kelson01
Boston
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Hey all,
I'm thinking of upgrading my pop up (2007 Fleetwood Niagara). We're looking at the Jayco 23B. I tow with a Ford Explorer v8 w/ tow package (rated to two 7400 lbs). I realize the Jayco is appox 4,500 lbs, however, a few people mentioned to me that the Jayco 23b may be a bit "big" to tow. The phrase that someone used was that the "tail of the dog is getting to be bigger than the dog itself". Our family does a lot of camping, but rarely do we go further than 70 miles away from our home.
Anyone have any thoughts?
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pulsar
Lewisville, NC
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Joined: 12/30/2001
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Moved from Forum Technical Support.
2002 Adventurer 32V - Workhorse chassis
1998 CRV toad - manual transmission
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havedreamwilltravel
Southern California
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Let's see the specs.
The 23B is a 24' hybrid. It's dry brochure weight is 4060 with a GVWR of 4950 lbs. The dry weight on your exact trailer should be on the sticker but do you realize that you only have around 890 lbs of weight that you can add? It will be a couple of hundred less with propane, tanks and batts.
What year is your Ford Explorer?
2007 GMC Yukon Denali - 6.2L 380hp/417ft-lbs,0-60 in 6.2 seconds
2007 Jayco Jayflight 27BH
Equalizer Hitch, Prodigy Brake Control
Our Truck and Trailer
Easy Trailer Mods-NEW pics added 4/10/08
Visited a lot of states, haven't camped in many...yet. 
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kelson01
Boston
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06 Eddie Bauer V8
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manganos
Dinwiddie, VA
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I'd say you would be fine with the right hitch setup. You won't reget the Jayco, they make great units. I'm on my 3rd Jayco.
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kelson01
Boston
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I've done a bunch of research and it seems the best choice for us. For as much as we go camping, the pop up is getting to be a bit of work - plus limited storage. Thank you! i'll keep you posted. we're going camping for a week after the 4th, so i'll prob pull trigger after that.
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BarneyS
S.E. Lower Michigan
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I suspect that you will probably be ok also. Keep in mind though, that it doesn't matter how far from home you go. You still need a proper hitch setup and and other good towing setup and limits still apply. You can have a catastrophe just as easily 10 miles from home as 1000.
I would recommend you take a look at both the Reese Strait-line hitch and the Equal-i-zer hitch. Both of these combine WD with excellent sway control.
Take a good look at this thread when you get your trailer and hitch to make sure you have it set up correctly.
Glad you are asking here beforehand.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch
2002 Ford F250 Super Duty, 7.3L PSD
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kelson01
Boston
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Thank you. I will be getting the proper hitch equip. Rather spend money now than paying for it later . . .
Sox 7 Yankees O.
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havedreamwilltravel
Southern California
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Looked up your car - '06 Eddie Bauer.
Wheelbase - 113.7
HP - 292
Torque - 300 ft-lbs.
Cargo Capacity - 1510 lbs.
Listed tow capacity - 7130 lbs.
It is my opinion (and that's all it is) that as long as you stay around the 24' and don't go any bigger with that car you'll probably do just fine. You have the V8 as opposed to the V6 so pulling it up hills or grades won't be as bad. Torque is pretty decent as is the horsepower.
Get yourself the Prodigy Brake Controller and mate it with the proper WDH - and take care to set it up properly (DO NOT depend on the dealer to do this for you!). Weigh it when loaded and make sure to keep the tongue around 13% of the loaded weight and you will probably have a great little combo. Look into a good WDH with integrated sway control. We use the Equalizer and love it - it's easy to set up and hitch/unhitch and works great. The Reese Dual Cam is similar and has a loyal following as well. Both are superior hitches to basic sway control with friction bar. Get the right lb. weight hitch for your setup.
Just a word - don't expect it to tow like the pop up! A hybrid is a full hard side trailer - it will be similar to pushing a large piece of plywood through a windstorm by yourself!
Enjoy. You will love your Jayco!
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2Bcomfy
Alton Il
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we love our Jayco and when we moved from our old pop-up to the hybrid, we added sway bars, brakes, and weight-distribution bars(per laws and rvnet tips). At the time, we thought "this is over-kill for people who have way too much time and money on their hands!" That was 4 years ago and we still marvel at how much easier our hybrid is to tow.
I love the analogy above about pushing a piece of plywood through a rainstorm by yourself! haha! Our first HTT trip, we thought we had accidently left on the TV emergency brakes.
2006 Chevy 1500 Z71 crewcab
2004 Jayco Jay Feather 23D
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