Future Toy hauler owner

[Morotcycle Todd]

My wife and I ordered a new Impact 28V toyhauler travel trailer. We are trading in a 2009 Jayco 23FB Jayflight G2. Our delivery date is March 1st 2021.

I road race motorcycles and with the Jayco I have to haul the bike(s) in the bed of the pickup truck. Having the garage will be much more convenient.

Also looking forward to the built in generator, rather than having to setup and hassle with the parrallel inverter generators I use now.

[travelin texans]

That new rv is 30'+ & quite a bit heavy then your previous rv, what are you towing it with?
There are countless postings in the last couple of how to determine correctly if your truck is up to the task, may want to check them & put a pencil to your numbers, if for no other reason but piece of mind.

[Morotcycle Todd]

Thanks, the 28V was chosen because anything larger would be too much for my truck (2015 silverado with a 9500lb tow rating). We actually thought we wanted the 29V until seeing both in person. The wife like the sliding glass door between the kitchen and garage on the 28V and i liked it was 350lbs lighter than the 29V

[chuckster57]

Silverado 1500/2500?

Tow rating doesn’t really mean much. PAYLOAD is much more meaningful.

For example my 1994 F350 ( in sig) is rated to tow 11500 pounds, put it moved a 14,500 Montana 15 miles for a friend on flat ground. My rear axle is rated for 7,000+ pounds and my fiver is 1400 king pin. That Montana was Still under my rating. Wasn’t a fun ride at all!!

[wiredgeorge]

That is a really nice floor plan for that toy hauler. The sliding glass between cabin and garage should help keep the stink out and it has a full queen. Good choice. You truck, maybe not so much. Look in the passenger door frame at your payload placard. The gross weight of the trailer is over 11K lbs and that means the tongue weight will be in the 1300 lb range loaded. I know you likely won't pull all 4K plus pounds of stuff in the trailer but you may be overloading your Silverado's payload. A 33' bumper pull will also have a tendency to sway when pulled by a 1/2 ton...


This is a payload placard; what payload do you have?

[Morotcycle Todd]

LOL! Thanks for everyone's concern but I've done my homework. I'm not a newbie and I graduated with a degree in automotive engineering a long time ago, so I'm not completely ignorant on the subject.

My current setup, even though the trailer itself is significantly lighter, is actually a worse condition as far as payload rating is concerned. Yes my truck is "only" a 1500, I bought it used with 40K on it but the orginal owner used it to pull an RV and ordered it with the best combination of equipment for trailering, hence the reason I went a little over my orginal budget to get it. (And yes I asked the dealership for all the details including axle ratio codes and did all my homework myself, rather than just listening to what the salesman said.) I've pulled a fully loaded 10,000lb dump trailer with this truck without a WD hitch.

Tongue weight of the current Jayco is 550lbs, but I have to carry my bike and all my gear in the bed of the truck. With one bike, two inverter generators, 20 gallons of gas and other misc stuff I'm looking at minimum 750lbs in the the bed of the truck. So my total payload (750+550) is actually a little higher than the spec tongue weight of the 28V and I will no longer have to carry any of that in the bed of the truck if I don't want to.

Add to that, my son started racing this year. Though he doesn't ride with us to the track he doesn't have a way to get his bike to the track, so this past year I actually had an additional 350lbs in the bed of the truck with his bike. So technically my current setup this year exceeded the payload "rating" of the truck. The truck handled fine and it wasn't issue, though physically fitting everything in the bed of the truck was tedious and time consuming process. That is what actually pushed us completely over the fence into shopping for a TH.

I am meticulous about setting up the WD hitch properly. I also considered towing when I bought new tires last year and made sure I went up in load capactity of the tires themselves. I travel about 200miles to the track(s) and cruise at 65-70mph. Never had one issue even with my son's bike added to the back of the truck. The truck sits well within it's suspension travel range and both the trailer and truck sit level with no excess sag in the back of the truck. The front end is not light at all and handles perfectly.

With the new setup I will not need to overload the bed of the truck. Yes I expect my gas mileage to take a hit with the extra weight, but from a load balance perspective I am actually more comfortable with what the new setup will be, than my current setup. I will take the time to properly setup the WD hitch and will experiment with some of the lesser weight gear in either the bed of the truck or the garage of the TH to find the best balance. I'd like to get at least two more years out of my truck and by then I will know if the new TH will keep us happy for another 5 years or if we think we may want to upgrade again. By then I will have enough experience with the new trailer and know what size truck I will need.

