Help A Newbie! what weight RV's should I be shopping for!?

Stay at/under trailer GVWR of 7000# and you will be happier towing it around...therefore you use it more often

Usually the payload capacity is the limiting factor in 1/2 ton pickup trucks not the towing capacity.

What does the yellow sticker say inside your driver door jamb. Should say something like "Weight of cargo and passengers should not exceed ___ lbs".

fx2tom wrote:
What does the yellow sticker say inside your driver door jamb. Should say something like "Weight of cargo and passengers should not exceed ___ lbs".

Thanks for the quick responses! yellow sticker says 1486 lbs... I assume that is passengers/cargo and tounge weight total?

Correct, don't forget weight of weight distributing hitch.

Old-Biscuit is right, keep in that trailer GVWR, rather than amount the truck can pull. A flat trailer loaded to 10K is much different than a high walled TT.

Jerry

MFL wrote:
Correct, don't forget weight of weight distributing hitch.

Old-Biscuit is right, keep in that trailer GVWR, rather than amount the truck can pull. A flat trailer loaded to 10K is much different than a high walled TT.

Jerry

Thank you all for the information! Very much appreciated!

SoDakKid wrote:

Thanks for the quick responses! yellow sticker says 1486 lbs... I assume that is passengers/cargo and tounge weight total?

Assuming your 700# load includes all the people, cargo, hitch, running boards and anything else bolted onto truck after it left the plant...

That leaves you about 750# of payload for the hitch weight.

Assuming you keep the hitch weight in the 12-15% range, you can back calculate a trailer on the order of 5000-6250lb GVWR (not empty weight) before you run out of payload.

PS: For $12.50, you can stop by a CAT scale and get the real current truck weights...go with the family and the truck loaded as if you are heading out on a trip with a full tank of gas.

SoDakKid wrote:

fx2tom wrote:
What does the yellow sticker say inside your driver door jamb. Should say something like "Weight of cargo and passengers should not exceed ___ lbs".

Thanks for the quick responses! yellow sticker says 1486 lbs... I assume that is passengers/cargo and tounge weight total?

Yes, but that is artificially low. And this question comes up every day about 3 times on this site alone.
There will be about 30 rvnet door sticker nut humpers come along and tell you family of 4 and bikes in the truck bed, you need to stick to a pop up camper for payload purposes.

That is about 1000% false, unless every one of the millions of 1/2 ton trucks running around every day, new, old, low miles, high miles, US, Jap, turbo charged, NA, hauling or towing far more than the milquetoast 1500lb cargo rating are wrong. And they're not. 4500lbs or a bit mor is not going to have any ill effects on any newer (or older for that fact if in good shape) 1/2 ton rear axle.
I have the same truck as you, but with a 6 speed. It's my work truck. At almost 100k miles, it seems to be holding up fine. I've towed 10-14k lbs with it (not all the time) over mountain passes.
Personally I wouldn't want to lug around a 9-10 klb travel trailer. I'd want to stay around 7-8k lbs for a comfortable tow

For "myself" I wouldn't want to go much above 7 to 7,500 for a fully loaded trailer. That's for all conditions not just flats.

If I lived in Ks and didn't get out of that state I would go a bit more.

“yellow sticker says 1486 lbs”

That’s terrible for a truck. Provided you load the truck lightly, 6000 pounds of trailer max.