Tow margin? Tahoe + 2800BH = Success?

[chrisandtara]

Hi everyone!

With pretty much everything in our lives 'remote' these days, my wife are looking to purchase our first RV and travel full-time with our daughters for a while. We're considering two options from Grand Design, the 2800BH or the 261BH. We're also going to need to trade my wife's car for a tow vehicle, either a Chevy Tahoe or a Ford Expedition.

I have done some math on the combinations and I'd like some advice. We'd be driving a good bit, with the initial route up to 10,000 miles including some mountainous terrain. The Tahoe can fit the trailer inside its ratings with basically no margin at all on GCVW, but 12% on the tow rating. The Expedition has 10% margin on the GCVW, which makes me feel a lot better. The two knocks against the Expedition are that it's 6" longer, which is tight in our garage, and that the heavy tow package is more rare on the Ford near us compared to the Tahoe and that seems to drive a $5k-$10k price premium.

How reasonable are the manufacturers ratings on the tow vehicle? Will driving a 'fully loaded' TV feel ok, or is it going to struggle when the road gets hilly? Am I missing anything else here?

Here's the spreadsheet I used for the ratings. Any double-check of my assumptions would be also super helpful.


Thanks!

[Jerryr]

A tongue weight of 15% of trailer weight is the norm, not 10%. 10% will have a propensity to cause trailer sway when towing.

Advertised tongue weight is as delivered from the factory without full propane bottles and battery.

[BreakfastinAmerica]

Read the door stickers, do not guess or go by literature or sales information. The big 3 say you can tow a lot of stuff, they don’t say you can stop it.

[chrisandtara]

A tongue weight of 15% of trailer weight is the norm, not 10%. 10% will have a propensity to cause trailer sway when towing.

Advertised tongue weight is as delivered from the factory without full propane bottles and battery.

That's a solid tip! It looks like I can get up to 13% of the trailer on the tongue without going over for either vehicle. Seem reasonable enough?

[chrisandtara]

Read the door stickers, do not guess or go by literature or sales information. The big 3 say you can tow a lot of stuff, they don’t say you can stop it.

Definitely! Assuming this setup seems 'ok' we're going to look at some tow vehicles and I'll make sure to verify the sticker matches the towing guide specs. It looks like the F150, F250 and Expedition all share the same diameter front rotors, although I wasn't able to find if they use the same calipers/piston count. (https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...tion_Oct15.pdf)

[Second Chance]

That's a solid tip! It looks like I can get up to 13% of the trailer on the tongue without going over for either vehicle. Seem reasonable enough?

No - you won't have enough payload on the Tahoe with the trailer loaded, 100 lbs. for a weight distributing hitch, and all passengers, pets, fuel, and "stuff" added in. The 2800BH will put 1,000 lbs. or more on the hitch when fully loaded (especially for full-timing).

Rob

[chrisandtara]

No - you won't have enough payload on the Tahoe with the trailer loaded, 100 lbs. for a weight distributing hitch, and all passengers, pets, fuel, and "stuff" added in. The 2800BH will put 1,000 lbs. or more on the hitch when fully loaded (especially for full-timing).

Rob

I'd been using 200# of gas & fluids plus 750# of cargo in the Tahoe. I, my wife, my kids and my dog total 500#. I had forgotten about the hitch, but that still leaves 100# for "stuff" before we go over the GCVW for the Tahoe. The tongue weight does seem like the limiting factor here. If it's 15% on the tongue, that's only a couple hundred pounds of trailer cargo.

[Second Chance]

I'd been using 200# of gas & fluids plus 750# of cargo in the Tahoe. I, my wife, my kids and my dog total 500#. I had forgotten about the hitch, but that still leaves 100# for "stuff" before we go over the GCVW for the Tahoe. The tongue weight does seem like the limiting factor here. If it's 15% on the tongue, that's only a couple hundred pounds of trailer cargo.

Don't try to make weight calculations on the trailer based on each and every item. Get the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) for the trailer and multiply by 13% to get an estimated loaded hitch weight. In our time full-timing, I've never met anyone who set out for full-timing with just the minimal stuff on board... especially with kids. If anything, most folks end up at the high end or slightly over GVWR with the trailer. If you're close enough to the edge of the envelope that you have to keep adding and subtracting every 100 lbs., you don't have enough tow vehicle. You don't want to skimp and put your precious daughters in an unsafe TV/trailer combo.

Rob

Edit/PS: We pulled a TT that weighed less than what you're contemplating with a Tahoe. It was just the two of us and only weekend/vacation trips. The trailer was too much for the Tahoe and we upgraded to a suitable truck.

[chrisandtara]

Thanks for the advice, especially the "been there" experience. I'm trying to talk my wife into the 2400BH. With the smaller size, we could max out the trailer GVW with cargo and have the tongue at 13%, and still stay within the limits for GCW, tow & tongue ratings on the Tahoe. It looks like either that or going to a pickup.

[chrisandtara]

Don't try to make weight calculations on the trailer based on each and every item. Get the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) for the trailer and multiply by 13% to get an estimated loaded hitch weight. In our time full-timing, I've never met anyone who set out for full-timing with just the minimal stuff on board... especially with kids. If anything, most folks end up at the high end or slightly over GVWR with the trailer. If you're close enough to the edge of the envelope that you have to keep adding and subtracting every 100 lbs., you don't have enough tow vehicle. You don't want to skimp and put your precious daughters in an unsafe TV/trailer combo.

Rob

Edit/PS: We pulled a TT that weighed less than what you're contemplating with a Tahoe. It was just the two of us and only weekend/vacation trips. The trailer was too much for the Tahoe and we upgraded to a suitable truck.

I should have done some more googling before posting. I found this thread with you having almost the same conversation with someone else in 2017! https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/show...ehicle-upgrade In the end, that guy seems to have bought a Tundra.

For others who might be in the same situation in the future, here's another thread with some actual tongue weights on the 2800, sure enough in the 750-1000# range. https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/show...Tongue-Weights This is another lengthy pile of info: https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/show...ing-Capability

I think the most likely outcome here is probably the 2400 with a Tahoe, but I'm also looking more carefully at the Imagine XLS 23BHE because it cuts another 400# of trailer weight. It's pretty challenging to make a decision when the truck ratings and the trailer weights are all on the 'optimistic' side from the manufacturer. It would be nice to be able to test the truck/trailer combo before buying, if only to see if the new 10-speed transmission helps the towing capabilities.