New, considering buying a Rockwood 2909ss

[supercheryl]

Hello,

I'm Cheryl From Texas. My husband and I have been considering buying a travel trailer for about two years and are now about ready to make a purchase. We are considering buying a 2013 Rockwood 2909ss and would love to hear thoughts from you all on that particular model.


Thanks so much!


Cheryl

[fonzie]

Welcome to the forum. What will you be using to tow this new trailer. Some people will tune in with feedback ....

[supercheryl]

We will be towing for now at least with a 1/2 ton Chevrolet Silverado 4x4.

Cheryl

[jerry1946]

we have a 2904SS ,about the same weight, different floor plan, we have had it 16 months, we like it very much. We tow it with a Toyota Tundra, it pulls it fine. Stayed in it about 70 nights last year.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by supercheryl

We will be towing for now at least with a 1/2 ton Chevrolet Silverado 4x4.

Cheryl

The biggest thing, for me, is picking a camper that is within my towing capacity. I was lucky that I didn't have a truck and was able to spec my truck to the camper that I picked. Unfortunately, with 1500-trucks the advertised "tow rating" is usually quite a bit more than what real world weights end up supporting - to get the full benefit of the tow rating, you can only have a 150 driver and literally nothing else in/on the truck. You tend to run out of carrying capacity of the truck which includes the driver, passenger(s), your stuff, things in the truck bed, add-ons to the truck (topper, bed cover, etc) and the amount of weight the tongue pushes down onto the read of the truck. That tongue weight is typically 10%-15% of the camper's actual weight (which is typically 1,000-1,5000 pounds higher than the advertised dry weight).

IMO, the best thing all camper owners can do is learn these weights, find their truck's actual payload capacity for their specific scenario and then pick a camper that's within all of their truck's ratings.

[supercheryl]

Originally Posted by jerry1946

we have a 2904SS ,about the same weight, different floor plan, we have had it 16 months, we like it very much. We tow it with a Toyota Tundra, it pulls it fine. Stayed in it about 70 nights last year.

Thanks so much! We are worried if its too big a unit to pull with his truck but love the room for the family.

[supercheryl]

Originally Posted by ependydad

The biggest thing, for me, is picking a camper that is within my towing capacity. I was lucky that I didn't have a truck and was able to spec my truck to the camper that I picked. Unfortunately, with 1500-trucks the advertised "tow rating" is usually quite a bit more than what real world weights end up supporting - to get the full benefit of the tow rating, you can only have a 150 driver and literally nothing else in/on the truck. You tend to run out of carrying capacity of the truck which includes the driver, passenger(s), your stuff, things in the truck bed, add-ons to the truck (topper, bed cover, etc) and the amount of weight the tongue pushes down onto the read of the truck. That tongue weight is typically 10%-15% of the camper's actual weight (which is typically 1,000-1,5000 pounds higher than the advertised dry weight).

IMO, the best thing all camper owners can do is learn these weights, find their truck's actual payload capacity for their specific scenario and then pick a camper that's within all of their truck's ratings.

It makes my head spin to try to figure this all out! Thanks for your help.

[jerry1946]

you just need to look at your truck and how it is rated, your payload and tow rating. many half tons will tow this trailer. It is well below the tow rating of my Tundra and within my payload limits. My truck is a 2010 with tow rating of 10500, trailer loaded is 7600. Some of the later model Chevys have higher tow rating than mine.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by supercheryl

It makes my head spin to try to figure this all out! Thanks for your help.

I know that feeling! I started in the winter of 2011 and beginning of 2012 and got educated. I actually had to decide against the truck I really wanted because I couldn't bring myself to exceed its ratings.

See if this article helps you:
http://learntorv.blogspot.com/p/what-can-i-tow.html

At the bottom is a related blog entry where I did all of the math for my father-in-law and his 4Runner.

We'll gladly help you. The first thing to do is load up like you're going camping, run with the big boys at a truck stop and get weighed - sounds scarier than it really is and gives you a ton of useful information to work with.

Your previous post about worrying if it's too large of a trailer for your truck can be put to ease for a little bit of time, $10 and some math. :-)