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Looking at Campers (6spd Sport Manual)

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So I'm looking at campers and the one that caught my eye is a hair over the 4000lb manual tow limit. (https://www.gulfstreamcoach.com/products/light-weight/vintage-cruiser/model/23RSS)
The Trailer has a 3920lb dry weight, so allow ~500lb for water, propane etc and I'll be ~4400->4500lb.. I can't see this being a massive problem but I wanted to see what the collective here thought.

Edit: I have the Tow Package
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Josh00333

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6000+ pound gvwr trailer 23' long. You have a tow rating of 4k.

You're a bit over.

That said your rig has the best payload
 

Mr._Bill

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The truck is capable, the weak point is going to be the clutch and transmission. Depending on your states enforcement practices, you may have issues since you will be exceeding the vehicles tow rating.
 

xpcdoojk

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The truck is capable, the weak point is going to be the clutch and transmission. Depending on your states enforcement practices, you may have issues since you will be exceeding the vehicles tow rating.
How would any enforcement agency know that they are over their rating? Do they do random stops and open the door to see the tow rating, etc.? Or do they do it like sobriety check points where they stop all vehicles towing and send them to the Cat Scales?

The only way I could see anyone ever knowing would be if there was an accident. At that point it might be hard to know how much the trailer even weighed, until it got to court trying to collect from the insurance company.

Truly, what am I missing?
 

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How would any enforcement agency know that they are over their rating? Do they do random stops and open the door to see the tow rating, etc.? Or do they do it like sobriety check points where they stop all vehicles towing and send them to the Cat Scales?

The only way I could see anyone ever knowing would be if there was an accident. At that point it might be hard to know how much the trailer even weighed, until it got to court trying to collect from the insurance company.

Truly, what am I missing?
That there MAY be an issue, depending on where he is. Enforcement varies from state to state. They may look at the door label and the label on the trailer. They may put them on a scale at the port of entry. They may not even care.
 

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The truck is capable, the weak point is going to be the clutch and transmission. Depending on your states enforcement practices, you may have issues since you will be exceeding the vehicles tow rating.
agreed here, I believe the clutch is the weakest point before the transmission. On high power turbo cars with weak clutches they avoid going full throttle in top gear to keep the clutch from going, that same idea may work, probably can't tow in 5th or 6th anyway.
 
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6000+ pound gvwr trailer 23' long. You have a tow rating of 4k.

You're a bit over.

That said your rig has the best payload
6000lb? Its a hair under 4000lb dry so I'm allowing 500lb for the water tanks, propane and some personal items. That's only ~4500lb
 
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agreed here, I believe the clutch is the weakest point before the transmission. On high power turbo cars with weak clutches they avoid going full throttle in top gear to keep the clutch from going, that same idea may work, probably can't tow in 5th or 6th anyway.
Well here in VT (Or any state really) I dont see a cop pulling me over with a camper towed by a truck.
But insurance might use this as an excuse... hmm. Mayhaps I'll loose a couple feet on the trailer, or upgrade the clutch?
 

ygrignon

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6000lb? Its a hair under 4000lb dry so I'm allowing 500lb for the water tanks, propane and some personal items. That's only ~4500lb
Based on the link you posted total water capacity is 93 gallons ~= 775lb and the 2 propane tanks weight in at about 75lb. Add the weight of a WDH (~100lb) and a trailer spare tire (~50lb). At this point you still don't have any food, drinks, cuttlery, pots and pans, or BEER! Granted you probably won't travel full but you should make sure you don't get in deep trouble at some point.
 

FloridaJT6MT

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I’d be careful going over the rating. Probably not a big deal, especially for short hauls. Can you leave it dry and carry the 500# on the truck or would that put you over payload?
 

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be77solo

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6000lb? Its a hair under 4000lb dry so I'm allowing 500lb for the water tanks, propane and some personal items. That's only ~4500lb
Yeah, I'm not sure where the above post came from. I saw you post this initially, but I didn't want to be the first response......

But, I'd tow that trailer all day long with mine! Just throw any payload in the bed, not the trailer.

I tow "3500" pounds all the time with mine on my utility trailer with a 3500lb axle, no issue.

Note sure what these guys are going on about with 6000 ha.
 

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upgrade the clutch?
I haven't found any aftermarket clutches yet that are claiming higher tow / hp ratings. Wouldn't want to replace your clutch until your current one is bad anyway, so that is how you would find out.
 

Josh00333

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6000lb? Its a hair under 4000lb dry so I'm allowing 500lb for the water tanks, propane and some personal items. That's only ~4500lb
All the factory options, water, propane, dishes, towels, toilet paper, bedding, camp chairs, food, beer, whiskey, cupcakes, kids toys, wife’s purse, hiking boots, dog dish…..

you are not going to just add water.
Best rule is to use the trailer gvwr as your load for calculating.
 

LostWoods

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6000lb? Its a hair under 4000lb dry so I'm allowing 500lb for the water tanks, propane and some personal items. That's only ~4500lb
Gross trailer weight is a hair over 6k. Empty trailer weight leaves out a lot of things and the little things add up. I would not be surprised if you were regularly sitting north of 5k. I would personally never recommend going 20% over even if the truck (minus gearbox) can clearly handle it based on the ratings of other models.

The real issue is that the MT is already marginal when it comes to torque capacity. If you're talking stock tires you might be ok but I'd be looking into gears to reduce strain on the transmission if you go through with this. You probably won't get harassed unless someone is looking to do so since that's a pretty common size behind mid size pickups.
 

kevman65

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You can't look at empty dry weight. Everyone tries to pull that.

You have almost 100 gallons capacity for water, that's 800 + pounds.
Pots, pans, dishes, silverware, paper goods, clothes, linens, towels, folding chairs, campfire equipment, grill, yadda, yadda, yadda.
The 2100 + pounds carrying capabilities are a rough estimate of a fully kitted camper. You use the gross number not the dry weight number to figure your towing weight.

The camper listed, you will be extremely overweight.

Code enforcement, some States issue plates by weight for vehicles (trucks) that can haul/tow. So the weight is right on the tag. Damned skippy some will pull you over and put you on portable scales.


Biggest issue, if overloaded that bad and you are in or cause an accident and the insurance company can prove you were overloaded, you eat the entire cost of the accident and good luck getting insurance again.
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