2500RL owners, need your advice.

[Cmd1v3r]

I am trying to get a feel for how full or partial tanks/storage may affect the weight of an Imagine 2500RL, and how that weight would be distributed. Toward or away from the tongue weight? Can any of you 2500RL owners address some of my questions?

Based on the diagram on the GD website, where are the axles located? My guess is under the “micro/ohc” or is it more forward or back?

Can you tell me where the black tank is located? Assuming very close to the toilet and fore of the axles. What about the fresh water tank and gray tank? Fore or aft of the axle, under what part of the diagram?

Is all of the extra storage in the 2500RL located in the fore part of the TT under the bed which will add to the tongue weight? (Other than the kitchen cabinets that would contain cooking utensils, food, etc.)

Has anyone actually weighed their 2500RL when fully loaded? What about with full fresh water tanks. What weight and tongue weight did you come in at? Obviously, this will be different based on what and how much is in the TT, but just trying to get an idea.

What do you tow with, what WD hitch do you use, and how happy are you with these items towing the 2500RL?

Wow! Do I have a lot of questions? Just trying to make an informed decision. Thanks for your input.

[rdhammond]

Sorry I don't know about all the tank questions, however I pull my 2500RL with a 2015 Ram 1500 ecodiesel and an equalizer 10K WDH. It pulls great. I get around 15 mpg most of the time. A little slower going up hills but who's in a hurry any way.


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[Scout27]

OK, here we go: I not only went on a factory tour while my 2500RL was being built (got to see everything that would be hidden later) but I've taken my loaded unit over the CAT 3-bay truck scales so I know all of my numbers.

My earliest concerns would be that you could overload the tongue fairly easily with that huge front cargo bay and still feel that way and, along with the tanks being forward you need to watch the fluids you travel with in those tanks. If I need fresh water, I won't travel with it but rather, fill up close to my destination. I dump my tanks as soon as I can when leaving the campsite and hitting the road to lessen the weight.

The axle placement: The front axle is just about right under the kitchen sink and the rear axle is just a touch behind the microwave.

Tanks: The fresh water tank is about as far forward as you can get (starting just about right behind the outside storage area doors), followed by the bathroom gray tank, then the black tank, then the kitchen gray tank. All of the gray/black tanks are the same size (about 39 gal.) The rear tank (kitchen gray) is right above the axles with nothing behind the axles to counterbalance that potential weight). SO, that's why I travel with little or no fluids and I watch how I load the storage bay (probably less than 200 lbs) and that combination weighs out on the scales and tows like a dream.

The kitchen cabinets and fridge (in the slide) are over the axles, so weight there doesn't affect the tongue weight very much. Go ahead and load up the pantry area cabinets under the TV. That's about the last chance to store much weight towards the rear to counter what you put up front.

Weights: The factory gives you a dry weight sheet for your specific unit (they weigh each unit at the end of the assembly line). The unloaded weight of my unit was 5878 and a hitch weight of 588. Keep in mind - that doesn't take into account battery, propane bottles, etc., so take those numbers with a grain of salt.

I travel lightly and pick up many supplies after I reach my destination instead of hauling them with me to lighten the towing and stress on me and my tow vehicle. That being said, I weighed my loaded unit on my way to an outing in a 3-bay truck scale to get an accurate assessment of my weight configuration. My 2500RL by itself weighed 6400 lbs - well within the GVWR of 7495 lbs for the 2500. My tongue weight was 760 which is about as perfect as you can get at 11.87% of the trailer's weight. The gross combined weight (of the loaded truck with a full tank of gas and trailer) was 12,380 lbs. - well within my F-150's maximum of 14,400 lbs.

So, I could still load the trailer quite a bit more and come closer to what the truck can handle but I like to stay well below maxes for comfort and safety. I use and Equalizer 10K hitch and tow with a 2016 F-150 Supercrew with the 5.0 engine and 3.55 gears.

Best of luck with your research. Oh, and by the way - I love the 2500RL!

[Cmd1v3r]

Thank you Rd Hammond.

[Cmd1v3r]

Scout27, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for and needed. Thanks for your time and effort to respond.

[Steve&Camy]

Cmd1v3r,
It is possible to estimate how much of the weight you add ends up on the hitch. Pilots learn to do this for airplanes.
I did this for a 2500RL before buying one in order to determine total hitch wt when loaded.
I measured the distance from hitch ball to tanks, cargo bays, cabinets, etc...and also distance to midpoint of the two trailer axles (call this TWB).

The hitch weight change due to any individual load = individual load weight * (TWB - individual load distance) / TWB

For example, the effect of a full fresh water tank in 2500RL is:
Distance from hitch ball = 104"
TWB = 228"
Load Wt = 46 gal*8.34 = 384 lb
Hitch Wt increase = 384 * (228-104) / 228 = 209 lb
So, just filling water tank increases hitch wt from 586 lb when empty to 795 lb with only full fresh water added.

Our total weight on coupler ends up as follows (starting from 586 lb empty hitch wt which includes two empty propane tanks):
Add 45 lb battery = 625 lb
Add 40 lb propane gas = 661
Add 150 lb front cargo = 767 ...cargo bay stuff & bedroom stuff lumped together at cargo location
Add 150 lb center cargo = 766 ...refr, kitchen, bath areas lumped together
Add 150 lb rear cargo = 700 ...cabinets above/beside rear loungers
Add 6 gal water heater and 46 gal fresh tank & 5 gal in black tank = 922
Must add weight of hitch parts to the 922 to get total weight on tow vehicle hitch.

We leave with full load of fresh soft-water and my analysis agrees with the TV rear axle weight I measured at a gravel pit scale.
Note that for my Tundra if I add 1000 lb to hitch, the wt on rear axle increases by 1444 (w/o WD bars installed).

[Cmd1v3r]

Steve & Camy,
Sorry for the late reply and "thank you". Have been out of the country and out of touch for a bit. Since you have these distance measurements for the 2500RL, would you mind sharing them with me so I can play with the numbers myself? The thing that jumps out at me is the 1000# hitch weight. Seems to me that takes up an awful lot of your payload. Not sure what it is on your Tundra. Maybe that's why the previous post from Scout27 indicates he doesn't fill his tanks ahead of time.

[Steve&Camy]

Cmd1v3r,
I am attaching two photos of part of my spreadsheet...one shows my cargo plus full fresh water tank...other shows 20 gal in fresh water tank.
(Hope you can read numbers in photos...had some trouble with this.)

My 2005 Tundra has a 1421 lb total cargo rating (passengers+cargo) and if I put 400 lb of passengers in front seat, and 1021 lb in truck bed directly over rear axle, then my rear axle total load would still be 360 lb below the rear axle weight rating (3760). However, with no passengers, no cargo in truck, and a 1000 lb hitch load, this would add 1440 lb to rear axle such that the total rear axle load equals 3760 lb. I have towed with 1000 lb hitch weight (46 gal fresh water) and 350 lb passengers in front seat using weight distributing to keep my rear axle load a little under the max rating, but usually only put in 20 gal fresh water. My 4.7L engine does just fine on flat ground with no wind, but I am shopping for a 5.7L Tundra so I can go into mountains, drive 65 mph into 20 mph headwinds, AND avoid exceeding the 11,800 lb GCWR of my truck.

Steve

[Cmd1v3r]

Got it, thanks Steve.

[Outdoorsman]

Looking to buy an eco diesel to tow the 2800BH. Would you recommend it?