2600RB or 2150RB

[Stevesw]

We are new to this RVing and going down Tuesday and put the deposit on the 2600RB and order it with the furniture that we want , then after we get back from our cruise I'll get the truck and wait on our coach . We have been pulling our tent camper with our 2005 GoldWing Trike and have been in 30 States from East to West and from North to South Coast !!!!! can't wait to start this adventure 👍👍👍👍

[Mark Ulmer]

... We are renting an RV with near identical specs as the 2600RB at the end of September to see how it tows through some significant mountains by east coast standards. Grades along our route will be in the teens and that would be about as much as we would ever see. If all goes well then we are set to give this a go...

Good idea! The best way to know for sure is to try it out.

[socaljb]

TripleG, Thanks for that post on the realities of weight. I literally joined the forum just moments ago and couldn't wait to let you know how much this helped my waivering feelings of our new purchase.

My wife and I just put down for a 2150RB and signed the check last night (she LOVES the big bathroom). I was sitting here today though having some regret we did not go ahead with the 2600RB for the added dinette. Since I tend to be an indecisive person, but also an engineer I figured the best way to lose that regret is do the math... The numbers don't lie. By my calculations the difference was a factor of 5%-10% safety margin using the numbers. Like you I am safety minded first and not new to towing and dealt with my share of challenging and unsafe tows, vowing not to do that again. Nothing is worth the risk or stress.

For reference and in case I missed something should someone want to chime in and put my mind at ease here's our numbers:
2009 F150 4x2 XLT Supercrew w/Tow Package and 3:55 axle ratio (7,100 GVRW, though I think we are usually closer to about 6,500 with our cargo + persons)

I really like the idea of the smaller trailer size of about 3' between the 2150RB and 2600RB but am nervous I'll be kicking myself for not getting the 2600RB.

Been enjoying reading everyone's posts and learning a lot even though I'm not new to TT vacationing.

Thanks

[TripleG]

TripleG, Thanks for that post on the realities of weight. I literally joined the forum just moments ago and couldn't wait to let you know how much this helped my waivering feelings of our new purchase.

My wife and I just put down for a 2150RB and signed the check last night (she LOVES the big bathroom). I was sitting here today though having some regret we did not go ahead with the 2600RB for the added dinette. Since I tend to be an indecisive person, but also an engineer I figured the best way to lose that regret is do the math... The numbers don't lie. By my calculations the difference was a factor of 5%-10% safety margin using the numbers. Like you I am safety minded first and not new to towing and dealt with my share of challenging and unsafe tows, vowing not to do that again. Nothing is worth the risk or stress.

For reference and in case I missed something should someone want to chime in and put my mind at ease here's our numbers:
2009 F150 4x2 XLT Supercrew w/Tow Package and 3:55 axle ratio (7,100 GVRW, though I think we are usually closer to about 6,500 with our cargo + persons)

I really like the idea of the smaller trailer size of about 3' between the 2150RB and 2600RB but am nervous I'll be kicking myself for not getting the 2600RB.

Been enjoying reading everyone's posts and learning a lot even though I'm not new to TT vacationing.

Thanks

socaljb, I am sure you will be very happy with your decision. We absolutely love our 2150RB. I run my numbers almost daily, I am constantly looking for ideas to save weight. I just picked up a 3500 watt inverter generator, which will be great, but it adds another 140lbs to the truck with 5 gals of gas and a locking chain. I am close to you, 7000 lbs GVWR for my truck. The vehicle GVWR is what always seems to gets you. The GCWR is 14400 lbs for my Truck and I am 2200 lbs under that. However staying under the trucks GVWR with a loaded tongue weight of about 690 lbs can be a challenge, especially with keeping some safety margin.

The 2150RB has a empty tongue weight of 458 lbs which is interesting because a empty 2150RB weighs around 5520 lbs, that means that the empty tongue is only about 8% of the trailer weight. if I throw in 750 lbs of gear and I properly load my trailer. My loaded weight is now around 6270 lbs but to get the highly desired tongue weight of 11% for minimum sway I need to get a target tongue weight of 690 lbs. The vehicles GVWR is gobbled up in no time.

I see many 1/2 ton trucks pulling bigger campers than mine. They will be carrying multiple bikes and multiple passengers. I know the trucks will do it no problem, because i see them constantly on the road, it is not for me to say they are overloaded and in the wrong. I can only put my faith in my numbers for me and my situation, because the numbers don't lie. Even though I might not always like what they are telling me. I would have liked to have gotten the 2600RB or the 2670MK, both are beautiful rigs with great floor plans. But for me I would need to go to at least a 3/4 ton truck to legally tow them. Hope it helps you to keep from second guessing yourself. For me once the math sunk in, their was no regrets. Happy Trails

[socaljb]

socaljb, I am sure you will be very happy with your decision. We absolutely love our 2150RB. I run my numbers almost daily, I am constantly looking for ideas to save weight. I just picked up a 3500 watt inverter generator, which will be great, but it adds another 140lbs to the truck with 5 gals of gas and a locking chain. I am close to you, 7000 lbs GVWR for my truck. The vehicle GVWR is what always seems to gets you. The GCWR is 14400 lbs for my Truck and I am 2200 lbs under that. However staying under the trucks GVWR with a loaded tongue weight of about 690 lbs can be a challenge, especially with keeping some safety margin.

