Another Travel Trailer Post

After doing the roof top tent thing for a couple years the Fiance said it was good, but we are over it. It was a good run and the little Subaru had a good time doing it also.

With that in mind and knowing we were not going to get some crazy big trailer I went out and bought a Tundra. Of course the plan was to keep the RTT and set the truck up for some overland adventures also. I picked up a 2018 LTD CrewMax.

After a couple months of searching we have narrowed it down to 2 trailers. Both are almost the same but the big factors are the weights. I know from reading towing post on this forum going back 5 or 6 pages that the lighter one is better for the Tundras capabilities.

First option and leading contender:
http://outdoorsrvmfg.com/back-country-series-21fbs/#specs
Dry Weight 6100
Max Weight 7995
TW 720
Length 26'3" ball to ladder

Second option:
http://outdoorsrvmfg.com/creek-side/creek-side-21rbs/#specs
Dry Weight 5395
Max Weight 7150
TW 610
Length 24' 10" ball to ladder

For what we plan on doing the first one fits better, but the towing aspect gets me thinking the second one. Big difference in the TW is that the built in generator is in the front of the first one,

After looking at the numbers my plans of getting some sliders, a max modular rack, and potentially a Prinzu rack are pretty much off the table so that I make sure not to have the truck itself overloaded.

WDW for sure! was thinking Andersen, but it sounds like those don't like heavy tongues, so probably Equalizer.

Let me know your thoughts please.

And also any thought on the added length in towing situations. I have some decent experience towing 18-20ft and shorter trailers. So interested on what difference there is if any between 24" and 26"

Thanks for the help and reading another "how much can my Tundra tow" post.

 

They both seem a little n the heavy side imo. I have a coachman apex 28’ ultra Light.

https://www.rvusa.com/rv-guide/2015-coachmen-apex-travel-trailer-floorplan-288bhs-tr24502

 

Yeah they are not exactly light, but pretty solid. The dealer we were at also had Coachman Apex's and we did walk through a couple, but liked the Outdoors RV ones more.

Thanks,

 

Too Heavy

 

Both of them?

 

Idk about to much but when I bought my camper I tried to stay about half the tow capacity for the truck just because ik I was going to also have a golf cart in the bed of the truck also. And with two kids and their stuff in the camper I'm happy I did . Imo. I just think for the size camper you want you can get one a lot lighter so that when you are pulling it you wont hardly know your pulling it .

 

Thanks! all very valid points. We don't have all the extras that you do, but that doesn't mean that things don't add up quick. Next thing you know I get one bundle of firewood and can't get up a hill.

That was one thing were looking at was light and actually shorter, but most small ones don't even have a sink that will fit a normal plate in them. So that quickly got us away from Rpods and such.

 

4800lbs dry, lots of room. Even an island with a double sink.

 

O got ya .And of course I'm going to suggest coachman because I own one .But just look for a while. One thing I have learned after owning 4 pop ups and now 3 hard shell campers is that make sure you are happy with it and how it pulls .I wouldnt even buy my camper until they hooked up a few to my truck I really liked and drove with it .Yes proof of insurance for a camper was required but that was ok because I wanted to make sure it felt good. So with mine being a half the tow weight I now know I can pull threw mountains with no problems . Definatly get a sway bar hitch if you dont already have one . but those campers will be ok just try not to load them down .

 

Man thats nice your killing me with the double slide lol nice set up . but the kids had to have bunks haha

 

O I am slowly getting rid of those metal blinds in mine. They drive me nuts

 

Yeah, no bunks. They come with a dinette that folds down to a bed, but since it's just the wife and I, we replaced that with recliners and fold out end tables. Keep looking, mine is a 2014 and bought it just under a year ago. Found it on Craigslist and talked the guy down to $12,000 including an Equalizer WDH. I thought I did good.

 

Heck yea you did .I bought mine new .22k later

 

Yep, the big ones are done, just need to do the small ones in the bedroom and over the oven.

 

Nice colour truck!!

 

Good looking rig Az. Thanks for sharing it up!

 

Cool you getting them from a hardware store ? O idk about changing the one by the stove top lol cloth may not be good their lol.

 

Just starting to look. The ones on the big slide were already cloth when I bought it. I'll probably check Amazon, Home Depot, etc.

 

We went into one trailer and the metal blinds made a bunch of noise just walking around.

Of course the cloth ones on a track have the outcrop covering, that we would like to get ride of near the dinette, so we don't crush them.

Is towing that longer length just a process of making sure you don't put yourself in a tight spot. I figure for the first year of driving we would probably avoid a lot of areas just to be safe. My plan is also to find a huge area to work on backing the rig and getting it into and out of spot. Good to crush some cones in a parking lot than a pump at a gas station.