For now both the expected loaded weight of the trailer with fresh water, 30 gallons of fuel and 2 bikes will still be within the tow rating of my truck and the tongue weight will be within the payload rating of my truck also. Yes it will be pushing closer to the upper limit, but that was my goal. Get the largest trailer my truck could safely pull.

I appreciate everyone's concern and I know you are just trying to keep a fellow RV'er from making a big mistake. I didn't come here to get validation that my tow rig is sufficient as I have already done my homework, so we can move on and discuss other things from here! It's all good!

[rhagfo]

Well we will be looking forward to your first trip report in a couple weeks. I think 10,000# and 32’ with a 1500 rated to tow 9,500# is not going to be a pleasant experience.

[Morotcycle Todd]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Well we will be looking forward to your first trip report in a couple weeks. I think 10,000# and 32’ with a 1500 rated to tow 9,500# is not going to be a pleasant experience.

Not taking delivery until March, and the trailer will not be loaded to 10K. Did you actually read everything I typed or just skimmed and saw 1500 and 10K# and jumped to your negative conclusion?

7330 trailer, plus 700lbs bikes, plus 30 gallons X 6lbs fuel, plus 40 gallons x 8.3 lbs water = 8542#. Still leaves additional 1000lbs to reach 9500#. I already explained the hitch weight and payload numbers also.

I'm an engineer and understand safety factors are involved with published tow ratings also. Yes it's pushing the upper limit of what I would tow with my truck. But what is the point of having capacity ratings if you can't use all of them?

Curious how you define a pleasant experience? What exactly are you expecting to be my issues?

[wiredgeorge]

And as a gentleman with an automotive engineering degree is there a reason not to mention the payload rating of this specially ordered truck of which are the 2nd owner? Anyway, be safe and have fun.

[Morotcycle Todd]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

And as a gentleman with an automotive engineering degree is there a reason not to mention the payload rating of this specially ordered truck of which are the 2nd owner? Anyway, be safe and have fun.

Off the top of my head i don't remember the specific number but it is north of 1800 lbs. As I already explained with my current setup I'm at 1520 lbs with payload in the bed and the hitch weight of the Jayco, so with minmal weight in the bed of the truck the new setup will actually be a little less than that.

Can we talk about something else yet? LOL!

[thatoneguy]

So that's 90% of this forum is people insisiting you need a Tractor to pull a 15' popup safely.. lol i think you will be fine, some of those toy haulers are pretty sweet rigs!

[roadglide]

Originally Posted by Morotcycle Todd

LOL! Thanks for everyone's concern but I've done my homework. I'm not a newbie and I graduated with a degree in automotive engineering a long time ago, so I'm not completely ignorant on the subject.

My current setup, even though the trailer itself is significantly lighter, is actually a worse condition as far as payload rating is concerned. Yes my truck is "only" a 1500, I bought it used with 40K on it but the orginal owner used it to pull an RV and ordered it with the best combination of equipment for trailering, hence the reason I went a little over my orginal budget to get it. (And yes I asked the dealership for all the details including axle ratio codes and did all my homework myself, rather than just listening to what the salesman said.) I've pulled a fully loaded 10,000lb dump trailer with this truck without a WD hitch.

Tongue weight of the current Jayco is 550lbs, but I have to carry my bike and all my gear in the bed of the truck. With one bike, two inverter generators, 20 gallons of gas and other misc stuff I'm looking at minimum 750lbs in the the bed of the truck. So my total payload (750+550) is actually a little higher than the spec tongue weight of the 28V and I will no longer have to carry any of that in the bed of the truck if I don't want to.

Add to that, my son started racing this year. Though he doesn't ride with us to the track he doesn't have a way to get his bike to the track, so this past year I actually had an additional 350lbs in the bed of the truck with his bike. So technically my current setup this year exceeded the payload "rating" of the truck. The truck handled fine and it wasn't issue, though physically fitting everything in the bed of the truck was tedious and time consuming process. That is what actually pushed us completely over the fence into shopping for a TH.

I am meticulous about setting up the WD hitch properly. I also considered towing when I bought new tires last year and made sure I went up in load capactity of the tires themselves. I travel about 200miles to the track(s) and cruise at 65-70mph. Never had one issue even with my son's bike added to the back of the truck. The truck sits well within it's suspension travel range and both the trailer and truck sit level with no excess sag in the back of the truck. The front end is not light at all and handles perfectly.

