dtoste77 wrote:
Thanks for the insight on payload! So to be clear, when considering payload I need to consider weight of passenger any load we load into to the bed plus the hitch weight correct? Not an issue wit the cargo and passenger but when loading another 800lbs of hitch weight is where it gets close. Am I correct in this assumption?
Yes. As an example, our '10 Chevy 1500 ccsb 4x4 5.3/6spd/3.42 truck had about 1550lbs for payload per the yellow sticker in the drivers door jamb.
We had about 450lbs for passengers, about 100lbs for the wdh, about 200lbs for a cab high truck topper (all accessories: nerf bars, mud flaps, tonneau cover, etc, add toward total payload also!!!), up to about 200lbs in the truck bed (bikes if we took them, tool box, wood for leveling the trailer at the campsite), and about 900lbs of tw.. These weights are from what I recall from 2yrs ago.
So:
1550-(450+100+200+200+900)= -300lbs!!! When I relized just how we heavy we were loaded we ended up stepping up to a 2500HD. With the 1500, we were over the gvwr of the truck, but just under the trucks rear axle rating. Which some say as long as you are under the axles rating, you are ok since most axle ratings when added together (front + rear axle) are higher than the gvwr.... Up to you what you want to go by.
We used to load the coolers and firewood (when we could take it) in our old trailer with the 1500. Wife wanted at least the firewood OUT, and the coolers also if possible!!! Our last trailer we still had the coolers inside, but with the 2500HD we have about 2750lbs of payload. Even with our new Jayco that has 1400lbs tw we are still under the gvwr!!!!
It is crazy how quikly the weight adds up!!!! Almost as fast as kids grow!!! Lol
