Thanks for the feedback all. Here are a few responses to some questions:
donn0128 wrote:
All that the boil it down to what?
Why not simply take your trucks loaded scaled ready to travel weight minus its GCWR? That will tell you how much your vehicle is capable of handling without going to all the hassles of weighing each item you think you might add to the trailer and making a lot of assumptions based on?
GCWR is not a good measure to determine if your TV payload is overloaded. In reality this figure is just a top level maximum and in almost every case you will exceed the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) long before you exceed the GCWR. Where you can run into trouble is for those under GCWR but actually over GVWR. A good example of this is a 5th wheel owner who could have both the front and rear axles (GAWR) overloaded with too much payload, yet still be under the GCWR.
K Charles wrote:
Your example says TT tongue weight is 1081 and you need 973 payload. That's not right. Can't you just look at the number on the truck and the number on the TT?
You're not reading the example correctly, as it factors in weight distribution from a WD Hitch. Let me explain that example in easier terms; if you have 1000# of tongue weight then you need 1000# of payload to support the hitch weight. Now factor in WD that is redistributing 10% of the tongue weight back into the trailer. So now the tongue weight incurred on the TV is only 900# instead of 1000#, because of the effects from the WD hitch.
Francesca Knowles wrote:
I also get easily confused by complicated processes, perhaps much like many of those who'd find a utility like this useful. In that spirit, I'll offer my first impression:
It's way too complex for me to easily follow! Any way to make it more "user friendly", assuming the user is someone like me?
I agree, the manufacture weight/towing ratings and all the variables to consider for proper towing setup are very complex. That was actually the intention of this tool was to make confusing information easier to interpret. When you start dealing with individual axle weight ratings, overall vehicle weight ratings, payload ratings, trailer ratings, tire/wheel/suspension ratings, weight-distribution effects, combined ratings, etc., it can be mind numbing. But the reality is, to talk the talk you have to walk the walk. Meaning to successfully accomplish and safely tow repeatedly, you really should know how your vehicle is set up and how you measure against the manufacture specifications. This tool will help you do that.