The 2150RB has a empty tongue weight of 458 lbs which is interesting because a empty 2150RB weighs around 5520 lbs, that means that the empty tongue is only about 8% of the trailer weight. if I throw in 750 lbs of gear and I properly load my trailer. My loaded weight is now around 6270 lbs but to get the highly desired tongue weight of 11% for minimum sway I need to get a target tongue weight of 690 lbs. The vehicles GVWR is gobbled up in no time.

I see many 1/2 ton trucks pulling bigger campers than mine. They will be carrying multiple bikes and multiple passengers. I know the trucks will do it no problem, because i see them constantly on the road, it is not for me to say they are overloaded and in the wrong. I can only put my faith in my numbers for me and my situation, because the numbers don't lie. Even though I might not always like what they are telling me. I would have liked to have gotten the 2600RB or the 2670MK, both are beautiful rigs with great floor plans. But for me I would need to go to at least a 3/4 ton truck to legally tow them. Hope it helps you to keep from second guessing yourself. For me once the math sunk in, their was no regrets. Happy Trails

Again I spent at least a few hours going through all the numbers yesterday, second guessing is ok when you are looking at aesthetics but not safety, hence my trying to feel done in my decision. As mentioned previously my wife and I actually settled on the 2150RB and signed paperwork (but not yet taken delivery), though once I had time to run numbers on the 2600RB I can now see that both are safely towable with my current situation. The 2600 would give us just under or close to a 10% safety margin with weight whereas the 2150RB keeps us at least 10% and closer to 15% safety weight margin. Keeping in mind that all the calculations I did were using the one week a year where we boondock and are hauling the biggest/heaviest load. All of our other trips are much lighter since we'd rarely fill tanks and either trailer would keep us way above a 15% margin.

The smart engineer in me clearly say's to always err on side of caution (and measure twice) so given the choice I think we chose correctly? We have been towing a 25' 2004 Fleetwood Terry for years and the weights and size are very close to the 2150RB which is much of why we went with that. Though now that I know I could have easily towed either Grand Design choice I'm driving my wife crazy up the wall, wondering if we should try to coerce dealer to swap us out and pay the extra for a larger GD like the 2600RB (doubt they would do that though even though we've not taken delivery yet). For the most part I'm in complete sync with what TripleG stated and no matter what we're going to be really happy, I figure if I'm really unhappy with the smaller then we'll have to trade up sooner than later.

I'm still learning a lot and want to ask more questions but since I'm new to the forums I need to make sure I'm posting in the right areas, so my apologies if this thread is incorrect.

Thanks again TripleG, we can't wait to get into our GD... these trailers look absolutely awesome and have everything we need at this point.

[Barbara & Dave]

If the news accounts are to be believed, RVs are selling like hotcakes. Your dealer might not have any problem selling "your" 2150. Give the salesman a call and feel him/her out.

BTW, this forum is filthy with engineers (BSEE here). But you know that those ratings already have a safety margin built in. An axle "rated" at 3000 lbs is probably really good to 3500, and maybe even 4000. I wouldn't worry as long as I'm under the rating, or even a little bit over.

If you'd really prefer a 2600, I'd go for it. But you'll enjoy whichever you choose.

Dave

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

[socaljb]

If the news accounts are to be believed, RVs are selling like hotcakes. Your dealer might not have any problem selling "your" 2150. Give the salesman a call and feel him/her out.

BTW, this forum is filthy with engineers (BSEE here). But you know that those ratings already have a safety margin built in. An axle "rated" at 3000 lbs is probably really good to 3500, and maybe even 4000. I wouldn't worry as long as I'm under the rating, or even a little bit over.

If you'd really prefer a 2600, I'd go for it. But you'll enjoy whichever you choose.

Dave

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Thanks Dave, appreciate the thoughts, and you're probably right, if we really were serious about switching (since it's an upgrade) I'm sure the dealer would bite.

I knew using this forum would be a great reach out for factual info and not 'salesman' info. I'm a Software Engineer and studied EE so I love the calculators and stuff that people are posting. I also really appreciate the softer side when folks just speak of the experiences in regards to everyday usage or functionality.

I know my wife would prefer the larger trailer but honestly I know we'll both be happy with either. Just the fact we're upgrading from a 14 year old trailer we can't go wrong. We already have plans sometime in the next 5-10 years max to upgrade our truck to a 250 as we want to also try a 5th wheel, so maybe sticking with the 2150 for that time frame is just fine, we can always swap out furniture in the 2150RB if the seating is really an issue I guess.

Thanks

[TripleG]

Socaljb: Thank you, we our really happy with ours. So far no warranty issues. I do have two safety recalls that need to be addressed. We did add some more led can light to the bathroom. Grand Design seems great for keeping track of parts they use in manufacturing. If you want good piece of mind pull out the slide out drawers, or remove vent fan trim. You do get what you pay for. Everything is tidy, ran neatly, these our not some slapped together RV's. Even the construction debris under shower pan, cabinets etc has been cleaned up. I bet I had a 5 gal bucket of scrap in our last travel trailer of a different company owned by a Omaha Billonaire. You guys will be very happy with the imagine line.

[socaljb]

TripleG, I also am seeing a few smaller items were changed from manufacturing from the '17 to the '18. Perhaps the recall stuff I'm not sure. We've certainly gone in and started touching/pulling/pushing on things in the unit and it's night and day from our old trailer and yes, I can see a quality different between some of the manufacturers. I'll be sure to have my laundry list of things to try and test during our walk-through before we drive it home. Just in the comments in and out of the GD forums everyone who is looking or purchased seems to be for the most part very pleased with the decision. Now I'm just getting excited and anxious.

[TripleG]

socaljb, just curious on what type of weight distribution hitch you will be using?