OK! Here it is! I was in the Army and now I see I need to understand not only the truck weight and the trailer weight but now I also need to understand the corner weight!!!!!!!
In the Air Force you have to watch your weight and do not overload the plane.
In the Navy you also have to watch your weight so you do not overload the boat , causing it to sink.
In the Army and the Marine Corps just load the truck and go.
So here is my take on the way to the weight of the truck and trailer.
The truck is limited to how much it can carry by the design of the manufacturer. The trailer has a gross vehicle weight rating and is listed on the side of the unit. As much as you can load on the truck, according to the weight limitations is one thing, the trailer is another thing.
Now you have another option to look at,how much the truck can tow.
So all the stuff you have in the truck, passengers, clothing and other items that you may need, and the pin weight of the trailer on the back in the bed will tell you if you are over loaded or at the weight prescribed by the manufacture. The truck, a 3/4,(1 ton = 2000 Pounds), ton truck, is about 6500 to 7500 pounds and can carry 1500 pounds. I know all of us follow that rule--yah right--, my pin weight is some where around 1500 to 2500 pounds so that would put me over right there, not to worry though the truck can take it and not say a word, at least not yet.
Now the tow weight rating for my truck with the Cummings 6.7 diesel and a 6 speed auto transmission quad cab long box is 16,832.
Look at that for a moment, what the tow rating is, not the carrying weight but the tow weight.
My rig is rated at 14,165 pounds, that is full of stuff, my 6 pairs of socks, 6 pairs of under pants, 4 pair of jeans, 12 shirts 3 pair of shoes, and a partridge in a pear tree. Now with a wife and 15 year old daughter their stuff--I really don't to go there as to what they have and how much it weighs, if I did I would be out the door on legal stuff before I went 1 mile.
Now how many of you, who don't dry camp all the time, will fill you rigs tanks and cupboards to over flowing out the door, dry campers will meet that limit on the way home, dumping some of the tanks along the way. That designation of GVWR for the trailer is a recommended weight that the trailer can carry according to the, "Safety Transportation Board". How many of you will build a house to stand up to a 100 mph wind, when for an extra $5.00 per sq foot you can build it to stand up to a 300 mph wind and you live on the beach side in Florida? So the trailer manufacture will put what the Gov. requires them to state however any company that has been around very long will over build some what because they know us, "get the wife, daughter, dog, cat, rock collection and my stuff along with a tooth brush and razor, plus an extra 50 to 100 gal fuel tank in the bed of the truck, hook the trailer up and see if they really can stay together at 80 mph down the road.
Now after all of that, what is the corner weight, and do I have one?
