Tow limit concern

Your 2,664 pin weight seems high for a 2500. There should be a driver's door sill sticker, usually the same one that shows tire pressures, it will have a statement that indicates the vehicle's maximum payload.

Loaded ready to travel scaled weight subtracted from the GVWR will give you ???? Weight. This is how much or little cargo capacity you have in the real world. Typical fifth wheel pin weight is between 18 and 22% of its loaded weight. Since your just looking, use 20% of the trailers GVWR. Is the pin weight eqial to or less than your CCC? Then your good to go. If not, then YOU have to decide whether that much overloaded is OK or not.

Your truck's GVWR - gross vehicle weight rating and the maximum it can weigh - is 9200 based on my research ( http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Chevy/specs/ ). That means your maximum pin weight is going to be 9200 minus 7880, or 1,320. The GVWR is the thing that you always run up against with a 250/2500 series truck and a big fifth wheel, the 3/4 ton trucks just do not have the payload for a heavy trailer. If you tow that trailer you'll be around double the allowable pin weight rating for your truck. GVWR is the number that matters, the tire ratings don't count (but should not be exceeded, which you won't if you keep to your GVWR).

I have a 2007 Chevy Silverado classic 2500HD Duramax CCSB 4X4. The manual says 14,200 max tow and 22,000 GCWR. I have E rated tires at 80psi of a total capacity of 6084 lbs rating. I weighed my truck full of fule 2 passengers and my B&W companion slider at 7880 lbs and a rear axle weight of 3420.

First off......forget that 14,200# max tow. THat is a magical mfg. marketing number that is based on 150# driver, 20# cargo and base model truck. You will exceed trucks GVWR, RAWR/Tire Rating long before reaching that MAX TOW number.

You have a 2007 2500 so trucks GVWR is probably 9200#....???
You weighed 7880#........leaves 1320# before exceeding trucks GVWR

Now lets forget GVWR and look elsewhere.
RAWR is 6084# and your weight was 3420#......leaves 2664#
IF you use 20% of trailer GVWR for 'wet pin' that is a 13,320# trailer. SO call it a 13K GVWR 5vr. Course that puts you right at trucks RAWR/Rear Tire Rating and over the trucks GVWR by 1344#

Basically if you look for a 5vr with a GVWR of 12K you will still be over trucks GVWR by few hundred pounds but under RAWR/REAR Tire Rating.
That will at least give you some margin on RAWR/Rear Tire Loading.


It all comes down to whether you go with Ratings, a little over on Trucks GVWR and under the others OR just hook up and go!

Personally I pay attention to Tire Ratings/Loading.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

I have a 2007 Chevy Silverado classic 2500HD Duramax CCSB 4X4. The manual says 14,200 max tow and 22,000 GCWR. I have E rated tires at 80psi of a total capacity of 6084 lbs rating. I weighed my truck full of fule 2 passengers and my B&W companion slider at 7880 lbs and a rear axle weight of 3420.

First off......forget that 14,200# max tow. THat is a magical mfg. marketing number that is based on 150# driver, 20# cargo and base model truck. You will exceed trucks GVWR, RAWR/Tire Rating long before reaching that MAX TOW number.

You have a 2007 2500 so trucks GVWR is probably 9200#....???
You weighed 7880#........leaves 1320# before exceeding trucks GVWR

Now lets forget GVWR and look elsewhere.
RAWR is 6084# and your weight was 3420#......leaves 2664#
IF you use 20% of trailer GVWR for 'wet pin' that is a 13,320# trailer. SO call it a 13K GVWR 5vr. Course that puts you right at trucks RAWR/Rear Tire Rating and over the trucks GVWR by 1344#

Basically if you look for a 5vr with a GVWR of 12K you will still be over trucks GVWR by few hundred pounds but under RAWR/REAR Tire Rating.
That will at least give you some margin on RAWR/Rear Tire Loading.


It all comes down to whether you go with Ratings, a little over on Trucks GVWR and under the others OR just hook up and go!

Personally I pay attention to Tire Ratings/Loading.

YUP, good points!

It ain't what it can tow it's what it can carry! This is where the 250/2500 crowd get in trouble!

Lazy D wrote:
New to the RV world and looking for advise from the pros

So here is what I have and the trailer I'm looking at. I had posted this info over in the toy hauler weight section but figured it's really not exclusive to that section.

I have a 2007 Chevy Silverado classic 2500HD Duramax CCSB 4X4. The manual says 14,200 max tow and 22,000 GCWR. I have E rated tires at 80psi of a total capacity of 6084 lbs rating. I weighed my truck full of fule 2 passengers and my B&W companion slider at 7880 lbs and a rear axle weight of 3420.

The trailer I'm looking at is a 2013 Crossroads Elevation 3612 stickered at 11,572 from the factory not sure of the exact pin weight but the NADA spec says 10,910 lbs dry and 2400 lbs pin.

Am I calculating this correct that I need to limit my trailer to 14,120 lbs to keep from exceeding my 22,000, and limited pin weight to 2,664 lbs?

