lowering tongue weight on Casita 17'

[Mike_L]

Putting weight on the rear of your trailer could be a real stability issue. Over the axle is the best place.

[Jon in AZ]

The 16' has less headroom inside (5'10" vs 6'1") and a narrower main bed (45" vs 54") than the 17' Casita. The rear dinette bed accounts for most of the size difference. The 17' also has a flat floor, operable rear window, flat door, roof AC, and larger fridge. It's a newer design, and the improvements have made it much more popular, in spite of the weight penalty, and much easier to find used. A 16' Casita Liberty model solves the bed problem, but you have to take down the bed to have an indoor dining or lounging space. It's my preference among the Casita 16' models.

A 16' Scamp has the height (6'2") but the same narrow dinette bed (45"). It's even lighter than a Casita 16', at around 2500-2600 pounds fully loaded. If you happen to find one, a Scamp 16' Deluxe (wood interior) has a 54" dinette bed.

Towing with a smaller vehicle involves compromises. I wish there were a simple answer that would meet all your needs, but there just isn't. Best wishes figuring this out!

[Mike_L]

Back in the day I towed close to capacity and, in hindsight it was hard on my vehicle and hard on me. Now I tow at about 35% capacity and it is so much better. I can easily maintain highway speed up any hill. Wind isn't an issue. I get better fuel mileage and diesel is cheaper. I'm an avid boondocker so I bought a vehicle just for this. No regrets!

[Daniel E]

And this was what I would have jumped on, only 2 hours away, but.....

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...-or-78276.html

[stevebaz]

I would have jumped all over that too if I wanted a larger trailer. If I was serious about a larger trailer I would just by the trailer I want and buy or trade the tug to pull it. Tugs are far easier to swap out than getting the right trailer to fit the tug.

[Daniel E]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

Tugs are far easier to swap out than getting the right trailer to fit the tug.

Changing tow vehicle isn't an option. I'll keep looking at other trailers, there are many that will work with the weight limits of the tow vehicle.

[Alex Segal]

Originally Posted by Raspy

This "fix" can cause dangerous instability. Trying to lighten the tongue by hanging weight out behind the trailer is just asking for serious instability.

The attached video has been shared a number of times and tells the story. Weight should be centralized and about 10% forward, not hung out the back to correct a problem with tongue weight.

Yes, it can cause sway if you lighten too much, that's why I noted I was careful not to put much on the back. Since my Casita tongue weight is 460, I have room to put a few pounds on the back without causing sway.

Everyone should measure carefully, and use a WDH if the physics are working against safety.

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

Is there a feature unique to the 17' that you consider essential? A 16' would resolve your weight issues.

In a word...Headroom.

I can't stand up in a 13 or 16. The 17 has enough room to accommodate my 6'2" carcass without having to creep around like Quasimodo.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

In a word...Headroom.

I can't stand up in a 13 or 16. The 17 has enough room to accommodate my 6'2" carcass without having to creep around like Quasimodo.

I also am 6'2" and have no headroom problems in our previous 16 ft Scamp or our present 17 ft Casita or in a Parkliner , Egg Camper , or Escape.
If the OP is open to another brand of trailer besides Casita then he has many options to choose from.
If the OP only wants to own a 17 ft Casita and tow it with his present vehicle , then I can not offer a solution.

[steelypip]

un-derailing the conversation a bit, if a 17' Casita has an average real-world weight of 3000#, then, by the 10% tongue weight rule, you'd want a tongue weight of no less than 300 lbs.

Vice versa, you don't NEED a tongue weight any higher than 10% of trailer weight for stability. The 400# tongue weight means that you can do dumb things with trailer loading and still have a safe tow, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with adjusting weight and balance on the trailer to get tongue weight down to 10-12% of trailer weight.

Admittedly, the closer you get to the minimum tongue weight value, the more careful you have to be with loading the trailer to keep that much weight on the tongue, but it's not a difficult problem to manage. I deal with it all the time on our 16', which weighs about 2200 lbs and has a tongue weight of around 220 lbs. Filling the water tank (behind the axle) makes the combination noticeably less stable; having a full black tank makes it moreso. Moving the battery forward gained me some tongue weight and made the battery easier to get at. Both were desirable outcomes in my case.

