[campingcpl]

I've seen a lot of good information given so far but one thing I haven't really seen is the "BUYER BEWARE" comment. Since dealing with sales people as part of my job and dealing with them as a retail customer I see this all the time. The one thing I see sales people do constantly is try to sell a product by it's dry weight and not it's GVWR. I have seen a couple of comments that had mentioned looking at the GVWR of the towed unit be it a TT or 5ver. I think when looking at purchasing a new towable would be looking at GVWR of the unit on the sticker and not asking the dealer. I have come across a couple of dealers that when I asked what the GVWR of the unit was they just looked at me and said "well what are going to pull it with" or I also have come across where I have told them that I didn't want to be over say 8000 lbs GVWR and they start showing me trailers with a dry weight of 7500 lbs. Sales people will tell you what you want to hear just to make a sale. I have had sales people that I work with wanting me to fudge spec's on something just so they can sell it.

I've also seen several comments about the tongue weight and yes this should be a consideration also. Working in the RV industry I know that most manufactures take into consideration the tongue weight when setting the axle placement. For example: Most toy haulers have a 2000 lbs limit in the rear cargo area so the manufacture will set the axles to add more dry tongue weight. Industry hitch weight standards are; non toy hauler travel trailers will be 10% - 15% depending on floor plan (ie, front living, rear living, front or rear kitchen, etc.), non toy hauler 5th wheel will be 15% - 20% (again will very by floor plan), toy hauler travel trailer will be 14% - 18% (again will very per floor plan and number of axles), toy hauler 5th wheels will be 18% - 23% (again will very per floor plan and number of axles). So if you are looking at a rear living unit that has a lot of storage in front of the axles they will set the tongue weight to the lower percentage and vise versa if you have a rear kitchen they will set the tongue weight to the heavier percentage to help off set the weight of what you would put in the storage areas. Granted it's hard to anticipate what people are going to put in the storage area's so it comes down to using a reasonable estimate.

As for buying a tow vehical, my personal opinion is the same as most of the other people on this forum. First I would look at the GVWR of the trailer I want to pull then look at the max towing of the TV and then filter down to payload, GVWR of TV, etc. Everyone will have their favorites when it comes to manufacture be it Ford, Dodge, GM, etc. And someone else said something about options, the ride, etc., but there is one thing I haven't seen anyone say and that is fuel economy. I know for me that was a big issue when looking for a bigger TV. The bad thing is when it comes to 3/4 ton or 1 ton trucks it's hard to find fuel ratings for these types of vehicals. So one way I found was to visit the forums and ask what other people are getting and to check reviews of the truck you are considering. Of course when doing my research I found a diverse range because of mods people had done or their driving habbits. So I took it all in and basicaly figured an average. I did this for towing and none towing as well as gas and diesel. As for us going from a 1/2 ton that was getting 16 city and 19 hwy not towing and getting 8 to 10 towing I knew we would want something that was going to get us the same or better not towing and considerably better towing. When doing my research I found out that the gas 3/4 or 1 ton wouldn't get me really any better improvment so we looked into the diesels. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preferance and weighing the options of getting a gas or diesel or 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton or 1 ton. The one thing I think everyone could agree on when it comes to choosing a TV would be getting something that will make towing safe. Yes there are a lot of 1/2 ton trucks out there that say they can pull 10,000+ lbs but can they do it safely is the question as well as 3/4 ton trucks saying they will tow 17,000+ lbs an so on. Do the research and don't trust the answer of just one or two people!