Big tt 1/2 ton tv?

[Merrellroofing]

New here, lots of good info already. I have read other threads about this same question, but I have to do it again.
I have a 12 Chevy crew cab 1500, 3.42, 4x4, 9500 tow capacity. I just got the truck on labor day with intentions of getting a hybrid or lightweight 28 foot tt. The more shopping I have done, the less impressed I am with either of those.
My neighbor is a salesman at the local rv dealer. He is now trying to turn me onto a jayco eagle 314bds, which has dry weight of roughly 8000lbs. It seems a little heavy to me but we are not cross country travelers. Most of our trips will be less than 2-3 hrs, and there are no mountains in Michigan.

[clubhouse]

314bds seems a little heavy for you 1500 to me too.

[jdorant]

That's the exact trailer I wanted but it was to heavy for my F150. My sales rep turned me onto the White hawk 28DSBH and looking at the floor plans I said no. Well when I saw the trailer, it has almost everything I wanted. I really wanted the separate bunk room, but I have double bunks and it's within my weight limits. Now the wait till march/April.

[Bob Landry]

By the time you are loaded, you will likely exceed all of the capacities of the 1500. You need to ignore that salesman and look at some numbers.

[hausknwa]

We started RV camping with a TT that had a similar dry weight and we pulled it with a Toyta Tundra 4x4. Believe me it was not safe. Our first investment was a Dodge Ram 2500 with a diesel. That was overkill, but what a difference in comfort and safety. It also allowed us to move up to a larger TT when we were ready. I would definately look for something lighter.

[lx22f/c]

You need a 3/4 ton truck to pull a trailer of that size.
You may be able to tow it with a half ton but can you stop it or control it when the time arrives?

[Denise]

Welcome to JOF Merrillroofing! I'm not the tow expert here, but on our experience can tell you that with your three kids, two adults, along with the ultimate hitch weight once you add 'stuff' to your front tt storage/bedroom cabinets, you might be maxed out on tv payload capacity and have no room to put toys/stuff/firewood/etc in the bed of your truck with that Eagle. The tongue weight on your tt will be higher than the brochure... ours is running much higher than "dry weight" at 1025lbs currently. By the time you load your tt (clothes, dishes, food, stuff), it will be over the max for your tv. Don't forget the cgvwr for tt/tw combined. Unfortunately, you won't have the opportunity to load everything up and weigh at a CAT scale before the purchase, so glad you are seeking advice from others online. Rv.net is another forum option to ask questions about towing/weights/etc.

The guy may be a nice neighbor, but if he is a salesman trying to sell you something not safe for your family, you may be making his next house payment(s) at your family's well-being (or others on the highway for that matter).

Other than that, check my signi for idea's on how to save money on a new Jayco. Good luck with your salesman neighbor, but let us know how it goes

[troutslayer]

Originally Posted by lx22f/c

You need a 3/4 ton truck to pull a trailer of that size.
You may be able to tow it with a half ton but can you stop it or control it when the time arrives?

Could not have said it better...its not just towing but controlling and stopping. Not to mention the wear and tear on the 1/2 ton.

[Rustic Eagle]

Merrellroofing,

Welcome to JOF

I tend to agree with the other replies that your GM 1500 pickup isn't a good match for the heavy Eagle 314BDS for a number of reasons:

* Your TV's "actual" Tow Rating is lower then it's published Tow Rating of 9,500lbs, because the combined weights of the TV's passengers, cargo, etc., have yet to be subtracted: http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...uot-Tow-Rating

* I assume the 8,000lbs dry weight you mentioned is actually closer to the factory Ship Weight (yellow sticker on TT), because the published UVW is 7,465lbs. The TT's GVWR is 9,975lbs, so IMO a conservative family loaded 'ready-to-camp' weight of 9,000lbs is very realistic for the 314BDS (fluids not included).

