New to travel trailers

[Have dogs will travel]

We're considering purchasing a Jayco Jayflight 28RLS. Seems perfect for us, but want to make sure it's not too big/heavy, etc. to pull behind a Ford Expedition with the towing pkg. Have heard some scary stories about overestimating what is really safe to pull (we have previously pulled a highwall, hard side A-liner for several years all over the country, in mountains, etc. without trouble, but ready for more room. Advice is very welcome. Thanks! Signed, Have dogs will travel!

[oldmanAZ]

Welcome to the forum and happy trailer shopping.

To avoid the 'overestimating' trap, you'll have do some calculating. First you'll need to find the PAYLOAD of your tow vehicle (TV). That is the weight that it can carry; all the people, dogs, etc., inside or on top of the vehicle plus the weight on the tongue of the trailer you are pulling. The tongue weight can be estimated by take the GROSS weight of the trailer and multiplying that by 0.15 (15%).

There is usually a sticker on the driver's side door frame that will have the TV payload. PAYLOAD is the amount that is usually the limiting factor - long before the towing capacity is reached. The towing capacity is the figure most RV salesmen are familiar with and will steer you to using when you are shopping for a trailer.

You'll also need to find info on your vehicle's hitch capacity (to make sure that isn't exceeded) and research weight distribution hitches (WD hitches).

Lots if this stuff is in this site. Search for keywords and happy reading! If you have questions, just ask.

(BTW, our 2015 27RLS is similar. Our old, blind Poodle needs a ramp and having 2 doors works very well for us.)

[Greg&Nancy]

We are new 28RLS owners. Very happy with our purchase. We did a lot of research and number crunching as oldmanAZ outlined above. Do your homework. There are plenty of discussion thread about this subject. And get a good weight distributing hitch (WDH). Don't skimp on it. Get a good one. Also, when you do make your decision take a trip to the nearest Cat scales and weigh your configuration. We really like our 28RLS. Hope you do too.

[rgchak]

A lot of good discussions about towing capacities on the forum and common sense will go a long way when towing a trailer and taking strangers advise. My rig is a 1991 Ford Bronco (which is a short, short F150 and is not stock) we tow a 2015 Whitehawk 27 DSRL at 7500 lbs loaded. My combo is around 12,000 lbs across the scales when truck and trailer are loaded. We have 6000 miles so far and no problems or complaints and I do recommend a good WD/sway control hitch. I use the Pro Pride 3P which is expensive but absolutely eliminates trailer sway if that is a concern. Just throwing my 2 cents into the conversation.

[TaftCoach]

Everyone is different. Bottom line if you dread hooking up it's a bad deal. If you are stressed most of the time towing, bad deal. The numbers might be OK but if you are doing kegel exercises each time you see a semi or bridge you will want to upgrade the TV.

[Mustang65]

WELCOME TO JOF!!!

The members here are GREAT!!! There is a lot of GREAT information to be found here. I am sure that you will have information and pictures to share with us... so please do!!

If you post the numbers on your TV's door jam we can help you figure out what your towing capacity for you.

Don