OK, so we have narrowed our choices down to 3 travel trailers – all of which we like and all of which are in the same price region. We would welcome any comments from anyone who has experience / knowledge of the following trailers and would be glad to hear from anyone as to whether we are ok on the weight issue :
* Fun Finder X189 FD (18 foot long)
– dry weight 2660 (Hitch weight 250 lb)
Our preference is the Trail Cruiser as it is that bit longer and so gives us much more room inside (it is also 8 foot wide compared to 7 ½ for the Fun Finder and Surveyor). However, it is that little bit heavier in terms of both hitch weight and overall dry weight.
Our max tow capacity is 3,500lb and
our GCWR is about 8500 lbs
and our GVWR is 5351 lbs
– our car weighs about 3,900 lbs.
So, we have worked out that from the GVWR - taking off weight of the car, the hitch weight of the heaviest trailer (350) and the weight of me and my husband (and our kayaks) that would leave us with 500lb room in our GVWR for food, clothes, supplies etc. Does that sound reasonable or not ?
Any comments gratefully received as we are in a dilemma as to which one to buy !!
Since you like the Trail Cruiser best, I'd go with that.
My choice would be the Trail Cruiser also. More bang for your buck.
Good luck
Oops. Missed the part about the weight. Unless your going to upgrade TV's soon, I'd go with the lighter of the three. The Trail Cruiser will MAX you out once your loaded up ready to go camping.
Bobby (USAF Retired)
2007 Chevy 2500 LBZ Duramax C/C, S/B 4X4
2006 Rockwood 8317SS
1973 Airstream Ambassador
Old Town Penobscot 16
Trail Cruiser will in all likelyhood be about 650 lbs heavier due to the extras, gas tanks, stove, fridge,AC etc. JMHO, but I think you'll be somewhat overweight by about 950 lbs or so, You should ask if you can haul it to a set of scales ( carefully) to weigh it without anything (personal gear) loaded.
There are not very many places for you to go without getting into the mountains. Would you want that much weight pushing you around or holding you back, when you go camping? I really don't think you will be happy with the TV performance with any of those trailers, when loaded for camping.
Bob & Betsy - USN Ret'd '78 & FL LEO Ret'd '03 FMCA #F203528 '05 HR Endeavor, 40PRQ w/400 Cummins - With -'05 GMC Sierra LT, CC Z-71, the pusher '07 Arctic Cat 500A & Wilderness Kayak, riding in the pusher - Our Current Location
Turbo Diesel Dude wrote: Trail Cruiser will in all likelyhood be about 650 lbs heavier due to the extras, gas tanks, stove, fridge,AC etc. JMHO, but I think you'll be somewhat overweight by about 950 lbs or so, You should ask if you can haul it to a set of scales ( carefully) to weigh it without anything (personal gear) loaded.
I agree.. overweight on all the trailers once you load them up.
You didn't mention what type of vehicle this is? Is it a minivan, SUV with bumper hitch, etc... Also how many people are you planning to take with you and are you planning to pack any gear in the TV. All will decrease your tow capacity. Realistically you probably have no more than 3000# of real usable capacity once you load things up in the TV.
Don't forget that the hitch weight counts as cargo in the TV which also will reduce your payload on the TV.
Hitch weight figures are likely to be the "dry" hitch weight as well; figure that the actual hitch weight will be substantially heavier once your camper is loaded. A better figure to work from is the trailer's GVWR, and assume that hitch weight will be about 15% of that. And remember that a WD hitch weighs about 80# itself - which also goes into your TV's payload.
I agree with the previous posters who said you'll be maxed out or overweight with all of those trailers. This is especially true if you camp with multiple children, dogs, a load of firewood, a bunch of bicycles, or several adult friends who ride along with you. A vehicle with 3500# maximum tow capacity is probably not suited to towing a full-height trailer, even a pretty small one. Without knowing what your vehicle is, though, it's hard to say definitively if you'll be ok.
Having owned a '06 Trail Cruiser 21 RBH HTT, I can say for sure that the advertised tongue weight is way low. After adding the propane tanks, a single 12-volt battery, and filling the fresh water tank 1/2 full (15 gallons), my tongue weight was 510 lbs. This was before adding anything else inside the HTT.
I towed this with a '04 Nissan Frontier CC LB 4x4 4-speed automatic. The V6 engine was supercharged and while the setup was fairly stable towing, it was pretty underpowered, using 2nd gear on most grades.
I mention this because it seems you are trying to work within very light weights and keeping the tongue weight to a minimum, which leads me to believe you have a small SUV or truck you want to tow with. If that's the case, you should go with Fun Finder as it is narrower and not as tall as the Trail Cruiser. This will reduce wind drag and help smaller TV's tow more efficiently.
Give use your TV specs and how much you plan to carry and I'm certain someone will do the math for you.
I agree that you will be over weight and according to the Trail Cruiser brochure Trail Cruisers in the 21 ft range probably have a GVWR between 5 and 6K lbs and you will not have a pleasant towing experience. Until you actually weigh your TV most often people serious under estimate the actual weight when loaded for towing. With a dry wt. in the neighbor of 3K and a dry hitch wt of around 12% the Trailer Cruiser brochure clearly states that these dry wts. "are approximate and based on standard features, optional equipment not included." Thus one battery, two full propane tanks and say an AC will probably add between 100 and 150 lbs hitch wt. and anything you take will most probably increase that hitch wt. to inexcess of 500 lbs requirng a WDH.
It would have really helped if you had give the actual model and yr of the Trail Cruiser along with your TV. A 3500 max tow capacity if really small. IIRC even my 1986 Volvo Station Wagon was rated to tow in the neighborhood of 3,000 lbs.
Larry
2001 standard box 7.3L E-350 PSD Van with 4.10 rear and 2007 Holiday Rambler Aluma-Lite 8306S Been RV'ing since 1974. TRAILER MODS
I just bought a Fun Finder 250BHS (450tongue/4590trailer) to pull with my V6 Tacoma. We are very happy with it, paid $15,700 OTD, comes with a slide, pulls great at 65mph into headwinds and past semis. I talked with several reps at Cruiser since I didn't want to go over my 6500lbs limit and they weigh each of their trailers out the door and that's what is posted on the GVWR sticker inside in the cabinet, so Fun Finders are weighed with their options. So whatever unit your looking at, check the inside sticker. Mine was 300lbs heavier with options vs the weight on the website. I verified on a scale locally after I purchased.
You should be able to get the 189 for anywhere between $11k-13k as I've seen many of the 210's go for 12-14K.
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