Tahoe towing question

[Zman65]

Hey All.

 

Thx for allowing me to join. I am about to be a first time owner of a TT. After weeks of searching, my wife and I have pretty much narrowed it down to one specific TT. My question is my 2019 tahoe has the 6.2 V8. It has a tow rating of 8600 pounds and 10 speed transmission. The camper we are zeroing in on has a total weight dry of 7600 pounds. We live in Florida and mainly be camping within the state which as you know is flat. Will I be in good shape towing this TT?

 

thx in advance

[dlcarsonak]

    That is the dry weight. You need to add the weight of: the two of you, your gear (this is about 1000# per person), propane, water, tools, and the hitch,

   I find many people do not think about mirrors with rigs like yours. If you can not see the red marker light on the side of the trailer, at the back, you do not have the correct mirrors.

Best of luck and happy camping 

[Zman65]

Thanks. Yes, I have found some mirror extensions for this tahoe if I do make the TT purchase. Thanks for tip

[trailertraveler]

Welcome to the Escapees Forum! Here is a link to a calculator that will help you match tow vehicle and trailer. A subject that is often ignored in discussions about selecting a tow vehicle is the relationship between the tow vehicle wheelbase and the length of the trailer. SUVs often have shorter wheelbases than trucks and vans. This can affect the tendency for trailer sway.    Here is a an article that explains the relationship between tow vehicle wheelbase and trailer length.

Again, Welcome to the Escapees Forum!!

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums!  We are pleased that you have joined us and we will do all we are able to help and support you.

It is impossible for us to give a definite answer to your towing question, without specific information on both the Tahoe and on the travel trailer. From the little amount of information given, I suspect that you should be OK but that is only a guess. To know for sure one must first verify the maximum weight of the travel trailer. Is the gross weight rating and not the dry weight which is often listed by RV manufacturers. If the trailer weight that you are listing is the dry weight, that means that you can only add a total of 1000# of water, food, and belongings to the total in order to stay under the Tahoe ratings. Water has a weight of 8.34# per gallon so a tank of 50 gallons will add 400+# to your listed weight. If the listing is dry weight When you consider propane bottles, (you probably have two of them on the tongue) they will add about 50 - 60# each, so now that 1000# available for your belongings and supplies has fallen to less than 500# and you haven't yet put anything into the RV. 

As you can easily see, this is a fairly complicated subject but if you take your time and do a little study you will be able to figure it out. Take some time and look over the links provided by Trailertraveler and you can do this. It is better to do your study now to be sure that you do not later regret your choice of RV. While there is a learning curve to the process, all of us go through this and it really isn't rocket science, it just takes a little bit of time and study. 

We are happy you are here and do not hesitate to ask any additional questions.

[LindaH]

That tow rating of 8,600# for the Tahoe is for a basic vehicle with no options, no gear, a partial tank of fuel, and no passengers...only one 150# driver.  What this means for you is that once you fill up the fuel tank, add all the gear that will normally be carried in the vehicle, and add the spouse, the kids, and the pets, what you will actually be able to tow will be something less.

Since you already have the Tahoe, I recommend loading it up like it will be for a trip with full fuel, people/pets, and gear, and taking it down to the local scales to get it weighed.  You'll need to know two numbers for your Tahoe:  The GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating...the most the Tahoe can weight) and the GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating...the most the Tahoe plus the weight of anything you tow can weigh).  Once you know the actual loaded weight of the Tahoe, you can use the calculator trailertraveler gave the link to in order to figure out what you can really tow.

Additionally, the 7,600# dry weight of the trailer may not be the *actual* dry weight since, typically, manufacturers don't add in options to that figure.  So instead of using the dry weight, always use the trailer's GVWR for your calculations.

Edited May 30, 2020 by LindaH

[travelinbob]

As stated above, it all depends on the length of the trailer you want. Also the weight of your trailer going down the road will be at least 10,000#, this may cause your tranny to heat up but if you stay in the flatland you may be OK.

 

[Zman65]

Thanks All! Great info. It is clear I have found the right forum to belong to as my wife and I venture into this new adventure to us.

[Kirk W]

If you will share the make and model of the travel trailer, we could probably give you better guidance.

[Zman65]

Oh sure. It is a new 2020 forest river rookwood ultra lite series. It is 33' and model number is 2902 sw.

 

Thx!

[durangodon]

Way too much trailer for that Tahoe.

[mptjelgin]

2 hours ago, Zman65 said:

Oh sure. It is a new 2020 forest river rookwood ultra lite series. It is 33' and model number is 2902 sw.

 

Thx!

From the Forest River website that trailer is listed as having a UVW of 7610 and a CCC of 2110 pounds. That means that it weighs 7610 pounds totally empty (and that likely doesn't include any added options) and can carry an additional 2110 pounds of "stuff" (which includes propane, water, etc.) before it is overloaded. 

So the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) of the trailer is 9720 pounds and that is the number you should be looking at on any trailer you consider. 

With a length of 35' (that is a lot of tail to wag the dog...) and a hitch weight of between 920 pounds (listed on the site, likely empty) and 1500 pounds (much more likely loaded) I agree that you are way beyond what your Tahoe can safely handle. 

[Zman65]

ok, thx.

 

Sounds like I need to look for a diesel truck!

