Houston, we have a weight problem

[WarPhil]

So looking at a new trailer and I'm thinking there might be a problem, need some feedback from the weight police please! My 15 Ram 1500 has payload capacity of 1260 lbs. You put me, my wife and our tiny chihuahuas in there and we have 400 gone, if we bring a kid or two along (there mostly grown but still around) we add another 225. The trailer we like has an advertised hitch weight of 730. Not sure if that is dry and empty or at full load, but in any case that all adds up to more than 1260 without anything else like a sandwich or a caffeinated beverage.

Do we need to find a lighter trailer or just stack everything we want to bring in the back? I'm not buying a new truck.....

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Jackfate]

humblerb wrote:

wing_zealot wrote:

humblerb wrote:

WarPhil wrote:
In my day job I work in a heavily regulated industry. It makes me a rule follower. I'm going to keep my eye open for a lighter trailer. Of course the sales guy said it was no problem. He doesn't care if I kill my family, only if the check clears.

We went to the Houston RV show this past weekend. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "That truck will be fine."
Also, lots of the signs had "Half-Ton Towable" on them.
The dry weights on some of these Half-Ton Towable trailers were in excess of 8,000#.
As you said, the only thing they worry about is if the check clears.
After that, it becomes your problem.

So it had a sign on it, big deal. The tongue weight on a 8000 lbs trailer is only about 1150 lbs. I have seen lots of half tons trucks with payload of 1500 lbs. So the signs don't lie. It doesn't matter if you have a 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, or 1 ton dually; you must do your own homework.

And that is thint. Most newbies don't even know what homework they need to do. And











they expect a TT salesman to help them with it. I've yet to meet a TT salesman who even acted like he knew what needed to be done. They are like my wife, who says "Ford says my truck can pull 10,000#, so we just need to stay under 10,000#." I have yet to have a salesman even discuss Payload/Cargo Capacity, how you reduce your cargo capacity by adding "things", like a tool box, a bedliner, some firewood, or heaven forbid, your spouse and/or kids. But, I did hear several times "That truck will be fine". They make this comment without even knowing anything about the truck except it is a Ford Half-ton. "The sign says "Half-ton towable", you have a Half-ton. That truck will be fine."
Yeah, if you do your homework, you will know where you stand.
Those signs are aimed at uninformed (or new) towers. And they are for the amusement of people who know to do their homework.

. I remember a time when the government didn't allow lies it was called truth in advertising . And yes that seems to have been a very long time ago

[rbpru]

Here are my real across the CAT scale numbers.

My Dutchmen Lite is advertised as 5004 lbs dry with 406 lbs tongue weight; when loaded for the road, it weighs 6200 lbs or so with 750 lbs on the tongue. When loaded heavily it will go 6600 lbs and 800 lbs on the tongue.

The TV is a F-150 4x4 with a max cargo of 1411 lbs. Two adults, a big dog, camp gear and 750 lbs on the tongue put me at or above the max cargo limit.

The combo works well for us.

[2012Coleman]

If your adamant about not buying a new truck then take SoundGuys advice - load up the truck with people dogs and full tank of gas, and find a CAT scale and go have it weighed. Add 100 lbs for WDH setup.

cat scale locator

To calculate tongue weight, look at the GVR of your TT and multiply it by 13%. Or, add 1500 lbs to the dry weight and multiply by 13%.

[WarPhil]

OMG. I emailed the sales guy saying it was too heavy and I was going to go
with something lighter. This was the response I got -

I think you would be just fine with your hitch weight. Remember your putting a weight distrbution hitch on there. That cuts the hitch weight in half.

I replied with a definition of what a wd hitch does and mentioned that physics still exists.

If I knew how to do the face palm emoji here, I would do it.

[humblerb]

wing_zealot wrote:

humblerb wrote:

WarPhil wrote:
In my day job I work in a heavily regulated industry. It makes me a rule follower. I'm going to keep my eye open for a lighter trailer. Of course the sales guy said it was no problem. He doesn't care if I kill my family, only if the check clears.

We went to the Houston RV show this past weekend. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "That truck will be fine."
Also, lots of the signs had "Half-Ton Towable" on them.
The dry weights on some of these Half-Ton Towable trailers were in excess of 8,000#.
As you said, the only thing they worry about is if the check clears.
After that, it becomes your problem.

So it had a sign on it, big deal. The tongue weight on a 8000 lbs trailer is only about 1150 lbs. I have seen lots of half tons trucks with payload of 1500 lbs. So the signs don't lie. It doesn't matter if you have a 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, or 1 ton dually; you must do your own homework.

