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07-23-2020, 07:17 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Maryland
Posts: 116
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N00b from MD
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.
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07-23-2020, 07:30 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 1,384
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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?
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07-23-2020, 07:50 PM
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#3
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Site Team
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 28,670
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Quote:
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?)
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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.
__________________
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
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07-23-2020, 08:13 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Catonsville Maryland
Posts: 1,830
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Welcome from another Marylander.
Agree with Bikendan - you are gonna need a bigger vehicle.
__________________
HTT: "EscapeII" 2016 Shamrock 23WS (current)
PUP: "Escape" 2010 Rockwood HW 277 (gone)
TV: "Bruce" 2011 Dodge Durango V8 Hemi Crew
Just us gals (me, Sis and our daughters)
We spend alot of money to go sit in the woods
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07-23-2020, 08:37 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Maryland
Posts: 116
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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.
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07-24-2020, 06:38 AM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Maryland
Posts: 85
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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:
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.
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07-24-2020, 06:43 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 4,655
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Welcome from SW Ohio , choose wisely !
__________________
2016 sunseeker 2250slec 
1988 Jayco p.u.,Coleman Plantation p.u.,1989 Jayco class c, Coachman TT,1995 Little Eddie fthwheel,2007 Heartland Sundance 2500 lS fthwheel
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07-24-2020, 07:26 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 5,011
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Welcome from Delaware!!!!
__________________
2017 River Stone Legacy 38mb
2001 Kenworth T2000
2008 Smart on deck
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07-24-2020, 08:43 AM
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#9
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Brake is on left
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 1,092
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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.
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07-25-2020, 09:43 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Maryland
Posts: 116
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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?
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07-25-2020, 03:25 PM
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#11
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Site Team
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 28,670
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Quote:
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?
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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.
__________________
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
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07-25-2020, 08:41 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Maryland
Posts: 116
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Quote:
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.
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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?
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07-25-2020, 11:06 PM
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#13
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Site Team
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 28,670
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Quote:
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?
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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.
__________________
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
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07-26-2020, 12:48 PM
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#14
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 10
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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.
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07-26-2020, 03:15 PM
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#15
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Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Hagerstown MD
Posts: 8
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Welcome from Western MD!!!
__________________
2015 F150 Supercrew 5.0 3.31axle some mods
2021 Alpha Wolf 26RL-L
Traveling with (2) pups Molly & Samie
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07-27-2020, 06:48 AM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Saginaw MN
Posts: 953
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Welcome from northern MN.
__________________
2020 Wolf Pack 23GOLD15
1998 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins Diesel Dually
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