If I wanted to get tongue weight down on a 17' Casita, I would look into shifting some weight around. Batteries are easy to move/add, and are heavy.

[Joe Romas]

Has anyone looked at what Casita says the dry weight of a 17' SD is? Here's the link.
Spirit 16' & 17' | Casita Travel Trailers - America's Favorite Lightweight Travel Trailers!
(2480 trailer with 365 on the tongue) Add 40 pounds of propane on the tongue and your at the 400# figure most are. I have a SHURLINE tongue weight scale and have measured many 17' sd's at rallies and most are under 420#. Now I know some owners have their bathrooms stacked full of "stuff" but conservatively packed for our 3 week trip last year and the year before I measured our trailer with 5 gallons of water at just under 2900 pounds including the tongue MINUS the microwave (no hookups where we go) That means propane, water, food and cloths added just over 400 pounds. I measured each wheel separately and they were within 50# of each other.

So assuming the 365# tongue weight is with empty tanks an additional 38# can be taken off (propane tanks each weigh 19# empty) for 327#. A better solution would be to put more water in the tank and fill one propane tank.

So anyone who thinks their 17' SD weights 3000 or more, empty everything out and weight it then decide what is really needed. Our trailer is totally unloaded after every trip keeping it light.

10% tongue weight is the minimum recommended and 15% recommended max.

How would the frontal area of a Casita work out anyway?

Joe

[Sue in WA]

Do you use a Weight Distribution Hitch? I use an Andersen WD hitch which I purchased from Casita. I just bought a 2015 17' Spirit Deluxe. I told them about my 350 tongue weight and this is what they recommended. I drove from Minneapolis to Seattle on I-90. Did not go over 60 mph and drove slower through the curves. No problems going over the mountain passes in 3rd gear up and down. Jeep max combined weight is 8900 pounds. I weighed in at 7760. I assume my tongue weight is ok if my trailer and TV are level?

[Joe Romas]

Sue.
To me it seems foolish for Casita to say going over your TV's tongue weight is ok.

Such recommendations could be dangerous.
But since your combined weights are under the limit you should be OK.
I own and towed with for 5 years our 2006 Liberty that had a 500# max tongue weight but required a WDH at 300#.

Joe

[Sue in WA]

Casita said and Andersen said using the Weight Distribution Hitch would take enough off the tongue. Towing is not as easy as I thought! My Jeep salesman obviously didn't know much about towing.

Not knowing what you don't know is a scary thing to think about.
Sue

[steve dunham]

One of the issues with all FG trailers is that the trailer and tongue weight they post are without options . all tanks empty and no cargo.
My 17 ft Casita SD was closer to 385 lbs tongue weight when leaving the factory with options . Add propane , some water and a little cargo and you are North of 400 lbs.
A vehicle with a 5000 lb tow rating and a 500 lb tongue rating is the minimum in my estimation.
When both the trailer and vehicle manufacturer give out erroneous numbers it's hard for the consumer to figure out what to buy.

[Sue in WA]

Totally agree Steve. I wish I had known what I know today when I bought the Jeep 3 months ago and the Casita private party seller said I could pull it with the Wrangler Unlimited with Max Tow package. To trade it now will cost a few thousand so I would like to wait. I plan on using a weigh station near me to insure my total weight and distribution is correct. How do you measure your tongue weight? I'm going to try by calculating based on Jeep weight with Casita hitched but not on the scale. Then weigh the whole rig and then weigh the Jeep alone.

[Joe Romas]

Sue.
Here's how you can measure your tongue weight using a bathroom scale.
https://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-...ue-weight.aspx

Joe

[Mike_L]

Tongue weight is important for stability. Too little is much worse than too much. If your vehicle has the capacity and especially if you have a weight distributing hitch, the limiting factor now becomes the strength of your trailer chassis. I've seen the chassis bend right behind the hitch due to excessive weight but this takes significant overloading.