XLS 23BHS...new camper owners...any advice or tips would be AWESOME!

[sargentjosh]

Good morning everyone
I'm writing this from my office in Gillette, WY. My wife and I decided we are going to buy the 2020 Imagine XLS 23BHE (we pick it up this Saturday).

We have a 2018 Chevy 1500 High Country with the tow package...rated for 9100. Can anyone give me an idea of how well this rig will pull the trailer? We are BRAND NEW to the RV family and I'm sure we're going to be in for a summer of fun and a ton of learning.

Can anyone give us some good pointers as first timers? Anything directly related to this style of camper or just to RVing in general?

Thank you all in advance, I look forward to reading your comments! And have a great day!!

[Unlimitedmatt]

Good morning everyone
I'm writing this from my office in Gillette, WY. My wife and I decided we are going to buy the 2020 Imagine XLS 23BHE (we pick it up this Saturday).

We have a 2018 Chevy 1500 High Country with the tow package...rated for 9100. Can anyone give me an idea of how well this rig will pull the trailer? We are BRAND NEW to the RV family and I'm sure we're going to be in for a summer of fun and a ton of learning.

Can anyone give us some good pointers as first timers? Anything directly related to this style of camper or just to RVing in general?

Thank you all in advance, I look forward to reading your comments! And have a great day!!

Hello Sargent, welcome to the forum! Your truck will have no problem with that camper. I have a similar truck but a bigger camper and I would benefit having a larger truck. I did add 'LT' tires, air bags and factory tow mirrors to make my truck as best it can be. I don't think you'll need to make any changes to your truck.

By the way, my father in law's family lives/lived in Gillette. I spent many summer days dispensing prairie dogs up there.

[chizetown]

I have a 2021 23BHE that we just got at the beginning of this month. My truck is a 2018 F150 with 3.5 Ecoboost and 10 speed transmission and pulls it without issue. Don't know much about Chevy's but I suspect that any half ton will be fine with this particular trailer. Get a good WDH setup and it will be that much easier, I went the with Blue Ox after reading everything I could about them.

Due to the pandemic though we haven't taken it out on the maiden trip yet, but it might happen this weekend.

[sargentjosh]

Thank you sir! I'm not exactly sure of the brand of our Equalizer hitch, the dealership will install everything on Saturday. All I know is it costs $800 lol

I was curious to know about some of the weights on it....the specs say that the trailer weighs 5500 dry. Then it says the hitch weight is 500...so does my trailer weigh 6000 dry?

Sorry...I am new to this and you were the first one to reply lol

[sargentjosh]

Hello Sargent, welcome to the forum! Your truck will have no problem with that camper. I have a similar truck but a bigger camper and I would benefit having a larger truck. I did add 'LT' tires, air bags and factory tow mirrors to make my truck as best it can be. I don't think you'll need to make any changes to your truck.

By the way, my father in law's family lives/lived in Gillette. I spent many summer days dispensing prairie dogs up there.

That's awesome! Thank you!

[Unlimitedmatt]

As far as weights go on any camper, I suggest using Grand Designs numbers as a estimate. I tend to weigh my set up every year at a CAT scale. It ends up only costing $13 ($11 for first weigh and $2 for re-weigh) and you know exactly what your set up weighs. I weigh mine with full water and everything for a camping trip, that way I can see if I'm overloading my truck. That is the other thing to consider, your truck probably has a payload of 1600 - 1800 pounds (check your yellow sticker in the driver door jam). This is the max weight your truck can carry, this includes the tongue weight, fuel, passengers and any after market add ons. I believe this is what most people neglect even though it is a huge safety factor.

[TyeeMan]

Dry weight is the weight of the camper itself. I'm pretty sure that does not include battery, LP tanks or spare tire. Just the camper.

Hitch weight is how much weight is sitting on the hitch of your truck, no LP tanks and no battery(s). So you can add 40 lbs for a couple LP tanks and another 50-60 lbs for a battery.

[Hitsman3]

Congrats on the purchase! We just bought the XLS22RBE. I have a 2016 F150 5.0 Lariat and it tows it just fine but you know it’s back there. This is what I did to my truck, not that it had to be done, just personal choice. Tow mirrors (got mine from 1A auto), Hellwig sway bar, 1000# Sumo Springs & Bilstein 5100’s for the rear. I feel that all of these helped to improve the towing. Going to want to upgrade your queen mattress as the one that comes with it is horrible.

[Hitsman3]

Your hitch weight will be more than that. Our XLS22RBE weighs just under 5100lbs and my hitch weight is around 800lbs. I just weighed ours at a certified CAT scale last weekend for the first time to get accurate weights for truck and trailer. You can search the internet to see how to do it if interested. Also have the dealership show you how to make adjustments to the WDH. I also upgraded the tires on my truck to E rated tires.

[sargentjosh]

Thank you all for the fantastic information.

Payload on my pickup is 1770 lbs. 2 adults, 2 kids. We are big people, so I'm estimating 900 lbs of just humans.

I will have to go and find a CAT scale just to be sure on all of these numbers. I don't want to be one of those RVers that just loads up and goes without understanding how my equipment works and what it can withstand (comes with the job, I'm a safety professional for a large equipment company). My in-law are also buying a camper soon, so we are planning on getting out as often as possible.

I'd like to purchase a generator as well. I know my camper is 30AMP, any advice on brand or type of generator? Will I need two?