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↓ Episode 168 – Towing Capacities – Does The Math Add Up with Your Truck and Trailer?
16th January 2025 • The Smart RVer Podcast • Eric Stark
00:00:00 00:28:54

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Today, we delve into the critical topic of towing capacities, emphasizing the importance of ensuring your truck and trailer are a compatible match. Understanding the math behind your towing setup can enhance safety and performance on the road, preventing potential accidents and mechanical failures. Eric Stark shares insights on storm awareness while staying in RV parks, highlighting the need for preparation and safety measures during unexpected weather events. The episode also features a virtual visit to Cottonwood, Arizona, a hidden gem for RV enthusiasts, and a discussion on Jerome, Arizona, known for its fascinating history and vibrant arts scene. Additionally, listeners will learn about 12-volt heating cable from HeatLine, a product designed to protect plumbing in winter conditions, and tips on saving money by finding DIY alternatives for RV accessories. Towing capacities are a central theme in the RVing world, and Eric Stark unpacks the essential considerations for RV enthusiasts in this insightful episode. He emphasizes that the math must add up when it comes to pairing your truck with the right trailer. Stark warns against the negligence of some dealerships who may prioritize sales over the safety of their customers, leading them to mismatched vehicle-trailer combinations. This discussion is not just theoretical; Stark draws from real-life experiences in his store, where he encounters numerous customers who have overlooked their vehicle’s towing limits. He encourages listeners to educate themselves on the various weight ratings and capacities, ensuring they don’t end up in potentially dangerous situations on the road. The conversation takes a practical turn as Eric and Alexis discuss storm awareness while staying in RV parks. Alexis motivates RVers to stay informed about weather conditions and suggests creating a storm emergency kit filled with essentials like first aid supplies and bottled water. This segment underscores the importance of preparation rather than panic, equipping listeners with actionable steps to take before hitting the road. The hosts also stress the significance of inspecting RVs for damage post-storm, a crucial step that can prevent larger issues down the line. In addition to the technical discussions, the episode includes a travel segment highlighting Cottonwood and Jerome, Arizona, two charming destinations for RV travelers. Cottonwood emerges as a vibrant hub for culture and outdoor activities, while Jerome offers a glimpse into Arizona's mining history and artistic revival. The interplay between practical RVing advice and the allure of travel encapsulates the spirit of adventure, making this episode a valuable resource for both seasoned RVers and newcomers alike.
Takeaways:
  • Understanding your truck's towing capacity is crucial to ensure safe RV travel.
  • Always prepare for unpredictable storms by having a storm emergency kit ready in your RV.
  • Inspect your RV for damage after a storm to prevent future problems from developing.
  • Consider using 12-volt heating tape from Heat Line to protect your plumbing in cold weather.
  • Research RV parks for safe shelter options in case of severe weather warnings.
  • Creating a personalized checklist for RV trips can streamline your preparation process.
RV Extended Warranties from WholeSale Warranties Heat-Line 12 Volt Heating Cable General RV Capacity Guide Contact Us By Text or Phone 406-961-8688 Our Online Resources: The Smart Rver YouTube Channel - Check Out Our No-Nonsense YouTube Videos Sunpro Mfg - RV Sunshade, Windshield Covers & Slide Out Awning Fabrics Hot Boat Ropes - Marine Cordage- Anchor Lines, Dock Lines, Tow Lines, etc. Top Rated Podcast - The Smart RVer Podcast Website

Transcripts

INTRO

Eric Stark

Towing capacities. Does the math add up for your truck and trailer? Today, We will discuss staying on the road and enjoying RV life.

We'll discuss storm awareness while you're staying in RV parks. It's essential to know that. Then, we'll visit Cottonwood, Arizona, as our next stop.

Then, right next to that, in Shadows in the Past, are towns that once were. We're going to visit Jerome, Arizona. Then, in RV Envy, we will talk about the 12-volt heating tape from Heat-Line.

This is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer Podcast, your trusted source for tips and insights on embracing the RV lifestyle without worries. Let's talk about everything, RV. Today is episode 168, so let's dig right into this. Alexis, welcome to the show today.

Alexis

Thank you. I'm excited to be here again.

