New to RV travel trailers ..... HELP!!!

[newbie hauler]

HI All
As our name and title suggest we are new to this and have not purchased a travel trailer yet. Would love some advice. We have a Toyota FJ Cruiser that tows 5000 lbs. We are a family of 3. Our little one is almost nine months and we live in Canada. We are looking into an entry level travel trailer. We have been looking at the Forest river Salem/ wildwood 178 and 179. Jayco Jay Flight 174 and 183.
Are there any other make and models we might consider? Are there any manufacturers that we should stay away from? Any other considerations we should think about? I know these are very broad questions and would appreciate any and all advice you may have.

Thanx,
Newbie

 

[AbdRahim]

Welcome. I personally only have experience with a slightly larger trailer., but you came to the right place for answers.

 

[Gronk]

First thing I will tell you is to NOT believe the RV salesman that says "Sure you have enough truck". What you need to do is determine the cargo carrying capacity for your truck, then subtract everyone's weight and then subtract everything else you plan on carrying in the truck and don't forget the weight of the hitch. The number that is left is how much tongue weight your trailer should have at maximum weight. Since that number is 10 to 15 percent of the gross trailer weight you can calculate the gross vehicle weight total. Another thing to do is look at the GVW not the 'dry weight'. Dry weight means almost nothing to any of us due to the fact you will never tow it at that weight. Soon as you ad propane, clothes, food, water, etc. you will be closer to the GVW.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Welcome to RVF, @newbie hauler; glad to have you here. Take a look at the Escape trailers:

Fiberglass Travel Trailers

Escape builds high-quality fiberglass travel trailers. Industry-leading options and personalization with a non-commission sales team.

escapetrailer.com

Made in Canada, too! They are lightweight but well built. I have been to the factory in Chilliwack, BC, and was impressed. A friend bought one a couple years back and he is quite happy with it.

You WILL need a lightweight trailer to tow with your existing FJ Cruiser. And, as has been said, don't trust what a trailer salesman tells you about the suitability of your vehicle to tow what he is selling. Do your homework and don't push the limits.

Sad to say, your current choice of a tow vehicle will not be ideal, but a careful choice of trailers will allow you to tow safely. And, the Escape trailers are designed to be towed by smaller vehicles.

Good luck.

TJ

 

[Germanrazor]

Pay closer attention to payload. That also includes the weight the trailer tongue places on your hitch.

 

[newbie hauler]

Thank you everyone. Your advice is very helpful.

The Fj is probably not the best vehicle to tow with but its the vehicle that we have now. Perhaps I may upgrade if we do more RVing. Hopefully the wife's enthusiasm continues.

The specs on the FJ are
- GVWR : 5555 lbs
- payload/carrying capacity: 1190 lbs ( I understand that tongue weight should also be included )
- GCWR : 9500 lbs
- passengers wt.: 310+ lbs
- camping gear/food wt in past : 500 - 600 lbs

So after reconsideration from your comments, we thought we should look for a travel trailer up to 3000 to 3300 lbs range. We will also use a weight distribution hitch and sway control.

Is this a reasonable number? Are there other things to consider? Any other travel trailer recommendations?


Thanx in advance
Newbie

 

[Pablo]

Hi there....
Here are my 2 cents....I pull a Flagstaff T12RBSSE with an Nissan XTerra. Dry weight is 2,272 lbs. Tires are 15". I estimate that the GVW is around 2,800-3,000 lbs after gear, accessories, food, etc. The engine and truck specs are identical to yours. Tongue weight is 500 lbs. We live in Denver, CO. That means that every time we take the camper out we drive west and that means that we are crossing the continental divide at above 11,000 ft a.s.l. both ways every time and we start at 5,800 ft. a.s.l. Just my wife and myself. No kids, no dogs, etc. Just our personal gear, fishing gear and a 2200W Honda generator which I carry when boondocking. I travel with the water tanks empty every time. I won't say that the XTerra doesn't feel the weight of the camper but I can tell you that I drive over passes at 50-55 mph without killing the engine or the transmission. Yes, I am very aware of the load but I can do 45 mph easily going up on 7% grades and we have MANY of those in our state.
These are my final suggestions:
-Do not be too conservative about the extra weight you will have to add to the "dry weight". Be EXTRA realistic and then some more.
-DO NOT underestimate the tongue weight limit of your vehicle. That little truck, just like mine, has very short span between the axles and a high center of gravity. Get close to 450 lbs of tongue weight and your vehicle will understeer SEVERELY, way more than when you have 350 lbs. on the hitch. Very undesirable situation when taking a curve at 60 mph pulling the camper with a truck that has such high center of gravity.
-I have a hitch with a built in scale. Very useful. I try to stay between 320-380 lbs. I have no problems of swaying and on flat terrain sometimes I travel at 75 mph until I realize that I am going too fast and I slow down. No problems whatsoever.
-Make sure that the height of the camper hitch matches the height of the hitch ball. Buy an adjustable hitch. Worth the cost.
-If you decide to go with the truck make sure you have a transmission fluid temperature gauge.

In my opinion your deciding factor will be the tongue weight capacity and not the towing capacity. In our little vehicles the impact that the tongue weight capacity has on the overall vehicle performance outweighs the impact of any other factor in the equation. That is my personal experience.

 

[Calsun]

HI All
As our name and title suggest we are new to this and have not purchased a travel trailer yet. Would love some advice. We have a Toyota FJ Cruiser that tows 5000 lbs. We are a family of 3. Our little one is almost nine months and we live in Canada. We are looking into an entry level travel trailer. We have been looking at the Forest river Salem/ wildwood 178 and 179. Jayco Jay Flight 174 and 183.
Are there any other make and models we might consider? Are there any manufacturers that we should stay away from? Any other considerations we should think about? I know these are very broad questions and would appreciate any and all advice you may have.

Thanx,
Newbie

With the FJ I would be looking at a pop-up camper. The 5,000 lb rating does not take into consideration the air drag of a travel trailer being towed down the highway. Ford in its current trailering guide even provides qualifiers for travel trailer towing by its vehicles for this reason. Frankly a 1/2 ton crew cab pickup is a much better choice for towing a trailer.

 

[newbie hauler]

Hi Everyone
We have changed our tow vehicle .....thanks in part to your advise.
We are no longer going to tow with the FJ.
We are in the process of picking up a 2017 Porsche Cayenne. GVWR 6195 , tow cap 7716 , tongue cap 772
We will likely stick to our initial plans of 3000 to 3300 lbs TT
we are also taking into consideration air flow but airstream is way out of our budget.
any recommendations?
Is aluminum / azdel construction worth the price over stick and tin construction ?
Is delamination very common?

Thanks
Newbie

 

[Mama Wolf]

HI All
As our name and title suggest we are new to this and have not purchased a travel trailer yet. Would love some advice. We have a Toyota FJ Cruiser that tows 5000 lbs. We are a family of 3. Our little one is almost nine months and we live in Canada. We are looking into an entry level travel trailer. We have been looking at the Forest river Salem/ wildwood 178 and 179. Jayco Jay Flight 174 and 183.
Are there any other make and models we might consider? Are there any manufacturers that we should stay away from? Any other considerations we should think about? I know these are very broad questions and would appreciate any and all advice you may have.

Thanx,
Newbie

Have you checked out rhe Forest River Wolf Pup campers? They have several models dry weight around 3k

New or Used Forest River Wolf Pup RVs for Sale - Camping World RV Sales

Forest River Wolf Pup RVs for Sale at Camping World - the nation's largest RV & Camper Dealer.

rv.campingworld.com