And that is the point. Most newbies don't even know what homework they need to do. And they expect a TT salesman to help them with it. I've yet to meet a TT salesman who even acted like he knew what needed to be done. They are like my wife, who says "Ford says my truck can pull 10,000#, so we just need to stay under 10,000#." I have yet to have a salesman even discuss Payload/Cargo Capacity, how you reduce your cargo capacity by adding "things", like a tool box, a bedliner, some firewood, or heaven forbid, your spouse and/or kids. But, I did hear several times "That truck will be fine". They make this comment without even knowing anything about the truck except it is a Ford Half-ton. "The sign says "Half-ton towable", you have a Half-ton. That truck will be fine."
Yeah, if you do your homework, you will know where you stand.
Those signs are aimed at uninformed (or new) towers. And they are for the amusement of people who know to do their homework.

[dodge_guy]

wing_zealot wrote:

humblerb wrote:

WarPhil wrote:
In my day job I work in a heavily regulated industry. It makes me a rule follower. I'm going to keep my eye open for a lighter trailer. Of course the sales guy said it was no problem. He doesn't care if I kill my family, only if the check clears.

We went to the Houston RV show this past weekend. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "That truck will be fine."
Also, lots of the signs had "Half-Ton Towable" on them.
The dry weights on some of these Half-Ton Towable trailers were in excess of 8,000#.
As you said, the only thing they worry about is if the check clears.
After that, it becomes your problem.

So it had a sign on it, big deal. The tongue weight on a 8000 lbs trailer is only about 1150 lbs. I have seen lots of half tons trucks with payload of 1500 lbs. So the signs don't lie. It doesn't matter if you have a 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, or 1 ton dually; you must do your own homework.

At the same time the dealer knows you are going to go out as a family. Any good dealer will tell you that with a family in a 1/2 ton truck is not going to work with an 8k+ lb trailer.

[wing_zealot]

humblerb wrote:

WarPhil wrote:
In my day job I work in a heavily regulated industry. It makes me a rule follower. I'm going to keep my eye open for a lighter trailer. Of course the sales guy said it was no problem. He doesn't care if I kill my family, only if the check clears.

We went to the Houston RV show this past weekend. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "That truck will be fine."
Also, lots of the signs had "Half-Ton Towable" on them.
The dry weights on some of these Half-Ton Towable trailers were in excess of 8,000#.
As you said, the only thing they worry about is if the check clears.
After that, it becomes your problem.

So it had a sign on it, big deal. The tongue weight on a 8000 lbs trailer is only about 1150 lbs. I have seen lots of half tons trucks with payload of 1500 lbs. So the signs don't lie. It doesn't matter if you have a 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, or 1 ton dually; you must do your own homework.

[humblerb]

WarPhil wrote:
In my day job I work in a heavily regulated industry. It makes me a rule follower. I'm going to keep my eye open for a lighter trailer. Of course the sales guy said it was no problem. He doesn't care if I kill my family, only if the check clears.

We went to the Houston RV show this past weekend. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "That truck will be fine."
Also, lots of the signs had "Half-Ton Towable" on them.
The dry weights on some of these Half-Ton Towable trailers were in excess of 8,000#.
As you said, the only thing they worry about is if the check clears.
After that, it becomes your problem.

[WarPhil]

In my day job I work in a heavily regulated industry. It makes me a rule follower. I'm going to keep my eye open for a lighter trailer. Of course the sales guy said it was no problem. He doesn't care if I kill my family, only if the check clears.

[TomG2]

Didn't the salesperson say that it is "Half ton towable"? That and the advice of a few people, who have nothing invested, should be enough for any tow vehicle/trailer combination. I had a half ton that we slung a dually axle under back in the day. That thing would handle 5,000 pounds in the bed and tow that much behind.

[fla-gypsy]

If you are comptemplating exceeding the gvwr you must not exceed the tire and rawr rating. Personally I wouldn't do it.

[dodge_guy]

I wouldn't sweat it. It's well within all the specs except GVWR. You'll be under your axle ratings.

[TurnThePage]

Ram seems to build in a pretty large cushion between GVWR and combined GAWR in their 1500s. I have towed and hauled a lot of miles with mine, and so far it's been a pleasure to drive. Though you may be pushing it with your selected trailer, I think it's doable.

[noteven]

Lwiddis wrote:
Fargo, I ain't gots no dang storage cubbies!

😄