Trying to understand payload

Don't do like I did. Went looking for a new truck and found something I liked. Looked at the payload info and discovered I already had more capacity in my current TV than the new one!

11 years ago I was just as afraid of domestics as you seem to be. I bought the truck anyway and drove it up until a few months ago. Outside of maintenance, I put all of $8 into the truck for a burnt out daytime running light. My towing needs outgrew that truck, otherwise I would have still been driving it and would take it anywhere to this day. I've driven imports all my life, but that Chevy was my all time favorite and most reliable vehicle.

It's still a gamble on the used market, but that's true of any brand. Assuming you take all precautions, I would open up my options.

Ok. So I raaan over to learn a bit about weight distributors. Sure would be helpful to have a diagram. So far the only thing I think I understand is that we want the weight on the front axle to be nearly the same as on the rear axle of the tow vehicle and about the same on the trailer axle. 1/3, 1/3, 1/3. Right? I just don't understand the gadget. I need a picture.

Oh my Gawd! My dry weight on my trailer is 5,628 and I called StarCraft and they told me the hitch weight was 718. Are you saying that if I add 1,000 pounds inside the trailer that some of that 1,000 (12-15% of it) must also go on as hitch weight? Because if that is what you are saying then I would have to subtract 130 pounds more from the payload? Lets see...1580 (claimed payload) -150 (me)-120 (dogs)-130-718 (tongue weight). That leaves 462 and I don't even know what the receiver and ball weigh or what else I might put in the truck. I am kind of light on travel but still.

You'll be fine with the Tundra Double Cab. The payload rating should be around 1500lbs for that body style with options included.(check the door stickers for exact number) Since it's just you and some dogs in the truck you'll have plenty of payload left for the tongue weight, just load everything else in the trailer.

If the trailers dry weight is 5600lbs it'll be close to 6000lbs empty (as delivered with options). If you load 1000lbs of stuff into it (which is a lot for 1 person) you'll be up to 7000lbs. Well under what the Tundra can safely tow. At the average of 13% trailer weight on the tongue would give you around 900lbs. Call it another 100lbs for the weight of the hitch.

So 1580-150-120-900-100= 310lbs of payload left.

You can still add another 300+lbs before maxing out payload which is plenty to spare. You'll find similar results with most 1/2 ton trucks.

Francesca Knowles wrote:

GalWithDawgs wrote:
Lets say I have loaded the truck so my payload is 1580. 1000 of that is because of the hitch and some of the trailer contents. That would mean I would have 580 pounds of me, the dogs and lipstick distributed evenly over two axles or four tires, right? So my gaw on the front axle might be 270 but my rear axle would be 1270. Right?

Depends on your hitch... now it's time to go to the following really helpful RV.net link and read all about weight distribution hitch systems.

The one thing you need to know going in is that these systems do NOT raise your payload capacity. But they do affect how the load is carried by the axles.

Okay I will go to the link now but before I go I thought it seemed kind of strange to maybe have 1270 on the GAW on the rear and 270 on the front. Kind of like my front tires might come off the ground and I wouldn't be able to steer or brake but then I figured the engine was up there and heavier and maybe that made up the balance. I am getting a bit confused but feel I am on the edge of understanding.

Francesca Knowles wrote:

GalWithDawgs wrote:
Lets say I have loaded the truck so my payload is 1580. 1000 of that is because of the hitch and some of the trailer contents. That would mean I would have 580 pounds of me, the dogs and lipstick distributed evenly over two axles or four tires, right? So my gaw on the front axle might be 270 but my rear axle would be 1270. Right?

Depends on your hitch... now it's time to go to the following really helpful RV.net link and read all about weight distribution hitch systems.

The one thing you need to know going in is that these systems do NOT raise your payload capacity. But they do affect how the load is carried by the axles.

Oh boy. In 2004 I bought a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 and it came with these two big metal rod type things and seems to me one end of those rods attached to the back end of the truck and the other two near the trailer hitch. Those were anti sway things, right?

GalWithDawgs wrote:
Lets say I have loaded the truck so my payload is 1580. 1000 of that is because of the hitch and some of the trailer contents. That would mean I would have 580 pounds of me, the dogs and lipstick distributed evenly over two axles or four tires, right? So my gaw on the front axle might be 270 but my rear axle would be 1270. Right?

Depends on your hitch... now it's time to go to the following really helpful RV.net link and read all about weight distribution hitch systems.

The one thing you need to know going in is that these systems do NOT raise your payload capacity. But they do affect how the load is carried by the axles.

Thanks, Lanerd but I just positively have to understand. I looked up GAW and GAWR. Gaw would be like if I put 500 pounds of rocks in the back end of the truck. My gaw would be on the rear 500 or close to it because I am assuming a tiny bit might go to the front axle. My gawr would be what I am not suppose to exceed but how do you calculate that? I looked up for the Tundra and it said 3900/3800. I am assuming that the GAWR for the front is 3900 and the GAWR for the rear is 3800. The hitch weight would come into play there wouldn't it? Or would it? Surely it would. But what else? Oh, wait! Lets say I have loaded the truck so my payload is 1580. 1000 of that is because of the hitch and some of the trailer contents. That would mean I would have 580 pounds of me, the dogs and lipstick distributed evenly over two axles or four tires, right, because well, we are pretty much sitting in the middle of the truck give or take a bit? So my gaw on the front axle might be 270 but my rear axle would be 1270. Right?

You are absolutely correct. Your payload is the trucks GVWR with the ACTUAL weight of your truck subtracted from it. It includes EVERYTHING you put in the truck. Talking about ACTUAL payload not the brochure payload or even the door post payload. Put a gallon of milk in the truck and your AVAILABLE payload is reduced by approximately 8 lb. ACTUAL payload is the number you need to concern yourself with. Load up the truck with whatever you travel with, weigh it and subtract that weight from the GVWR and you get your ACTUAL payload.

Yes, you do have to take into account the weight on the front and rear axles. However, typically, if you are within the payload limits, all other ratings will also be within limits. This is not 100%, but close to it.

While the manufacture's ratings are provided for a good reason, there's gotta be a little tolerance allowed.

With my older Tundra, the payload was also about the same as yours and I pulled a 5600 lb TT for several years and a couple of times with a 500 lb quad in the back of the truck. Was I over my payload??? You betcha! But nothing broke and I still have the Tundra today.

FYI, there were Ford F150's made with a Heavy Duty option that raised the payload to close to 3000 lbs. Search on "Skip and Char". He had one for years.

Ron