I'm wanting to purchase a 2017 16TBS, thinking it would be an ideal small and lightweight singe-axle aluminum travel trailer. It is fairly small, and it's not excessively heavy overall at 3370 pounds (per Livin Lite's brochure), but it puts a lot of weight on the tow vehicle's ball.
Dry Hitch Weight is listed (per brochure) as 442 lbs, but I read that in normal use that number can increase very quickly, due to the '17 16TBS's single axle. For example, an owner-measured ball weight of 625 pounds was reported here:
https://aluminumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=391.0. In the same thread, the double-axle version weighed in with a 540 lb tongue weight, and it makes sense the 2nd axle would help somewhat, given that it's located further forward.
That's a lot of added pounds for a small/light camper to put on the tow vehicle, and more than the 8%-10% U.S. guideline for the ratio of tongue weight to trailer weight. A weight distribution (WD) hitch could potentially help, but that does just add more total weight to the system and many tow non-truck tow vehicles aren't approved for a WD hitch.
Other than pick-up trucks and massive truck-like SUVs (think Tahoe, Suburban), I could find almost nothing that can handle a 625 hitch weight; a Touareg (now discontinued) and a Jeep Grand Cherokee can manage it though, if properly set up.
Am I correct in concluding that if I buy a CampLite "lightweight" and fairly small single-axle 16' trailer (specifically, in this case, the 16TBS), that I need a pretty special rig to deal with it?? I originally thought my 300hp Audio Q5 with factory towing package should by able to tow a 16' aluminum travel trailer, but the more I read, the more I am concluding I was probably wrong to think that. Heck, even the exceptional and discontinued Touareg seems barely sufficient!
I read here...http://caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=68200 and
http://www.outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/driving-towing-towing/towball-weight-and-trailer-stability...that in Europe the recommended upper-limit on ball weights is 100kb (220 pounds)! It seems strange that the dry weight of an aluminum 16' trailer should already exceed more than double that amount (i.e., the 442 lbs hitch weight of the 16TBS). What gives?
Am I over-thinking this and reading too much? Shouldn't a standard SUV with a factory tow package be able to handle a 16' aluminum CampLite trailer? I'd love to buy one, but don't want to be super restricted to a few and very large tow vehicles. I'd really appreciate other perspectives on this.
Dry Hitch Weight is listed (per brochure) as 442 lbs, but I read that in normal use that number can increase very quickly, due to the '17 16TBS's single axle. For example, an owner-measured ball weight of 625 pounds was reported here:
https://aluminumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=391.0. In the same thread, the double-axle version weighed in with a 540 lb tongue weight, and it makes sense the 2nd axle would help somewhat, given that it's located further forward.
That's a lot of added pounds for a small/light camper to put on the tow vehicle, and more than the 8%-10% U.S. guideline for the ratio of tongue weight to trailer weight. A weight distribution (WD) hitch could potentially help, but that does just add more total weight to the system and many tow non-truck tow vehicles aren't approved for a WD hitch.
Other than pick-up trucks and massive truck-like SUVs (think Tahoe, Suburban), I could find almost nothing that can handle a 625 hitch weight; a Touareg (now discontinued) and a Jeep Grand Cherokee can manage it though, if properly set up.
Am I correct in concluding that if I buy a CampLite "lightweight" and fairly small single-axle 16' trailer (specifically, in this case, the 16TBS), that I need a pretty special rig to deal with it?? I originally thought my 300hp Audio Q5 with factory towing package should by able to tow a 16' aluminum travel trailer, but the more I read, the more I am concluding I was probably wrong to think that. Heck, even the exceptional and discontinued Touareg seems barely sufficient!
I read here...http://caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=68200 and
http://www.outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/driving-towing-towing/towball-weight-and-trailer-stability...that in Europe the recommended upper-limit on ball weights is 100kb (220 pounds)! It seems strange that the dry weight of an aluminum 16' trailer should already exceed more than double that amount (i.e., the 442 lbs hitch weight of the 16TBS). What gives?
Am I over-thinking this and reading too much? Shouldn't a standard SUV with a factory tow package be able to handle a 16' aluminum CampLite trailer? I'd love to buy one, but don't want to be super restricted to a few and very large tow vehicles. I'd really appreciate other perspectives on this.