How much load weight added to dry weight

Well, hello. I have been reading in the forums for awhile. I am not currently a TM owner, but hope to be one one day. A goal of mine is to travel the US in a TT. That trip is something that I've wanted to do since I was a teenager and read Travels with Charlie. Well, a lot of life has since passed; I'm no longer a kid but the dream lives on! When I do this trip, it will be 2 adults and a 42 pound Goldendoodle named Scooter in the TT.

I have a smaller SUV, which has a tow limit of 3500 pounds. Because of the 3500# limit, I am only looking at the 2619 or any of the 2720 models. My question is what is a practical weight to allocate for all of the miscellaneous stuff that one needs when using the TM for the big trip? Also, I am interested in the solar panels and want to know how much weight they add.

I do know what water and propane weigh and if I add them to the dry weight of the TM models that I'm considering, I come up with remaining load capacity of 621 (2619), 552 (2720), or 429 (2720 SL/SD) pounds.

Anyhow, thanks for your thoughts and I really enjoy reading the forums - I have learned so much and none of it has scared me off!

Pat

I can tell you that my 2005 TM 2720, when fully loaded and full of water, weighed 3380 pounds on the axle. I estimate that the total weight was a little over 4,000 pounds.

This included 40 gallons of fresh water, 6 gallons of water in the water heater, 3 gallons to charge the toilet.

I doubt that there is anyone that takes more stuff than I do. If I did not have any water on board that alone saves a little over 400 pounds. You probably don't need the 6 camping chairs and 3 camping tables that I take, plus a bunch of other heavy stuff.

If you load it modestly I belive you can keep the weight down to 3500 pounds with a regular 2720. I can not speak about any other model.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by Patricia

I have a smaller SUV, which has a tow limit of 3500 pounds. Because of the 3500# limit, I am only looking at the 2619 or any of the 2720 models. My question is what is a practical weight to allocate for all of the miscellaneous stuff that one needs when using the TM for the big trip? Also, I am interested in the solar panels and want to know how much weight they add.

We've had a lot of these conversations in this forum, and there are as many good perspectives on this as there are different ways that people use TrailManors. I recommend that you join the forum so that you have full access to this wonderful library of stuff.

Turning to your direct question, the stuff you choose to carry is your own decision, and you'll make it differently than other prople do. You don't mention where you're from, but many Westerners use their TM's for camping out in the desert or up in the mountains. Camping in the boondocks requires that you bring water, food, and whatever recreational equipment you need. These weekends can weigh many hundreds of pounds more than a trip to a campground with hookups in Pennsylvania. If you're camping with hookups, there's no need to have a generator, the water's at a tap at the campsite so you need travel with only minimal water, there's no place to ride a 4 wheel off road vehicle if you owned one, and you're more likely to be in places that also have restaurants and stores so there's no need to carry extra stuff to cover for remote possibilities in remote places.

We also find that 3500# means something different to different manufacturers. If you want us to help you through the math, tell us a little more about your tow vehicle and maybe we can make a few suggestions. I recommend reading your owner's manual and the TrailManor web site. Occasional use for towing is a different kind of durability load on your tow vehicle than it would be for the people who make 5000 mile trips every year.

The trailer tongue weights are heavy, so most of us shouldn't even think about towing a TrailManor without a weight distributing hitch.

I live in the Southern California desert, and I expect that most of my weekend trips will be to full hookup sites. However, my question really is for my cross country and back trip, where I expect to use a mixture of dry camping and full hookup sites. This trip will be over 6,000 miles. That is why I am really trying to drill down on carry weight. And now I guess I need to consider if my car is up to towing a TM over the rigors of a 6,000 plus trip as opposed to a weekend mini-trip.

My car is a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica, which is a 3.5L V6. The owner's manual says 3500 # tow capacity, 8500# GCWR and that it can take a class III hitch. The dealer tells me that it has a transmission cooler. I have read a post from a TM owner with this car, but I don't know if he uses it for long trips/dry camping.
Thanks so much to everyone who responded - the TM community is SUPER
Pat

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by Patricia

I live in the Southern California desert, and I expect that most of my weekend trips will be to full hookup sites. However, my question really is for my cross country and back trip, where I expect to use a mixture of dry camping and full hookup sites. This trip will be over 6,000 miles. That is why I am really trying to drill down on carry weight. And now I guess I need to consider if my car is up to towing a TM over the rigors of a 6,000 plus trip as opposed to a weekend mini-trip.

