"Dry Weight" Questions
If "dealer installed options" are not counted in the dry weight of a travel trailer, is there a rule of thumb estimate to include when calculating potential GVW? And what would constitute those option...
Forum Discussion
ependydad wrote:Old-Biscuit wrote:
Listed/published 'tongue/pin weight' is 'DRY' weight based on the 'Listed/published' DRY trailer weight.
(500# dry tongue for 5000# trailer equals a DRY 10% tongue weight etc)
Dry tongue/pin weight is for a basically empty trailer.....(lot of mfg. fine print will state 'Numbers are an Average' for such & such model
Look at data plate on trailer for the GVWR.
Use the dry tongue/pin weight percentage to figure WET tongue/pin weight based on GVWR
Can your TV handle that WET tongue/pin weight?
If so........good to go
IF 'marginal' might be OK if you do NOT load trailer up
Unsurprisingly, I agree with Old-Biscuit. You can often determine what a wet weight for a trailer will be by taking the dry weights and calculating the percentage.
I built a simple calculator to help with that:
http://towingplanner.com/Estimators/TonguePinWeightFromDry
Unlike others, I don't always say to use the GVWR. It's often quoted on forums (and who knows if it's true that the *average* RV gains 1,500 lbs. of cargo). (Of course, now people will post they only carry 400 lbs. or 4,000 lbs. but hey, what can you do?) Going by GVWR is definitely the most conservative.
X2.
Most rv folks never weigh their trailer as it comes from the factory.
The three truck campers and three 5th wheel trailers I've owned were all within a 200-300 lbs of the mfg estimated dry weights. I weigh every axle on each trailer (including the RV trailer) I own before loading it.
Dry weights and gvwr matter for my trailers.
