Anolther Tow Question

[Boge]

Hey everyone. I know this gets beat to death, but I also know there are a lot of people with good experience here that can help me out. I'm looking at getting a new 32BQSS. According to the info it weights 6950 pounds. The 6950 with my truck, kids and cap put me right at my 1/2 ton Silverado's GCWR of 13,000 lbs with nothing packed. SO packed up I will be probably 500 over the GCVW. We just decided to keep our trailer on a spot up north, but we will go on 2 trips a year within Michigan. My question. Will being 500 pounds over the GCVW be to much? How much safety margin is there in the numbers? Would I make it up hills fine? I'm in no hurry.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Sundance_kid]

Trust me, you may think your only loading 500# over, but the weight you see in print is not what your trailer weights. The dry weight advertised is without any options, A/C, full propane tanks, spare tire ect. Fill the water tank and mutiply 8 X the total gallons. Not knowing the trailer, but 32BQSS sounds like a 32 footer. I would double check before you buy as it may cost you a new TV. Good luck, remember you have a lot riding in that truck with you.

 

[Shadowchek]

I would be a lot more worried about getting down the hills than up. The brakes on half ton pick ups aren't made for that.

Greg

 

[pmmjarrett]

Oh Boy does this get beat to death.

Ladies and Gentlemen.....The brakes on any pickup truck ain't designed for and ain't supposed to be stopping the trailer..... That's what the trailers brakes are for. Now is it good to have a little extra for emergency.. Absolutly.

That said

Can you pull it, sure, but IMHO 32QBSS is a lot of trailer for a 1/2 ton at 7000 lbs dry and 34' 10" tounge to tail. You will know it's back there, it won't let you forget and will give you a reminder everytime another truck passes you, even in a 3/4 or 1 ton. Weight distributing hitch with sway control is an absolute must here with the 1/2 ton and highly recommended with 3/4 and 1 ton or you will have a bad case of the tail wagging the dog.

 

[srakers]

I know this is an older thread, but I wanted to add my 2 cents worth here.
You can NOT tow this trailer with a 1/2 ton pickup. Well... you can , but bad things might happen that you don't want any part of. Someone mentioned earlier that the rated weight of 6,995 is w/o ANY options - you need to understand that clearly (I didn't). We just purchased a 32QBSS and it weighed in at a hefty 7,620lbs! - NOT 6,995. Add that to our Nissan Armada's curb weight of 5485 and you're way over the GVWR and Tongue Load rating for the Armada - even with a load distributing hitch.

Now a little RANT - The Heartland page has a cute little "Click Here" button that says "I Can Be Towed By...". And it lists the Armada. My wife wrapped her head around this when she fell in love with the trailer and "encouraged" me to buy it. I talked to the Salesman (read - liar) at Camping World in Myrtle Beach, SC and told him of my concern that I didn't think the Armada would tow it. He assured us that it would and I was okay with being on the edge a little. But then we stopped at a truck stop on the way home and everything weighted in at a nice round 15,000lbs!

Granted this situation happened in no small part because I wanted to believe what the jerk said. This camper is awesome and I wanted it badly. So I took the first puff and it felt good until reality set in. Now we'll be going to a local Ford dealer tomorrow to pick up a F-250 SuperDuty that WILL tow the bloody thing. But this is NOT something I planned on or wanted to do. Nor can I really afford to trade vehicles right now. Bottom line - Heartland needs to do some serious thinking about what's ethical to put on that "I can be towed by.." page. I understand (now) that the industry weighs the things when they're not a functional piece of equipment. Buyer beware!

All that said it is an incredible unit! The extra weight goes into what appears to be top rate hardware. If I had it to do over though, I wouldn't have bought it. I would have chosen the 31QBS instead. If I'd done my homework I would have realized the decision included a commitment to trade towing vehicles. Just keep in mind that RV salesmen (just like car salesmen) are interested in selling you something - they don't care whether you're safe on the road or not. We've talked to him repeatedly since the sale and he's not doing anything to help out.

