New member - looking to purchase 2400BH

[tomilee]

Hi all,

I've been eyeballing this forum for the last 6 months and learned a lot.
But, I'm still confused by different opinions. Some say WD helps take off weight stress from the tongue, some say it has nothing to do with it.

Our TV is 2015 GL450 (7,500 towing capacity, 650 tongue weight limit, and 1764 max payload, wheelbase 121'), but its capacity is not big enough to tow mid-to-large size TTs.
We love the floor plan of 2400BH which has 28ft length, UVW 5,595lbs, GVW 7,495lbs and 505lbs dry hitch weight. I saw another member towing this TT with Porsche Cayenne which has a very similar specs to my TV.

Considering the TT's GVW, it's near the max capacity of my TV, however I don't think I will load anything more than 1000lbs in TT.
Therefore, I expect the TT's weight will be around 6,500lbs. (battery+gas tank 200lbs, camping gears 200lbs, food and all other stuffs 200lbs, fresh water 200lbs, no gray/black water..total about 800lbs) That's leave us about 8.6% margin and I don't think it will exceed the my TV's max payload either (myself, my wife, 2 kids = 390lbs, gas 210lbs, tongue weight 650 lbs, other stuffs 200lbs..total 1450lbs)

There isn't huge room left, but it is still within the capacity range in all areas.
I will probably consider hitch reinforcement and good WD for a peace of mind.

Any of you towing 2400BH or similar TT with SUVs? Any opinions would be appreciated.

[Chiefblueman]

I don't have a 2400BH but a couple of things stand out. If you put 1000 lbs in the trailer your weight will be more like 6600lbs. The UVWs posted by GD are notoriously optimistic. You receive a weight sheet for each individual rig, seldom do come delivered at the advertised weight. You will need a good weight distributing hitch, you didn't include the hundred or so lbs for that. If you go with a Pro Pride add about another hundred. You calculate your tongue weight at 10%. That's a bare minimum, especially towing with an SUV. GD TT's generally seem to run in the 13-14% range.

It seems you've calculated a little on the light side. A general technique used to calculate tongue weight would be at least 12-13% times the GVW. That would put you closer to the 900 mark. At some point you may have to travel with liquid in the gray and black tanks.

Just some food for thought. YMMV

[tomilee]

I don't have a 2400BH but a couple of things stand out. If you put 1000 lbs in the trailer your weight will be more like 6600lbs. The UVWs posted by GD are notoriously optimistic. You receive a weight sheet for each individual rig, seldom do come delivered at the advertised weight. You will need a good weight distributing hitch, you didn't include the hundred or so lbs for that. If you go with a Pro Pride add about another hundred. You calculate your tongue weight at 10%. That's a bare minimum, especially towing with an SUV. GD TT's generally seem to run in the 13-14% range.

It seems you've calculated a little on the light side. A general technique used to calculate tongue weight would be at least 12-13% times the GVW. That would put you closer to the 900 mark. At some point you may have to travel with liquid in the gray and black tanks.

Just some food for thought. YMMV

Thanks for your inputs. Yes, I'm trying to justify in every way to purchase the RV that we love. I wish I have F150 or F250 that I don't have to worry too much about the weights.
As you mentioned, I agree that the tongue can get closer to 900lbs at worst case scenario, but I was wondering if a decent WD like ProPride P3 or hitch reinforcement can help on that.

Maybe I will have to go to a nearest CAT to measure the weights before I purchase it. I'm not sure whether the dealer would allow it though.

[jw^2 family]

Our TV is 2015 GL450 (7,500 towing capacity, 650 tongue weight limit, and 1764 max payload, wheelbase 121'), but its capacity is not big enough to tow mid-to-large size TTs.

You might double check whether that 650 lb. tongue weight limit is for "weight carrying" or "weight distributing" configuration. There should be a sticker on your hitch receiver that lists the rated capacity for each configuration.

If you intend to use a weight distributing hitch to tow a travel trailer (and you definitely should use a weight distributing hitch that provides sway control as well), then you'll need to follow the corresponding rating.

