Towing a my new travel trailer my .02

AntonB writes "Leaving a cargo capacity of 1638 lbs. (This is the weight allowed for all passengers, fluids, fuel and cargo combined to reach my 7900 lb limit of truck.

Here is the math....

Truck + Fuel + Family
6262 207 430 = approximately 6899 lb

Trailer + Cargo + Water (3 gallons) + LP (X2)
7030 800 24 40 = approximately 7894 lb

So I figure my Gross Combined Weight is 6899 + 7894 = 14793 lbs. My GCWR is 15000 lb"

Wrong.

Doesn't work that way..

You OFTEN run out of AVAILABLE CARGO weight before ever hitting the gross combined weight ratings..

Here is how to figure it out..

Vehicle CARGO Capacity - (Fuel + Family + WD hitch) = Left over cargo capacity..

Here is how that looks using your numbers..

1638 lbs - (207 lbs + 430 lbs + 100 lbs) = Left over cargo capacity

Solving the items in the ( ) first it looks like this..

1638 lbs - 737 lbs = 901 lbs left over cargo capacity of your vehicle

Now to your last post..

AntonB writes "For instance, I have a unladen weight of 6150 lbs. Now I know from my earlier posts I kept saying 7030 lb or so, but according to the manufacturing supervisor of Jayco via the customer service representative, the 7030 lb unladen listed on the cabinet door is a combination of shipped as weight and hitch weight, the amount that I would be towing down the road is the 6150 lb unladen and the 880lb unladen hitch weight is the down force that is applied to the tow vehicle's suspension."

Your "empty" trailer WEIGHS total of 7030 lbs

That is the COMBINATION of the weight on the axles and the hitch weight.

Axles have 6150 lbs

Hitch has 880 lbs.

So, we take the leftover cargo weight of 901 lbs - 880 lbs and the result is 21 lbs of available cargo weight.

Keeping in mind that the "shipping weight" typically DOES NOT include the following since those ARE DEALER ADD ONs..

Propane TANKS AND PROPANE (20 lb tank weighs about 19 lbs empty and about 38 lbs full and 30 lb tank weigh about 28 lbs empty and 58 lbs full) x2.

BATTERY (IES) (group 24 battery weighs in at about 58 lbs..

Those items SIT DIRECTLY ON THE TONGUE and ADD NEARLY ALL THAT WEIGHT TO THE HITCH.

So say you have two full 30 lb tanks of propane and one group 24 battery, that adds 174 lbs MORE to the hitch weight!

So now you MUST add the propane and battery to the hitch weight..

174 lbs + 880 lbs = 1054 lbs hitch weight.

1054 - 901 (available cargo) = 153 lbs OVER your available cargo cargo capacity of the vehicle... :E :S

Possible optional dealer installed ugrades like second A/C or any other upsell item which is installed AFTER it left the factory will make this even worse...

You intentionally flawed your math (by using the Gross Combined weight Rating and ignoring the cargo rating)in order to JUSTIFY A VERY HEAVY AND OVERLOADED POORLY MATCHED combination.

You are SEVERELY OVERLOADED WITHOUT EVER PUTTING YOUR GEAR IN THE TRAILER.

Will your vehicle pull it?

Sure, it most likely will (engines tend to not be the weak point now days) but you will be severely overloading the tires, axles, suspension not to mention the frame of the vehicle.

You are not going to have a fun experience no matter how much you want to justify this train wreck on wheels.

Fire suit on.. :B