First Travel Trailer, help us out!
Hey guys and gals, My wife and I have been looking for a little over a year now for our first travel trailer. We have a towing capacity of 7200lbs with our jeep grand Cherokee Trailhawk. I thin...
Forum Discussion
Kuwanger23 wrote:
The payload is 1500. But that isn't for towing. That is just for cargo which would only be people no?
No.
Tow capacity is a number concocted by the manufacturers and is determined by pulling a flat trailer with weight and a jocky for a driver. A high walled TT pushes a lot of wind which makes it more difficult for your drive train to overcome. Don't assume that you can tow a particular TT based on your tow capacity.
As stated, payload is the determining factor. Brochure tongue weights are fairy tales. Take the gross weight of the TT or CCC + dry weight and multiply by 13% to get your calculated tongue weight.
Add the weight of passengers and cargo including the weight of a weight distributing hitch which will most likely add 100lbs or more.
Check your hitch receiver to see what weight it is rated for. The kind of tire your vehicle has is also important - are they LT tires or Passenger rated tires? Does your vehicle have a factory installed towing package?
Search for payload in this forum - lots of discussion on this topic.
