Towing Capacity for New Travel Trailer

[kenm500]

I am currently looking to purchase a new Travel Trailer. My current trailer, a Keystone Bullet 246RBS, has a dry wt of 4800lbs. I tow it with a 2013 Ram 1500, which is rated between 8400lbs and 9700lbs depending on the chart you use. Seems as even the dealers have a hard time answering the actual towing capacity question. The truck has no problems towing the current trailer, but I'm looking at a new trailer which is 5 ft longer and has a dry weight of 6100lbs. Should I be concerned that the weight with gear and such is getting to close to the capacity of the truck? Obviously I would prefer not to upgrade to a 2500.

[Flatfoot-Rogue]

This is my opinion only others might not agree. The loaded weight of your trailer is the number you should pay attention to not dry weight (I like to estimate by taking dry curb + 2000lbs not GVWR asthe manufacturers are usualy out to lunch on GVWR). It is easy to add 1500 - 2000lbs to a trailer once you add water (8.36lbs per gallon...50 gallon tank = 418lbs) propane (2 x 30 = 108lbs - empty tank is 24lbs) food, booze and all the other **** a family would like to bring (the more people the more weight). Then look at the towing rate of truck. IMO don't go over 70% if you want to stay happy. your Tongue weight is usually about 10% of your trailer weight if you load it right. Tongue weight has to fit into total CCC of your truck including driver and all other **** that goes into the box. All this being said IN MY OPINION ONLY I would not like to put more than 7000 to MAX 7500 loaded weight behind my 1/2 tonne truck

[boosTT]

Here is some food for thought.

My Ram 1500 has an AAM 235 (9.25") rear axle. Mopar rates the rear axle at 3900 Lbs. The axle manufacturer (AAM) rates it at 5500 Lbs. I can't tell you were the difference comes from, but would suspect the P rated factory tires contribute.

Axle rating are different than payload... Your springs may need assistance too. They do offer super springs, air bags, etc for the ram 1500. Beefing up the suspension does not straighten the frame though.

What I am getting at is: don't be afraid to be at your maximum payload. I was in the same situation and therefore did this research and weighed several times.

[Terryallan]

Gdetrailer wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
I guess soundguy and terryallen did not bother to read my post. I emphitally said " If your truck can safely tow the trailers GVWR, then it should work OK. You may never see the trailers gross weight, but anything lower will be your safety margin."
How much simpler can I say it?

Or you didn't understand mine. You said to stop being concerned about the dry weight. And to only use the GVWR. However, The GVWR for me is a totally USELESS number. I use the DRY weight to know if I can tow the TT or not. It is all I need to know. Unless it has no CCC.

If I went by the GVWR. there are lots of TT I couldn't tow. Say a TT has a 10000lb GVWR. and I used that for my decision. I couldn't tow it. But if the same TT has a 4800lb Dry weight. I will have no problem towing it. Not a chance I will load 5000lb in the TT.
So. IMOP, and in my experience. The dry yellow sticker weight is much more important than the GVWR. The only time I would worry about the GVWR, is if the dry weight was within 1000lb of the GVWR.

Example. I looked at a TT today with a dry brochure weight of 6300lb. Didn't see the yellow sticker, but believe it will be over 6500lb after propane, and battery. For me that is too much. so end of story.

Doesn't matter what the GVWR is. the dry is too much

In YOUR case, you are correct.

However, not ALL trailers have high CCC ratings, in fact, plenty of trailers have 1,000 lbs OR LESS CCC rating..

My trailer has 1,800 CCC (7000 GVWR - 5200 dry).. In my case (and MOST ALL cases) using the GVWR rating IS GREAT ADVICE and should give the owner some headroom to work with.

For a NOVICE beginner to the world of towing matching via GVWR WILL be easier to figure out than taking dry weight, adding propane, battery, WD into the mix PLUS trying to wrap their heads around ALL of the items they will be putting into said trailer..

As far as GVWR "ruling out" or "limiting" from certain models, I don't see any real issue ESPECIALLY if it is a NOVICE BEGINNER to the world of towing.. Seems like that would be a far safer way to start out for a beginner..

Not sure if I would ever want to meet up with a severely overloaded NOVICE tower and MR Murphy crossed BOTH of our paths at the same time

For a "seasoned veteran" tower like yourself using the dry weight and then counting out the potato chips you can carry certainly is an option..