[durangodon]

It doesn't need to be a diesel for flatland driving.  It does need to have a bigger footprint, better braking, and a more robust suspension.  I wouldn't tow that trailer with less than a 3500 series.  A 2500 would be minimal.  I like a margin for error.

[Zman65]

So Dodge Ram 1500 crew cab with ecodiesel is rated to 10500. This wouldn’t be enough for a 7600 dry Weight even if I add 1k in additional Carry on ?

[TXiceman]

Like one pointed out above, stop looking at the trailer dry weight for a trailer selection.  Take the dry weight and add the cargo capacity or look on the trailer sticker for the GVWR, gross vehicle weight rating.  The dry weight from the brochure does not include any options, such as batteries, full propane tanks, awning and so on.  A optioned trailer can easily be 500 to 1000 lb more than the dry weight.  Then you add your supplies, and clothes and up goes the weight.

The fully loaded trailer can weigh 9720 lb when loaded.  the 10,500 lb rating on the Ram, is reduced by additions to the truck, like passengers, hitch, any supplies in the back, etc.  Plus I would not want to pull a 35 ft trailer with a 1/2 ton truck for any distances.

One Eco-diesel owner I spoke to said the rear coil suspension was too weak and soft to really work well towing much weight.  He had already added heavier springs for towing.

Ken

[Zman65]

ok thx all

[rickeieio]

Don't get hung up on having a diesel.  There are many gas options which are more than capable of handling that trailer.  Many folks buy a diesel for fuel economy, but if you don't tow a lot, you may be spending thousands of dollars to save hundreds of dollars. Consider total miles towing v. empty, and the cost difference between diesel fuel v. gasoline.  I've had a lot of trucks on the farm, and the math never worked in favor of a diesel.

More important than the motor is having enough brakes and suspension.

[mptjelgin]

I started RV'ing with a half-ton Ford truck pulling a smaller, lighter travel trailer than the one you are describing. The engine was fine, but the suspension was too soft,  the brakes too light, the cooling system marginal. I upgraded to an F-250, still with a gasoline engine, and the difference was night and day. As others have mentioned, it is more about wheel-base, suspension, brakes, cooling. etc.

[Zman65]

thx again. I get the gas vs diesel thing  I guess I figure I should go 2500 diesel in case we decide we  want to go bigger in a couple years.  Really looking forward to all this

[mptjelgin]

1 hour ago, Zman65 said:

thx again. I get the gas vs diesel thing  I guess I figure I should go 2500 diesel in case we decide we  want to go bigger in a couple years.  Really looking forward to all this

A word of warning about 3/4 ton diesels.  The diesel engines are very heavy compared to gasoline engines, and the carrying capacity of some 3/4 ton diesel pickups, especially those with big cabs and a lot of options, can be surprisingly low.  Do yourself a favor and consider getting a SRW 1 ton truck instead.  The SRW one-tons are not much more $$ than the 3/4 ton trucks, and they have a significantly higher usable carrying capacity.  Too many folks have been stunned to discover that while their 3/4 ton diesel was rated to tow a lot of weight, they couldn't get anywhere close to it because of limits on the  rear axle and/or GVWR of the truck. 

[kurtsara]

On 5/30/2020 at 7:21 AM, dlcarsonak said:

    That is the dry weight. You need to add the weight of: the two of you, your gear (this is about 1000# per person), propane, water, tools, and the hitch,

   I find many people do not think about mirrors with rigs like yours. If you can not see the red marker light on the side of the trailer, at the back, you do not have the correct mirrors.

Best of luck and happy camping 

You don’t add the people for the dry weight for the rv, they are inn the tow vehicle and added into that.  And how do you figure 1000 lbs per person for there gear? My wife and I don't have 500 lbs together in gear, you are going to scare people wanting to buy a RV talking like that. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by kurtsara

[kurtsara]

23 hours ago, durangodon said:

It doesn't need to be a diesel for flatland driving.  It does need to have a bigger footprint, better braking, and a more robust suspension.  I wouldn't tow that trailer with less than a 3500 series.  A 2500 would be minimal.  I like a margin for error.

My opinion is you are crazy to think they NEED a one ton truck to tow that RV. 

[sandsys]

3 hours ago, kurtsara said:

how do you figure 1000 lbs per person for there gear? My wife and I don't have 500 lbs together in gear, you are going to scare people wanting to buy a RV talking like that. 

In our first motorhome, by the time we added fuel, water, etc. we only had 800 lbs available for gear so we weighed each thing when deciding what to bring. I had to trade my jeans for cotton slacks, our Corelle plates for plastic ones, and our canned goods for freeze-dried food to get under our limit. Have you actually weighed your gear?

Linda

[kurtsara]

9 hours ago, sandsys said:

In our first motorhome, by the time we added fuel, water, etc. we only had 800 lbs available for gear so we weighed each thing when deciding what to bring. I had to trade my jeans for cotton slacks, our Corelle plates for plastic ones, and our canned goods for freeze-dried food to get under our limit. Have you actually weighed your gear?

Linda

The original poster is camping within there state, not traveling the USA, don't have to weigh our gear, we each bring 3 changes of clothes and some food for 3 or 4 days camping. 
 

Someone said each person would bring 1000 lbs of gear, I could bring all my clothes and not have 1000 lbs

Edited June 1, 2020 by kurtsara