New member looking for 1st TT!
Hello campers! Total newbie here, headed out to what looks like a good place to purchase our first TT on Friday. Truck we'll be using is husbands 2014 Dodge Ram 5.7 Hemi. 2 WD 8 speed. Any general rec...
Forum Discussion
JND and a dog wrote:
JIMNLIN Sorry, total girl here. Thought I'd said, 1500. Also, our trips will mostly be long weekends. Occasional week I suppose. Sadly we have a while to go before retirement, by then I suspect we'll be looking at larger vehicle and tt. ??
Problem with 1/2 ton trucks is they vary wildly in capability. I've seen payloads as little as 950lb and upwards of 2500lb in 1/2 ton trucks.
Go look on the driver side door.
There will be a couple stickers with a bunch of numbers.
Key ones to find:
- GVWR: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, This is the maximum weight of the truck fully loaded. That weight includes the weight on the hitch which should be on the order of 12-15% of the trailer weight (the trailer also has a GVWR and is a good starting assumption for the ready to travel weight)
- The yellow sticker will have the payload. Again, the hitch weight counts against payload. A 7000lb trailer may have a hitch weight of 1000lb. Add in the 3 of you plus firewood and some other stuff in the truck bed, you may exceed the payload.
- RAWR: Rear Axle Weight Rating, similar to the GVWR but specific to the rear axle. It's possible to be within GVWR and Payload but still be over the RAWR. Hitch weight mostly goes onto the rear axle.
- Tow rating: Mostly this is built around the power to pull and brakes to stop...more often than not, you run out of one of the first three before you hit the tow rating.
