Picking up new travel trailer. HELP!

[sssteele]

DH and I just purchased a new Holiday Rambler travel trailer and are to pick it up tomorrow. Our sales rep at the dealer just called to ask about our hitch and indicated the one we have now may not work on the new TT. When we looked at the trailer and made the deal, there was a hitch on it and we believed we were buying the trailer as is except for several upgrades we agreed to. Is this usual practice for dealers to do this?
Joanie

 

[clkelley]

It all depends on what hitch you have on your vehicle.

I doubt there was a "hitch" on the camper. Maybe you meant the tongue where the trailer attaches to the hitch.

Not sure what a Holiday Rambler weighs, but if it is over 2500 lbs, you probably need a weight distributing hitch and a brake controller added to your tow vehicle.

If you just have a hitch receiver with a bar on a towbar, then that is probably not enough. There is also electrical hookups to consider.

 

[kc5grw]

You need to check the weight class on the hitch on your tow vehicle. Here is a list I pulled from another website that describes the classes in detail. You should have a label on your hitch somewhere that defines its class. You may only need to by a weight distributing tow bar if your receiver is the right class. You may have to buy the whole thing if not.

CLASS I TRAILER HITCHES

• Class I tow hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 2000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 200 lbs.
• A Class I hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.
• A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.
• Class I hitches usually attach to the bumper, truck pan or vehicle frame.

CLASS II TRAILER HITCHES

• Class II hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 3500 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 300 lbs.
• A Class II tow hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.
• A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.
• Class II hitches usually attach to the bumper or vehicle frame.

CLASS III TRAILER HITCHES

• Class III hitches are weight carrying (WC) and also are weight distributing (WD) depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
• Not all Class III hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.
• Class III hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 6000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 600 lbs.
• Class III hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
• A Class III hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.
• A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
• Class III hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

CLASS IV TRAILER HITCHES

• Class IV tow hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
• Not all Class IV hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.
• Class IV hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
• Class IV hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 14,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1400 lbs.
• A Class IV tow hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.
• A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
• Class IV hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

CLASS V TRAILER HITCHES

• Class V hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
• Class V hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 12,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1200 lbs.
• Class V hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 17,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1700 lbs.
• Your ball mount and hitch ball need to both be rated for Class V to safely tow these weight loads. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
• A Class V hitch has a 2-1/2" square receiver opening.
• Class V tow hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

 

[sssteele]

Thanks for your help. We picked up the trailer earlier today, and it was obvious that we needed some new things to make it work for us. What an experience towing a 30RLS TT vs a Coleman pop-up. DH drove home, but we both want to be comfortable driving before we take scheduled trip to North Carolina outer banks later in the summer.

Happy Travels, Joanie

 

[liv luvs disney]

Congrats! I am so looking forward to the day that a camper of any kind is in our budget. For now, we'll just camp with Papa and Grammy.

 

[sssteele]

Congrats! I am so looking forward to the day that a camper of any kind is in our budget. For now, we'll just camp with Papa and Grammy.

Enjoy every minute of it. We started camping with a borrowed tent about 40 years ago and owned several tents through the years. Even camped cross country for a month when our son was 14. We finally moved up to a pop-up 11 years ago and now that we retired decided to go for a trailer. I'd go back to a tent again if it was the only way I could get out there. Such wonders to see right in this beautiful country of ours.

Joanie

 

[njcamper95]

good luck with your new tt hope you have many fun filled adventures ahead

 

[disney4dan]

Good luck with the new TT and many happy memories with it.

What kind of hitch did you get? Still enjoying our Equalizer brand with the 4-point sway control. Makes a lot of noise though, just to let you know it's there and working.

 

[VACAMPER]

Happy Camping in your new trailor!

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

If you left the dealer towing a trailer and did not know about or have the appropriate hitch setup, your salesman did you a huge disservice. A good salesman would have discussed you hitch setup and your tow vehicle and made sure you had or bought everything you needed before you left the lot.

My experience had been that the price of the trailer does not include any of the hitch components.