* Your TV's specified Payload Capacity must be able to handle the combined weights of the TV's passengers, cargo, and the "loaded" tongue weight of the TT. In most cases half ton pickups lack enough Payload Capacity to handle the heavier loaded tongue weights. For example: With the 33 foot long 314BDS TT a 13% to 15% loaded tongue weight (of the TT's loaded weight) would be desirable..., that's a 1,170lb to 1,350lb loaded tongue weight on a 9,000lb loaded TT weight.

* An over rated WDH doesn't compensate for any overweight condition.

Doesn't matter if one is traveling 50 miles or cross country, over weight is over weight and the compromises (safety, etc.) associated to this fact remain the same.

Bob

[Seann45]

Welcome to the group..
As Healhi said you need to not only look at the weight of the RV but what you put in it and what you put in the truck... When they publish towing stats they assume a 150 lb driver with no passengers or gear.. so add in the weight of all the passengers and their gear in the truck and your difference in weight if your over 150..
RV sales men will tell you that your mini cooper will tow an Alpha See Ya 5er with no problem as they just want to make a sale...

[Merrellroofing]

Those are the responses that I was expecting. The entire search I have been thinking that 6500-7000 was max for a tt dry weight for my 1/2 ton. Another variable is that my wife is a teacher so she has all summer off. Of course that is my busy season so she will be doing a lot of camping without me. With that being said, what should my max weight be at for safety, stability, and my peace of mind when I send her down the road.

[Derek700]

I was towing my trailer with an 05 f150 it had 9800 lb tow capacity I believe and trailer was 7500 gvw. I weighed it once and we were about 500 lbs overweight on the back axle but under total CGVW. That trip we were camping for a week so we were loaded to what would be our max of what we needed although we had no water on board. The truck towed the trailer fine but did lack power climbing some of the BC hills. I never felt unsafe as far as braking just felt as though we were lacking the truck to make longer trips as we have lots of mountain passes here. On flatter highways we were ok, a six speed transmission may of helped a little, I just felt underpowered. So I wouldn't recommend going much over 7500 lbs gvw where you are thinking should be just fine. The sales guy that sold us ours would have sold us one that was 9800 lbs as that was what our tow rating is so be careful what they tell you. We have upgraded to a one ton cummins diesel now. If you don't plan on upgrading your truck make sure you get the right trailer. I would encourage you to get a WDH with built in sway control as well such as a Reese dual cam strait line or Equalizer E4. The dealer call all WDH hitches equalizers so don't get confused by that equalizer is a brand not a style.

[CakeHenn]

Well I replied to your PM. Sorry it looks like it's not the answer you were hoping for. I love the 314 and we are super happy with it but yes in the end I traded my Tundra (which is a very capable half ton...but still a half ton) for the 06 2500hd Duramax.

Even though your sales person lives by you I would caution anyone listening to the sales person regarding what's towable or not. THe problem with half tons is they run out of payload capacity before they run out of towing capacity...most people just look at that towing capacity number. My old Tundra had higher capacity limits than your current truck so again this is a clear case where you would either need to pick a smaller/lighter trailer or get a new truck. I got ahead of myself getting the trailer.....but lucky for me it took them like six weeks to get the trailer built and shipped down so during that time I traded trucks. Now that I've done all that hard work I'm happy but if I would have known all the work I was getting myself into by getting that new trailer I probably would not have done it. Researching used deisel trucks and then finding the right one was not a simple task...it took me just about all of that six weeks to find the right one.

Is this your first RV? If so I would suggest going with a used one first...make sure you actually like RVing. So many people buy new ones and they sit because in their mind they will go but then they never do. Plus you get pretty killed on buying new regardless of how good of a deal you think you are getting..they depreciate fast.

[Merrellroofing]

Yes this will be my first rv. We have used friends popups plenty though. My wife grew up camping and has 3 teacher friends with campers. I have looked for used campers for months without good luck. I don't really want to buy small and have to trade up in a few years when my kids outgrow it. Kind of a -do it once, take care of it, and make it last.

I have a 97 3500 dually I can haul with if I have to and I have 3 80's model of the same truck. All stake rack. Also found a couple nice crew cab duallys 88-89 on cl for cheap so I have a few options.

