Weight/tow capacity question....

My daughter’s Volt can “pull” my TT but the Volt can’t carry the weight of the trailer tongue, weight distribution hitch, stuff, passengers etc. Think payload as well as max trailer weight.

Yes but don't be misled. That what the marketing material may say but the real live trailer may have a different weight depending on what options are installed.

I won't go over about 80% of what the factory says it can tow, for fully loaded trailer weight. There is "it can tow it" and then there is "it tows it comfortably and I will actually use it". If it is not comfortable to tow, why buy it ?

....and you are going to have about 800 lbs of tongue weight...
Payload of your tow vehicle is really more important than what it can tow.

downtheroad wrote:
....and you are going to have about 800 lbs of tongue weight...
Payload of your tow vehicle is really more important than what it can tow.

x2!

yes, gvcc is the number you should work with (weight of trailer and all the **** in it) stay withing your towing capacity but more so worry about carrying capacity (payload)

payload - tongue weight(gvcc x 0.13) - weight of everything in the car (including people) - weight of hitch (likely aroun 100 lbs) - any gear in the truck

for example my f150 has 1980 lbs payload and we will assume your trailer is 6000 loaded out (I round up for extra safety factor)

1980-780-500-100-0 = 600 left over

meaning I would be ok with a 600 lbsd payload. This is good so I can bring some firewood and bikes and coolers (beer is good but not light)

Thanks guys!

What I took from the answers:

Use a vehicle that can tow more than the GVCC of the trailer.

Buy a tow vehicle with enough payload for the weight of passengers/gear in the tow vehicle/tongue weight/hitch weight.

dockmasterdave wrote:
I won't go over about 80% of what the factory says it can tow, for fully loaded trailer weight. There is "it can tow it" and then there is "it tows it comfortably and I will actually use it". If it is not comfortable to tow, why buy it ?

the 80% idea was IMHO appropriate 20 years ago. Back then towing at capacity often meant turning off overdrive and grunting up hills at 45mph or so.

IMHO at least trucks built in the last 10 years or more are pretty capable of running at GCVWR comfortably accelerating decently, towing hills fine. The newer engines and drivetrains have way more HP and torque than decades ago.

Often the biggest issue today is making sure you aren't over TV GVWR when you are below the claimed trailer weight limit. TV mfg assume 10% tongue weight and no cargo, while Trailer MFG design for 15% or so tongue weight. So it is easy to go over TV max tongue weight before you hit Trailer weight limit.