 

You will get used to it quick .I have had alot of campers so it was not to much to get used to. The main thing with a longwr one is turns. You figure out how wide you need to cut on left hand turns. But really it not bad. Have you ever pulled any trailers before ?

 

Pulled some before. Around town some 18' single axle trailers for dump runs and such. Cross country a couple times from Washington to Alabama with a Penske truck and car hauling flat bed.

Things did get less nerve racking after getting more and more miles with it. Guess it has been a while and I have forgot how it wasn't bad at all once you get some miles under your belt.

 

Also many National parks limit the length of trailers, so keep that in mind if you plan to visit them.

 

Not too worried about National Parks, but that is good to know. I visited a bunch of parks when I cruised around the country on my motorcycle, so I don't need to see as many now. Also after being on the motorcycle and having to deal with all the RV's I will be more than happy to park/camp the rig outside the park and just take the tow rig in.

 

After crunching a bunch of numbers and doing math(not my strong suit. Thanks California public schools) the heavier of the trailers is withing the weight limits of the Tundta. If we follow a couple rules.

First off we need to be light. The dog needs to go on a diet and I need to be at race weight. We need to keep passenger weight including the dog(good thing hes is only 30lbs) under 350
Second any cargo we add to the truck has to be under 100lbs.
Third if the WDH adds tongue weight we have to basically not have any cargo weight or not have a WDH.

If all those things pan out we have about 15lbs of weight to play with on the trucks cargo. We are about 2000lbs under the GCVW and tow capacity.

If we go with the lighter one we have about 115lbs to play with.

Really what I have figured out is that the tongue weight is probably the biggest factor in what the tundra can carry/tow.

This is a pretty good video explaining all the weights that you need to know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwFLOBrADBs

There is also a spreadsheet that linked in that video and page that will allow you to put all your info in and it will give you a go/nogo results.

Does that mean I want to not be able to carry anything in the truck? Nope. The hunt for decent sized(22-26ft total length) 4 season trailer continues.

 

I am adding to this thread instead of creating my own because I am dealing with the same topic. I am wondering if the combination of a 2019 Tundra Limited Crew Max 4x4 and 2016 Forest River Vibe 221RBS will work. I have included images below with specifications for this combination, as well as a spread sheet with calculations I got from KeepYourDayDream.com. My next step is to get the specifications off of the stickers in both vehicles but I am trying to do rough calculations with data off the internet.

Questions: 1) Where do I find GCVWR for this Tundra? I just added GVWR and Towing Capacity but I don't think this is accurate. 2) I got the hitch weight for the Vibe from the internet. Does this hitch weight reflect a loaded trailer or dry trailer? 3) To get the GVWR of the trailer I added the dry weight and the payload capacity. Is this correct?

It looks like the only issue with this combination is the payload. I think I will have a little more payload to play with because the trailer has a Weight Distribution Hitch as an extra which I think reduces the tongue weight. However, we will add a camper shell, 50lb generator, and TRD option package which will all eat into payload.

Obviously, I will have to get better data off the stickers in the vehicles, but what are your thoughts so far? Is the payload a big issue with this combination? I might need to go with a bigger truck or a lighter trailer.

 

I crunched almost those exact numbers, but with less tongue weight and only managed to have about 125lbs left on the payload side. Using your tongue weight I am 45lb overloaded.

Getting the actual payload number off the truck is what should be checked. Mine is an 18 LTD Crewmax W/offroad package and it is 1185.

Tongue weight they are going to give you is dry. and trailer GVWR is the base weight and load capacity.

 

I just went to look at F150 because they are supposed to have more payload than the Tundra, but I think the one we had our eye on only had a payload of 1450.

1) The sticker on the door sill by the tire info said "Max Weight of Occupants and Cargo should never exceed": 1450." This is the same as payload right? The salesman was trying to say that that was we could load in the cab; the bed would hold another 2000lbs. I am pretty sure he was full of shit.

2) Front GAWR plus Rear GAWR equals GVWR, correct? GVWR minus Payload (Occupants and Cargo) = curb weight? I couldn't find separate figure out separate figures GVWR and Curb Weight so I had to derive them this way, correct?

I think you have to look at the door sill to get accurate payload figures? The manufactures website has all sorts of information that differs from that on the door sill. Very frustrating. For Tundras, the Limited Crewmax's we were looking at had payloads of 1100 to 1300. The SR5 and Limited Double Cabs have higher payloads. I think we will have to look at double cabs, 3/4 ton trucks, or a smaller trailer.

BTW, stay aways from the Jones West Ford in Reno, they have their heads up their ass, big waste of time today.

 

I have a 35.6 coachmen catalina 323bhds
Pull with my dbl cab 7700 lbs I have no issues pulling mine it pulls great 211000 miles on the truck and I pulled all summer long 400 mile round trip every 9 days. Ave fuel 9mpg. Planning on a trip this summer to the Dells 1500 round trip.