Travel trailer experiences?

[NeoPhoenix83]

I got my Maverick with the 4k towing package, in part to plan ahead for a camper upgrade.

Currently I have a pop up camper that weighs in a hair under 2,000 lbs. It's always been easy to pull, but the day is coming that my back will no longer put up with the beds on these things.

Wondering what experiences you guys have had with small travel trailers? I see rPods, various "retro" trailers and several oversized teardrops, most of which seem to be in the 2,700-3,000 lb weight range.

Being a little shorter of a tow vehicle, I am concerned about models that offer too much wind resistance, so hoping some of you have some real life experience with some of these campers and can share?

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[Escapologist]

To me it seems like there's a lot of suck in about 2005-2015, made them heavy and poorly built, before remembering how to build lighter ones with decent layouts and reasonable quality again. So not many good ones out there in those years, hence the tendency to go older, or get saddled with a note for a newer one. Some sellers still think they're gonna get "covid" prices for their junk though.

Anyway, I'm on the hunt as well and seems you've gotta take it on a model by model, year by year and owner by owner basis. There are some around with decent slant or curve on front to avoid being a drag shute, and narrower than 8ft coaches you can see round better and of course reduce area. The owner by owner thing, pffff, yeah there's some never sealed them and wonder why the sides are all lumpy, some will tell you they "renovated" by removing all RV specific items and materials, replacing with household stuff and doubling the weight (Probably overstraining electrics too) some will advertise new flooring, meaning they hid soft floors under that tongue and groove plank stuff, some managed to rot it from the inside out by taking long showers without the vent open... ... ... and then there's the used once a year and kept up cherries, so yeah high variety in the market.

 

[NeoPhoenix83]

To me it seems like there's a lot of suck in about 2005-2015, made them heavy and poorly built, before remembering how to build lighter ones with decent layouts and reasonable quality again. So not many good ones out there in those years, hence the tendency to go older, or get saddled with a note for a newer one. Some sellers still think they're gonna get "covid" prices for their junk though.

Anyway, I'm on the hunt as well and seems you've gotta take it on a model by model, year by year and owner by owner basis. There are some around with decent slant or curve on front to avoid being a drag shute, and narrower than 8ft coaches you can see round better and of course reduce area. The owner by owner thing, pffff, yeah there's some never sealed them and wonder why the sides are all lumpy, some will tell you they "renovated" by removing all RV specific items and materials, replacing with household stuff and doubling the weight (Probably overstraining electrics too) some will advertise new flooring, meaning they hid soft floors under that tongue and groove plank stuff, some managed to rot it from the inside out by taking long showers without the vent open... ... ... and then there's the used once a year and kept up cherries, so yeah high variety in the market.

I'm definitely playing the long game- no rush here at all. At the moment I'm trying to get an idea of what my reasonable options are. I see that despite the 4k towing, these have a maximum frontal trailer size of around 40 sq ft, which limits quite a few models.

 

[Escapologist]

Yeah you don't want a completely flat fronted trailer more than about 6'4" square, buuuut, aerodynamics can limit effective drag... trouble is, nobody publishes cDs of their trailers. The effective drag area is the area multiplied by the drag coefficient. This you can only get a spitball of by comparing to known shapes...

Here's a start https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_coefficient

There was a pic of half-bodies and blunt and rounded vehicles around which was a bit more use, but I am not finding it right now.

Anyhoo, a fully rounded front like a Gulfstream Vista Cruiser I'd say is about a 0.4 , then slashed at a 45 degree angle about a .50, 60 degree upward, 30 from vertical only does about a .6-.8 ish, corner cut might only be a .6, double angle might approximate an ogive curve well enough to do as well as .5 ... so most of those knock an 8x7 down to something more reasonable.

Also there may be some relief from the "shadow" of the Maverick's rear end, the approx area of top of tailgate to bottom of bumper, or if with a cap, top of that to bottom of bumper... PROVIDED the tongue isn't too long or you don't have a hitch extender, or one of those junk in front toy carrier racks on an extended chassis before the coach... otherwise it just all crowds in again behind... if you wanna get real mathy with it, assume the airstream tucks in at about an 11 or 12 degree angle and reduce area shadowed by the height of that cone... well length.

 

[NeoPhoenix83]

Yeah you don't want a completely flat fronted trailer more than about 6'4" square, buuuut, aerodynamics can limit effective drag... trouble is, nobody publishes cDs of their trailers. The effective drag area is the area multiplied by the drag coefficient. This you can only get a spitball of by comparing to known shapes...

And that's part of why I'm hoping some owners will chime in when they see this. I'm thinking one of the trailers that's a little more teardrop shaped, rather than the blunt flat shapes would tow better, but I'd rather defer to real experiences rather than my eyeball's opinion of aerodynamics.

 

[NeoPhoenix83]

19' teardrop-shaped Vista Cruiser trailer here, it's wide and tall, and loaded up we're very close to max rating of our 4k hybrid. It tows fine and we get 12-20 MPG depending on winds and elevation change. BUT our expectations are realistic; I tow at +/- 65 MPH and sometimes the 2.5 is working really hard going up long hills, so I'll let the speed drop a bit till I get to the top. I'm never in a hurry to get to the campsite, I don't enjoy being stressed out so going slower is fine by me.
I also have a WDH which makes a LOT of difference and a Curt sway control bar.
With your EcoBoost you'll be fine as long as you don't expect an F250 experience where you can effortlessly tow up the steepest hills at 85 MPH

Good feedback! Interesting to hear you are doing well with a 19 footer with the hybrid! What you describe is probably the largest possible trailer I would consider.