Is this trailer going to be pushing it once loaded? I guess it also depends on just how much gear I load up. Since it is a toy hauler if I keep more to the rear will it be fine?

Thanks in advance for helping this rookie.

As the others have said, you're certain to be over your usable payload. Now, if you find a FW that puts you just a touch over, I'd go for it. One thing that you'll likely find is that the OEM 245 tires will give you a tire capacity =below= the rear axle capacity by a few hundred lbs. By jumping up to 265s, you'll gain nearly 900 lbs of tire capacity, which will put you over the RAWR a bit. My '02 D'max is this way. I figure if I'm a touch over my cargo, but under my tire and axle ratings, I'm OK. Now, if I were 500-1000 lbs over on cargo, I'd be looking at different trailers or different trucks. As it is, I'm shopping and I'm likely to get a new FW that's bigger than the Komfort in my sig, yet somewhere between 800 and 1300 lbs =lighter=!

Lyle

Well I'm thoroughly confused now. The door tag says GVWR 9200 lbs, GAWR FRT 4670 lbs, & GAWR RR 6084 lbs. Looking in the manual for my model it states max GCWR of 22,000 lbs , and max Tow 14,200 lbs. it also has a foot note Max pin weight 3000 lbs. I definitely don't want to overload my truck. Is running it across a scale the only way to be sure?

Door tag:
GVWR 9200#........so your truck weighs 7820#. You can 'load/carry---pin weight' 1320# before going over GVWR

GAWR FRT 4670#........should show on weight ticket you got what front axle weighed. You will be under that GAWR. Even when you hook up a 5vr as very little weight goes on front axle----5th wheel adds weigh to rear axle

GAWR RR 6084#.......you weighed 3420#. That leaves 2664# before you would overload/exceed RAWR

So if you go by TRUCK Gross Weight Ratings (not towing or combined weight) you have limited options.
Stay under Trucks GVWR.....that means basically frget 5th wheel and look at bumper pulls
Forget Trucks GVWR and go with RAWR....that means 12K GVWR 5vr


Or go with 'published' BS numbers and take trucks weight 7820# subtracted from GCWR 22,000# and get your self a 14,180# 5vr and forget about ANY of trucks weight ratings///////except them rear tires Just get some higher load rated tires.

It is simple math.....just have to make a choice on which numbers you want to use OR justify to use.

Lazy D wrote:
Well I'm thoroughly confused now. The door tag says GVWR 9200 lbs, GAWR FRT 4670 lbs, & GAWR RR 6084 lbs. Looking in the manual for my model it states max GCWR of 22,000 lbs , and max Tow 14,200 lbs. it also has a foot note Max pin weight 3000 lbs. I definitely don't want to overload my truck. Is running it across a scale the only way to be sure?

The numbers, on the door tag, are for your particular truck, as it came off the assembly line.

The max weight numbers, in the manual, are for a "propperly equipped" version of that make / model. Depending on cab configurations, drive trains, power trains, installed options, suspensions, axles, and tires, the actual capacities will vary. The manufacturer can't print a seperate manual for every variation. Your max tow capacity, may not be that max number in the manual. Look for key words like "up to" and "actual max tow capacity is limited to the weakest link in the vehicles overall ratings".

Prime example is F150. They can be had with as little as 750 payload with 5000 tow capacity, up to 3100 payload with 11,000 tow capacity.

Another consideration is, available payload and tow capacity are both reduced by the weight of any aftermarket accessories (bed liners, undercoating, floor mats, etc), passengers, cargo, and hitch equipment. If you've got 1000 lbs of people, hitch, and cargo, your max tow number and available payload, are both 1000 lbs less.

You started off great in your post. It's a shame everyone confused you.
You have to realize there are two different methods of calculating what a truck is capable of. Some people look at the GVWR and have a fit if you dare go over it. They maintain that the GVWR is the absolute maximum a truck should ever carry.
Other people do what you started out doing: you looked at your truck's tire rating and axle weight to determine how much extra capacity you had for pin weight. This will almost always result in a bigger number than going by the GVWR. This method is the one that the professional trucking industry typically goes by: tire weights and axle weights.
The rear axle in your truck is an 11.5" made by American Axle Manufacturing. They rate this axle assembly at 10,000 pounds. Obviously on your truck the tires are the limiting factor. Your could actually upgrade to 19.5" wheels and tires and be able to realize almost all of your axle capacity.
As to the question of "will you be pushing it?" Yes, you will be.
Your truck is marginal for the trailer you're looking at. If you change your tires to heavier rated ones and possibly add some air bags or heavier springs you could successfully tow that trailer. Would you be over the GVWR? Yes. Does that bother you? Only you know.
My personal rig is a truck camper on a '05 Chevy dually. Like many TC owners I'm well over my GVWR of 11,400 pounds. I've logged many thousands of trouble free miles at about 13,100 pounds on this truck. I'm not over my tire, axle, or even tagged weight so all is perfectly legal.