Thread: New Camper!
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Old 03-25-2019, 09:21 AM   #12
sourdough
Site Team
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: W. Texas
Posts: 17,692
Shea, good on you for double checking on your potential purchase. So many make the purchase then ask the important questions. Here is a link to the specs of the proposed RV:

https://www.keystonerv.com/travel-tr...ravel-trailer/

I hate to sound like everyone is piling on but I think you can get the jist that you are biting off more than the truck, or you, will be comfortable with.

Note that the gvw of the trailer is 9700 lbs. (shipping weight + carrying capacity) which is the number you need to use for calculations. Your max truck tow weight is 9200 lbs. so that is exceeded already. The "loaded" tongue weight of that trailer should be calculated using the gvw (9700lbs) x .12 (12%) = 1164 lbs. This is about as close as your going to get when guesstimating.

Hopefully your trailer won't be loaded to gvw which would be stretching things as well, but you need to figure that because at some point you might and you have to be prepared for that. To that 1164 add 100lbs for the wdh = 1264lbs. Now look at the sticker inside your driver door and see what the payload is for your truck. Subtract the 1264 from that and see where you are. Whatever is left is the max you could have loaded into/onto the truck; people, gear, tools, ice chests, toys, bbq grill, etc. Personally, I take the payload on the sticker and reduce it by 15% to give me a little bit of safety margin and try to stay around that number. But, I have been in the exact same predicament as you with almost the same loading numbers and I can assure you that although "pulling" the trailer was not a problem, "handling" the trailer was not fun except on straight roads with no traffic - not ideal for traveling.

The "sales" folks at both RV dealerships or truck dealerships are usually, unfortunately, totally ignorant of what is required for a truck to safely tow (pull plus carry) an RV. The sales person just wants to make a sale, after that you might as well ask a glass blower how to set the timing on a '83 Jeep CJ7 (mine ) - won't have any idea.

Hope this doesn't sound like you're being "blasted" or anything like that. This is a great, knowledgeable and helpful bunch that truly does have your best interests in mind and hope to help you avoid making the same mistakes that many/most of us have had to pay for in the past. Hope you stick around and ask questions. If you do decide to go with you initial route, please post back here so that we can give you options for a safer experience. That large of a trailer on the back of an untouched 1/2 ton will not only be miserable, but generally dangerous. And yes, there will be some that say they do it all the time with no problems...tain't so. Usually simply because they have no reference (I was one at one time). Keep us posted.
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