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Old 01-15-2013, 08:24 AM   #1
Wldor
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Aurora, ON
Posts: 3
Hi from Ontario - and a question!

Hi all,

Wife, kids (x2), Dog and I are seasoned campers, progressing from a PUP (Rockwood 1910) to a rear-slide TT (Jayco 29A) to our current 2011 Sprinter 311BHS.

The Sprinter's been a really comfortable trailer, and we've really enjoyed it, but not without a few challenges:

- none of the under-sink galley plumbing was glued together on delivery of the brand new trailer (nor was it picked up on the PDI that we were charged) so imagine our pleasure when we pulled the plug in the kitchen sink for the first time, and watched grey water flood the floor (and then proceed down into the heater duct that sits right in front of the sink cupboard!)

- I didn't winterise the black flush properly the first year (my fault!), so the fixing cracked right inside the trailer. Next Spring, I went to flush the tank after the first weekend of usage, and water poured onto the hot water control electronics, shorting everything out (the hot water electronics sit ~directly below~ the main water inlets in this trailer! Not the smartest of design considerations!)

- At the end of last season, we had real problems pulling the rear bunkhouse slide in - it seemed like there was no power, despite voltage testers telling us otherwise... We dissassembled the switch, "jiggled" the connectors (a technical term - I don't expect everyone to understand it!), slapped it back together, and in she came!

The only trailer that ~I've~ actually towed is the PUP - the others were brought to our seasonal site by buddies with SD trucks because I didn't have a truck 'man enough'! Have really enjoyed camping on the same site, but the 'itch' to travel and see more of the country/continent is increasing.

We recently upgraded my truck for several reasons, including the desire to travel. Our new TV is a 2013 Ford F150 SCrew FX4 EcoBoost with 3.73 axle & Max Tow package (but not HD payload). I understand that (and according to Ford), our max tow is ~11,200lbs, not that I'd want to too close to that figure! Max payload is (I believe) around 1440lbs.

We're considering changing our trailer to something a little smaller than the 311BHS for towing reasons, and I'm really taken with the layout of the new Cougar XLite 5'ers (specifically the 28RDB). 'Wet' weight capacity doesn't concern me - at around 10K lb's 'wet', it's a heavy trailer, but still "within Ford's stated tolerances" (I know - real world towing vs. mfr's claims are two separate kettles of fish).

My immediate concern is pin weight - the 28RDB hit weight is posted at 1415lbs. I'm worried that will put me right at the max weight for my rear axle (but honestly, I find this side of things extremely confusing, in terms of what's included and what's not included in the whole 'weights and measures' calculations). The last thing I wish to do is put myself, my family/passengers and/or other road users at risk because of an unsafe rig, and I just refuse to take the advice of an RV sales guy with a quota to achieve! So I'd really welcome some help/clarity from the more experienced here to understand whether my fears are correct, and that this 5'er is beyond the safe/legal capabilities of my TV.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far - we're looking forward to visiting the RV Show in Toronto this weekend, since it's still a bit cool here to go camping yet!

Cheers,
Darren

Moderator's Note:
Darren - I moved your post from the New Member Check In to here since the main topic of your post is related to towing and should get more feedback in this section.
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Old 01-15-2013, 05:38 PM   #2
mhs4771
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Location: Central Florida
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I'll make a couple of quick points as I see it. You think the payload cap of the Ford is 1440 (here's where the gray area comes in, some say that's for a base truck with a 150 Lb driver, no passenger and possibly no fuel). You've got the wife, 2 kids and dog, plus you'll need a hitch, so approx 400 Lbs taken off that 1440, so you have approx 1000 Lb cap left. You say 1415 published Pin, they generally are very much on the low side, thus if we take 10K wet x typ 20% pin gives you a tentative pin of 2K. So you're 1000 Lb over.
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Old 01-15-2013, 06:17 PM   #3
Wldor
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Aurora, ON
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That's what I kinda suspected (but kinda quietly hoped wasn't the case!).

Thanks for your help - we'll look to a 'traditional' bumper pull with a similar floor plan instead! (I posted the same question on another 'generic RVing' forum, and got much the same answer, so thanks again!)

Thx.
Darren
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