We went to the rv show a few weeks ago and got 3.99% locked in which expires Monday. I am going to the dealer tomorrow with my 1500 and he is gonna let me to a 6k, 7k, and 8k trailer to see the difference and then we can decide what we are gonna do. Eagle 314 or the whitehawk 31dslb.

[clubhouse]

First of all, this is my oppinion and is worth exactly what you paid for it

You may have borrowed several RVs, but until some time after you buy your first RV/TT/5er you simply can't know exactly what you want in your own personal RV. My guess is no matter what you will be looking to upgrade or sell your first TT much sooner than you think. Relatively recently we bought our first TT, we thought it was everything we would want or need. Now 16 months later we would like to trade up. That said you are looking at much more capable floorplans than we started with so you could "love" your TT much longer that we have with with ours...but sooner rather than later you will be looking for a change.

Its clear, if you have a '97 3500 DRW you can tow just about any TT/5er out there. My point, just get what you want, use the best match tow vehicle you have based on what you buy and enjoy spending time with your family.

By the way my wife is a teacher too...there are 10 weeks every summer I am extremely envious I can't just take off and spend time with the family.

[CakeHenn]

Totally agree with Clubhouse....I did not expand on why buying used/cheap is the way to go first but he did a great job. We bought a 27'er and thought it was everything we needed....after probably 2 trips I was ready for a different one. Don't get me wrong it was a good trailer but the layout was not great. I also agree that it looks like you are going bigger so you might not have a space issue as soon. But yeah you really don't know what you like/dislike until you spend some time in it. We had our first TT just shy of a year and because we bought used we didn't take much of a hit. Being a financial planner I'm very frugal and typically will always go for used over new just because the value is so much better with used. However RVs are not as numerous as cars so when you know exactly what you want it's harder to find that used one that has it all. But buying the 2013 Eagle 314 was not really a good personal finance move but more of a giant toy for the family....we just got it in Dec and have already done two trips....we love it so far.

Oh and if you have that 97 DRW then you are good to go with the 314 and pretty much all TTs and many 5th wheels. The older DRWs are not as capable as the new ones obviously but I'm sure this one has lots of payload capacity to spare.

[RoyBraddy]

I certainly didnt have much luck coming down the long grade hills with my 8800LB fifth wheel being pulled with my F150. It still sets in the back yard haha...

You see some folks doing it however but I think it is like growing up riding a motorcycle. You can do anything if you grew up doing it. They had to pry my fingers off the steering wheel when I got back from a short 300 mil trip down I81 here... It hasn't moved an inch since then...

Truck and trailer setup looked great - all level and of course the dealer said "Yup you can tow that just fine..."

It was Katie bar the door coming down those big long grade hills...

I would advise against it... But that is just me yaking....

Roy Ken

[Westerncanuck]

By the time you load up your gear and passengers, you will be at or probably be over limit. You will definitely feel it behind you, personally I wouldn't recommend it not to memtion the extra fuel you're going to burn.

[Seann45]

Originally Posted by Merrellroofing

Those are the responses that I was expecting. The entire search I have been thinking that 6500-7000 was max for a tt dry weight for my 1/2 ton. Another variable is that my wife is a teacher so she has all summer off. Of course that is my busy season so she will be doing a lot of camping without me. With that being said, what should my max weight be at for safety, stability, and my peace of mind when I send her down the road.

My friend dry weight has nothing to do with anything in reality... you need to look at the weight fully loaded full fuel tanks food and all the people loaded into the tow vehicle ready to go down the road... then head to the weigh scales... I would say that everyone that has done this got a HUGE surprise when they looked at the GCVW...

[Aggiered]

I have a Ford F150 Super Cab,4.6L V8, 4X4. I am shopping for a Jayco 5th Wheel EAGLE HT 26RKS. The salesperson says that my truck will have no problem GCWR 10,500 lbs, with a GVWR of 6250. He says that I will have not problem pulling this, don't know if I trust this advise.
What are your thoughts, experiences?