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New to Pop up camping

Started by jhundley, Aug 31, 2009, 01:03 PM

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jhundley

Just got back from our first trip camping. I have a few questions.

We have a 2006 Dodge Grand caravan with Stow and Go seating
PUP is a 2009 Jayco 1007 -weight ~ 1800 pounds dry

The Dodge manual states I can go up to 3600 lbs towing weight with optional towing package ... what I added was a class 3 hitch and transmission cooler.

Noticed the rear bumper of the caravan dropped about and inch when the trailer is completly hitched.

Mininmal trailer movement (sway ) if any at all ... I may be being paranoid.

Does this setup sound safe and done correctly ... DW has said that I am over thinking things because I know little about trailers but got advice from a few good friends.

hoppy

Quote from: jhundley;209703Just got back from our first trip camping. I have a few questions.

We have a 2006 Dodge Grand caravan with Stow and Go seating
PUP is a 2009 Jayco 1007 -weight ~ 1800 pounds dry

Noticed the rear bumper of the caravan dropped about and inch when the trailer is completly hitched.

Mininmal trailer movement (sway ) if any at all ... I may be being paranoid.

 I am no trailer expert by any means, but that bumper drop sounds acceptable to me. You have about 180-200 lbs of tongue weight on the receiver, and that movement is not very much.

 You also mentioned that you have almost no sway, which is one indicator of  proper tongue weight.

  To put your mind at ease, load the PU as if you are going camping and weigh the PU in three stages. Disconnect the PU from the TV. First  measure the tongue weight with only the tongue dolly on the scale. Pull the PU forward. Second, weight the total weight of the trailer on the scale. (both wheels, and the tongue dolly on the scale) Pull forward again. Third time with only the two wheels on the scale. This will represent the total axel weight. The tongue weight shouild be in the 10-15 % of the total PU weight for most model PU's. All other capacity limitations will be stated in your owners manual.

wavery

Quote from: jhundley;209703Just got back from our first trip camping. I have a few questions.

We have a 2006 Dodge Grand caravan with Stow and Go seating
PUP is a 2009 Jayco 1007 -weight ~ 1800 pounds dry

The Dodge manual states I can go up to 3600 lbs towing weight with optional towing package ... what I added was a class 3 hitch and transmission cooler.

Noticed the rear bumper of the caravan dropped about and inch when the trailer is completly hitched.

Mininmal trailer movement (sway ) if any at all ... I may be being paranoid.

Does this setup sound safe and done correctly ... DW has said that I am over thinking things because I know little about trailers but got advice from a few good friends.

To answer that question correctly and not just give you an "Opinion" (opinions can be dangerous), you need to gather some facts about your vehicle and put it into this calculator. The more facts that you have the better but the most critical is your GCWR YOUR Caravan:
http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-trailer-weight-tt.shtml

Anything short of this is guessing. It may be best not to ask people to guess with you.