My car is a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica, which is a 3.5L V6. The owner's manual says 3500 # tow capacity, 8500# GCWR and that it can take a class III hitch. The dealer tells me that it has a transmission cooler. I have read a post from a TM owner with this car, but I don't know if he uses it for long trips/dry camping.
Thanks so much to everyone who responded - the TM community is SUPER
Pat

Pat,
I did a search on this forum, and found two members who have TM's and Pacificas and weren't complaining (one has a 3023 and is still with us, the other had a 2720 and said they loved it, but have since upgraded to a fifth wheel and gone full time (it's hard for me to say "upgraded to a fifth wheel").

This is one of them, along with the rest of a thread about lighter tow vehicles (you might want to try to contact them, and you'll want to join this forum so that you have access to all the stuff):
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...light=pacifica

You have a vehicle that weighs about 4700# and a long wheelbase (116"), assuming the stats I just got from the 2008 Chrysler web site are accurate for your 2005. I like tow vehicles that weigh more than their trailers and I prefer a longer wheelbase to a shorter one because I think of these things as likely to help make for steadier and safer trailering.

In round numbers, 8500 pounds GCWR less a 4700 pound curb weight is 3800 pounds. That will need to cover all of what you load into/onto/behind the vehicle: People, trailer, fuel, dogs, souveneirs, Pepsi, household goods, luggage, etc. This is marginal, but is probably colored at least somewhat by the manufacturer's experience in replacing transmissions on Dodge Caravans. The 2008 Pacifica, it says, comes with a lifetime powertrain warranty. I'd read the fine print about the possibility of being caught voiding that (they weasel word warranties, and they weasel word towing limits; what do all these say to a reasonable person?).

I try very hard not to tell other people what to do, so please accept these comments as telling you what I think I might do. If I was going to do that 6000 mile trip often, I'd be thinking about the possibility of more tow vehicle. If towing is going to be a minor part of the life of the tow vehicle, I'd probably go for it, knowing that I need to travel light, drive conservatively, and be careful about loading.

Patricia,

We did pull our new 2007 3023 for a full season of camping with our 2004 Pacifica. I never had any problems or any safety concerns. I did have an Equalizer WDH installed, and would never have towed with out it with the Pacifica. We also were very conscious of weight when we packed, and never towed with the water tank full. We camped mostly in the midwest, so were almost always on relatively flat terrain. We did vacation in Kentucky, and the hills there "tested" the limits of Pacifica. That was enough to convince us that we needed to upgrade our TV for our trip to Yellowstone this summer. In retrospect, we definitely felt that this was the right move. Getting up and over, and also getting down, the Big Horn mountains would have been very uncomfortable in the Pacifica.

In summary, if most or all of your camping is to be throughtout the flatlands, your Pacifica should suit you well, provided you pack with its limitations in mind. If you are going to spend time in the mountains, and/or want to be able to bring anything your like, then you should consider upgrading. Of course, all of this IMHO...

Patricia, most (if not all) vehicles with automatic transmissions have a transmission cooler. An auxillary transmission cooler is probably needed if you are going to do any towing. Since you stated that your vehicle could take a class III hitch, I would guess that is did not come with a hitch, and then probably did not come with a towing package which usually includes an auxillary cooler.

Chap

[Bill]

Mr. Adventure posted

In round numbers, 8500 pounds GCWR less a 4700 pound curb weight is 3800 pounds. That will need to cover all of what you load into/onto/behind the vehicle: People, trailer, fuel, dogs, souveneirs, Pepsi, household goods, luggage, etc.

He and I tend to cross swords over the tow rating issue, and that's OK. We're slowly meeting in the middle, and this thread is a good example. But I'd like to rephrase his comments a bit more strongly, just to be sure they are clear. As the Chrysler web site will tell you, your tow vehicle is rated at 3500 pounds towing capacity. As the web site will also tell you (but well covered by weasel wording and the asterisks and footnotes), the tow rating assumes one driver, no passengers, no factory options on the tow vehicle, no aftermarket options, and no cargo in the vehicle. Every time you add one of these, you must subtract the weight of those items from the tow rating. It is quite common to see a tow rating of 3500 pounds reduced to 2800 pounds by the addition of 700 pounds of stuff to the tow vehicle (your hubby, your rock collection, a couple big dogs, tanks of water, tools, luggage, the car's air conditioner, that sun roof and the third row seats, and so forth) in the tow vehicle. Now with a 2800 pound tow capacity, the situation becomes really limited. As Mr Adventure says, if you don't tow much and you stay on level ground, you may have a good experience. If you go to the mountains, experience steep grades and high altitudes, you may not. And if you have a failure, and after getting through the inconvenience of a failure on the road, you apply for a warranty repair, and if the dealer finds out you have been towing, you may have a problem with reimbursement. Your choice, your risk. The safety issues of moderate overloading are a separate issue, which haven't been addressed in this thread.

A tough choice. Good luck with it.

Bill