Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Looking to start a thread just for discussion on Travel Trailers and the 2008 and newer Highlander's



Post your picture of your Highlander with your travel trailer in tow?

What trailer did you get?

What does the trailer weigh?



I am looking at buying a travel trailer with 5,000 GVWR.

I have the factory hitch with the factory tow package and I have wired for electric brakes.

The trailer I am looking for is a Keystone Coyote Lite CL230

Specs: http://www.kz-rv.com/coyote_lite/specifications.html



I travel with wife and two boys, bikes, bedding, food. This would be included in my net cargo capacity of 1295lb. Don't think I'll hit the 5,000 lb.



So, am I nuts? I really need a trailer with a queen and bunks.



Also I am considering:

Rockwood 2306, with 4469lb GVRW Link: Forest River Rockwood 2306

Flagstaff 23LB, similar to Rockwood Link: FlagStaff 23LB Travel Trailer

Rockwood Roo with Rear Slide Link: Rockwood Roo 21RS





Here is what I currently bring:

Wife and two kids, bikes, and basic camping stuff

1998 Coleman Casa Grande, 2950 Dry weight, two king beds, slide out dinette

Reply 1 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

I too am looking for a travel trailer to tow with my '08 Sport.

I like the KZ Coyote Lite. One question though, how do four people sit down to eat together. The dinette in the photo gallery shows seating for two only.

Reply 2 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

vinnyd, which floor plan are you looking at?

Reply 3 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

I was looking at the floor layout that had a dinette. I saw a couple of used ones and was able to find photos of the inside. It does have a dinette, bunk beds, and a queen bed. It is a long trailer though. If I pack reasonably light, and if my wife and I loose 10 lbs each, I figure we would be about 400 under the 5,000 limit.

Reply 4 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

The KZs are very nice. I found one with a dinette also.

Have you looked at Hi Lo Trailers:

The 1909 seems light enough to tow with the Highlander. The nice thing about these is the lower wind resistance.

The last one in your list (Rockwood Roo) has too high of a Hitch Weight. The Highlander has a Class III with a limit of 500 lbs. Could be wrong though.

Reply 5 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Haven't seen the HiLo but I have looked at TrailManor who makes a similar trailer. I already have a tent trailer and kind of want to move to something that I can pull off the road and sleep in within a few minutes. With the pop-ups you will always have to take down stuff inside. I did a lot of poking at the TrailManor website and must admit that it is an impressive concept. Just not for me.

Thanks for the suggestions.



On the Roo, all I can say is Holy Cow! I missed seeing that spec. Two limit for the Factory 5,000lb hitch is 500lb hitch weight. Wondering if they made a typo?



Cheers

Reply 6 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Currently towing a coyoto 19 ct with my 04 highlander, no problems towing, accelerating , braking. Using weight distribution bars to take some of the load off the hitch. Loaded down probly coming close to 4200lbs, works fine.

Reply 7 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Quote:

Originally Posted by prescill Currently towing a coyoto 19 ct with my 04 highlander, no problems towing, accelerating , braking. Using weight distribution bars to take some of the load off the hitch. Loaded down probly coming close to 4200lbs, works fine.

Hey, another member from Moncton...and I thought I was the only one.



I just got my 09 HL in April and have not yet used it to tow my 10' Jayco tent trailer. The last two years I towed it using my 4 cylinder 2005 Camry (ouch), and I am looking forward to finally getting a chance to haul it with my HL. I likely won't even notice it, as it is only 1,500 pounts, maybe 1,800 pounds loaded. I am looking at upgrading to something similar to the Rockwood Roo as well in the next couple years, and I would be interested in hearing from you, Cheapypants, if you end up with this unit.



On the topic of RVs, anyone care to comment on their thoughts as to which manufacturer makes the best quality trailers. I know that this isn't an RV forum, but since the topic came up here, I thought I would get some opinions on this.

Reply 8 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheapypants Looking to start a thread just for discussion on Travel Trailers and the 2008 and newer Highlander's Post your picture of your Highlander with your travel trailer in tow? What trailer did you get? What does the trailer weigh? I am looking at buying a travel trailer with 5,000 GVWR. I have the factory hitch with the factory tow package and I have wired for electric brakes. The trailer I am looking for is a Keystone Coyote Lite CL230 Specs: http://www.kz-rv.com/coyote_lite/specifications.html I travel with wife and two boys, bikes, bedding, food. This would be included in my net cargo capacity of 1295lb. Don't think I'll hit the 5,000 lb. So, am I nuts? I really need a trailer with a queen and bunks. Also I am considering: Rockwood 2306, with 4469lb GVRW Link: Forest River Rockwood 2306 Flagstaff 23LB, similar to Rockwood Link: FlagStaff 23LB Travel Trailer Rockwood Roo with Rear Slide Link: Rockwood Roo 21RS Here is what I currently bring: Wife and two kids, bikes, and basic camping stuff 1998 Coleman Casa Grande, 2950 Dry weight, two king beds, slide out dinette

Did you get your new trailer yet, or are you still thinking about it? I am curious to see how well your HL hauls it. Myself, I am leaning towards the Roo.