Eric Stark

Again. It's always an iffy situation, you know.

Alexis

Only if I'm good.

Eric Stark

Well, it's about minus 40 degrees today. Well, maybe not, but it's cold out, and cars may not start. Cars crash everywhere. I get it. You know, on these Wild West roads.

Alexis

It's true.

Eric Stark

Here in Victor, Montana. Yeah.

Alexis

We had to get the horse out this morning.

Eric Stark

Yeah. And they're always cold. You gotta tap their legs a little bit.

Alexis

Right.

Eric Stark

All right, a great show was planned today, but I want to give a shout-out to Craig from Selma, Texas. It got me thinking about 12-volt heating tape.

So, I did a lot of research and found a great company called Heat Line, which we'll discuss in RV Envy. Craig also made an excellent point. He creates this checklist for his RV when he's getting ready to go on a trip.

So it's personalized for him. He didn't get online anywhere. He just made this. So he goes down the list and ensures everything's done before going out.

Then, when he comes home, he does it basically in reverse. Make sure everything's undone that needs to be undone. And there you go. He has a great trip. When he does, that makes it a lot easier.

And then also, somebody didn't like what I said about putting needles in your arm at the factories. The workers walking around all hopped up on heroin. So I want to apologize for that.

Maybe it was insensitive because some people are dealing with problems like that. And I made it sound like every factory worker, you know, walks around with a needle in their arm. And that's not the case.

I'm going to stop right there before I get too deep. So, I'm attending the NTP show in Colorado today or this weekend to learn more about RV parts and accessories.

When I return, I'll be a full-fledged expert one more time. Wholesale Warranties is not bringing you our show today but will be our honorary sponsor.

LIVING THE RV LIFE

Alexis

There you go.

Eric Stark

We like the,m so that they will be our guys today. So go to our website, or you'll find a link for Wholesale Warranties in the podcast description. If you need an RV extended warranty, check them out.

They have a great company and excellent service. If you're looking for a warranty, look at their extended RV warranty. Now, let's get into enjoying the RV life.

Today's topic is storm awareness while staying in RV parks. This is a pretty interesting subject.

And Alexis chose this because sometimes I've talked about being out in our RV, and storms come out of nowhere. And I'm from Arizona as well, and sometimes air storms will be on you, and within minutes, you see it out on the horizon, and all of a sudden, it's on you.

If you spend days in an RV park, camping, or wherever you are, you want to be ready for a storm. If you think a storm is coming, you don't want to leave your RV unattended with the awning out, your chairs and tables, and everything else.

Talking about some of that stirred Alexis's curiosity. So, she wants to share what she found online about storm awareness while in an RV park.

Alexis

Yes, exactly. Again, this is not to scare you; it's to prepare you. So we want you to be TheSmartRVer, right? Yeah.

No, we want you to be inside your RV watching everybody else scramble. So, one of the first things we want you to do is stay informed.

So, however you do that, monitor the weather with an app or whatever you have on your phone.

Sometimes, we don't have a WI-fi connection, though, so you have to be ready to know what that is, keep track of the weather, and create a storm emergency kit. You can never have enough kits.

Have first aid supplies, bottled water, and flashlights ready. If the power goes out, you'll need everything or be briefly in your RV.

Also, if you're in an RV park, you want to identify safe shelter options if you can't return to your RV for whatever reason. So sometimes those RV parks have, you know, bathrooms or laundromats. So, hiding in there if they're concrete.

Eric Stark

Oh, man. Depending on the park, I'd just soon die. Hide one of their bathrooms.

Alexis

That's true. It might not be the best option.

Of course, after any storm hits, you should inspect for damage and ensure there is no leaking or structural damage, as that could cause problems in the future. Those are some things we want you to consider. You will have more personal things to worry about.

These are just some things we came up with for you.

Eric Stark

All right, very good. So all that information is on the website, smartrver.com, under storm awareness and enjoying RV life.

You can check out the full article there. We also have a money-saving tip that we missed in the last one. Alexis, do you recall?

Alexis

I, I do not.

Eric Stark

Yeah, I don't remember if we did. We're sorry. But all of them are also also on our website under money-saving tips.

So this was a cheap or do-it-yourself alternative to RV accessories.

