Buying a TT. Need direction.
For 18 years, we have been on a 200,000 mile journey back and forth across our great land in Class A (gas and diesel) motorhomes. It has been wonderful and we consider ourselves to be blessed. Howev...
Forum Discussion
Here's a link to a calculator that may help your search.
A 7500 lb trailer is going to eat up at least to 1000 lbs of payload and a weight distributing hitch will eat another 100 lbs.
Manufacturers max tow capacity numbers do not include aftermarket accessories (bed caps / covers, bed liners, undercoating, etc), cargo or passengers. When you add weight to the vehicle, it's available payload AND it's towing capacity are reduced, pound for pound. In many cases, you'll run out of payload before you get close to that mythical tow capacity.
My travel trailer has a loaded weight of 7350 and it's tongue weight fluctuates between 975 and 1200 lbs.
Note: Tongue weight is not a constant number. It goes up and down during every trip. Depending on their location, (in relation to the trailer axles) holding tanks can have a significant impact on tongue weight.
When you go truck shopping, open the drivers door and look at the tire / loading sticker (on door jamb or on door itself). It will have a number for "max occupant / cargo weight. That is that particular truck's capacity carry the combined weight of people, pets, cargo, accessories, trailer hitch, and trailer tongue weight. You'll notice they are not all the same. You could see two of the same make / model, sitting next to each other, and they have different amounts of payload, based on which options are install.
The closer you are to max capacity (payload or tow capacity) the more unpleasant your towing will be.
A 7500 lb trailer is going to eat up at least to 1000 lbs of payload and a weight distributing hitch will eat another 100 lbs.
Manufacturers max tow capacity numbers do not include aftermarket accessories (bed caps / covers, bed liners, undercoating, etc), cargo or passengers. When you add weight to the vehicle, it's available payload AND it's towing capacity are reduced, pound for pound. In many cases, you'll run out of payload before you get close to that mythical tow capacity.
My travel trailer has a loaded weight of 7350 and it's tongue weight fluctuates between 975 and 1200 lbs.
Note: Tongue weight is not a constant number. It goes up and down during every trip. Depending on their location, (in relation to the trailer axles) holding tanks can have a significant impact on tongue weight.
When you go truck shopping, open the drivers door and look at the tire / loading sticker (on door jamb or on door itself). It will have a number for "max occupant / cargo weight. That is that particular truck's capacity carry the combined weight of people, pets, cargo, accessories, trailer hitch, and trailer tongue weight. You'll notice they are not all the same. You could see two of the same make / model, sitting next to each other, and they have different amounts of payload, based on which options are install.
The closer you are to max capacity (payload or tow capacity) the more unpleasant your towing will be.
