Actual Hitch Weight vs Dry Hitch Weight

[mfifield01]

I'm currently looking at a lighter TT. I'm concerned with hitch weight right now on my Ram 1500. My towing capacity is fine (10,050lbs). I'm looking at TTs with a dry hitch weight between 515-600lbs. What's a good total hitch weight estimate? I assume 100lbs would be added with a WDH. Thanks.

[mfifield01]

I got it weighed today. Actually weighed it without a slip for free. It was 5780 with random stuff in it (Larger tire wrench, ratchet straps, some tools, tarps, 30' tow strap, bungees, etc.). So I have 1020 lbs for payload. With a WDH, I think I'll be right on the payload. Without I could be over. Just depends on the TT I get and how much stuff we put it in.

[mfifield01]

I agree, I need to take it to a scale. There's a lot of differing information around. My truck's title says 5500 lbs for the curb weight, but who knows if that's just the number put on it.

[ttavasc]

mfifield01 wrote:
I learned something new tonight on an Airstream forum. The door sticker on the Ram is just cargo capacity. If you put your VIN into the Ram website you get payload capacity. From Ram customer service with a 2500 example, ""The plant system that prints the label is not sophisticated enough to calculate the true weight of the vehicle on the fly, base weight plus any combination of options ordered. So, it adds an average Max Options weight to the base weight to get curb weight. In this case, with max options, this vehicles curb weight is 300 lbs higher. So, the payload is approx 300 lbs less at 1980 lbs. The label reads “Passenger and Cargo weight cannot exceed 1980 lbs.” So, it uses base weight plus a standard max options weight.""

The VIN specific is the most accurate representation of payload which reads 2270 lbs"

That being said, my payload is listed at 1393 according to the VIN.

When I plug my VIN number into the RAM site it tells me my payload is 1409. My scale ticket says otherwise. It looks to me like the RAM site is providing the maximum payload possible with only standard features while the door sticker is telling you how much payload is left after all optional equipment was installed on your specific truck before leaving the factory. It doesn't matter what the total payload the truck is capable of is - what matters is how much of that is left when you drive the truck off the lot. That is the amount you have left to work with without exceeding the GVWR.

A detailed break-down of my scale ticket shows that the 1100lb payload on the door sticker is in fact accurate for my truck:

6800 - GVWR
-1100 - payload available from door sticker
------
5700 - assumed curb weight (with full fuel/fluids per RAM site)

Passengers/cargo included in scale weight
+ 190 - driver
+ 55 - Bak-Flip bed cover shipping weight
+ 25 - WeatherTech bed liner shipping weight
+ 15 - REI Emergency Supply pack
+ 15 - Portable air pump/assorted tools
------
300 - Passengers/cargo

5700 curb weight + 300 passengers/cargo = 6000 which matches the scale weight leaving only 800 for tongue/hitch/additional passengers/cargo. So yes - the door sticker is just that - cargo capacity. It's all that's left of the max payload for use by the consumer.

If you want to know for certain how much payload will be available to you then you should run it over the scale. Subtract the scale weight from the GVWR and that will be an accurate figure to use for determining how much tongue/hitch/additional passengers/cargo can be carried. And if you are going to be over the GVWR you'll know by exactly how much and can make an informed decision about whether or not that is acceptable.

[mfifield01]

I learned something new tonight on an Airstream forum. The door sticker on the Ram is just cargo capacity. If you put your VIN into the Ram website you get payload capacity. From Ram customer service with a 2500 example, ""The plant system that prints the label is not sophisticated enough to calculate the true weight of the vehicle on the fly, base weight plus any combination of options ordered. So, it adds an average Max Options weight to the base weight to get curb weight. In this case, with max options, this vehicles curb weight is 300 lbs higher. So, the payload is approx 300 lbs less at 1980 lbs. The label reads “Passenger and Cargo weight cannot exceed 1980 lbs.” So, it uses base weight plus a standard max options weight.""

The VIN specific is the most accurate representation of payload which reads 2270 lbs"

That being said, my payload is listed at 1393 according to the VIN.

[ttavasc]

Hunterred wrote:
If you are going to try and be within the specs of that vehicle, you need to put everything in it, including the hitch, fire wood, bikes, levelling blocks, any tools or generator you take and go weigh it. ...snip... My guess is you will be overloaded, or towing a tent trailer.

X2 on weighing it. I took a baseline weight on my RAM 1500, which sounds very close to the OP's RAM 1500 including the air suspension, and then worked off of that to determine the rest of my payload allocations. With just myself, full fuel, the after-market additions of a Bak-Flip bed cover and a Weathertech bedliner, and the small amount of emergency supplies I keep in the cab full time it scaled in right at 6000lb. With the GVWR at 6800lb that left me with 800lb for additional passengers/cargo/hitch/tongue weight which was a little bit less than what I expected given the 1100lb door sticker.

