Hitch Weight

[2014screw]

Are the hitch weights on a manufacturers website only "Dry" weights

No battery & empty propane bottles?

[SlowBro]

From what I've read, that those things certainly do help with handling, but they don't actually increase the weight ratings.

For example, this air spring company says, "LoadLifter 5000 ULTIMATE works with your vehicle’s leaf springs to provide up to 5,000 lbs. of load leveling capacity*" Notice the asterisk? That points to this statement: "* Never exceed manufacturer’s recommended Gross Vehicle Weight Rating."

[pitch]

There is nothing that will change the sticker on your door. You however can enhance your truck no matter what the nannies say. Start with tires, Do you have P rated or LT's? Get yourself some C rated LT's. May be some air bags.
A lot depend on your locale the distance and road conditions. What vagueness might be tolerable for 120 miles may be horrible for 1200.
Tongue weight is always going to be moving target anyway, unless you load exactly the same way with the same amount of consumables for each and every trip.
I say go for it as long as you are mindful of your shortcomings. You might not be happy with the ride but you won't be a danger.

There is nothing hard dangerous or mysterious about this hobby, but some do like to pontificate!

[SlowBro]

To save payload, plan on moving almost everything you normally carry in your truck in your trailer or remove it completely. I'm getting Nazi on ours. I'm removing floor mats and glove box contents, moving tools and even the jack to the trailer. The kids can have a drink inside; If they want more, we can pull over and go back to the cooler.

The trick is to remember to move that stuff back when you need to separate the trailer and vehicle for some reason, like going to the grocery store.

Even better if you have sufficient payload capacity to begin with; That's one reason many full-timers upgrade to an F350 dually.

[SlowBro]

There is some good news though, since you're butting up against the payload rating like I am. A weight distribution hitch, if you use one, will transfer anywhere from 20-30% of the tongue weight to the trailer's axles. Since I am planning conservatively, I calculated 20%.

So my formula looks like this:
Trailer weight loaded (max GVWR) / 100 * 10 = Tongue weight
Tongue weight / 100 * 80 = Final tongue weight on the vehicle

I forgot to mention, you also need to add the hitch weight to your vehicle's load, since most of the weight from the hitch, except the chain mounts/snap-ups, is on the vehicle. So every pound saved on your hitch goes a long way. If you have a lighter vehicle, the Andersen hitch is a good choice, at less than 60lbs. So is a Harbor Freight hitch. There are pros and cons to these hitches though; I encourage you to read the forum threads on this item before making that decision.

Be forewarned though, asking which hitch is best is kinda like a religious debate, or Packers vs Patriots vs Seahawks 😉

Any actual experience with a Harbor Freight WDH?
Anderson Hitch

Harbor Freight hitches use a friction device, so read this too:
Friction anti-sway device use in rain or wet roads

[SlowBro]

That's a hot question which is sure to garner debate. There are some here who seem to believe that going even five pounds over will lead to the axle breaking in half, and there are some here who believe that going over a few hundred (or thousand?) pounds is no big deal. And there are plenty in-between.

I phrased my comments to you carefully and conservatively, for I am proceeding carefully and conservatively with our own RV. Since I'm just starting out, I don't want to exceed any ratings. The last thing I want when just starting is a ruined trip, so I'm going to keep it light and tight. Once I get a few more miles under my belt, I might feel comfortable exceeding ratings here and there.

Here's a good thread for this question:
Is being a little over GVWR no worse than doing 60 in a 55?

[2014screw]

Seriously, is going over your payload rating by a few hundred pounds a huge deal?

Truck is a 2014 FX4 payload total says 1350 lbs. If I say a total payload (TW and cargo) totals say 1700-1750 lbs (so 350-400 lbs over)

Is that to far gone and over??

[SlowBro]

Something about the hitch or tongue weight: It's not set in stone. What you see in the brochures and on the websites is a guideline. Put 100lb of sand bags on the tongue and you'll see what I mean.

The aim is to balance your load such that the tongue weight is between 10-15% of the loaded (wet) trailer weight. So if your trailer weighs 5,000lb, tongue weight should be 500-750lb. Any less and it'll tend to sway dangerously. Any more and it'll give your vehicle unnecessary wear.

So what do you do?

If you're looking to see if you can tow a trailer, use the trailer's GVWR, which is the most your trailer should weigh. Then add a 20% safety buffer. That's the max weight. Subtract that from your tow vehicle's GCWR.

Out of this, calculate your tongue weight. Subtract that from your tow vehicle's GVWR. Then subtract the weight of a fully loaded tow vehicle: All passengers, drinks, iPods, lunch, coolers, floor mats, everything. (I found that by visiting a local truck stop with a CAT scale. It cost me 10 min and $10.)

After subtracting the vehicle weight from the vehicle's GVWR, also subtract it from the GCWR and see if you've gone over. Keep an eye on the axle ratings (GAWR/FGAWR/RGAWR) of vehicle and trailer. Stay within all these ranges and you can't go wrong.

P.S. I am not an experienced road warrior, just sharing what I've read. Old-timers are more than welcome to correct anything I said wrong.

[LarryJM]

2014screw wrote:
Are the hitch weights on a manufacturers website only "Dry" weights

No battery & empty propane bottles?

Also I believe a lot of those dry hitch wts are based on empty 20# tanks not the optional 30# tanks that you generally find on most longer trailers. Thus the actual wt with full tanks, battery, and the WDH hardware generally attached to the tongue permanently can approach an additional 150#.

Larry

[bikendan]

Yep, add two batteries and two full propane tanks and you've already added another 100lbs. to the fictional "dry" hitch weight.
and that still doesn't factor what the loaded trailer will add to it.

[2014screw]

Broccoli1 wrote:
Yup

But includes the empty propane bottles

[Broccoli1]

Yup