Figuring out Weight on a 1966 Traveler

Hello, my sister in law has a 1966 HiLo Traveler that I am thinking of buying from her. Thing is, I don't yet have a tow vehicle that I could use to get it from her place in Arizona to where I am in Utah, and I want to make sure whatever vehicle I get has enough towing capacity. She thought it weighed 850 pounds, as it doesn't have a grey or black tank. It is 18 or 19 feet from what we can tell.

I've seen other "for sale" postings of HiLos that are shorter but which said that their camper weighed 1800 pounds empty.

Short of taking it to a place to get weighed, is there a way to figure out what the average weight of them was back in those days? We have the serial number and other info.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Welcome to the Forum!

I looked your 1966 Traveler up on New Car Prices and Used Car Book Values - NADAguides and found 2180 pounds as the weight. That would be dry weight, I would guess the gross weight to be in the 3000 pound range.

1966 Hi Lo Traveler 1800 Standard Equipment, Prices & Specs - NADAguides

Thank you so much

Thank you so much. We were not sure where to look for the info. This is wonderful!!

You may want to scan the forums on other posts regarding the size of vehicle needed for towing. The weight of the trailer is not the only factor. Tongue weight, the weight of the trailer pushing down on your hitch and, thus, your vehicle, is also a major consideration. Look for vehicles that can handle the weight on the hitch as well as passengers and gear and the vehicle itself. This is called the Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and is posted on the vehicle door. The tongue weight on that trailer may be as much as 450 lbs- so figure that into the total weight your vehicle can handle-----as well as whatever the tow rating is.

Rick

thanks so much (again!)

I was wondering how big the hitch would end up being for a trailer that size. My sis in law thought the trailer only weighed 850 lbs but that just sounded incredibly small to me - that because it's older, I would think it would weigh more.

So if the trailer weighs about 2180, and then you've got a hitch of 450 pounds, I'm thinking that between all the other stuff added in (myself, my pets, my stuff, etc., as you mention) maybe I need something that has a tow capacity of 4000 lbs? Would 3500 towing capacity be maybe cutting it a bit too close?

A rule of thumb to use is the trailer gross weight to be no more than 75-80% of the tow vehicles tow rating for safety purposes and for a better quality of operation. You need to allow for the weight of passengers and cargo in the tow vehicle which has to be deducted from the tow rating which only includes the driver and a full tank of gas. Your 4000 pound suggestion sounds reasonable.

It's actually more complicated than this to come with a more accurate figure but this is a rough estimate starting point. There is much discussion here on the Forum that can be dug up with some searching using the search function at the top of the page.

This might help you out a bit.

Travel Trailer Weight Calculator

RichR said:

A rule of thumb to use is the trailer gross weight to be no more than 75-80% of the tow vehicles tow rating for safety purposes and for a better quality of operation. You need to allow for the weight of passengers and cargo in the tow vehicle which has to be deducted from the tow rating which only includes the driver and a full tank of gas. Your 4000 pound suggestion sounds reasonable.

It's actually more complicated than this to come with a more accurate figure but this is a rough estimate starting point. There is much discussion here on the Forum that can be dug up with some searching using the search function at the top of the page.

Click to expand...

Yep, I have heard about all of that and look forward to finding out more info on here. I'm a former reference librarian, so I love researching stuff! I definitely want to make sure I have more towing capacity than less. Last thing I want to do is blow out a transmission!

thank you

Ruben, thank you very much - will check this out today.

RCREYES said:

This might help you out a bit.

Travel Trailer Weight Calculator

Click to expand...

To reinterate what everyone is talking about, the TOW rating AND GVWR need to be considered and they are two different things. The Tow rating is NOT dependent on the GVWR, and visa versa. The GVWR is the sum weight of the empty vehicle, plus passengers, plus gear, plus gasoline, plus the tongue weight. I have had vehicles that exceeded the "tow rating" but, once the trailer was hooked on, didn't have the capacity (technically) to carry my wife and dog and a full ice chest along on the trip. There IS another rating, and that is the Gross Combined Weight Rating which the total of everything together---- trailer and vehicle hooked on.
Rick

Rick