Clarification on tow capacity

Typical travel trailer is 8' wide by 8' tall = 64sf. If you consider how high it sits and not just the area of the front cap, then 8' x 10' = 80sf. It would seem that the 60 sf is a limit, ie do not tow anything bigger than 60sf frontal area. It doesn't tell us what the relation between weight and frontal area is, ie, if 80sf is 33% over the 60sf limit, does that mean you de-rate the 11300 by 33% to 7533?

Makes me wonder if there is a legitimate reason for them not wanting you to tow a TT with a 150, or if they are just trying to protect sales of 250's....

Gearing ratios make a huge differience. The new 2014 Silverado/Sierra 1500 V6 pulls more than the 5.3 with 3.08 gearing.

Nvr2loud wrote:

joshuajim wrote:
I've always wondered if my 2013 EcoBoost with Max tow and HD payload can actually tow a RV trailer. Although it's "rated" for 11,300#, the owners manual limits frontal area of the trailer to 60 SF. I don't know of any hard side that is 60 SF!

That is 60 SF at 11,300 lbs.

Increase of the 60 SF will result in decrease to 11,300 lb maximum

My 30 foot travel trailer is about 7 feet wide and 7 feet tall, that is only 49 SF of frontal area.

The owners manual is quite clear on the 60sf limit.

Manual

That must be a unique trailer at only 7' wide by 7' high.

joshuajim wrote:
I've always wondered if my 2013 EcoBoost with Max tow and HD payload can actually tow a RV trailer. Although it's "rated" for 11,300#, the owners manual limits frontal area of the trailer to 60 SF. I don't know of any hard side that is 60 SF!

That is 60 SF at 11,300 lbs.

Increase of the 60 SF will result in decrease to 11,300 lb maximum

My 30 foot travel trailer is about 7 feet wide and 7 feet tall, that is only 49 SF of frontal area.

ChooChooMan74 wrote:
I actually hate "tow ratings". Towing a 9000lb travel trailer and a 9000lb boat and a 9000lb load of lumber are different things. It is a good guide to go by, but there are many other factors, too. The biggest is payload capacity of the vehicle. You can easily be over payload and not be close to the so called "tow rating".

Agreed.

It should not be called 'Tow Rating' but should be called 'Absolute maximum weight that this vehicle can handle above and beyond the weight of the vehicle itself" and remember you will also need help stopping.

jaycocreek wrote:

I guess the same could be said for the typical 3/4 ton and a typical fifth wheel.

???????????? Is there some point here?

Shorteelaw wrote:
That's my issue... We are buying both in the near future so I'm trying to find a good combo.

Here's some advice: Pick out the trailer first then figure out what you need to tow it with.

You may go to the RV dealer thinking of buying a certain size based on your budget...then you see a unit that is bigger, nicer, is 2 yrs old but looks brand new, and is cheaper than the smaller unit you went to look at.

Point being if you buy the truck first then fall in love with a trailer that is too heavy you will be stuck.

Buy the trailer first, post what the weights are and you'll get some good advice on what you should get to tow it with. The Nissan Titan is a great tow vehicle....up to a point.

Take it from me and many others here on the forum that listened to their dealer say "Sure your truck will tow this baby!" and then wound up buying a different truck in 6 months or a year. Get the trailer first!

TomG2 wrote:
Typically, we get hung up on bigger engines, HD pickups, etc. I realize this is the travel trailer forum, but there are some really spacious popups and hybrids on the market that can be towed with the typical half ton or SUV. Just saying.

:B

I guess the same could be said for the typical 3/4 ton and a typical fifth wheel.

Typically, we get hung up on bigger engines, HD pickups, etc. I realize this is the travel trailer forum, but there are some really spacious popups and hybrids on the market that can be towed with the typical half ton or SUV. Just saying.

Shorteelaw wrote:
If a vehicle says it's tow capacity is 9,000 lbs what does that 9,000 pounds include? Obviously the TT plus whatever we have in it and the water in it... But what else?

Tow capacity is not the only number you need to watch. You also need to watch payload and receiver rating.

If you look at the towing guides, from various manufacterers, you will frequently see a statement "When properly equipped", or "Max tow capacity is limited to the vehicles weakest link in the towing system". Nissan is one of those who use the weakest link statement.

The problem with concentrating on a tow capacity number is, the vehicle also has a rating on what it can carry, and, the receiver has a rating on what it can carry.

Think of this analogy:

You have a four wheeled wagon loaded with 2000 lbs of bricks. You are able to grab onto the tongue and pull that wagon by yourself. You have 2000 lbs tow capacity. Now, take the front wheels off the wagon and you can't pick up the tongue, because, your payload is not strong enough to carry the weight on it.

You need to look for a vehicle that can, not only "pull" XXXX lbs, but, it needs to "carry" your family, some cargo, a WD hitch, and "the biggie", up to 15 percent of that XXXX lbs. You're looking to pull and carry. There are 1/2 ton trucks that will do what you need to do, you just need to be carefull to buy the right one.

A few recent posts where this comes to light:

A fellow with 1/2 ton Suburban, it has 1250 payload and 7500 tow capacity. His tongue weight is 800 lbs and gross trailer weight is within his tow capacity. The problem is, he has six kids. Before he loads that 800 lbs tongue weight, he already has 700 lbs of passengers and cargo. He is 250 lbs over on payload and GVWR.

A fellow has 1000 lbs tongue weight and a passenger who requires 500 lbs of wheel chair equipment. He sees Ford advertising about 3120 lb payload on F150's and assuming they all have that payload, he buys one. When he checked payload on his particular F150, he found it only had 1450 lbs. He was overweight on payload and GVWR, before his passenger got into the truck.

A fellow with a Nissan Titan, had 975 lbs tongue / hitch weight and noticed his receiver was rated for 930 lbs (with WD). He was within his tow capacity, borderline on payload, and overweight on the receiver.