^^^^^ As some may recall I comment many times on how what we say is "heard" or "interpreted" by a novice. Many times someone unknowing, or uncaring, is simply looking for some sort of verbiage that can be construed to affirm, in their mind, a questionable or unworkable situation. Sometimes it's because they truly don't know and are a little worried, sometimes it's because they are completely overloaded and know it but look for validation.
As far as the phrase "don't even know it's back there", I think it's an incorrect statement. If there is something hooked to one of my vehicles I "know" it's back there (at least I hope so) all the time. Whether it's bouncing around, pushing/pulling, swaying, killing acceleration/mileage etc. or simply jangling the chains....I KNOW it's back there....all the time. I know it's easy to just type out a catch phrase but sometimes they truly can be misleading.
I've not addressed the "why you didn't buy enough truck" from my perspective. I think it is a complicated issue. Weights and towing are sort of complicated. Wanting an RV and go have fun is not complicated - it sounds fun....and so, many folks WANT to get an RV and go have fun. That's when the fun begins. The guy that has the RV also wants you to go have fun....so he can have your money. The guy selling you the truck wants you to go have fun....so he can have your money. Weights complicate things, cause questions, concerns and worries. So that new family that wants to have a new RV and go have fun gets all the boxes checked at every place they stop and look. Then....real life sets in. Some study up and realize the mistake and then correct it. Some have to wait a bit towing overweight knowingly but correct it as soon as they can. Some don't believe it because the sales guy said we're good and then some just don't care. So there is where a lot of the "why you didn'g buy enough truck" comes from.
In addition, the truck manufacturers advertise towing ability only...they PUSH it constantly. That's what the buyer hears and looks at. The RV manufacturers push their "light weight" units, "half ton towables" etc. claiming virtually anything down to a Yugo can pull one of their units off the lot. THEN you have publications like Trailer Life (they tend to aggravate me
) that tend to stress the towing capacity as well. It seems at times to me that they are trying to "sell" the trailer/truck rather than giving the objective, detailed report I would like to have. When you add all that up it is completely understandable that a person buys a truck that isn't enough and then is stunned, saying "what???" when someone mentions the weights. I guess the trick is what do you do when you've found you made a mistake (hopefully they studied up)? Hopefully correct it vs getting mad or just ignoring the situation.
That's JMO in a nutshell
. Just got in from a 4 1/2hr drive with construction so thought I would "let off a little energy" on the keyboard. As always, YMMV.