Don't believe the combined weight ratings
My little half ton had a rating of 9,000lb for a loaded TT. I can tell you first hand that towing only 7500 (29 ft.) TT was a horror ride from Pa to Tx. I had WD bars on that combo along with sway con...
Forum Discussion
Road Phantom wrote:
My little half ton had a rating of 9,000lb for a loaded TT.
No... it didn't! :R
It had a "tow" rating of 9000 lbs....there's never been a mfg that indicated their ratings were based on "travel trailers".
Typically, the trailer used in determining the "tow" rating is a flat bed with wheels at each corner....therefore, little or no tongue weight.
Travel trailers on the other hand, and by design, require 10-15% of the trailer's weight on the tongue to insure proper handling. So taking a 9000 lb trailer, it will have anywhere from 900 to over 1300 lbs of tongue weight. That in itself will come close to maxing out the "payload" of a 1/2 ton truck. Adding passengers, equipment, tools, ect will only compound this problem.
The bottom line here is that a person needs to become familiar with ALL the ratings of a truck prior to purchasing a travel trailer. Most do not.
Ron