But I'm not bitter Actually I am... but I love the camper.

...Sam

 

[RVCamper]

Sam,

We pulled our 31QBS with a Lincoln Navigator. I ran all the numbers, and we were just under all the maximums except GCVW (lots of room on GCVW). The biggy for me was the rear axle weight, real close there. This is because of the tongue weight. Max on the Navigator 800 lbs, 8300 towing.

We went to the Smokys this summer and it pulled and stopped fine, but I wanted more tow vehicle, especially in the mountains.

I just got the 350 in my SIG, and all I can say is set the cruise control and go! Hardly knows its there. We still have the Navigator, I traded in my "sporty" car for a real truck.

 

[JohnDar]

A 1/2 ton Silverado is a 1500 series. Same as an Avalanche. It might say it can pull 7100 lbs., but I wouldn't go there. Our Surveyor GS-272 had a dry weight of 5100 lbs. I pulled it with a weight distributing hitch and stabilizer. Pulled it from south of Flint to Indian River with no real problems in Tow/Haul and cruise set unless someone cuts in front of you on the hills north of West Branch. Then you got problems. Pedal to the floor to keep going and the tach heading for the moon. As for stopping, no problems if the controller is set right. If you don't have a WDH, you will have serious problems. Like your front tires off the ground.

 

[Mcreech]

Let me speak for only the North Trail TT product....We do not have any options that add weight to our trailer....What the brochure says as far as weights will be within 2% of the total weight of the trailer.....I just went an checked our scales and I can tell you the the last 30 32QBSS that came off the line, the heaviest one I saw was 7110lbs.......Now we here are not truck experts but if you look at the Nissan web page the Armada can pull 9000lbs with the tow package.... and if you have that set up according to Nissan, you can pull and stop a 7000lbs 32QBSS.....
That is from Nissan not Heartland, we can only go by what the truck maufacturers state........See below, this is from the Armada on the Nissan web page.....

Maximum towing capacity (lbs.)[5]6,500Maximum towing capacity (lbs.)[5] with Tow Package9100 (2WD)/9000 (4WD)Tongue weight capacity (lbs.) without Tow Package650Tongue weight capacity (lbs.) with Tow Package910(SE)/900(LE)

 

[RVCamper]

....What the brochure says as far as weights will be within 2% of the total weight of the trailer.....

I agree. When we got our trailer we went straight to the Cat Scale. Ours was very close to the advertised weight, even with the propane tanks filled, and two batteries. I think Heartland's scale is very accurate.

On the new trailers, I'm told they have a yellow sticker with your actual weight as it leaves the factory.

 

[techman]

My 2 cents

I thought I would jump in here since I went thru this a few months ago. I have a 1/2 ton Silverado and I would fear for my life if I had to pull a TT that weighed ~ 1700 lbs more than my 28BHS. If I could, I would certainly purchase a new TV of 3/4 ton or larger. When towing, I believe bigger is definately better.

As for Heartland's web site, it appears they have revised their website. When I looked, I could not find the "I Can Be Towed With" button. When the button was on the website, my TT was listed as being able to be towed with a 1/2 ton.

I agree that the posted "factory" weight is a little wishful but can normally be attributed to options i.e. grill, larger A/C etc. , water in the tanks, propane tanks and the 2% margin for error. When you do your figuring, just figure on the high side.

Now IMHO, you should:
1. READ READ READ - there are many websites that provide tons of good information. I got a good education from http://www.rvtowingtips.com/index.html .
2. Leave yourself an 80% margin for safety. If your GVWR is 13,000#, then try to stay about 10,400#. It is easy to underestimate weights.
3. Don't rely on the salesman for all your information. His job is to sell you a camper and I'll bet he's more experienced at selling than you are in buying. That's the reason for doing your research about towing, options, etc.
4. Ask the dealer if you can test drive the camper with your tow vehicle BEFORE you make a decision about buying it. I didn't do this when I purchased mine. I would probably still have bought it, but when I towed it home I would have been better prepared.

Mike