What Size RV can I tow? Please Help!
I known someone out there knows the actual method to figure out how much legally a person can tow with; the vehicle they have now and or the truck their looking to purchase to tow with. I am talking a...
Forum Discussion
Chuck .. wrote:
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Update 12-28-14 Time:1:35 PM
I courtly hare a 99 Dodge 250 Cub Cab long bed Diesel. Possibly looking to upgrade some great day.
Information on driver door. GAWR Front 2001 KG (4410 lbs.) Rear 2760 KG ( 6084 lbs.) GVWR 3992 KG (8800 lbs.)
Weighted truck at scales: Front axle 3880 lbs. Rear axle 2780 lbs. Total weight of truck unloaded 6540 lbs.
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Hi Chuck!
As you know, you really can't be SURE until you weigh the loaded truck and FW. So consider the following a hypothetical, back of the envelope, ball park estimate.
PAYLOAD: Your truck is rated as 8800 lbs, and you've weighed it (empty) at 6540 lbs. So, without exceeding the GVWR, you can load an additional 8800 - 6540 = 2260 lbs in the truck. That's not just the pin weight of the FW, it includes passengers, any cargo (tools, etc.) carried in the cab or bed, and the weight of the fifth wheel hitch. Just to make the math easy, I'm going to estimate all these "others" to be 760 lbs.
MAXIMUM PIN WEIGHT: After allowing for the "other stuff", that leaves 2260 - 760 = 1500 lbs for the pin weight of the FW (loaded). Using the usual 20-25% ratio for pin weight to total FW weight, you should be looking for a FW with a loaded weight of 6000-7500 lbs.
ALTERNATE CALCULATION: You have quite a bit of margin on the rear axles. 6084 RAWR - 2780 Actual Rear Axle Weight = 3304 lbs. Assuming all of the cargo weight is on the rear axle, that leaves you with 3304 - 760 = 2544 lbs, which would translate into a FW with a loaded weight of 10000-12500 lbs.
You would be over the truck's GVW (and probably the GCWR), but you would be within the rear axle rating. You might want to put air bags or heavier springs on the rear of the truck.
Again... this is just back-of-the-envelope estimation.