Do you have a bed cap or anything to change the aerodynamics coming of the Maverick?

 

[Ranko Kohime]

Allow me to place one in the “can’t recommend” column.

 

[Fonz]

I got my Maverick with the 4k towing package, in part to plan ahead for a camper upgrade.

Currently I have a pop up camper that weighs in a hair under 2,000 lbs. It's always been easy to pull, but the day is coming that my back will no longer put up with the beds on these things.

Wondering what experiences you guys have had with small travel trailers? I see rPods, various "retro" trailers and several oversized teardrops, most of which seem to be in the 2,700-3,000 lb weight range.

Being a little shorter of a tow vehicle, I am concerned about models that offer too much wind resistance, so hoping some of you have some real life experience with some of these campers and can share?

I have a 15’ Braxton Creek Bushwacker camper with shower, toilet, indoor sink and gas range, microwave, AC, etc. It is about 2100 pounds with a 6’ inside ceiling height. It is an easy pull with my AWD hybrid. Because of Its width I can’t behind the camper with the side view mirrors so I am installing a wireless solar camera on the camper’s rear. I had talked with folks who have installed such a camera and they appear to work well.

 

[NeoPhoenix83]

Allow me to place one in the “can’t recommend” column.

Yeah, that certainly looks bigger and more boxy than anything I'm considering. I'm guessing you are at the absolute towing limit with that one. What is it like trying to tow it?

 

[cclark]

I just bought this last month after alot of reserach, visiting RV dealers, and decades of towing experience. Trailer comes in at 2680lbs unloaded and scaled it at 2755lbs, propane tank and battery only in it when I picked it up and camped with it for a weekend. Towed it 650 miles, got 16-18 mpg on the ScanGuage, pushing it through hills and highways just for kicks and the truck performed flawlessly. 60mph is the sweet spot for highway mpg's. Since then, it's minimally loaded with essentials, hoses, tools, etc. and a TV. and got the same MPG's on two 100 mile trips through the hills of VA. There was little to no sway on the highways with trucks passing and the built-in brake/sway control did what its supposed to, so I don't feel a WDH or sway bar is needed, but you do what you're comfortable with. Next trip is 2500 miles and can't wait. It's a KZ Sportsmen 130RD and is perfect for us empty nesters. The RV industry is adapting to lighter weight trailers, so keep researching and good luck!

 

[lm126027]

I got my Maverick with the 4k towing package, in part to plan ahead for a camper upgrade.

Currently I have a pop up camper that weighs in a hair under 2,000 lbs. It's always been easy to pull, but the day is coming that my back will no longer put up with the beds on these things.

Wondering what experiences you guys have had with small travel trailers? I see rPods, various "retro" trailers and several oversized teardrops, most of which seem to be in the 2,700-3,000 lb weight range.

Being a little shorter of a tow vehicle, I am concerned about models that offer too much wind resistance, so hoping some of you have some real life experience with some of these campers and can share?

Not a travel trailer, but I tow a 13 foot snowmobile trailer with my 24 lariat with 4K and it tows fine. I cruise on the Maine turnpike at 75 with no issues...

 

[Ranko Kohime]

Yeah, that certainly looks bigger and more boxy than anything I'm considering. I'm guessing you are at the absolute towing limit with that one. What is it like trying to tow it?

I think it weighed about 4,700, and I didn’t have the same weight distribution as what was installed on it, so it extra sucked. Picked up from the customer in MA and took it down to FL.

NJ was just extra special suck, as it always is.

 

[MetalThunder]

The Fuel Tank size that the Maverick has seems like the downer/drag in towing a travel trailer or any trailer of weight. @ 12 to 20 mpg - thats 192 miles - 320 using 16 gallons. The low side is quite eye opening. My 1997 Ram used to get 15 towing a pop-up I have - but had a 26 gallon tank - 10 more gallons capacity which @ 15mpg was just about 400 mile range...

Just my observation Carry On

Cheers

 

[NeoPhoenix83]

I have a 15’ Braxton Creek Bushwacker camper with shower, toilet, indoor sink and gas range, microwave, AC, etc. It is about 2100 pounds with a 6’ inside ceiling height. It is an easy pull with my AWD hybrid. Because of Its width I can’t behind the camper with the side view mirrors so I am installing a wireless solar camera on the camper’s rear. I had talked with folks who have installed such a camera and they appear to work well.

Just looked at those- the 15' is probably a little small for us, but the 17' version isn't much heavier and could very well be in play.

 

[NeoPhoenix83]

The Fuel Tank size that the Maverick has seems like the downer/drag in towing a travel trailer or any trailer of weight. @ 12 to 20 mpg - thats 192 miles - 320 using 16 gallons. The low side is quite eye opening. My 1997 Ram used to get 15 towing a pop-up I have - but had a 26 gallon tank - 10 more gallons capacity which @ 15mpg was just about 400 mile range...

Just my observation Carry On

Cheers

I'm coming from a Ford Edge with a similar range (towing a pop up camper), so that's not an unusual situation for me. I would prefer to avoid the extreme low end though, as 12 mpg isn't going to be much fun.

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