RVer2B Andre wrote:
Thank you guys for the good input some say yes some say no. I tend to be on the cautious side rather than flirt with trouble on the road away from home town. Don't like having to monitor tranny temps and such. A little too much truck would be my comfort zone.
I just fell in love with the floor plan of the Sandpiper and was hoping that Toyota had wayyyy understated their specs.
Question: What is "payload"? Is that what you carry in the truck itself like generators, grills, and people?
In addition to a number of specific axle ratings, etc... trucks come with two primary ratings. Your 'tow rating' is a limit on how much you can pull, and is based on the total weight your vehicle can handle in all components combined. Wen you look at a tow rating, you have to understand this only includes the vehicle and (typically) a 150lb driver. Thus, any additional cargo, passengers, etc... have to be deducted before you know how much capacity is left for the trailer.
Payload, on the other hand, is how much you can CARRY. On a 1/2 ton, this is extremely limiting (often under 1,500 pounds). If you look on your door jam, you will see a yellow sticker that says 'weight of cargo and passengers not to exceed...' This is the amount of load you can put on your truck safely. This is based on a completely empty truck full of fluids (no driver pre-calculated in this one). So, from this number (likely 1,300-1,500 pounds) you have to subtract passenger weight, gear weight, and roughly 75 pounds for your WD hitch. What's left is what you have available for tongue weight (which, once loaded, will likely be 12-15% of your trailer weight).
In the end, many 1/2 tons will list high tow ratings (9k), but depending on what you are putting in the truck, will be much more limited in the end.