IMOP. it's the only option.

[camp-n-family]

Gdetrailer wrote:
In YOUR case, subtracting 4900 curb weight from 6200 GVWR gives you 1,300 lbs of CARGO weight available...

Subtract driver, passengers, full tank of fuel and any other items you put into the tow vehicle MUST be subtracted from that 1,300 lbs of cargo.

The LEFT OVER cargo is the MAX TONGUE WEIGHT your vehicle can handle..

So, lets play with the numbers a bit, 1,300 lbs cargo MINUS 200 lbs for driver, 25 gallons of fuel (150-160 lbs approx) gives you 950 lbs..

Curb weight for vehicles includes full fuel so you do not need to subtract that again.

[Gdetrailer]

Terryallan wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
I guess soundguy and terryallen did not bother to read my post. I emphitally said " If your truck can safely tow the trailers GVWR, then it should work OK. You may never see the trailers gross weight, but anything lower will be your safety margin."
How much simpler can I say it?

Or you didn't understand mine. You said to stop being concerned about the dry weight. And to only use the GVWR. However, The GVWR for me is a totally USELESS number. I use the DRY weight to know if I can tow the TT or not. It is all I need to know. Unless it has no CCC.

If I went by the GVWR. there are lots of TT I couldn't tow. Say a TT has a 10000lb GVWR. and I used that for my decision. I couldn't tow it. But if the same TT has a 4800lb Dry weight. I will have no problem towing it. Not a chance I will load 5000lb in the TT.
So. IMOP, and in my experience. The dry yellow sticker weight is much more important than the GVWR. The only time I would worry about the GVWR, is if the dry weight was within 1000lb of the GVWR.

Example. I looked at a TT today with a dry brochure weight of 6300lb. Didn't see the yellow sticker, but believe it will be over 6500lb after propane, and battery. For me that is too much. so end of story.

Doesn't matter what the GVWR is. the dry is too much

In YOUR case, you are correct.

However, not ALL trailers have high CCC ratings, in fact, plenty of trailers have 1,000 lbs OR LESS CCC rating..

My trailer has 1,800 CCC (7000 GVWR - 5200 dry).. In my case (and MOST ALL cases) using the GVWR rating IS GREAT ADVICE and should give the owner some headroom to work with.

For a NOVICE beginner to the world of towing matching via GVWR WILL be easier to figure out than taking dry weight, adding propane, battery, WD into the mix PLUS trying to wrap their heads around ALL of the items they will be putting into said trailer..

As far as GVWR "ruling out" or "limiting" from certain models, I don't see any real issue ESPECIALLY if it is a NOVICE BEGINNER to the world of towing.. Seems like that would be a far safer way to start out for a beginner..

Not sure if I would ever want to meet up with a severely overloaded NOVICE tower and MR Murphy crossed BOTH of our paths at the same time

For a "seasoned veteran" tower like yourself using the dry weight and then counting out the potato chips you can carry certainly is an option..

[Terryallan]

donn0128 wrote:
I guess soundguy and terryallen did not bother to read my post. I emphitally said " If your truck can safely tow the trailers GVWR, then it should work OK. You may never see the trailers gross weight, but anything lower will be your safety margin."
How much simpler can I say it?

Or you didn't understand mine. You said to stop being concerned about the dry weight. And to only use the GVWR. However, The GVWR for me is a totally USELESS number. I use the DRY weight to know if I can tow the TT or not. It is all I need to know. Unless it has no CCC.

If I went by the GVWR. there are lots of TT I couldn't tow. Say a TT has a 10000lb GVWR. and I used that for my decision. I couldn't tow it. But if the same TT has a 4800lb Dry weight. I will have no problem towing it. Not a chance I will load 5000lb in the TT.
So. IMOP, and in my experience. The dry yellow sticker weight is much more important than the GVWR. The only time I would worry about the GVWR, is if the dry weight was within 1000lb of the GVWR.

Example. I looked at a TT today with a dry brochure weight of 6300lb. Didn't see the yellow sticker, but believe it will be over 6500lb after propane, and battery. For me that is too much. so end of story.

Doesn't matter what the GVWR is. the dry is too much

[Gdetrailer]

rexlion wrote:

sch911 wrote:
It's really easy to figure out the actual towing capacity of your Dodge...