With the new setup I will not need to overload the bed of the truck. Yes I expect my gas mileage to take a hit with the extra weight, but from a load balance perspective I am actually more comfortable with what the new setup will be, than my current setup. I will take the time to properly setup the WD hitch and will experiment with some of the lesser weight gear in either the bed of the truck or the garage of the TH to find the best balance. I'd like to get at least two more years out of my truck and by then I will know if the new TH will keep us happy for another 5 years or if we think we may want to upgrade again. By then I will have enough experience with the new trailer and know what size truck I will need.

For now both the expected loaded weight of the trailer with fresh water, 30 gallons of fuel and 2 bikes will still be within the tow rating of my truck and the tongue weight will be within the payload rating of my truck also. Yes it will be pushing closer to the upper limit, but that was my goal. Get the largest trailer my truck could safely pull.

I appreciate everyone's concern and I know you are just trying to keep a fellow RV'er from making a big mistake. I didn't come here to get validation that my tow rig is sufficient as I have already done my homework, so we can move on and discuss other things from here! It's all good!

with my toy hauler couple thousand pounds in the garage takes significant amount of weight off my truck. I am expecting the same from a travel trailer something to look at when traveling loaded for a trip. Your new camper saying 4500 pound axles seems light for a toy hauler I doubt they would put the E tires on 4500 axles. Could be wrong spreadsheet or I misinterpreted.

[Morotcycle Todd]

Originally Posted by thatoneguy

So that's 90% of this forum is people insisiting you need a Tractor to pull a 15' popup safely.. lol i think you will be fine, some of those toy haulers are pretty sweet rigs!

Yeah, I'm starting to see that LOL!

I will be pulling this TH to the racetrack so I can drag my knee on the ground at 100+ mph, so I don't think I'm going to be scared if I feel some movement of a trailer behind my truck LOL!

[Morotcycle Todd]

Originally Posted by roadglide

with my toy hauler couple thousand pounds in the garage takes significant amount of weight off my truck. I am expecting the same from a travel trailer something to look at when traveling loaded for a trip. Your new camper saying 4500 pound axles seems light for a toy hauler I doubt they would put the E tires on 4500 axles. Could be wrong spreadsheet or I misinterpreted.

Yeah, see even the manufacturers are pushing right to the published capacity limits. 7330 lb tailer + 2670 cargo capacity - 1225 hitch weight = 8775lbs on the axles. Pushing right up to the 9K rating of the two axles!

Yeah two race bikes only weigh 700 lbs and I don't expect to be much over 9K loaded with fuel and 2/3 tank of water. The Jayco has a 38 gallon fresh tank and we have never ran out of water on a race weekend, so I don't plan on filling the 60 gallon fresh tank of the TH all the way up. Any other time we use the trailer we are usually at campgrounds with hookups so no reason to tow excess water around.

Like I said I'm getting close to the limit for my truck, but what's the point of having a limit if you can't even approach it? Racing is all about exploring limits and getting as close as possible without going over. LOL!

[thatoneguy]

Originally Posted by Morotcycle Todd

Yeah, see even the manufacturers are pushing right to the published capacity limits. 7330 lb tailer + 2670 cargo capacity - 1225 hitch weight = 8775lbs on the axles. Pushing right up to the 9K rating of the two axles!

Yeah two race bikes only weigh 700 lbs and I don't expect to be much over 9K loaded with fuel and 2/3 tank of water. The Jayco has a 38 gallon fresh tank and we have never ran out of water on a race weekend, so I don't plan on filling the 60 gallon fresh tank of the TH all the way up. Any other time we use the trailer we are usually at campgrounds with hookups so no reason to tow excess water around.

Like I said I'm getting close to the limit for my truck, but what's the point of having a limit if you can't even approach it? Racing is all about exploring limits and getting as close as possible without going over. LOL!

you mean going past the limit, and pushing every envelope! ive raced cars not bikes, same concept though. on a side note, im really loving my new scout bobber as far as 2 wheels are concerned

[Morotcycle Todd]

Originally Posted by thatoneguy

you mean going past the limit, and pushing every envelope! ive raced cars not bikes, same concept though. on a side note, im really loving my new scout bobber as far as 2 wheels are concerned

With cars you can push past the limit more often as the physical toll on the human body is not as great as on a bike. Granted the toll on the wallet can be signficantly higher.