Instead, you could buy accessories. You could go to thrift stores and garage sales and find things you can incorporate into the interior design of your RV.

Remember we talked about that last episode about changing up the inside of your RV to give it a refresher so you don't feel inclined to buy a new one? Saving thousands of dollars.

These thrift stores, even antique stores, have a lot of stuff, including cool little tin-type items that would fit on the walls, are lightweight, and could be used to decorate. If you're handy, you can find some things.

You could buy curtains, cut them up, and make them into covers for your toilet seat.

I'd love to see people buy that kind of stuff. You know, you can find curtains with cool designs or RV designs and an old T-shirt, and why don't you get a T-shirt and shove stuff in it? Make a pillow. There you go, man. Art at interior design at its best.

Alexis

Yes.

Eric Stark

Seriously, there are ways to save money. You don't have to buy everything from A store or spend hundreds of dollars online.

Believe me, we like you to buy stuff because we sell it in a havoc store. But you know what? Sometimes, you have to save money and cut back where possible. So that's our money-saving tip today.

That should help you with a few bucks and keep you aware when you're going out in an RV park or wherever you go camping to be mindful of storms, keep an eye on the weather, and make the changes you need to make. That brings us to staying on the road. This is staying on the road. We're going to talk about towing capacities and whether that matters. The math adds up.

STAYING ON THE ROAD

So, are your truck and trailer the correct ones? Is it a cIt'suration? You must understand or figure that out because you don't want a little wimpy truck pulling this big, old, massive trailer that weighs too much. The brakes barely stop it, and you can scarcely accelerate. Those are problems. But there are some basic things about this, which is why I brought it up.

This episode, too. Many of our customers in the store don't understand this, and I shouldn't say much about many dealerships.

Some dealerships don't help if you're buying a new trailer to hook up your truck. Whether it's a fifth wheel, a towable trailer, or a pull-behind, they just want to sell you a trailer.

So they don't care if you go in there with a tiny Toyota pickup. They might sell you a big old trailer that you can't tow. You could even get off the lot and have to get a new truck. But it's not always that simple.

Not every truck can troll every trailer. And also, you don't need to go out and buy a one-ton truck to pull a little 18-foot trailer. So you don't need to go overboard, either.

Unless you need that truc, be aware of that.

And even consumers or RVers who are buying a new RV and maybe they're going to a private party, you still have to have an understanding there. The private party is going to sell you the RV again. They're going, but I don't know; it looks like it'll pull it.

In many cases, just by looking at a truck and a trailer, someone who's been around a bit could tell whether it can tow it or not. But you want to be sure. And there are other things, too. Do you need a weight-distributing hitch?

Do you need a sway control? Everybody should have those two things. If you're pulling a trailer, that should be the one thing everybody has. I say that because we were going down this mountain road a couple of years ago.

So there's a truck pulling a trailer, and as he goes down the road, the trailer swerves all over the place. It's going back and forth, back and forth, and there's curves and straightaways.

And every time you go into a curve, it'd get all, you know, swaying on him and going everywhere, which was unsafe. So that guy, you know, eventually, I was able to pass h,im and you could. He didn't have a weight-distributing hitch or sway control.

He's just going, pulling this trailer.

Whoever sold them the trailer probably didn't sing to him, or maybe they did, but he didn't want to spend the minimum of four or five hundred dollars to get set up. Right now, when you go to a dealership for weight-distributing hitches, they don't sell you the four or 500 for $1.

They will go up to the:

And you know, there's some truth to that. But you don't have to go high-end on these weight-distributing hitches. They've been around for decades.

The basic ones, like those from Easelift or Reese, work fine. They're not as fancy or easy to connect as some newer ones, but they work. The main thing is to have one.

Back to the real thing here about the capacities. There are some dealerships on their website; they're going to have charts to help you make the right decision. Like General RV, they do that.

Generalrv.com, you can go to their website and get all the information you need because they have a fit chart. You put in the year, make, model, year, truck, and whole deal, and then it'll set you up or hook you up to one of their trailers.

One of their trailers, you know, but it gives you an idea. It might not be the trailer you want. General RV might not be near you, but it'll show you the trailer, the size, and the weight capacity.

