Can anyone here give me

Fox,

Welcome to the club.

When I looked up the towing capacity of my F-150 with a WD hitch I thought; “wow 9000 lbs. plus” I will never need that much weight.:W


But, thanks to the members of this board I learned that the little sticker in the door jamb gave me the max cargo weight (for my specific vehicle) which includes the tongue weight. And, as they say “There’s the rub”; with my TV loaded the added tongue weight brings me very close to the max cargo limit.:S

You may not find the book you are looking for but do not be afraid of asking questions on the forum. The only dumb question is the one that is not asked.

Fox, it took me a while to decode your screen name -- you win for the cleverest one I have seen in a long time! Ex-military folks will probably figure it out sooner than I did. Very appropriate for this particular thread, by the way.

I always had problems with "Dummies" books because they all seemed to give you enough information to get you into trouble, but not enough to get you out. There are various FAQ's web sites that have good information well organized and understandable i.e. http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html which you will find if you do a search on "battery faq" and you will also find http://www.batteryfaq.org which will tell you who makes which battery which is also useful.
A great deal depends on how handy you are, do you know how to use a VOM/multimeter to diagnose electrical problems, are you comfortable doing electrical work? Long story but I had to complete the electrical and plumbing in our trailer so I am intimately familiar with both system.

Here is a site with good info....

Fifth Wheel ST where the ST is for Safe Towing

Follow the link.....FWS

Hope this helps

There is a book, "Rving for Dummies", but it really doesn't cover what you need. Honestly think you'll get good, solid info right here, rather than finding a book. You might search something like "trailer towing guidelines" or something similar. I found a step by step for getting all the weights at the CAT, but that's not gonna do much for you right now. Before you get started on this, go out to your vehicle and look for the sticker that should give you the numbers you need. If you can't find that, call your dealer with VIN# in hand and they can get the exact specs for the way your vehicle is equipped and then the math starts. And, yes, it is confusing. It'll make better sense later on, just stick around and you'll get what you need.

Vehicle manufacturers place multiple ratings on teir vehicles. Those ratings don't always coincide with each other. This partly due to the different things we might tow. IE: towing a boat or flatbed trailer, is completely different from towing a travel trailer.

Tow rating is a number for what they say you could pull behind you. Key words being, "pull behind". Not carry.

Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), is max weight the vehicle can weigh, based on power train, frame, brakes, suspension, and tires.

Payload is the difference between the GVWR and what the vehicle actually weighs. This is what you can carry. It is the room you have for weight of fuel, driver, passengers, cargo (in or on the vehicle), weight distribution hitch, and trailer tongue weight, before going over GVWR. In a lot of cases, this number will be exceeded, long before you get to the max towing number.

Hitch rating is the weight is the max weight on the hitch itself.

Kind of like this analogy:

You've got a wagon loaded with 2000lbs of bricks. You can pull that wagon by yourself. You have 2000 lbs tow capacity. Now, take the front wheels off the wagon, and you can't pick up the tongue. You still have the 2000 lb tow capacity, but, you don't have the payload to carry all the weight on the tongue.

For towing a travel trailer, you need to observe all of the ratings. This is where many RV sales people, will get you in trouble. Most of them only look at the tow rating number.

Hang out here and ask your questions. You will get much information.

I'd direct you to the RVing FAQ above, but, most information in there is 12 years old. Doesn't mean some of the information isn't of value.

I seem to be the board self-appointed FAQ.

Don't know about "TT for Dummies" but there is a book called "RV Vacations for Dunmies.. This forum is a good place for a sanity check for you. Also http://rvhowto.blogspot.com/ has some good info. RVs are not, in my opinion, are not for people a good fit for people who not very handy rigging and fixing but if you can learn it if you want. My opinion on your TV TT combination is that it should work if have a good hitch and go easy on the extra gear. Also all listed weights will be below the actual. Only real weight is one done on ready to go.

Some resources I've found helpful over the years:

In my opinion, U-Haul's "Safe Towing Guide" is an excellent resource that explains the basics very well. Link to guide

E-trailer has a good page explaining the different "classes" of hitches at this link and another about weight distributing systems and add-on sway control devices at this link.

Finally, Changing Gears has a calculator that can help one to determine real-world compatibility of a tug/trailer combination. Access by going to/reading the info at their "tow vehicle sizing" page here.
Links to the calculator are provided at page bottom.