Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 We are looking at new TT's again. Saw a great Kodiak today that we love. Does anyone have one and care to share their experiences? This is the model we are looking at. http://www.holmanrv.com/inventory/187143/New-2012-Dutchmen-RV-Kodiak-300BHSL.aspx Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Starbuc71 162 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Are you looking at Holmans RV in Ohio? They offer great prices if you don't have a trade. If you have a trade forget it. Since they discount thier units so low they give way under poor wholesale for your unit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 No, actually it is a dealer in MI. I just googled the model and Holman's had good pics. :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Wow, it has features that you normally see in a 5er. I don't know anything about the quality, fit and construction though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Wow, it has features that you normally see in a 5er. I don't know anything about the quality, fit and construction though.We fell in love!! The extra slide in the living area makes it so comfortable for the 7 of us, plus my sister who camps with us often, and 2 dogs. We have been looking at TT's around 32 feet with a slide in the LR and another in the BH. This made a huge difference in comfort level. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 No experience with this model, but we had a Kodiak hybrid for 5 years that we absolutely loved.Gotta say this floor plan looks really awesome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Pretty heavy trailer. Just make sure you have enough truck to pull it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ftwildernessguy 778 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 That 7640 lb "accuweight" is a dry weight, too. At the risk of sounding like Larry, this is a big trailer and well beyond what the typical 1/2 ton should be hauling. It is also almost 37 feet long, with over 800lb tongue weight. If you are considering this trailer, be ready with a 3/4 ton truck to pull it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 We have a ram 2500 so weight isn't a concern. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 At the risk of sounding like LarryAt least you used punctuation. :rofl3: . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 We have a Dodge 2500 Cummins. DH says the GVWR for ours is 9000lbs with only about 2000lbs for tongue weight, people and stuff. Going over that risks having your insurance not pick up the tab if anything bad happens. What year is yours and what is it's specs? We don't know what the gas Dodge is capable of towing.Ours is a little shorter than yours and has about the same weights. I think as long as you remember to count all the people and dogs and stuff [whether they are in the truck or in the trailer, it all counts], this should be doable for you towing wise. Price wise is all on you. =)DH is lucky that this wasn't around for me to look at in the places we went. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PureTcrazy...rita 380 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I LOVE the kitchen with the island and big pantry! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HappyCamper...Deb 61 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Very pretty Steph! Love the kitchen space. Just be careful with weight. It adds up quickly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Just looked at the manual for dh's truck. It states that towing with a class 4 (frame mounted) hitch, max Gross trailer weight can be up to 12,000 lbs. We read that as just the trailer and it's contents, not what the truck can hold as well. Are we reading this correctly? Since we don't all fit in the truck anyway, we take my van as well so total people and pet weight in the truck is under 300lbs and we usually just have the bikes and a cooler in the back.Since the weight of the trailer is under 8,000 and we will not have more than 4,000 loaded inside, we should be good, right? Am I missing anything? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Annie, it is a 2003, gas. Hemi engine.Deb and Rita, we love the kitchen space!!Mo, I'm glad to hear you liked your Kodiak. This floor plan would be great for our large group.We do have a couple of backups in mind but this is first on our list. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Sounds like you should be good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 No. You still have to include the weight of your Dodge in that equations, not just what the trailer weight, people weight, gas weight, stuff weight. It is dang confusing, let me tell you. DH spent 30 minutes trying to get me to understand it. I do, but not enough to explain in words. LOLHere are some links that explain the terms and how to figure out things.http://jaycoowners.c...read.php?t=3872And here is the link to the what those terms relate to in numbers for your Dodge for the right year.http://dodgeram.info...d-tow/2500.htmlIt is not a simple trailer is X, vehicle can tow Y so we can add Z. You have take % of trailer weight [with stuff inside, water in tanks, propane in tanks] to get the actual tongue weight. And then that tongue weight is added to the vehicles curb weight, gas weight, people weight and any stuff you added inside and that cannot exceed the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. Like I said, it can be confusing. So make sure you have the right numbers to work with to figure out what you should be towing -combined. DH also said that just because you can tow all up to X amount, you don't want to actually get to that amount. Towing flat roads will be hard enough, but hills would be a nightmare. And it would be easy to go over it quickly if are too close to begin with.Make sure you see the actual weight of the trailer. It will be listed on a label somewhere on it. The dealer listed our as 7000, but the options it came with the delivery label said it weighed 7600 with full propane but no water. So that is 600 pounds I no longer have to use to load up the trailer or truck with stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 The only thing I have absorbed in all of DH's lectures on towing is to not forget how important tongue weight is.I'm sure someone else here can actually explain that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I am utterly confused now! :panic: Heading out for a bit, but I will look at the links when we get home. Thanks Annie. Mo, tongue weight, shmonge weight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 What do these numbers mean?? Sorry they don't line up right, I'm trying to cut and paste. Bed Engine Trans GVWR GAWR (front) GAWR (rear) Curb wt Curb weight (front) Curb weight (rear) Payload B V8 HEMI A5 8800 5200 6150 6174 3515 2660 2630 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Let's look at two of those numbers first. The GVWR is 8800. This what your truck can weight total with tongue weight, vehicle weight, gas, passengers and cargo. Your trucks dry weight is listed as 6174. This means you have 2626 to work with for gas, passengers, cargo and tongue weight and any modifications you made to the truck that might have added weight [we've added a bed liner, bigger wheels that add to our listed weight]. [which is very close to the cargo listing] The tongue weight is 833, but I don't know if this includes water or cargo inside. 1793 is what we have left for the stuff inside your truck - people, gas, cargo. DH is asleep right now, fighting off a cold that the boys brought home, so I can't confirm my calculations.I think we need our resident Larry to come back before I confuse us even more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Annie, so that is only the truck, right? It doesn't say anything about the class 4 hitch. Those would be different numbers right? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Live4FW 30 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I will try to help here. God forbid Larry shows up.You would take your total truck weight + tongue weight and items loaded in the truck (people/cargo/etc) and then subtract from your GCVWR (gross combined vehicle weight rating) to yield your possible trailer weight. It appears that yours is either 15,000 or 17,000 depending on axle ratio (3.73 or 4.10). So using the 6174 base weight of the truck and 833 for the tongue weight, that would leave you either 7993 or 9993 for total trailer weight (after removing tongue weight). or 8,826 or 10,826 total trailer weight.Typically dodge allows 150 lbs for the driver and full tank of gas. Any additional weight in the truck would reduce that total amount allowed for the trailer. You should have plenty of payload capacity so that shouldn't be an issue for the truck but may reduce your trailering capacity. truck 6174 tongue 833 total 7007 GCVWR 3.73 15000 7993 Trailer w/o Tongue Wt GCVWR 4.10 17000 9993 Trailer w/o Tongue Wt Gross Trailer 8826 Trailer w Tongue Wt Weight 10826 Trailer w Tongue Wt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ftwildernessguy 778 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Try not to over think the numbers. Larry used to do that and it isn't necessary. My rule of thumb is the fully loaded trailer doesn't exceed 75% of the tow rating of my truck. Tongue weight can usually be estimated to be about 10% of the gross weight of the trailer. For my truck and trailer, I am rated at 9300 lbs, my loaded trailer weighs in at around 6000 lbs with a tongue weight of 600 lbs. Good enough for me, and with all the Larry calculations it still works out as okay and is much less confusing. You guys must be awfully small though if people and dogs weigh 300 lbs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mama Steph 2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Um huh? Anyone speak "stupid"? Apparently that is what I can handle. Lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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