Trying to understand normal tow handling
I traded in my 2014 Starcraft 1220 popup in August for a 2015 Fun Finder 242BDS at the beginning of August 2014. I weighed the trailer on an electronic vehicle scale with a full load and it came in a...
Forum Discussion
camp-n-family wrote:
The number you need to be concerned with is PAYLOAD. You exceed that far before reaching the magical tow rating or GCWR which really don't mean anything.
You are absolutely correct and thank you for the education. From what I understand this is one of the biggest errors newbs like me make. It is worth noting that we can move any cargo to the trailer to alleviate this. Please see my Dodge Durango V2 worksheet.
camp-n-family wrote:
The 2014 Durango (SXT) lists a GVWR of 6500lbs. If the curb weight is 5133lbs you then have 1367lbs of available payload which must include the weight of all passengers, hitch, and tongue weight.
Here are some updated numbers straight from Dodge:
The GVWR is actually 7100 for the R/T AWD. The payload capacity of 1380 includes the driver and a full tank of gas. If we back those out and calculate the payload as 7100 - 5331 we get a payload of 1769 LBS.
I used that in the calculations because the worksheet adds fuel, passengers, and cargo back in.
Payload sanity check calculation:
Full Tank of gas (24.6 gal @ 8 LBS per): 197 LBS
Driver: 190 LBS
Total + 1380 1,767 LBS
Close enough for government work as I like to say!
I want to sincerely thank you for pointing this out to me, it was a valuable lesson.
