Towing Capacity Question

otrfun wrote:
The OP's biggest problem is verifying all his/her ratings/weights. A lot of assumptions being made (payload, tonque weight, dry weight, loaded weight, receiver hitch rating, RAWR, etc.). I may have missed it, but I don't believe the OP has one capacity, rating or weight that's actually been verified (verified = TV VIN related data and/or Cat Scale ticket). Even the dry weight of 5,900 lbs. quoted for the camper is suspect. I've seen these dry weight stickers be off as much as 1,000 lbs. Many dry weight quotes (especially brochures) are with *zero* options, no propane tanks, no batteries, etc.

With lighter TV's like the Durango, tongue weight is critical. Realworld, loaded tongue weight can easily be 50-75% more than the dry tongue weight rating specified on the typical manufacturer's brochure.

Prior to a visit to a Cat Scale, everyone's rig is riding on a long laundry list of assumptions. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone's jaw drop (mine included) after taking their rig to the scales the first time. The best approach is to be extremely conservative. In the RV world, if you look anything remotely "close" on paper, you're probably over---possibly way over.

With all this being said, I commend the OP for starting this thread---and asking all the right questions. Hopefully this thread will prevent the OP from making some of the same mistakes that some of us here have made in the past.

My listed payload is 1200 lbs (although that appears conservative as my calculations would have it closer to 1500 lbs). The hitch weight of the camper we are now looking at is 450 lbs and myself and family would add another 500 lbs. So that would give me 250 lbs for the increase in hitch weight with a loaded camper. Still seems tight but better than the first option we were looking at.