Tow Capacity Comparisons For 2015 Trucks
Here are three links to some truck brand comparisons for half-ton, three-quarter and one ton trucks with some jaw dropping surprises. Half-ton Truck Realistic Towing Capacity Three-quarter Ton...
Forum Discussion
DW-gray wrote:kzspree320 wrote:
Fifth Wheel -
Potential PW @20% is 3237
PW (3237) + GVW (6616) = Loaded GVW (9853) (Under GVWR: 10000)
PW (3237) + Rear Axle Weight (2581) = Loaded RAW (5818) (Under RAWR: 6000)
It looks like your rear axle weight does not include the weight of the fifth wheel hitch or passengers. It's clear your GVWR does, but some weight has to be added to the empty weight of rear axle and pin weight to accomodate these items. I suspect your loaded RAW is closer to 6200 lbs with a 200 lb hitch and about half of 340 passenger weight. That would put if over a 6,000 RAWR. What am I missing??
Well how about that. You pointed out a potential flaw. That's the closet I've seen. So now what can be done about it? What do you recommend to fix this flaw?
Keep in mind, getting scaled axle weight from a dealer is probably not going to happen. Some salespeople don't even know where to find such information. It may be very difficult to get the best weight information. Searching for that info at some manufacturer's websites can be very difficult. Then there is this question, will the trailer's pin weight be 20%? If it turns out to be only 17%, then he would be in much better position.
So lets talk about how to improve a calculator that only accepts GCWR, GVWR, GVW, the hitch, passenger weight, and cargo weight and not add any other entries.
The mission is K.I.S.S. Keep It Simply Safe and easy to use.
I would add 100% of hitch weight, 50% of passenger weight and 100% of cargo weight to your rear axle weight. Hitch is over axle 100%, people probably about 50% inside the cab, and cargo could be either in the cab or bed. Play it safe and assume it's in the bed and use 100% of the cargo weight. This is what I would do with the limited inputs above. I also agree with the KISS method. Your right the pin weight could be only 17%, but it could also be 22%. The 20% is about average. You can only give an estimate. If someone is very close, they need to look closely and see if the model fiver they are considering has over 20% pin weight. Hope this discussion helps.