Now, you can go shopping in other places if you want. That's helpful. So that's just one website. There are many others. Even some banks have them. So you can buy the right thing.

But it's essential to determine what your truck, SUV, or whatever you're using to tow can tow before buying the RV. Don't try to decide that later. Buy the RV based on what you have—unless you want to buy a new vehicle.

Then look at RVs and vehicles and find that, you know, nice match there. And there are a lot of terms and definitions when it comes to towing capacities. You have tongue weight and pin weight for the fifth wheels.

You have dry weight, gross vehicle weight, and gross vehicle weight rating. You have cargo weight and tongue hitch weight. Payload capacity goes on and on. You're like, wow, look at all these numbers.

You know, I don't even try to remember all this stuff. It comes to me when we're talking about it.

However, you don't need to memorize this information for the RV you're buying. As I said, you can go to our website.

We have an article under do-it-yourself articles with all this information broken down into categories. So it makes it easy to understand. So you can jot down some notices. This is what I need to look at buying an RV or a towable trailer. That, you get the right. That's where the math is, and what's so important is that all these numbers will be very confusing.

Many people will throw out numbers, which can be confusing. Make notes on what you see as important.

You like the weight of the trailer empty versus the weight of it after you put all your stuff in there.

You know, your tools, your sewer hoses, your awning shades, your chairs, your tables, your coolers, your spare this, your spare that, little Billy the dog, your wife, all that adds up. And then, suddenly, you may have added a thousand pounds to it. That'll also tie in with the axle rating as well.

But when you look at the website, you see all that, and it'll come together for you. So don't panic. It's not that complicated.

Also, if you already have an RV, go back through and double-check this information to make sure you're having problems towing. It doesn't feel right, and you can double-check that information now.

One factor that ties into this is the receiver hitch on your tow vehicle. You want to ensure that your receiver hitch will also tow the trailer, as receiver hitches have different rate weightings.

You have classes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, so you want to make sure you get the right one. You also don't want to buy the wrong hitch, which is underrated.

And you go to hook it up and drive them down the road, and the thing just breaks right off,f and you, God, gee, Davey, what happens? Sorry, nobody named Davey is out there, right? But so then you're driving, the trailer's gone. Oh, you know, you have to go to a new RV.

Do this one again. There you go. You don't want to do that. Today, Most trucks have the correct hitch designed for what that truck can tow.

But if the vehicle doesn't have a hitch and you're buying one or you want to upgrade, you got a clue. There are different size hitch ratings. It's not one size that fits all. And sometimes, what we do is think that this is what my truck has.

S, every truck must have the same thing. We hear it with RVs: This is what my RV has. The RVer thinks every RV has the same thing but doesn't.

A lot might have the same thing, but not every RV. And then another question we get asked a lot. This isn't so much about capacities for towing, but it's general.

If your tongue jack breaks and you need to replace it, you should buy something with the correct weight rating. Your trailer's tongue weight is 10 to 15% of its total weight.

Alexis

Right.

Eric Stark

You know, 10 is easier math. Add a few little bit more to it. But that's what you want to calculate—10 to 15%.

I go on 10%, add a few pounds to the trailer, and go off of that, and then you'll be safe. And generally, you'll buy a more oversized tongue jack than their weight rating. It's just the way it works out.

Especially if you go to electric, they don't have as many options or size options, which is fine. Bigger on that is better.

You have a lot of different things, such as axle weight, payload capacity, hitching up correctly, and all these terms and stuff. So don't be worried about it.

Go to our website, TheSmartRVer.com, and look at the do-it-yourself articles. You'll find precisely what you need there. You can even do the math on it.

If you need help, you can contact us through our website's Contact Us page or our phone number, listed in the podcast's description. From here on out, you'll see that. Also, it makes it easier. All right, so that's going to conclude.

When staying on the road, gettings right or the right vehicle-trailer combination is essential. Don't push it to the limit, as this can become unsafe. You can wreck your trailer, kill your family, and do all that fun stuff.

Unless you have great insurance, you don't want to do that.

Alexis

Yeah, we're a terrible family.

