Payload vs Tow rating?

[harmanrk]

Okay, I'm new, so be gentle.

I see a lot of posts discussing the payload of the truck to be used as a tow vehicle, but very few discussing the tow ratings, so I have to ask, why?

I realize that the payload is the weight you can put in/on the tow vehicle, beyond the curb weigh, but am I missing something in how that comes into play? Passengers, cargo in the cab or bed, Hitch Weight/ Pin Weight you want to keep the total below the payload. I do realize that four people at 150 each (Some of us are above that, but the kids tend to be lighter) is 600, another 600 in tounge weight is not beyond reason, bringing you to 1200, before cargo. 1500 pound payload leaves just 300 for gear, if you max out the tow vehicle, but is that the extent of it?

[Dougie123]

Payload is an important number as if you are not careful, you can exceed the weight the car/truck was meant to CARRY. Think of it as how much stuff you can load into your car without overloading the suspension, etc...

I was one of those guys that thought "oh, my suburban with 8600lb tow rating can easity pulll our #6500lb RV." 20 min down the road I knew I was in trouble. Suburban felt like it had two flat tires. Sadly, it only had a pitiful 1425lb payload capacity.

1425lbs Rating
-600lb hitch
-700lbs for 2 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 kids
-150lbs for 2 kayaks
-??? for 6 bikes
-??? for etc

you can see you can get into trouble quickly with a 1/2 truck. Our 3/4 ton truck sits happy with 2300lb payload capacity.

[RinconVTR]

jerem0621 wrote:
As an online community of people we are doing something wrong when a new persons first line is

"Okay, I'm new, so be gentle"

Got that right. There is some uncommon sense found here, and an over abundance of "overkill" advice on here.

Funny how the OP started off on the right foot. He get's it. Yet only one person came out and said that before adding their own addition.

I want more blue koolaid.

[harmanrk]

jerem0621 wrote:
As an online community of people we are doing something wrong when a new persons first line is

"Okay, I'm new, so be gentle"

I'm new here, but its not my first forum :C And I know how 'truck guys' can get... Let me tell you what I REALLY think of blue ovals... That type of thing really gets them going... one way or the other.

[hmknightnc]

harmanrk wrote:

hmknightnc wrote:
The reason you see payload/GVWR/Axle ratings discussed so often is unexperienced people tend to look at only tow rating and believe that is what the truck should be able to pull. In reality tow rating is the maximum a truck can pull with a theorical trailer. TT and FW with thier associated on the heavy side tongue wieghts and large wind resistance aren't even close to that theorical trailer

So for theoritical tailer, that would max out the tow rating, you would something like a hay wagon, with wheels at the four corners, and basically zero tounge weight. Not that you would want to pull any hay wagon I have ever seen at any speed.

Well not quite that bad. Something like an equipment trailer carrying a relatively low hieght load with wieght adjusted such that there is just enough tongue wieght to prevent sway

Think about this way. You can tow a heavier flat bed trailer than a boat trailer and a heavier boat trailer than a TT/FW. All with the same truck.

[jerem0621]

As an online community of people we are doing something wrong when a new persons first line is

"Okay, I'm new, so be gentle"

[harmanrk]

hmknightnc wrote:
The reason you see payload/GVWR/Axle ratings discussed so often is unexperienced people tend to look at only tow rating and believe that is what the truck should be able to pull. In reality tow rating is the maximum a truck can pull with a theorical trailer. TT and FW with thier associated on the heavy side tongue wieghts and large wind resistance aren't even close to that theorical trailer

So for theoritical tailer, that would max out the tow rating, you would something like a hay wagon, with wheels at the four corners, and basically zero tounge weight. Not that you would want to pull any hay wagon I have ever seen at any speed.

[lbrjet]

Yes, you got the picture. A lot of trucks run out of payload way before they reach the tow rating. In your example the trailer would be around 5000lbs assuming an optimum tongue weight of 12-13%. The trucks tow rating might be twice that.

[Ron3rd]

Your towing rating is limited by payload and gross rear axle rating among other things.

[hmknightnc]

The reason you see payload/GVWR/Axle ratings discussed so often is unexperienced people tend to look at only tow rating and believe that is what the truck should be able to pull. In reality tow rating is the maximum a truck can pull with a theorical trailer. TT and FW with thier associated on the heavy side tongue wieghts and large wind resistance aren't even close to that theorical trailer

Unless you are talking about a dually then payload/GVWR/Axle ratings will always be the limiting factor for a TT or FW. If you stay within those load limits you can't even get close to tow ratings with anything except a dually, other trucks simply can't carry the load that a maximum tow rating would require.

[Desert_Captain]

IMHO: Never exceed your TV's payload. It is very easy to do, especially with a half ton. Second, never exceed your RAGW as exceeding either is asking for trouble. Chances are you will not be able to reach your TV 's rated tow capacity without exceeding payload or RAGW. as to GCWR... not so much. :C

[YnotTurbo]

First,,, welcome to the forum...Our rv has a 4000 lb. pin weight. The truck has over 5000 max carry capacity. I did add airbags and that really helps with stability. We have 15,000 lbs on the campers 3 axles. You do have to add all the people and extra gear to the equation. We tipped the scales at 27540 lbs.

[Vulcaneer]

Because of the design of a fifth wheel, it carries very much weight over the trucks axle. That is called pin weight. Large fifth wheels can have more than 3,500 pounds of pin weight.

So that is why payload capacity is discussed so much. The towing weight is usually quite easy to determine. Payload capacity needs to be compared to a lot of different components, as you mentioned.