What is the "real" GVWR?
So, after months of looking for a TT for my 2013 Tacoma to safely tow< I'm still confused about the GVWR. On some models the dry weight is say 3155 lbs with the gvwr at 5890lbs. So, I can put 2735lbs ...
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Sparkndeb wrote:
So, after months of looking for a TT for my 2013 Tacoma to safely tow< I'm still confused about the GVWR. On some models the dry weight is say 3155 lbs with the gvwr at 5890lbs. So, I can put 2735lbs in the trailer? Who carries that kind of weight? What am I missing here? I need my gvwr to be around 4500lbs or so (I think). Help!
My Funfinder 189FDS is an example of what you are seeing. The trailer had a listed dry weight of 3135 pounds. It actually weighted approx 3600 pounds when I brought it home. But it has a GVWR of 6025 pounds. The reason it can have such a high GVWR is because it has two axles under it, each rated for 2800 pounds. If it were to have let's say, just one axle, rated at perhaps 3500 pounds, then it would have had a GVWR of maybe 4000 pounds.
In reality, as I go camp, my trailer ( without water in the tanks ) weighs just under 4000 pounds, so you can see that since I have a GVWR of just over 6000, I have a comfortable safety margin in carrying capacity.
Regarding your Tacoma, I tow this trailer with a Frontier, which as you know is similar to a Tacoma. As has been stated, what we typically run out of on these smaller rated trucks is payload or rear axle capacity. Typically these trailers have about 12 to 14% tongue weight. So with a few things in the bed of the truck, my 4000 pound trailer has me fairly close to, but still under the rear axle capacity of the truck. The max trailer I could pull with this truck and still be within the rear axle limit would be around 4500 pounds, and that assumes not much junk in the bed of the truck, and no extra passengers in the truck. It works for me, because I travel light, and solo.
You will also need ( not optional, but NEED ) a weight distributing hitch and of course a brake controller in the truck to operate the brakes on the trailer.
A properly set up truck and trailer, that is within all stated limits, tows safely and is fun to drive. The other side of that is when you are over limits, you will often hear folks describing the drive as "white knuckle". Obviously that takes a lot of the fun and safety out of the experience.
