Looking to buy a Toyhauler...

[Merriman]

I'm looking to buy a 19'+ toyhauler.......I have a 2wd chevy Tahoe and was wondering, if anyone has had any problems pulling it with quad and 2 MX bikes??

[buck183]

Check out this forum. http://www.rv.net/forum/

I just recently joined it myself as I have been looking at toyhaulers too. I'll bet you could do a search there and find out what you need to know. There's a lot more TH info to be had there than there is here. I have found that site to be VERY informative for me. I have spent countless hours in the last week or so doing research on different models and that site has given me every answer I need.

Good luck.

Buck

[Faster250R]

I used to have a 96 tahoe and pulled a 23 ft hauler with 2 wheelers and a dirtbike... was not fun over the mountains. You had to make a run at it! On the flats, for fun, I would draft Semi's just to see if when I put in overdrive it would drop in.. I found if you get close enough, it would!

Anyway, My trailer weighed about 7,800 lbs with bikes, but without water. I don't remember what the Tahoe was rated for, but with water I'm sure I was way over. I can tell you this, I had a quality trailer guy outfitt me with good weight distribution hitch and set it up and it was rock steady as far as sway goes... even in wind.

There are some lighter trailers out there now, but if you are not planning to upgrade your pulling platform in the very near future... don't exceed the Tahoe's towing/weight capablilities for two reasons. You will stress-out every trip because the thing is so dang heavy you will worry about every smell, bump and wierd noise. Also, there are plenty of lawers out there that will make you pay dearly if your rig ain't right and you get in an accident and hurt someone.

Good luck my friend.. hope this helped!

[31WeekendWarrior]

Beware of 1/2ton SUV's......Here is my Short Story!
In Spring of 2005, Purchased a new GMC Yukon (1500). These have a GVWR for the Trailer of 7800#. We were convinced we were ok to now look at the popular "Lightweight" (96" wide nominal vs Std 102" WideBody) Toy Haulers here in the So. Cal. marketplace. We decided on the 23ft front sleeper by a manufacturer I will not mention do to Current Law Suit against them. The typical Dry Weights of the the 23ft front sleeper are supposedly 4800# +/-. Well we used our trailer towards the end of summer of 2005. 4 weeks in a row I might add. Loaded with the typical clothes, food, and one stand up jet ski (350#). All four trips resulted in scalding of the Differtical fluid (distinct grape smell) inside the case. The boys at the local GMC dealer were awesome...changing the fluid several times up until they sent me up the street to the certified Cat Scales with Toy Hauler. Low and behold, would you figure with two jet skis (700#) and your clothes and food we were towing 7900#. I am an engineer, so I said this does not fly with whats in the trailer and the 4800# dry weight. So went home and scaled everything off of it. Came up with Dry Weight of 6100#Text and verified with a trip back to the Cat Scale. Hence the Lawsuit since they did not want to fix or give $$$ back. Mileage was bad anyways (7mpg), Not enough torque (always in 3rd, never in OD).

Fixed the mess with a GMC 2500HD Duramax CrewCab with Allison 1000 6-speed Transm with Edge Chip and Gibson exhaust. I purchased a 31Ft Weekend Warrior fifth wheel and pull my 22ft wakeboard boat behind that. Have never been passed since!

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[JeffinTD]

Man, that was an expensive lesson.

Usually the posted dry weight of an RV will not include propane, water, or accessories (like the awning, air conditioner, microwave, spare tire) and even then they are WAY optimistic (low).

Also, tow vehicles usually list their towing capacity based on the Gross Combined Weight Rating minus the curb weight of the vehicle with like a 160 pound driver (and nothing else inside). Anything or anyone else in the vehicle will reduce the trailer you can pull without exceeding GCWR.

In an ideal world it would be best to pick a tow vehicle that when packed with people and camping stuff still had a comfortable margin of towing capacity above the gross weight rating of the trailer... and if you go 5th wheel you also need to figure 20% of the trailer's weight, plus the weight of the hitch will be on the rear axle (you can exceed the rear axle rating or the tow vehicle's gross rating before exceeding gross combined).

Anyhow, never trust the dealer to tell you what you can tow. Also, if the dealer tries to sell you a timer based controller, politly decline and buy a good one (Brakesmart, ****** Ultima, or Technocia Prodegy, in that order).