Then there are those who ignore all ratings, then those who only ignore GCWR, etc
Also advise to do so, as they do and done so with no issues...yet (IMHO)
Decide if you believe in the ratings system or not
If not, then do whatever but know that if you have any warranty left...they
may deny if they find out you have gone over their ratings. Or that you have
taken the OEM's off the liability hook
If yes, then here is how the ratings systems works
First, they used the 'curb' vehicle to derive most all of the ratings. That 'curb'
is the stripper with no options, other than the towing option...one 150lb driver,
and some times full liquids...other times a portion of full capacities
The only way to know where you are in reference to 'your' ratings is to load up
as if going camping and weigh the TV axle by axle
Subtract that from the GCWR and you will have the true MTWR (max tow weigh rating)
That published number is derived from a 'curb' TV, so unless you weigh 150lbs
and do not have anything loaded in or on the TV, have a stripper model, that is
NOT your MTWR...your true MTWR is after doing the simple math subtracting the
weight you got for your TV, plus the hitch and tongue weight...that is the true
max tow weight rating of your tv
PS...you will also get a few too many in my book, who will tell you
that GCWR does NOT matter and ignore it...I'm not one of those and
believe that it is a real 'rating' from the OEM. Note that it has a
'R' in that acronym, which stands for 'rating'
GCWR is fairly new and I've only known about its existence since the
mid 90's. Still tough to find it in any OEM published brochure or
even specification sheets, but it is there somewhere in the OEM's
information
