Quick way to ruffle a few RV techs...

[Forgvn77]

We had the privilege yesterday of trading in our 2011 28BHS and taking delivery of our new 2012 32TSBH. The PDI went great and we were impressed with the RV wisdom and info they gave us, even knowing we have some RV experience. What a difference a year makes! I know the new camper is pushing the limits of our TV so I picked up a Sherline Tongue Scale (Thanks Rustic Eagle) to keep a good eye on things until we upgrade our TV. On Saturday afternoon I drove to the dealership and took a quick weight so I could sleep. The sticker says it left the factory at 8416lbs and the measured tongue weight was ~950lbs. That was definitely better than I was thinking since they had started the prep and it had full propane and battery. My hitch is rated for 1150lbs, the spring bars for 1200lbs, and my tow capacity is 11,100. The max payload of the truck? 913lbs... Well, that's why I'll be upgrading the TV Everything went good till I whipped out the Sherline and decided to weigh the tongue before we hooked it up and went on our way. Up went the power tongue jack and down went the camper on the scale..... 1200lbs!!! Oooooof.... My heart sank.... What happened? My truck will break in half if I drop that on the back!! One of the techs got all huffy and tried to tell me that it wasn't an accurate weight and the only way to get one would be to calculate it at a CAT scale (ahhhhh... nope). I tried to think.... Wait!! The fresh water tanks... they filled the tanks to test them!! Sure enough that was it. The techs drained the tanks and things looked a whole lot better. I'm glad I had my scale with me! We can make things work for now, but we have to be smart about it. We'll be taking what we need for that weekend and will be utilizing a support vehicle. Fortunately we're only 20 miles from the campground we spend 95% of our time at. The techs would have been just fine dropping all that weight on my F-150 Beware!!

[cbaka27]

Enjoy the new 32TSBH. We have a 2011 28BHS and have come to realize that we want the 32BHDS or 32TSBH. Did you trade in your 2011? Our dealer would not give us close to what we needed so I decided to wait another year and try to sell the 28BHS on our own and then upgrade.

[Rustic Eagle]

John,

Congrats on the new TT , I'm sure the family will enjoy it. Yep, the Sherline tongue scale will come in handy, and you may find some fellow campers asking you to confirm their loaded tongue weights (most will be surprised). Just remember to keep the slides closed when using the Sherline, it makes a difference.

I agree, amazing how much the fluids can weigh and the impact on the tongue.

Bob

[Forgvn77]

Cbaka27,

Yes, we traded in our 28BHS. I was very fortunate that our local dealer actually beat the trade difference quote from RV Direct. We got it for $11,790 + tax, fees, etc. It was the only 32TSBH on the lots in Iowa so that worked out good for us too. Hope you get a good buyer for yours too. We love the 32TSBH so far and the kid's bunkhouse is amazing! It just screams home theater as well and I've already been running mod scenarios in my mind

Rustic Eagle,

Thanks for the tip! I do look forward to helping people with their tongue weights. I weighed my 28BHS when we had it loaded up, before we cleaned it out and I kid you not, it was 900lbs! I never figured it was that heavy.

[Murphie]

John, Sound like you got what you wanted and know what your doing. Trailering is a blast.
I looked up your fresh water capacity and noticed that your new trailer will hold 86 gallons.
If the tanks were full that would have added around 700lbs. It's interesting what that does to the tongue weight. If your new trailer was empty almost half that weight loaded onto the tongue. I guess it depends a lot on where the tanks are in relation to the axels. Anyway have a great summer with your new trailer.

[Forgvn77]

Thanks Murphie! Having a great time already and things are going pretty
good so far. One thing I have definitely noticed with the 32TSBH is that it's tail heavy by default and you can run into issues just as much by not watching how you load the back as you can with the front. I'm discovering the camper is kinda of a balancing act of sorts for me since I can't really load the tongue very heavy. Too much weight in the tail and the camper porpoises more over bumps and is less stable. Too much weight in the front and the F-150 gets into payload/hitch weight trouble. When I get my TV upgraded, the issues will get much better, but things to manage and keep in mind till then.