What Can I Tow Calculators

[ependydad]

For newbies- I've been working on some calculators to go along with my "What Can I Tow?" web page.

I've put together 2 calculators for determining the weight of camper that you can pull by looking at your available payload, then determining the potential tongue/pin weight of the camper and extrapolating the possible loaded weight of the camper.

Anyway- here they are:

• Going to a scale and getting weighed
  
• Using the tire & load information doorjamb sticker

Any input is welcome!

[ependydad]

Bumping this as I've added more calculators as well as utilities for actual weights. 🙂

The neat part about this- it works well on your smartphone, tablet and PC. I'm pretty tickled pink with it.

[bukhrn]

A dealer will use their own calculator, which goes something like;

"A 38' 5th wheel, of course you can tow that with your F150 short bed"
or
"A 34' TT, I see no reason you can't tow it with your VW"
Sign here, here, & here, & initial here. :B

[ependydad]

12thgenusa wrote:
What I've found helpful is to calculate the pin weight % from the empty/dry/shipping weight. My experience has been that when loaded, it will still be close to the same %.

For example, my pin weight % calculated according to the brochure dry weights is 16%. I weighed the trailer on the way home from the dealer (empty and new) and it calculated to 17%. Loaded now, it calculates to 15%.

The point is that the buyer must do enough work to "know" what the estimated pin weight will be. He cannot just use 15% because he likes the results it gives. If he happens to choose a trailer that is close to 25%, there is no way to load it that will ever bring it much below that figure. OTOH, if he always assumes 25%, he will needlessly spend much more for a bigger TV than he really needs or buy much less trailer than he can realistically tow.

As you can tell, I'm not part of the "you can never have too much truck" crowd.

Yep - I actually have a calculator that does that tongue/pin weight estimation for you:
http://www.learntorv.com/2013/12/towing-pintongue-weight-calculator.html

In the handful of real-world testing, I've found that folks have anywhere from 2%-5% swing on the dry pin percentage calculation.

[ependydad]

wny_pat wrote:
You forgot the Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR). http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle/gcwr.htm. Or doesn't that apply when pulling a trailer?

In my opinion, if you're going to go by ratings and attempt to not exceed all of them then it matters a lot less than GVWR as you'll likely exceed GVWR long before anything else.

Interesting case above with Terryallan's case - definitely challenges my belief there.

[Terryallan]

wny_pat wrote:
You forgot the Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR). http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle/gcwr.htm. Or doesn't that apply when pulling a trailer?

Yeah it does. That is what the truck and trailer together can weigh. But then you knew that.

[Terryallan]

ependydad wrote:
It's interesting getting the different perspectives of the 3 responses so far:


2) it gives false hope to the user and doesn't take towing capacity into account



For #2- I think it definitely makes sense to add a caveat for the user to refer to their owner's manual or towing guide for further limitations. Though, I'd love to know which took you used , the numbers that you entered ( and for which camper type ) and what your truck's actual towing rating is to try and better the tools themselves.

.

GVWR 7050, Curb, 5350 extra weight 400

Ford's actual towing capacity 8000lbs, of course before I load the truck.

[wny_pat1]

You forgot the Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR). http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle/gcwr.htm. Or doesn't that apply when pulling a trailer?

[12thgenusa]

ependydad wrote:
For #3- I've been round and round in my head with what an appropriate range is for fifth wheel pin weights . My camper has a dry pin at 16% and wet/heavily loaded at 18%. The challenge is that this is for newbies who truly have no idea. My prior alternate calculator was designed to help estimate the actual pin percentage and weight. I plan on adding that, but I still don't know what to do with this utility. I think including as low as 15% is potentially giving false hope when it's a seemingly rarity.

What I've found helpful is to calculate the pin weight % from the empty/dry/shipping weight. My experience has been that when loaded, it will still be close to the same %.

For example, my pin weight % calculated according to the brochure dry weights is 16%. I weighed the trailer on the way home from the dealer (empty and new) and it calculated to 17%. Loaded now, it calculates to 15%.

The point is that the buyer must do enough work to "know" what the estimated pin weight will be. He cannot just use 15% because he likes the results it gives. If he happens to choose a trailer that is close to 25%, there is no way to load it that will ever bring it much below that figure. OTOH, if he always assumes 25%, he will needlessly spend much more for a bigger TV than he really needs or buy much less trailer than he can realistically tow.

As you can tell, I'm not part of the "you can never have too much truck" crowd.

[ependydad]

It's interesting getting the different perspectives of the 3 responses so far:

1) useful tool for newbies, but it doesn't cover the knowingly overloaded scenario
2) it gives false hope to the user and doesn't take towing capacity into account
3) I'm using too conservative of numbers for a pin weight estimation for fifth wheels

For #1- I don't know how to objectively approach the "towing over your ratings" perspective. I've thought of another calculator that focuses more solely on RAWR and tire load capacity.

For #2- I think it definitely makes sense to add a caveat for the user to refer to their owner's manual or towing guide for further limitations. Though, I'd love to know which took you used , the numbers that you entered ( and for which camper type ) and what your truck's actual towing rating is to try and better the tools themselves.

For #3- I've been round and round in my head with what an appropriate range is for fifth wheel pin weights . My camper has a dry pin at 16% and wet/heavily loaded at 18%. The challenge is that this is for newbies who truly have no idea. My prior alternate calculator was designed to help estimate the actual pin percentage and weight. I plan on adding that, but I still don't know what to do with this utility. I think including as low as 15% is potentially giving false hope when it's a seemingly rarity.

[12thgenusa]

Except that the range of pin weight can be from 15% to 25%. On a 10k 5th wheel, that amounts to 1000 lbs. The results are probably overly cautious and might eliminate viable trailer possibilities.

[Terryallan]

I did mine, with the calc, and trust me. I am not going to tow a 9000 to 11,000 lb travel trailer with my truck, even though it says I can. Ford says I can't. But then Ford knows what rear gear, and what engine I have. That formula never took that into consideration. It is incomplete. you have to use all the information. Not just the truck weights.

[MitchF150]

Nice calculators.. It keeps you at your trucks GVWR if you pretty much know your other weights. Might help newbs see how fast stuff adds up and not just look at the trucks "tow rating" and think they are 'good to go'... 😉

In my case, it says I can't tow the trailer I'm towing.... A #5000 GVWR 22' TT with a 1997 F150 with a #6250 GVWR.. I know I'm over it's GVWR, but the trucks got 255,000 miles on it and I've been towing the same trailer since 2002 without imploding the world around me.. 🙂

What works for me is not going to necessarily work for others and that's fine.

The calculators is a good starting point and should at least make the user aware of where they stand on their individual weights and the user can decide what's right or wrong for them... 🙂

Mitch