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.

[Camper_G]

Lwiddis wrote:
"My 15 Ram 1500 has payload capacity of 1260 lbs."

That is very light duty. My 2015 Tahoe is 1,595.

My 15 Silverado 1500 had 1704 lbs of payload. Not bad for a half ton crew cab truck.

My friend has a Nissan titan XD that has 2408 lbs of pay. It does seem pretty beefy.

[Gdetrailer]

ChooChooMan74 wrote:
My EcoD has a payload of just over 1000lbs. Hauled a ton of pellets twice without an issue. I wouldn't keep it on all day, but a little over, I would look the other way. Your GVW is probably 6800 for the hemi while mine is 6950 for the EcoD. You really think the rear suspension is different between ours?

ChooChoo, there IS a big difference from hauling double the cargo in the bed (pellets, wood, gravel, sand) and hauling a trailer which has a tongue weight double the cargo weight.

The load in the back of the vehicle is DEAD weight (IE does not shift, pivot, move) and is placed on the center or slightly AHEAD of the center of the rear axle.. The front will get loaded with more weight than it would with a trailer with WD.

Trailer tongue weight is placed WAY behind the rear axle and is a highly dynamic (IE CHANGING) load.. while towing..

Think of the teeter-totter example on how the correct placement of the weights can allow a 50lb kid to easily move a 200 lb adult into the air.

OP is correct in realizing they will easily overload their vehicle and that would not be a good choice for handling or longevity of their vehicle.

Sadly, they discovered the ugly secret about a lot of "half tons" that have large towing ratings but fall way short on the actual PAYLOAD.

Adding airbags, extra springs and other suspension mods might make the overload "tolerable" but in the end it does nothing for increasing payload rating that the manufacturer has written in the door sticker.. These mods simply bandaid and hide the short comings of the vehicle..

The problem of "bandaiding" is it may hide the problem under normal driving conditions (IE sunshiny day with no wind, little hills or flat terrain) but may fall short on adverse weather, driving conditions (heavy rain, high winds and or curvy mountain driving)..

When towing, Mr Murphy has a terrible sense of humor and timing and often crosses your path in the most inopportune times..

I LOVE having plenty of available cargo weight (3415 lbs on my current tow vehicle) and I don't "need" a bunch of bandaids to haul my current TT which has a empty hitch weight of 625 lbs and loaded weight of 800 lbs..

[westend]

One big reason for lower payloads is the lighter coil spring suspension. And it isn't just Chrysler. The auto mfgs have known for a long time that most 1/2 ton trucks are used as commuters.

[Lwiddis]

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

[OutdoorPhotogra]

Have you considered a hybrid? Yes, there are downsides but space to weight ratio will be better on anything but a pop-up

[noteven]

Lwiddis wrote:
"My 15 Ram 1500 has payload capacity of 1260 lbs."

That is very light duty. My 2015 Tahoe is 1,595.

Neither of the above are necessarily "light duty" - maybe they have high tare (empty) weights with all the sheet metal and glass and seats and seat belts and heaters and wires and big dashes and consoles and storage cubbies and sound insulation and carpets and ram boxes and nav systems and HVAC systems and Big Engines and big gas tanks and Big Wheels and Big Tires and ....

... lower capacity suspensions so they don't ride like a concrete mixer...

[Lwiddis]

"My 15 Ram 1500 has payload capacity of 1260 lbs."

That is very light duty. My 2015 Tahoe is 1,595.

[goducks10]

Check out Lance trailers. They're light weight.

[SoundGuy]

WarPhil wrote:
My 15 Ram 1500 has payload capacity of 1260 lbs.

According to the door jamb sticker but what you really want to know is how much your truck actually weighs as it sits there ready to be hitched to a trailer and based on that how much payload capacity you actually have to work with. To establish that there's only one way - go weigh the truck with a full tank of gas. If you're in it at the time subtract your weight from the scale reading, if you don't throw all your weight distribution pieces in the back of the truck add ~ 100 lbs to account for it's average weight. The result will be your particular truck's actual real world curb weight as it's ready to be hitched to a trailer. Subtract that number from it's GVWR and you'll then have it's total real world payload capacity, that which you will use to account for the weight of all people and all cargo in the truck ... the remainder is your allowance for gross tongue weight transferred from the trailer to the truck. From the numbers you've posted to date there's no way this truck will tow that trailer you mentioned and remain within it's various specs. Airbags do nothing for you when it comes to towing, only using a properly sized and adjusted weight distribution system will transfer some of that gross tongue weight to the truck's front steer axle where it belongs and some back to the trailer's axles ... airbags won't.

[WarPhil]

Ok. We were (note past tense) considering the Springdale 242rkswe. Gvwr of 7730 so tongue weight loaded of 996.

Back to the drawing board...

[TomG2]

Good that the OP is asking before buying. Also good that he can do the math and avoid problems. It is a lot more fun towing a smaller lighter trailer that is under the limits of a tow vehicle.

I have towed the other kind: Timbrens, LT tires, Suspension upgrades, fancy hitches, and finally traded for a more capable tow vehicle.

[ttavasc]

"Advertised" tongue weights are usually for an empty trailer so your loaded tongue weight will be more than the 730lb. What is the size and GVWR of the trailer you are looking at? I would use 12.5% of the trailer's GVWR as a reasonable estimate of loaded tongue weight. If the trailer has a larger cargo capacity - say 1500-2000lbs or more, then you could add 1000-1500lbs to the dry weight of the trailer and then multiply that by 12.5% rather than use the GVWR. Don't forget to add about 85lbs to your payload calculation for your weight-distributing hitch. I think by the time you add everything up, even without the kids tagging along you'll find you are going to be well over your available payload. I'd look for a smaller trailer.

Also, as you mentioned you have the factory air suspension - if the suspension exceeds its operating limits it will enter "protection" mode and deactivate the compressor to avoid damage. I have the factory air on my '14 Big Horn and love towing the trailer with it. My payload is a little less than your 1260 so we put the upper limit for trailer GVWR around 4000 to ensure we stayed under the available payload.

[westend]

I'd suggest a lighter trailer. Pretty good chance that the advertized tongue weight is never to be seen. How big is the trailer you have been looking at?

[WarPhil]

ScottG wrote:
Frankly, I would add some Timberlands or airbags and go camping. I cant see a few hundred pounds leading to the end of the world and I think the problem is more with the springs than the tires (verify).
JMO!

Actually, my rig has an air suspension already.... so it will be level and I use a good quality w/d hitch, maybe go with higher load rated tires? Not sure what's on there now, just what came with the truck. I've pulled a 7k loaded cargo trailer just fine in the mountains, but the tongue weight on that sucker we keep to about 700 by loading carefully and the kids don't go along when we travel with that...

[ChooChooMan74]

My EcoD has a payload of just over 1000lbs. Hauled a ton of pellets twice without an issue. I wouldn't keep it on all day, but a little over, I would look the other way. Your GVW is probably 6800 for the hemi while mine is 6950 for the EcoD. You really think the rear suspension is different between ours?