[tomilee]

You might double check whether that 650 lb. tongue weight limit is for "weight carrying" or "weight distributing" configuration. There should be a sticker on your hitch receiver that lists the rated capacity for each configuration.

If you intend to use a weight distributing hitch to tow a travel trailer (and you definitely should use a weight distributing hitch that provides sway control as well), then you'll need to follow the corresponding rating.

Thanks for your time to share your thoughts.

It says it's W.C (Weight Carrying). That said, I need to follow the corresponding rating if I understand it correctly..?
I'm not sure why the tongue weight limit is only 8% of the max towing capacity of 7500 lbs, but it's too low and I hoped that it can be increased with hitch reinforcement and WD.

[howson]

I've been eyeballing this forum for the last 6 months and learned a lot.
... Any opinions would be appreciated.

If you've been lurking for 6 months I'm fairly certain you've seen me reference this post in the Reference Library: https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...ing-Capability If for some chance you haven't seen it, please take a few moments and review the information.

In post #3 you stated, "Maybe I will have to go to a nearest CAT to measure the weights before I purchase it. I'm not sure whether the dealer would allow it though." You don't need to take the trailer to the CAT scale--the dealer has a weight sheet from GD for every trailer they have in stock. If they say they don't have it, the person telling you this is uninformed. (That's being polite on my part.)

Here's what mine looked like:


Note that mine came with the optional 2nd air conditioner, so it was going to be heavier than what GD has on their website regardless.

BTW--welcome to the forum!

[tomilee]

In post #3 you stated, "Maybe I will have to go to a nearest CAT to measure the weights before I purchase it. I'm not sure whether the dealer would allow it though." You don't need to take the trailer to the CAT scale--the dealer has a weight sheet from GD for every trailer they have in stock. If they say they don't have it, the person telling you this is uninformed. (That's being polite on my part.)

Great! Thanks for the help. It will save my trip to CAT scale.
If it is too much for my truck then I will probably have to downsize our TT a bit.

[howson]

Our TV is 2015 GL450 (7,500 towing capacity, 650 tongue weight limit, and 1764 max payload, wheelbase 121'), but its capacity is not big enough to tow mid-to-large size TTs.
We love the floor plan of 2400BH which has 28ft length, UVW 5,595lbs, GVW 7,495lbs and 505lbs dry hitch weight. I saw another member towing this TT with Porsche Cayenne which has a very similar specs to my TV.

Just happened to stumble on this post https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...l=1#post218751 and immediately thought of your situation. Give it a read and, if you're willing, let me know what you think (here or on that thread).

-Howard

[tomilee]

Just happened to stumble on this post https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...l=1#post218751 and immediately thought of your situation. Give it a read and, if you're willing, let me know what you think (here or on that thread).

-Howard

Haha, actually it was an epic story, I enjoyed reading it.
It seems like I need a new DB first... so, I can upgrade my truck to a more comfortable one.

Her response? "I figured that when we bought the new trailer." Did I tell you I love this woman?

[jw^2 family]

Thanks for your time to share your thoughts.

It says it's W.C (Weight Carrying). That said, I need to follow the corresponding rating if I understand it correctly..?
I'm not sure why the tongue weight limit is only 8% of the max towing capacity of 7500 lbs, but it's too low and I hoped that it can be increased with hitch reinforcement and WD.

Weight carrying is the configuration without a weight distributing hitch, like if you were towing a small utility trailer or pop-up camping trailer. In the "weight carrying" configuration all of the trailer's tongue weight is carried by the tow vehicle's hitch, hanging behind the tow vehicle's rear axle.

Weight distributing is the configuration with a weight distributing hitch that, as the name implies, distributes some of the weight to the tow vehicle's front axle, rather than all of the weight just hanging behind the rear axle. The tongue weight of a trailer might be 800-lbs. for example, but instead of all 800-lbs. being carried by the rear axle, the weight distributing hitch would transfer say 300-lbs. to the tow vehicle's front axle, leaving 500-lbs. to be carried by the rear axle. (this is a very simplified illustration, which avoids getting into weight transferred back to the trailer's axles).

It's not uncommon for the sticker on a hitch receiver to list two separate ratings, like 500-lbs. weight carrying and 1,000-lbs. weight distributing.