How much pin weight?

Here is a video put out by the RVSEF (RV Safety and Education Foundation) in how to match your Truck to the RV. It shows how the number relate to each other. These guys have been doing this since 1993 and weight thousand of RV.

Matching Your Truck to Your RV

DRM796 wrote:
Starting to look at replacing our truck and I have a question. How can you calculate how much pin weight a truck can handle prior to purchasing ?

We are looking at moving up to a one ton and was interested in the difference between srw and drw trucks.

Check the door sticker on any =specific= truck you're interested in and see what it says. Normally, the sticker will show net payload with 1 150 lb driver and full fuel, but some may not use full fuel. From there, start deducting for additional passengers, hitch and "stuff" you might carry in the truck. What's left over, is the net payload for that truck. If that number works for a FW you're looking for, then you're good to go.

Something else that a lot of RV mfrs are now doing, Jayco in particular, is they are putting a weight sticker on their units that is specific to =that= unit. This means that one with solid counter tops should show more cargo capacity than one with standard counters, or standard glass vs dual pane. The ones on Jaycos show the net CCC with full propane and one battery, then also give the specs for a full tank of fresh water.

Lyle

Folks here say you take 20 to 25% of your rigs weight and that is your "estimated" pin weight. So I would use that figure to estimate your pin weight, but it is just that an estimate, and the only way to determine actual weight is to purchase the truck, load up everything as though you will be going camping and weigh it at the scales. That will give you the actual pin weight as you have configured it!

Just get the dually and don't look back! I went from a 3/4 srw to a dually and have zero regrets doing so!

newman fulltimer wrote:
only big diff is stability drw give wider footprint but either will be fine for the trailer in your sig

Only big difference? What about the payload, GVWR and (most importantly) rear axle GAWR? I'd say those are significant differences between a single rear wheel and a dually.

Rusty

New or used truck ?? Older trucks may have low RAWR that carries most if not all the load.

The newer gen one ton SRW trucks has 7000-7050 RAWR which means up to a 4000 lb payload depending on cab/4x4/heavy option selections.

The newer gen one ton DRW trucks have;
GM at 9375 RAWR and a possible 5800 lb payload.
Ford at 9650 RAWR around 6100 lb payload.
Ram at 9750 RAWR for around 6200 lb payload.

These are estimates using 3500 lbs empty rear axle numbers. Actual rear axle payload always depends on actual scaled weights.

The DRW simple has a larger payload due to 4 tires and wheels vs two on the SRW truck.

Door jamb 'Tire data sticker'
Has PAYLOAD (Cargo Carrying Capacity) for THAT truck
Subtract weight of driver over 150#, all weight of other occupants, weight of all stuff on cab and stuff in bed (hitch etc)

WHat is left over is amount of cargo capacity left to handle pin weight.

RV Mfg. only list DRY pin weights vs WET pin weight (loaded trailer)
so guesstimate 20% of trailers GVWR for a WET pin.

IF payload can handle the 20% of Trailer GVWR then you will NOT have any rating issues (RAWR, Rear Tire Max Load Ratings, GCVWR)

Your and occupants weight is easy......everybody steps on scale and add it up
Traditional 5th wheel hitch.use 200#
Andersen style 4 tube hitch.use 70#
Stuff in cab use 50#

14K GVWR 20% is 2800# (which could be pin weight w/o trailer loaded to GVWR)
(figure what dry pin to UVW ratio is.....use that % for GVWR)

So with a 14K trailer you would be looking for a truck door sticker that has 3500# CCC

newman fulltimer wrote:
only big diff is stability drw give wider footprint but either will be fine for the trailer in your sig

Thanks but we are also thinking of replacing the 5er as well.

Yes, everything over a quarter tank of fuel.
As a rule of thumb,
2500 series trucks limit yourself to a 11,000 pound GVWR fiver
3500 SRW limit yourself to about 14,000 pound GVWR
3500 dually, tops out around 18,000 pounds GVWR fivers.
That makes it pretty simple I think.

pcm1959 wrote:
Of course, starting with the advertised pin weight of prospective trailers PLUS cargo. Give or take, they can be off. Our rig has an advertised pin weight of 2950 lbs. But it actually weighted in loaded for a 3 night trip at 3400 lbs.
Each individual truck you look at will have a red yellow and white sticker on the door jamb showing the particular trucks actual payload. They can vary a lot from truck to truck especially in the Ford line-up because they offer so many variations of each model.
The payload of the truck includes all occupants, any cargo you place in the bed or cab of the truck, and the weight of the fifth wheel hitch. Some of them are 300 lbs.
Add all that up and deduct that from the payload of the truck and that's what you need.
I went to a dually from a 3500 srw for safety as the above formula was putting me right at the trucks payload. A lot of that sometimes is due to the tires on the truck. Good luck.

Do you need to add weight of fuel?