Sure when I was 25 years old I pushed past the limit often, but I turned 50 this year and pushing close to the limits is good enough for me now! LOL!

That's why I do endurance racing now instead of sprint racing. In endurance racing you don't have to have the fastest overall laptime to win if you are consistent, have the right strategy and are efficient with rider swaps and fueling. Me and a couple of older guys doing two second slower best lap times than the younger guys (and gals!) just won our season championship. The second place team was a bunch of older guys too!

That Indian looks like a cool a street ride!

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Morotcycle Todd

Yeah, I'm starting to see that LOL!

I will be pulling this TH to the racetrack so I can drag my knee on the ground at 100+ mph, so I don't think I'm going to be scared if I feel some movement of a trailer behind my truck LOL!

You may not be "scared" but the guy you pass with a trailer swaying wildly will be. That's the issue here, it's not all about you or your brevado when sharing the public highways. If you want to take a chance of smearing yourself all over the asphalt at 100 mph that's your right but the bystanders are safely away from you to mitigate the danger to non-participants.

Yes, many of us here do push the information for safely towing. So many people get in over their heads and need to hear it. What they do with the information is up to them but I know I will not be remiss is telling someone that it's OK because "someone else" does it.

[thatoneguy]

Originally Posted by Morotcycle Todd

With cars you can push past the limit more often as the physical toll on the human body is not as great as on a bike. Granted the toll on the wallet can be signficantly higher.



Sure when I was 25 years old I pushed past the limit often, but I turned 50 this year and pushing close to the limits is good enough for me now! LOL!



That's why I do endurance racing now instead of sprint racing. In endurance racing you don't have to have the fastest overall laptime to win if you are consistent, have the right strategy and are efficient with rider swaps and fueling. Me and a couple of older guys doing two second slower best lap times than the younger guys (and gals!) just won our season championship. The second place team was a bunch of older guys too!



That Indian looks like a cool a street ride!

She gets me by,. its no means a knee dragger but super nimble for a cruiser

[Morotcycle Todd]

Originally Posted by thatoneguy

She gets me by,. its no means a knee dragger but super nimble for a cruiserAttachment 30086

No doubt! I am well passed riding a knee dragger on the street. My street ride is a 1994 Gold Wing.

[Morotcycle Todd]

Originally Posted by flybouy

You may not be "scared" but the guy you pass with a trailer swaying wildly will be. That's the issue here, it's not all about you or your brevado when sharing the public highways. If you want to take a chance of smearing yourself all over the asphalt at 100 mph that's your right but the bystanders are safely away from you to mitigate the danger to non-participants.

Yes, many of us here do push the information for safely towing. So many people get in over their heads and need to hear it. What they do with the information is up to them but I know I will not be remiss is telling someone that it's OK because "someone else" does it.

I mentioned a little movement felt from the trailer, in respopnse to someone saying it would be an unpleasant experience, not in response to a claim that my rig is unsafe. I didn't say I was okay with it swaying wildly behind me. LOL!

I have pushed the pencil and my rig when loaded with all my gear, fuel and fresh water, will be within the limits of my TV (both towing capacity and payload capacity).

If I were making excuses for why it was okay to go over the capacity limits your point would be valid. But just as the "safety police" here can claim that going just a couple hundred lbs over any capacity limit is wrong, claiming somone's rig is unsafe because it's only a couple hundred pounds under any rating is equally wrong.

Trust me, if my trailer is swaying wildly behind me, I will make the neccessary adjustments to correct it, even if that means a bigger truck or a smaller trailer or leaving something at home. The reason I began looking at a toy hauler in the first place was becauase with my son's bike in the back added to my bike and all the gear in the back of the truck I was slightly exceeding the payload capacity of the truck, even though it was level and had absolutely no sway or handling issues. The toyhauler is part of the solution to the incorrect scenario I found myself in this year.

Prove to me that my rig is unsafe and/or exceeds any capacity limits and I will listen and adjust. Otherwise you are speculating and no better than the fools trying to make excuses for rigs that are too much for their TV.

A rig that is technically well within all the weight capacities of the TV but is in poor maintenance or setup (incorrectly set WD hitch, incorrect tire pressures, worn out brakes, sacked out springs, etc) is way more dangerous than a rig that is close but still meeting both the towing and payload capacity of the TV.

Are we done yet, or am I still on trial? LOL!