Looking to purchase a travel trailer and wondering what I could comfortably tow?

Your average Elkhart Spam Cans are not rated for cold weather at all. My water tank is under the bed in front and the water pump is located near the axles. The line connecting the two is under the trailer, unprotected. It's so bad that the furnace hot air runs are all on one side and most of the water lines are on the other. If I had to guess they are probably designed for two weeks use a year.

 

I'm 60 and still tent camp, you won't see me pulling a trailer behind my Harley... But I like reading through everyone's comments for future reference.

 

I believe Oliver and Bigfoot are both boasted as "four season campers". They're probably the best you can get for cold weather camping.

We spec'd our Escape 19 with extra insulation under the floor to prevent it from getting too cold under our feet (our stick-built trailer before our Escape always had super cold floors), but it's mostly a 3-and-a-half season kind of trailer.

You can configure the Escapes with heating pads on all of the holding tanks, but they require AC electricity so I didn't bother with them since we generally don't have hookups.

We'll happily camp in freezing temps in our Escape 19. I just usually make sure it's dry and we just use campground water/toilets. Otherwise the trailer itself holds up to the temperatures just fine. It's perfectly sized to make sure we spend most of our time outdoors but gives us enough space to hang out and watch movies on an iPad or whatever if it starts raining.

(haven't had the chance to tow it with the Tundra yet. Hopefully soon)

 

We literally just bought a Ember 221msl this weekend, so very relevant thread! We have a trd pro and with the shorter bed. Definitely getting the weight distribution hitch but likely not doing much else. I really want to figure out the camera system.

 

May I suggest on the WDH that you get one that has sway control built in with the spring bars... DO NOT get the one that uses a separate flat bar slider that you tighten the tension on... I'v seen A MANY get bent because the tension wasn't released before backing up. It is advised to get out of the truck to release it every time before backing up... That's a PITA

Something like these... https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Dis...wZEq__VPJhr3Fj5008XOK-UbsX-kg_ioaAmp4EALw_wcB

 

Appreciate that! I'm new to WD hitches so this week is all research. We got a $1k credit to use at the dealership too.

 

Avoid ANY that requires this for sway control..

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Reese/83660.html

 

Hate to tell you this, but "pushing the limit" was about 8' and a golf cart ago. I don't wanna' be anywhere near this when that guy who almost missed his exit cuts you off and hits his brakes.

 

Agreed!

We bought our Lance 1685 in Nov. 2016.
It's a '17.5 model year which is when they made some design changes and improvements... Beefed up the frame rails, moved the batteries off the tongue into a battery compartment, added a third propane tank and covered them, black to stainless appliances.

We mostly boondock so my trailer has been bouncing down it's share of dirt "roads?" and we've had exactly ZERO problems with it.
I put together a trailer tool kit because RV are rolling earthquakes and I fully expected to be fixing little things that rattled loose. So far the tool kit is 50 lbs. of dead weight I've been hauling around the southwest for nothing.

The Lance build quality is worth the higher price I paid for it.

I joined a Lance Owner's forum before we even bought the trailer so I could do my research, and then bought our third RV first.

Lance was bought by the REV group, and there were some growing pains, QC issues with some of the units built in '19, '20, maybe '21? but most of that seems to have been ironed out.

I also think Lance floorplans are among the most efficient at use of space for both living and storage bays. Their origins are in truck campers, so they figured out how to use every inch.

OP, if you get something with a good floorplan you don't need a giant trailer to be very comfortable. The box on mine is only 16' and21' bumper to hitch, and it's plenty roomy for two humans and two dogs.

Their larger models will sleep 4-6 and would be worth looking at.

https://www.lancecamper.com/travel-trailers/

I personally don't want a huge trailer pushing me around, I want something big enough to be comfortable (we're so comfortable it's barely even camping) but small and light enough to be easy and relaxing to tow, and nimble enough to get way back into secluded little spots off the beaten path.

Oh, FYI... manufacturer's "published" hitch weights are worthless... based on an empty trailer. Misleading at best, and I think it's downright dangerous. They are ALWAYS considerably heavier in the real world. My tongue weight is a couple hundred lbs. more than the Lance spec... I knew it would be 'cuz I did my research, but it's scary and sad to think how many people have bought trucks and trailers based on numbers on paper, then bought a bigger truck when they found out it was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride actually towing that trailer that the RV salesman said was a perfect match for their truck.

Better to figure you'll be at or near the trailer's GVWR, (You might not always be at GVWR, but sometimes you probably will... stuff adds up fast) and calculate a MIMIMUM of 10% for the tongue weight. I actually prefer how mine handles with more, like 13%.