Eric Stark

Then again, the way it's going with fires everywhere and things burning down, insurance might be a hundred million dollars a year soon. All right, that's an exaggeration. Alexis told me not to do that anymore. I can't help myself.

This will bring us to the next stop, and first off, we will visit Cottonwood, Arizona. So Alexis is going to take us on this. It's going to say aerial tour, but we're not flying.

She will try to make this come alive so we can appreciate the following stops in our chosen towns.

Sometimes, we don't visit places personally, but when we do, we do a lot of research. These places are remarkable for RVers and great places to explore. So, Alexis, the floor is yours.

NEXT STOP

Alexis

I'm taking it away. Okay. Well, like Eric said, sometimes we haven't been to these places personally, but we do do research and put them on our lists to visit.

We're headed to the Verde Valley in Arizona, specifically Cottonwood. When I realized that was the town's name, I didn't consider it green and lush.

But it is in the higher desert, so, you know, I thought it was going to be all hot and brown. But the Verde River runs alongside the town.

Verde means green, so I looked it up. The river is green down the river, which is beautiful. There is greenery all along the water. It's just gorgeous. You have to look it up, or if you live there, you know how special it truly is.

And then this town gets overshadowed by Jerome. We all know Jerome. It's the ghost town that's, you know, creepy. It's not scary, but it's very cool. But Cottonwood is his destination.

You can go there. It's an excellent base for RVers who want to see the Verde Valley go all over. But it's a neat town on its own.

If you go there, you must see Cottonwood. It offers everything: history, culture, wine, and outdoor adventures.

It's close to Jerome and Sedona, and the whole valley is gorgeous, making it a perfect hub for travelers.

Eric Stark

So there we go. It's the perfect hub. So that's it. It becomes that hub. And that's why most of these towns we choose are their hubs. They're not your final destination.

Once you arrive, you set up your base camp, prepare for the coming storm, and then go out and explore.

Alexis

Correct.

Eric Stark

You mentioned Jerome, Arizona. That's interesting. You know what? The other day, I talked to my great-grandpappy Popeye, who gave me this.

Alexis

Oh, look at that.

Eric Stark

This is a story of Jerome, Arizona. Okay. And what's more interesting is we will talk about Jerome, Arizona, in the shadows of the past. The towns that once were.

Alexis

I love it. I love the connection.

Eric Stark

Isn't how that worked out excellent? It is. It is. It's just phenomenal. So, let me go ahead and read this. This is very interesting. I'm just gonna read it. Okay. Okay.

STORYTIME

So everybody ready? Are you guys ready out there? Listen, picture this.

It's the late:

Let's explore why Jerome is one of the most fascinating places in Arizona. In its heyday, it was no ordinary mining town.

It was a booming metropolis perched precariously on Cleopatra Hill, home to the United Verde Mine, one of the wealthiest copper-producing mines in the world. With 15,000 residents. Saloons lined the streets, and gambling halls thrived. And, let's say it wasn't known for its bedtime prayers.

til the copper ran out in the:

Today, Jerome is home to just four hundred and fifty residents. But some say the spirits of his rowdy past never moved on. Take the Jerome Grand Hotel, for instance.

This former miner's hospital is now a hotspot for the curious. Or the sliding jail, a building that is no joke. Slid 200ft downhill thanks to unstable mining land. If walls could talk, Jeromes would scream.

hosts and old stories. In the:

It's a vibrant haven for art lovers today, with galleries like Piera Verde and Raku showcasing everything from pottery to stunning copper jewelry. Quirky shops, antique treasures, and even the chance to sip local wine are available. Talk about electricity. And let's not forget the views.

At 5,000ft above sea level, Jerome offers jaw-dropping panoramas of the Verde Valley and Sedona's iconic red rocks. Feeling adventurous? Hike nearby Mingus Mountain or take a scenic drive where you roll down the windows and just breathe.

Want to explore more? Just a short drive away, you'll find the attractions at the Verde Canyon Railroad and Tuzygote National Monument.

Whether you're a history buff, a wine enthusiast, or looking for a thrill, Jerome is the place to be. So there you have it. Jerome, Arizona. A place where history, mystery, and creativity collide.