While my Jayco is certainly not a tent trailer it is a smaller unit. Given the scale weights I've seen on my truck I would agree that the OP will likely be over the GVWR for the truck but within the axle ratings which should be 3900lb each. I'd certainly be interested in seeing the scale tickets if the OP decides to weigh the setup.

[mfifield01]

I looked at all of the 1/2 ton trucks in 2013 and wouldn't have bought another. The drivetrains on the rest are outdated in comparison. The Hemi with 8-speed is awesome. If I had to I would get a Ram 2500 or F-250.

The GCWR is 15650 lbs, so I won't be near that. It'll probably be closer to 12,000 lbs. I do have the factory air suspension which levels and stiffens with weight.

[Hunterred]

We had a 2012 ram 1500 payload 1015. With the truck loaded for camping ( without kidding ourselves) it left us with 350 lb hitch weight. We used it to pull our 1996 rustler for 3 years, towed it awesome, we were around 400-500 lbs over gvw but under gawr and gcwr. If you are going to try and be within the specs of that vehicle, you need to put everything in it, including the hitch, fire wood, bikes, levelling blocks, any tools or generator you take and go weigh it. Our solution was to find a new truck when we needed a new trailer. I loved my ram, it towed like a champ, tons of power and the 5 link in the rear was stable as could be. That being said, they just don't build them to do what we want them to do. My guess is you will be overloaded, or towing a tent trailer. We bought a gmc 1500 with 1985 payload and run it at 90-95% gvwr and the tongue weight is advertised at 860, loaded is 1280 and with WD is 1100. Best of luck to you, let us know how you make out.

[atreis]

I use a Sherline trailer tongue scale - no guess work needed.

[Pooter]

My Nash 17K (22'4") is advertised at 550 lbs and 4260 dry. Loaded weight is 5430 and 680 lbs with fresh water that sits right behind the axle. A smart design might buy you a little bigger trailer. My F 150 handled the Nash very well, with a 1700 Payload.

[mfifield01]

I looked at the Apex 288BHS today. I built the bathroom scale setup last night. The hitch weight was 576 lbs with all options and front propane tanks. Battery was missing, so that would go up about 60 lbs. That would put it at 636 lbs before my equipment. My estimate is that I would add no more than 1000 lbs. If so, the hitch travel weight would be 766 lbs. I want to keep it under 800, so that would be perfect.

[gmw_photos]

Claimed dry tongue on mine was 375 as I recall, actual is 580-600

[ktmrfs]

dry tongue weight on mine about 800lbs. actual tongue weight with a full fresh water tank, full propane and trailer loaded. 1450 lbs!!

[mogman]

On the trailer in my sig. the "factory dry hitch weight" was listed as 300lbs, (IIRC), loaded, with 2 propane tanks, 2 batteries all the stuff we all carry in the front storage and a full fresh water tank, the weight, on a sherline scale, was 680 lbs.
Dry weight figures don't mean much, I take the gross weight of the trailer, take 12-15% of that..there's your t/weight...give or take a few lbs.

[myredracer]

The tongue wt. on our KZ TT went from 540 lbs dry to 960 lbs actual loaded for camping, or about 14.5%, and that's with one battery and empty holding tanks. Am going by memory on the numbers but they are pretty close to these. The FW tank is under the pass-through and a full tank would put the TW well over 1000 lbs. I ordered a WDH in advance and ended up having to upgrade the spring bars afterwards because our tongue wt. went up so much.

Factory CCC numbers can be grossly optimistic. When our KZ Spree is fully loaded for camping we are about 200 lbs under the GVWR. For a long trip with more stuff in the TT, we could be at or even over the GVWR. If we travelled with one or more full holding tanks, we'd be over the GVWR for sure.

Unless you have a pretty good idea what actual tongue weights will be from doing research, I'd use 15% of the GVWR, or at the very least a min. of 13%. Factory dry wts. can be very misleading and cause you a lot of grief after you've made the purchase. In our case we had an F250 so the actual TW was not an issue.

Based on previous experience with an F150, I would not want to tow near the towing and payload capacities.

[mfifield01]

I've found a couple of these used, so I'm leaning towards it.

http://www.kz-rv.com/sportsmen-show-stopper/S242SBHSS.html

The GVWR is 6000 lbs, so max hitch weight would be 780 lbs. I plan on using a WDH with it.