I've had a couple of situations pop up that could've gone really bad, really fast if I'd been overloaded.
Stalled car in my lane on a freeway bend, couldn't see to get over and go around, everyone else was going around me at speed, so it was full on emergency stop. Too big a trailer could've been ugly.
Had a random wind gust hit me from the side on the 395 coming into Ridgecrest and wiggled the shit outta' me. Grabbed a little trailer brake only (I practice that so it's muscle memory, thank God) and it straightened out, but too much tail wagging the dog, and who knows?
You have to figure stuff is going to happen, and when towing it happens fast.

Good luck in your search.

I rave about our Lance because it's been years of trouble free fun... if it was a POS I'd tell you to stay away but I couldn't be more happy with it. (Except for maybe having more time to go use it!)

 

I did 16k miles this past year pulling a Rockwood GeoPro 19FBS with no issues. Dry weight was around 3800 pounds and my 23 Platinum pulled it all over the US including some sketchy back roads and pretty rural areas. The key is having a WDH and having a trailer your truck can COMFORTABLY tow. My platinum had lower payload than a lot of other Tundras so we managed the weight on the trailer to offset the tongue weight but still kept it within the 10-15 percent (around 550 pounds) and the WDH/anti sway kept it steady. There were times, especially when winds were high we had to simply slow down and wait it out, so just make sure you get one that easily fits the truck and drive safely with it.

 

I can tell you after putting 16k miles last year on our travel trailer you want more than 10, you can tell a marked difference when it’s that low as the trailer gets swayed much quicker

 

@Mattedfred

Here's what happens... When you turn (hard) while going forward it PULLS/extends to almost full extension... So now with the tensioner cranked down tight (tighter is less sway) and you start backing up turning sharp, It's trying to PUSH the sway bar back together/collapsed... The clamp/tensioner is so tight it doesn't slide back together... Guess what happens ... I've witnessed it to many times..

 

Agree... So as I said above... Stay away...

 

We pull this 22’ Coleman it’s 4400 dry and fully loaded I believe we are in the 6500 pound range approximately. It also doesn’t have any slide outs which saves some weight. Our 2015 tundra does well with this unit but I wouldn’t want to go any heavier.

 

I've pulled this with WD hitch.

WEIGHTS
Hitch / Pin Weight 889
UVW 8,394
GVWR 10,195

 

Lots of insight ITT, appreciate it!

 

I couldn’t agree more. We just sold our motorhome that we’ve owned for four years. The first three years we averaged 190 nights per year in it, the last year about 75 nights. The maintenance, upkeep, storage, insurance and initial price was a major hit. Over thanksgiving we were camping at a favorite campground and discussed how the motorhome had changed our time away from home, we felt obligated by the purchase price to always use the motorhome if we were traveling. We decided we would try and sell it via FB marketplace and were successful. For our needs hotels, cruise ships and air bnb’s will accommodate our travels for awhile.

 

I'm new to this forum and joined to research Tundra's. My current tow vehicle is a 2017 Nissan Titan XD Cummins. We'll own it for a few more years, but given it is now my DD since my wife retired, I would love a more daily friendly truck that can also tow our TT. I traded in a 2014 Tacoma and bought the XD because of towing. I was also towing an enclosed car trailer regularly. That trailer loaded was much heavier than our TT. The car trailer has been sold. This is our trailer. A 2016 Lance 2185. 26 foot total length. It has a GVWR of 7900, a dry weight of 5345 and a hitch dry weight of 915. Towing with the XD and a WDH with sway control has been mostly effortless. Reading through this thread has me thinking it is right at the limit for a Tundra. Thoughts?

 

Thanks for your reply. While our Lance has been fine, I would have preferred a fiberglass trailer like a Bigfoot or Oliver. It is interesting that your GVWR is not that much less, but your hitch weight is a lot less. My wife insists on a slide for the additional room, and the TT is her baby. We probably wouldn't have any of it if it were up to me. I have told her as we get older, if we still do this TT camping thing, I'm going to want to go smaller/lighter. The reality is the grandkids are almost never camping with us. Our Lance has bunks and only the older one has ever slept in one of them. I'd prefer to travel in a nice car and stay in a decent B&B or hotel. But a happy wife is worth it.

 

I'm a Lance owner as well (1685) and I can remember reading on LOA (Lance Owners of America) forum I'm on that the 2185 is particularly tongue heavy compared to many of their other models.
Perhaps to compensate for the rear bunks which a lot of people use for storage when the kids don't tag along.

The placement of the axles (pretty well centered) on @Mattedfred Bigfoot compared to the 2185 which are much further back will definitely shift the weight bias onto the tongue.








I hope your Lance has been as trouble free as ours has been for us!

Oh, and it's good you've got that whole "Happy Wife, Happy Life" thing figured out... words to live by!

 

How was it, thoughts, issues? Looking at approx the same weight Ember Trailer