Whether you're hunting for the past, savoring a glass of wine, or just soaking in the views, Jerome is waiting to tell you its story. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep exploring. So there you have it, Alexis. That's from my grandpappy, Popeye.

Wow, Pappy Popeye, isn't that just amazing?

Alexis

That's beautiful.

Eric Stark

That's just like history right here. Taking place on TheSmartRVer Podcast. Who would have thunk? All right, so there we have it. That's Jerome, Arizona.

So, two places right next to each other. Cottonwood, Arizona. Jerome, Arizona. You got to see it. That's what you gotta. That's two T's and an A. So now, let's move on to RV envy.

RV ENVY

Today, in RV Envy, we're going to talk about the heat line, which is a 12-volt heat cable. We're not going to call it heat tape. That cheapens it, right?

So again, Craig from Texas turned me on to the heat tape, thinking because 12-volt heat tape in RVs just typically hasn't been, well, that good of a thing because there's so much out there on the market that's just junk. The quality isn't there.

People are taking 110-volt heat tape, wrapping it around pipes, and melting it around sewer hoses, not understanding that that's not how it works. They are also wrapping and making their heated water hoses, failing and throwing away good money. Heat-Line makes a great product.

And there'll be a link to the website in the description of this podcast. So it's a heat line.

And to give you an idea how this works with them, now, they're a Canadian company, they ship to the States, they're shipping there a little bit of time. But all their heat tapes are made to order. Now, they don't go by the foo; they go by five-foot increments, but that's okay.

You'll wrap any extra tape, line, or cable around it. For example, you might do a pipe with your 3-inch valve on it, for you just going to wrap it around it willgod the. It will do, and it just does a little extra heating,g, that's all. So I want to give you an idea of its cost because I know you want everybody's price. Everybody wants to see the price.

When I talked to him, I wanted to know the cost. Get to the price. It is going to cost me. So, a 15-foot section ready to go with 12 volts is $277 plus shipping.

Now, depending on where you are, the shipping could be 20 bucks or 40 bucks. I don't know. Shipping is expensive today; it's gone up quite a bit. I don't know how they ship or if they'll do flat-rate boxes.

Well, they don't have USPS, though. They're in Canada, so I wonder if they have Canada sps. Does that work? No, whatever, whatever. Canada pull.

It seems pricey, but here's what Craig said about that.

When I told him about it, he said, "Well, you know what? You scream once in the beginning and never scream again because you don't have a problem." I like it because it's a lot of money for 15 feet when you buy it.

But if it works and you have no problems, that will be the best $277 you've ever spent. It's made to size, so you don't have to cut it down after you buy it; you get the sizes you want. You might need two, three, or four runs to do this.

So it might get expensive. But if you're protecting your plumbing, it's well worth it.

Also, this product is so good that you can wrap a sewer hose with it and won't melt it. It works that well. S, if you're buying or trying to heat your plumbing or sewer hose in the winter month, that's worth considering.

This may not mean much for people who live in certain areas, but it's good to know.

If you travel someplace, you might need to heat some plumbing because you can't let the water freeze in an RV, things break, stop working, and you spend more money. So we're trying to help you to avoid that.

So again, the link will be on our website, TheSmartRVer.com, under this podcast, and it'll also be in the pod description if you're listening on iTunes, Spotify, or whatever your flavor is. So there you have it. Heat tape for everybody. It seems expensive, but it's reasonable considering the money you can save.

Again, we recommend these RV extended warranties through wholesale warranties. You have to talk to them. They're transparent about everything and will give you the whole package before you pay them a dime.

That's what's important. It's geared toward you, not one of these one-size-fits-all warranties you'll get at a dealership for much more money.

Henceforth, wholesale warranties are available, right, Alexa? Wholesale. What does that mean to you? Cheap. Save money, save money. Cheap. Cheap. All right, so there we go. That brings us to the end of the show today.

We had a great show today. In two more weeks, we'll have episode 169 with great content. So, Alexis, thanks for coming by today.

Alexis

So much fun. Thank you.

Eric Stark

We're Sharing Cottonwood, Arizona, with you. Yeah, with us. And there we have it. This is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer.

Your podcast, your go-to guy for smart RVing and creating those unforgettable adventures on the road. So, thanks for stopping by.

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