assateague. I like the National Park side, but that is all dry camping. There are some electric sites at the state park.

[geeman53]

Welcome from SW Ohio , choose wisely !

[dblr]

Welcome from Delaware!!!!

[The Evil Twin]

Welcome from Virginia!
As others have said, start shopping for a tow vehicle. Find the yellow loading sticker on the vehicle. Look at the cargo capacity in it. You need enough to carry the people in the car, the dog and other "stuff" you have in it PLUS 15% of the trailers gross weight. Don’t go by published UVW or TW because that is not very accurate.

[ciditad]

Not sure if this was the right place to post but after much research there were some questions I had:

Now narrowing the selection down to Wolf Pup 16BHS or Shasta Oasis 18BH. I like the fact that Shasta is wider with a sink in the bathroom but UVW is about 200lbs more than Wolf Pup, and max load seems to be higher than Wolf Pup by a few hundred pounds. I read on other forums where folks were dead set against single axle TT saying a blowout will be the end of everything, which now gets me all worried. We're now looking at SUVs that can generally tow 5000lbs or so (Jeep Cherokee with Tow Group), and I'm wondering if the single axle concern is real?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by ciditad

Not sure if this was the right place to post but after much research there were some questions I had:

Now narrowing the selection down to Wolf Pup 16BHS or Shasta Oasis 18BH. I like the fact that Shasta is wider with a sink in the bathroom but UVW is about 200lbs more than Wolf Pup, and max load seems to be higher than Wolf Pup by a few hundred pounds. I read on other forums where folks were dead set against single axle TT saying a blowout will be the end of everything, which now gets me all worried. We're now looking at SUVs that can generally tow 5000lbs or so (Jeep Cherokee with Tow Group), and I'm wondering if the single axle concern is real?

You need to look at tongue weight numbers first, especially single axle trailers.
When looking at a TV with 5000lbs of towing capacity, you'll be limited to 500lbs of tongue weight.
Use 13% of the trailer's GVWR for a ballpark loaded tongue weight. If that number is over 500lbs, you're overweight.
Yes, single axle trailers will be harder to control with a blowout, than tandem axle trailers. But I had one on my popup and it wasn't too hard to control.

[ciditad]

Originally Posted by bikendan

You need to look at tongue weight numbers first, especially single axle trailers.
When looking at a TV with 5000lbs of towing capacity, you'll be limited to 500lbs of tongue weight.
Use 13% of the trailer's GVWR for a ballpark loaded tongue weight. If that number is over 500lbs, you're overweight.
Yes, single axle trailers will be harder to control with a blowout, than tandem axle trailers. But I had one on my popup and it wasn't too hard to control.

So this is where I’m confused: I’ve read on the web to use anywhere from 10 to 15% of GVWR of the TT as the tongue weight. However when I’m looking at the Shasta website it shows 350lb hitch weight - which I understand is the same thing as tongue weight. https://shastarving.com/travel-trail...asta/18BH/4267

Why would the mfg show only 350lb tongue weight when GVWR is 5050lbs, which at 10% is 500lbs already. Or are they using the dry weight (3229lbs) as the tongue weight?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by ciditad

So this is where I’m confused: I’ve read on the web to use anywhere from 10 to 15% of GVWR of the TT as the tongue weight. However when I’m looking at the Shasta website it shows 350lb hitch weight - which I understand is the same thing as tongue weight. https://shastarving.com/travel-trail...asta/18BH/4267

Why would the mfg show only 350lb tongue weight when GVWR is 5050lbs, which at 10% is 500lbs already. Or are they using the dry weight (3229lbs) as the tongue weight?

RV manufacturers use the fictional UVW, to figure the fictional dry tongue weight, NOT the GVWR. They are keeping those numbers down to purposely attract buyers with smaller tow vehicles.
As I said in my previous post, the 350 number doesn't include batteries, factory options, dealer add-ons, water or trailer cargo. That's why most suggest using 12-13% of the trailer's GVWR for a ballpark loaded tongue weight.

[drs0006]

I’m new to RVs but not towing. (Tractors, boats, heavy equipment, car haulers, cattle, etc.)

I agree with the forum, especially the Ford Explorer gentlemen above. Just because it fits in the numbers doesn’t mean it’s a good experience going down the road. It can be downright scary when you’re at or near your limits. Going by numbers can be tricky. Solution is to get a lot more tow vehicle than think you’ll need.

[boomer101]

Welcome from Western MD!!!

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.