Gillkid wrote:
So help me understand something that confuses me with all of this. If my truck is rated to pull 6800#s, why can't I tow 6800#s? I doubt Toyota would put out a rating that would compromise a customers safety.
Truck manufacturers use several factors, such as frame, brakes, power train, wheels, and tires, to determine a tow rating. They also use some of the same factors to determine a GVWR and payload rating. In most travel trailer cases, you will exceed payload and GVWR on the truck, before you reach the unrealistic tow rating.
Your Tundra probably could tow, a 6900 lb flatbed trailer, if the trailer had a low hitch weight (tripple axle) and it's own brakes.
Travel trailers are a different animal. They create a lot of wind resistance, and, put a lot of hitch weight on the truck.
Another weak link, may be your tires. Quite possible, you have "P" rated tires, which are designed for passenger comfort, not heavy towing. Passenger tires will have more sidewall flex than an "LT" type tire.
Since the truck left the factory (a few years / owners ago), anything that has been added or subtracted, affected the payload, pound for pound.
I've been there with a Toyota Tundra. RV salesman said "no problem", this trailer is within your tow rating. Checking the door post sticker, all the numbers looked to be borderline, or under by a few pounds. What I hadn't considered was the fiberglass bed cap, I had added. That bed cap weighed 200 lbs and put me over GVWR, before I put a thermos of coffee in the back seat. It wasn't a pleasant tow.
Best way to find your available payload is to weigh the truck (with full fuel and driver) and subtract that from it's GVWR. That will be the weight you have to work with, for passengers, truck cargo, WD hitch, and trailer hitch weight.
