This happened to us. The independent RV inspector we hired measured the unit and found that ours was a bit short then advertised and he said that it included a bit of his fat finger. Also, the "published" height was a bit short as well. So, yes get a tape and measure your unit.

Also, we weighed our unit 20 minutes after we picked it up post our walk through at a CAT scale and found our unit weighed in about 250lbs +/- less than the UVW with about some fresh, some black, two propane tanks full and a battery. I heard some different stories about the white factory sticker and the numbers. It doesn't matter, I keep the CAT receipts available in my truck just in case.

gone AWOL I can see where that is a bit confusing. Basically the way I see it, a bumper pull maxes out the code, where a 5er will not. My guess is it's intended that the Towed Vehicle length is meant for BP not 5er. From what I remember when talking to a LTL carrier guy over fermented beverages, BC has quite a few tight turn roadways, thus by limiting the OAL of the vehicle this is mitigated. A typical Class 8 is limited state side to 73' (If my grey matter is working correctly) or 22.25m for our northern friends.

Hmmm . . . the actual specs are in "metres" (spelling intended). The numbers in brackets are just for us old Canadians who still remember inches and feet .

Rob

So we're back to square one: what is the standard to determine the length of a towed recreational vehicle? From what starting point to what end point? If the RV is > 41' but the overall is <=65.6', is it OK on the road but not when disconnected? (Wouldn't that be silly.)

Oh--and I find it amusing that these Canadian standards are in imperial instead of metric units.

That is what I thought you were explaining earlier in this thread. I wonder if the RV dealers in BC have any idea about this? I wonder how they can "import" an RV that does not meet this criteria?


Brian

I'll try and upload a screenshot with the exact wording around this issue we are facing in BC Chinada.

I would say Tow Length of the Vehicle meaning front the Center of the King Pin or Ball to the rear most point on the trailer.

For the BC group who are limited to 12.5m vehicle may not be towed, I would question this ruling if its the trailer length (remember normal class flat bed trailers are about 48ft 14.6m) or the vehicle combination. If it's just the trailer, that changes a lot of things, if its the combined vehicle then there are a lot of problems as a 20ft bumper pull (tow length) behind a 6.5' crew cab pickup is pushing 12m.

I agree with Howard (somewhat) that a lot of people are looking at storage length. I could forgo adding the TV to the Trailer length as there are too many variables.

Maybe I didn't explain fully in context with Rob's input. Let me try again.

Assume a "typical" tow vehicle is a 2017 Ford F-250 Crew Cab SWB whose length is 250". Let's make this easy and say the length of the truck is X. When a 303RLS is connected to the factory puck system with a B&W hitch the overall length of tow vehicle + trailer is Y. Swap out the tow vehicle, connection point in the bed, or the hitch itself and Y can (and probably will) vary. Thus there could never be an actual for every possible combination of TV+trailer. Isn't that the main point of the OP's complaint?

The actual length of the trailer, though, when disconnected from the tow vehicle (tip of the nose to the bumper) is a physical reality that does not change. Again, I'm looking at from the perspective of Will it Fit in the Storage Area?

The towing and actual 'typical length' needs definition from where to where. Pin to bumper? Tow vehicle rear bumper to trailer rear bumper? Any measurement is 'actual'.

The drawing we have access to, Brian, shows the length is 383 3/8" (or just under 32') from the most-forward point on the cap to the rear for your 29RS. Info at https://www.rvusa.com/rv-guide/2018-...n-29rs-tr33445 (which I'm assuming reflects the original GD info) states 30.92' or 371".

gone AWOL -- your 376THS according to a similar GD drawing shows 42' 7 3/16" from tip of the cap to the rear of the unit. From the pin to the rear shows 41' 3 7/16". GD's website states 41' 1". https://www.granddesignrv.com/showro...tum/floorplans

The 303RLS is 406 1/8" from tip of the nose cone to the rear. Hitch to rear shows 393 1/8". Website floorplan shows 32' 9" (393").

The 315RLTS travel trailer (what I have) is 454 3/4" (or 37' 10 3/4") from coupler to tail according to it's drawing. Website states 37' 11". https://www.granddesignrv.com/showro...ion/floorplans

Out of curiousity I looked at a couple more. The Imagine 22MLE, on the GD website, states 26' 1". https://www.granddesignrv.com/showro...xls/floorplans The drawing, from coupler to tail, is also exactly 26' 1".

The Solitude 310GK on the website states 34' 11". https://www.granddesignrv.com/showro...ude/floorplans The drawings for the Solitude do not have a single measurement covering tip to tail, but it's not too hard to add hitch to tail (411 5/16") and the cap-to-hitch (14 3/8") to get 425 11/16". That 35' 5 11/16".

So...looks like the Reflection (TT) and Imagine published stats are very close to the actual lengths. The 5vr stats have some variance.

Rob's point in post 28 is well taken ( @Cate&Rob ) but I'm looking at this from the perspective of an owner that is trying to decide if a given camper will fit in the driveway or storage area. I'd want the actual nose-to-tail length.

My .02: the website should provide the actual and towing length. Towing being defined as the typical length of a 5vr when connected to a tow vehicle. Obviously that can change slightly based on where the hitch is attached so that's why it would be asterisked with a note explaining that the measurement can vary.

GDRV-Megan anything GD can add to this discussion to explain what appears to be disparities regarding the 5th wheel length from the published stats on granddesignrv.com/showroom to the actual nose-to-tail lengths?

Howard

It doesn’t make sense that “length of towed vehicle” would apply equally to a 5th wheel and TT. One overlaps the truck by about 4 ft. The other does not. It would seem that the intent of the rule is “length behind the rear bumper of the tow vehicle”. A literal interpretation would lead to a truck and TT allowed to be something like 4 ft longer than a truck and 5th wheel.

Rob

Well it got the best of me so I went and measured our 2018 Reflection 29RS,

Factory is 30' 11"

Measured from rear to front of the pin box, 31' 4"

Rear to the front of the nose cone 31' 10"

I am sure there are slight variations but I have to agree with gone AWOL 3 feet is a little much.

Brian

While I accepted a long time ago that I need to bring a tape measure if I really want to know my trailer length,.....it is BS. I'm with AWOL..just tell me what the real length is. Not a length that really doesn't mean anything other than know that it's within a few inches of.......or feet of......

The specified length may not be deceptive...but it sure isn't useful. I actually brought a tape measure with me before we bought our 303RLS...because length is important.....

Deceive how? It says right there on the specifications web page and in the brochure that the length is from hitch to rear.

In British Columbia the Road Ordinance states no vehicle longer than 12.5m may be towed on any public road without a permit issued by CVSE (the commercial vehicle guys)

Problem is they don't issue "non commercial" permits, no one does.

To your point John, there is also a overall limit but I'm well below that.

What makes this so critical for me is that in Oct last year i changed to the 376 from a 44' Highlander by Highland Ridge. It was 2 years old. We loved that unit, very few issues.

The only reason for changing down was to get to the 12.5m limit. (or close to it) Turns out 12.5m is about 3/4" under 41'1". I spoke to my insurance company and I felt comfortable with the risk if 3/4" over the OVERALL length. I could always rip off the ladder and argue I'm legal.....if the 376 was in fact 41'1". But it's not, and that p!$$@& me off.

Why hide the length other than to deceive. It's like how wide is the trailer? it's only 6'6"....(footnote, measured from inside of left tire, and center if the right one) why would you do that?

Anyway I digress... again.

Thanks for the comments.