Quote:
Originally Posted by PopBeavers
Just be aware that a 3500 pound trailer weighs 4500 pounds if you have a 1000 pounds of water, options and stuff. It is not unusual for the difference between factory dry weight and actual loaded weight to differ by 1000 pounds.
But, you don't have to carry that much stuff. Leave some at home.
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A 2619 pound trailer with 1000 pounds of stuff added weighs 3619 pounds, not to split hairs.
Unless you are dry camping, you don't need to carry water (OK, I keep the water heater full, because it's just easier). You also don't need a generator or 2 batteries, as you pointed out. You can't assume that the things you need are the same things someone else needs, and a truck is one of those things in my opinion.
Manufacturers figure weight capacity differently. Some provide more conservative estimates than others. Some sell their vehicles with transmissions that can't carry their vehicles with only a driver aboard for 100,000 miles, let alone reliably pull a trailer on a 2000 mile vacation. None of the manufacturers do a great job in making the critical numbers available to us so that we can make good decisions (if anybody knows of a manufacturer's web site that gives GVWR, GCWR and curb weight for models older than the ones they are currently selling, that company deserves an "attaboy" from us).
Toyota Highlanders and Siennas up through 2007 are unibody vehicles with net carrying capacities of 4500 pounds+ and 3500# rated towing capacities. I believe there's room for a Trailmanor in there somewhere, considering that this is more capacity than some Ford Explorer models are rated for.
Personally, I would rather have a TV with anti-lock brakes that's inside GCWR limits and 500# overweight in the rated towing capacity than an improperly distributed load in a vehicle with 2000# of rated towing capacity to spare.
If any of our other engineers here want to go get the real info and actually figure these things out for us, I'll be glad to help. I sincerely appreciate the real world experience that our owners share here about their TM's and their TV's in their own towing experience. But a lot of the stuff posted here about other people's tow vehicles is usually just speculative and often just plain wrong.
Meanwhile, there's one manufacturer who I think knows a lot about towing these trailers, because they have actually studied it:
"Tow ratings for vehicles should be described as “general guidelines”. Actual towing limits depend on towing speed, highway grades, elevation, desired acceleration, miles towed per year, tow vehicle loading, frontal area of trailer, sway resistance of trailer, etc."
"TrailManor provides uniquely easy towing per pound due to the very low wind drag and the very stable ride resulting from axle placement."