Please help! Towing a travel trailer questions

[69RoadRunner]

Here's a diagram for the 7 way connector. It has a 12v line in the black connection. The trailer might have something that uses that. When the time comes, I'm sure you can find a plug and play option to use that line to charge batteries, but that's not something to worry about now.

Start looking at trailers that have the floorplan that meets your needs and get the GVWR of those trailers. Don't go real close to your towing limit and you'll have peace of mind.

The weight distributing hitch (Equilizer, etc.) is a very good idea. I can't use one with my car trailer because of the way it's designed, but it's light enough (aluminum open trailer) compared to my MH that it's not a big deal.

 

[LarryJ]

I tried to answer the questions in your quote, never done that before so not sure if it will be successful.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

1. O.K. I missed the engine thing and you're in a much better position now than with the 5.3. That link for a 6.0L G2500 for the 135" WB which you probably have unless you have a bunch of storage behind the rear seat is 7,900 with the 3.73 rear axle ratio and if the longer WB Van you go down to 7,500.

2. The 7 pin connector will be in the receiver area on your Van and should have a "flap" that lifts up to expose the male end contacts.

3. As far as weighing look in the Yellow Pages under "truck scales" or "CAT scales". Also, almost all truck stops like Flying J, Pilot, etc. have scales and it runs around $8 to get a set of wts. There a few other options such as local waste transfer/recyling/dump stations, local grain elevators, and even actual state truck scales, but those can be iffy to use.

As I mentioned in the Vans, especially passenger types with lots of people you run out of either tow vehicle GVWR or RAWR capacity due to trailer tongue wt.

One other number you need to find out what your Van is rated at is it's GCWR which is what the "whole schabang" should weigh.

Larry

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

There are several places I use to weigh trucks locally, PM me if you need them.

 

[Bens mom]

We Started With A 3/4 Ton Ford And A 27 Ft Tt 7900lbs I Had No Trouble Towing It .you Have More Choices On Tt Than You Think .Our Friends Have A 30 ft Feather Lite That They Tow With F 150 Just Fine .when You Guys Start Looking Look At The Lite Towables You Will Have A Ton Of Options And Should Be Fine Pulling Just About Any Of Them.bunkhouse Comes To Mind For You Guys Some Models Have Doublebunks On Each Side In The Rear Thats Better Than The Triples Even Though That Would Give 6 Bunks I Dont Think The Bunks Have Enough Room Just My 2 Cents

 

[njcamper95]

Just besure you know your limits i have heard dealers try to sell people campers that they couldn't handle with there tow vechicle you need weight above the dry for your stuff and yeah the vechicle probably can handle over it but they put a limit on it for a reason and if you exceed it and get hurt you'll be sorry your insurance might not cover your damage since you exceeded the vechicle specs as the last person said there is plenty of light weight rigs out there i have a 05 cougar 294 that the dry weight is 6040 and has a max weight of 9200 so to pull it you would want a tow vechicle that can handle at least 9200 i'm sure if you look around you will see tt's that have alot less weight in between i've seen some that are only 1000 lb so watch the total weight allowed some are more then others good luck and maybe you can catch a RV show in your area they have lots of brands and models to see and you can see the floor plans and you can see the quality of the different brands plus they have show specials and can save you some money sometimes good luck and don't forget to let us know what you get and of course post pics