Reply 9 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

OK, here is my current set-up. It is a 2002 Jayco Qwest 10V with my 2009 Highlander Limited. I would have liked something a little bigger, but when we bought it, it was the biggest possible trailer available that I could tow with my old 2005 Camry LE 2.4L. We will look to get something bigger soon, but this will be our setup for at least this year.

Reply 10 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

What kind of mileage are you getting with that trailer in tow?

Reply 11 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust What kind of mileage are you getting with that trailer in tow?

So far, I only had it on one trip, and it was only around 150km (90 miles) round trip, Average speed was around 95km/hr (55 mph); trailer loaded was likely around 1800lbs; cargo and people load around 700lbs; little wind; no rain; relatively flat - MFD said around 14 L/100km (17mpg), which is better than I expected, allbeit a small sample. The mileage on my HL is close to 6000km. I expect to take several longer trips this summer, so I would expect more accurate data then. I will report on this later this summer.

Reply 12 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Guys, the Rockwood Mini Lite travel trailers by Forest River are all capable of being towed by the '08 Highlander. Slightly smaller than than the Rockwood Roo series, they are pretty much the same layout.

Reply 13 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinnyd Guys, the Rockwood Mini Lite travel trailers by Forest River are all capable of being towed by the '08 Highlander. Slightly smaller than than the Rockwood Roo series, they are pretty much the same layout.

What I like about the Roo versus this layout is you can maximize your living space, without taking down and setting up the bed every day (I mean when you are parked for a few days). The same size Mini Lite, even with a Murphy bed (which would require daily set-up and take down), would have less living space. Looking at the Mini Lite 2304, for example, would also require daily set-up and take down of my son's bed. With the Roo (or another Hybrid), you have a bed on either end that does not take up living space when set up.



Of course, one of the drawbacks of Hybrids (especially those built prior to 2007), is leakage around the front bed while travelling, and both beds, if not ventilated properly while open. I have been getting my infor from: http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/boa...s/forum/68.cfm.



Question: I also read (in a few places, actually) that it is not recommended that the GVWR of a trailer exceed 80% of your towing vehicles towing capacity, which, in the Highlander's case, would be 4,000lbs. Anyone else hear anything like this? This is apparently coming from people who have been there, done that. One odd thing is that (using the Rockwood MiniLite 2304 as an example) the unloaded vehicle weight is 3,039 lbs, and the GVWR is 4,310 lbs. Basically, they are saying that the maximum cargo and fluid weight of the trailer cannot exceed 1,281 lbs....that seems like alot of weight for cargo, food, etc. If I was to get this trailer, I doubt I would exceed 4000 lbs, anyway, but even if I did, I wouldn't worry too much about hauling a 4300 lb trailer. I don't know.



The GVWR of my hard top is just over 2,000 lbs, and it is the only trailer I ever towed, so I do not have too much to compare too. That being said, the maximum towing capacity on my 05 4-cylinder Camry was 2,000 lbs, and I wouldn't be shocked if, on occassion, the trailer exceeded 2000 lbs, and you definitely felt it (glad it was a lease and no longer my problem). I towed this trailer from Moncton, New Brunswick, up the Mass and NY turnpikes, to Darien, NY (just outside of Buffalo....roughly 1500 km one way) with no problems aside from the obvious additional weight. No increase in engine temperature whatsoever, and these were hot and humid summer days.



...so, I am just curious what weights people are hauling with their HLs and what concerns you have from doing so, if you are nearling the 5000 lb threshold.

Reply 14 : Travel Trailers Only - How big can you go?

Hi Everyone!



My first post on this site and we recently purchased the Rockwood Mini-Lite 2306 and tow it with a 2008 Highlander with no problems. Our camping trips are usually localized (no more than 3 hrs away), but we do go over large hills. Our trip to Mt. Kidd in Kananaskis country resulted in about 22.3 l/100km (~10 mpg), but I was doing about 110 kph all the way there...well...except for the bigger hills of course!!!



Using a local scale, our 2306 weighted in at 1760kg (~3900 pounds), it was well loaded (without water). I towed it in S4 mode and manually shifted the truck when required. This worked really well. The total weight of the truck, including trailer weight came in at 2370kg.