Newbee Fiver Seeking Advice on Tow Vehicle

You need to weigh the truck in travel trim....passengers, tools, cargo, fuel, hitch included.

GVWR - loaded truck = Max loaded trailer pin weight.

GCWR - loaded truck = Max loaded trailer weight.

Forget dry weights as a trailer can weight 500 to 1000# more. The dry weight does not include any item listed as an option. This includes things like the A/C unit(s), microwave, awning, TV, batteries and so on. Then you add clothes, food, camping supplies, and such.

You will see due to the lower GVWR on a 3/4 ton truck, you will reach the trucks limits on pin weight long before you reach the GCWR. Practically, a 3/4 ton will be pretty much limited to a maximum of a 32' or so trailer.

Ken

Its a confusion of facts sometimes when trying to match a truck and a fifth wheel. Friends tell you this, salesmen tell you something else. Even here you can get info that, while the actual best source, from experienced folks, is sometimes not laid out or written in a manner one can readily understand.

But first off, please remember there are TWO parts to towing a fifth wheel.

1st, and all salesmen will say this, can you PULL it down the road. Well shoot, a Tundra pulled the space shuttle! I think you can already see that the PULL part, although part of the whole, is not the most important part.

2nd, and MOST IMPORTANT is can your vehicle CARRY the hitch weight of the fifth wheel. This part gives most the biggest problem.

So I do hope I have written this in an easily understood manner.

Here are some simple math formulas which will assist here.
First, symbols:

GVWR = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (the pickup)
GCWR= Gross Combined Weight Rating (pickup AND the fifth wheel total weight together)

To find out how much hitch weight/cargo payload capacity your vehicle has:

GVWR - (minus) actual vehicle weight (full fuel, passengers, hitch) = available payload capacity. Hitch here is the actual hitch installed in your vehicle. You can estimate say 150 pounds or so here just for an idea.

This tells you the upper range of what hitch weight a fifth wheel can have (loaded) and still be within the specs of what your vehicle is designed to handle.

GCWR -(minus) actual vehicle weight = maximum weight of trailer you can pull. OK, here is the actual place for that PULL word I ridiculed earlier. There is actually an application for it, but the first formula above has priority. An example for you, using the truck I own now.

13,300 - 8,800 = 4,500 pounds cargo capacity (these new Ford dually's are HEAVY! )

30,000 - 8,800 = 21,200 pounds maximum trailer weight.

So this tells me I can handle a fifth wheel with a max hitch weight loaded of 4,500 pounds, and a maximum loaded trailer weight of 21,200 pounds.

Use that 20% formula others mentioned to estimate max hitch weight, it is usually pretty close.

Weighing your truck is the only way to know exactly what you can and cannot handle. Also, be aware these formulas put you within manufacturers ratings. Experience and reading have shown to me that these manufacturers ratings are based on what they (Chevy in this instance for you) consider limits where your vehicle will perform adequately with handling, acceleration and braking with such a load.

Keith Haw wrote:

Grandpere wrote:
GVW & GVWR are the same thing, Gross Vehicle weight rating. This is the weight of the vehicle with fuel, passengers and cargo. GCVW is Gross Combined Vehicle weight rating. This means the combined weight of the tow vehicle and the 5er.

Sorry but that's not correct.

GVW is the total of the vehicle at any given time, including passengers/fuel/cargo/ect.

GVWR is the TOTAL ALLOWABLE for the vehicle.

Thanks Keith, I totally spaced out on that difference when I said that they were the same thing. Sorry Sandra67, I didn't mean to steer you wrong.

MAX Tow Rating is 12,000#

So stay will a trailer that has a GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) of less than that 12,000# max tow rating.

Minimize what you put in truck.....load it in trailer vs truck to keep from overloading truck. Trucks GVWR is 9200#

Grandpere wrote:
GVW & GVWR are the same thing, Gross Vehicle weight rating. This is the weight of the vehicle with fuel, passengers and cargo. GCVW is Gross Combined Vehicle weight rating. This means the combined weight of the tow vehicle and the 5er.

Sorry but that's not correct.

GVW is the total of the vehicle at any given time, including passengers/fuel/cargo/ect.

GVWR is the TOTAL ALLOWABLE for the vehicle.

sandra67 wrote:
New to forums, hope my inquiry isn't a pain. My head is spinning from trying to calculate GCWR, GVW, GVWR, etc. Have been researching for weeks. Hoping someone could just answer my question. Have not bought rig yet. If I have a 04 GMC 2500HD Allison or similar, what would be the max dry weight 5th I can buy (example, 6,680-10,600 lbs.) It seems if I get a single slide this truck is ok, but if I go to a double or triple slides I need a diesel? Don't really want to get a diesel. Solo female planning to head out next year. Thanks for any advice.

1st off welcome to the forum. GVW & GVWR are the same thing, Gross Vehicle weight rating. This is the weight of the vehicle with fuel, passengers and cargo. GCVW is Gross Combined Vehicle weight rating. This means the combined weight of the tow vehicle and the 5er.

Do yourself a favor and purchase a 3500 or F350 truck. It is way too easy to over load a 2500 or F250 with a 5er, because the weight of the 5er goes up quickly with the addition of propane, water, dishes, clothes, and everything else you will put into the trailer plus the weight of the trailer itself.

As for gas or diesel, it is a toss up. The expense of the diesel fuel and the extra costs of maintenance compared to the cost of gasoline, decreased mileage and lesser maintenance costs about balances out. If you prefer to drive a gasoline outfit then go ahead and get a gasoline powered vehicle. The only real benefit to a diesel is the pulling power. A diesel will pull hills easier than a gasoline outfit.