What it can tow = the GVWR Rating - It's actual weight (loaded for travel).

So, get it weighed and find out for yourself.

With all due respect, I don't see how that can be correct. Take my SUV as an example:
4900 lb curb weight
6200 lb GVWR
If I subtract my GVWR from just my curb weight (let alone actual weight), I can only tow 1300 lbs! But my Lexus GX470 has a 6200 lb tow rating!

In YOUR case, subtracting 4900 curb weight from 6200 GVWR gives you 1,300 lbs of CARGO weight available...

Subtract driver, passengers, full tank of fuel and any other items you put into the tow vehicle MUST be subtracted from that 1,300 lbs of cargo.

The LEFT OVER cargo is the MAX TONGUE WEIGHT your vehicle can handle..

So, lets play with the numbers a bit, 1,300 lbs cargo MINUS 200 lbs for driver, 25 gallons of fuel (150-160 lbs approx) gives you 950 lbs..

So with 950 lbs you could possibly tow a trailer of 9,500 lbs at 10% tongue weight.. BUT it IS better to have tongue weight of 13%-15% for a more stable tow..

So, IF you want the BEST towing stability we want to be at or near 15% tongue weight..

950 lbs at 15% tongue weight would be 6,333 lbs..

But in reality in YOUR case if you have one passenger and some gear in your vehicle you would have most likely about 750 lbs of cargo left over..

That would mean at 15% your max trailer would be 5,000 lbs LOADED, not "dry"..

MOST "tow ratings" typically assume driver only and full fuel tank AND 10% tongue weight..

That is why folks who understand the towing ratings will say that you will most likely run out of available cargo weight BEFORE running out of "tow rating"..

Cargo weight of the vehicle is key, not tow ratings..

By the way, in my examples above, I left out the weight of the WD hitch, that also should be accounted for in the tongue weight if you really want to be right on the numbers..

Unfortunately there is a narrow band of folks who ignore small things like cargo weight and manufacturers ratings of tow vehicles and substitute their own reality and will overload their vehicles..

Hoping that Mr "Murphy" will never visit them or cross their path..

Personally I would rather have a bit more "capacity" in my tow vehicle just in case Mr Murphy decides to mess with me..

So, far, for me, it has been an extremely wise choice..

I have had not just once but twice to make emergency maneuvers at highway speeds to avoid DEER running in front of my vehicle.. Both times I was able to keep the whole darn train in line and not ruining my vehicle and trailer or ending up in the hospital or dead..

[GrandpaKip]

What does the payload sticker say? What's the weight of the truck loaded for travel?
Once these are known, you can get an idea of how much tongue weight you can carry.

[atreis]

rexlion wrote:
With all due respect, I don't see how that can be correct. Take my SUV as an example:
4900 lb curb weight
6200 lb GVWR
If I subtract my GVWR from just my curb weight (let alone actual weight), I can only tow 1300 lbs! But my Lexus GX470 has a 6200 lb tow rating!

This is the difference between GVWR (how much weight you can put on the SUV's axles) and GCWR (total weight of the full system - weight on SUV axles plus weight on the axles of whatever you're towing).

Assuming you balance the weight appropriately between the axles according to their relative capacities, you have 1300 lbs capacity on the SUV for tongue weight, people, and whatever else you load into/on the SUV. If you towed a trailer with an actual weight of 6200 lbs, and the tongue weight is 13 percent (806 lbs), the people and other stuff in/on the SUV can weigh up to 494 lbs. (Nice thing about minivans - I have a substantially larger cargo capacity than that after adding tongue weight.)

Of course it's always a good idea to leave some margin on that.

[Lwiddis]

Like dry counties, I stay away from dry TTs. TV payload is the number to consider first and part of the equation is the tongue weight of your wet TT.

[JIMNLIN]

goducks10 wrote:
I see no problem meeting the tow rating. You payload will be the tricky one. Rams typically have lower payload ratings. A 7200lb TT will have a tongue weight around 900lbs. If you have enough payload for 900lbs and everyone else in the truck then go for it.

OP...... goducks makes a good point.
Just to add the 1500 Rams have a low 3900 RAWR. These trucks rear axle may weigh in the 2500 lb range which around 1400 lb for a load in the bed.
As suggested a trip to the scales for separate front and rear axle weights eliminates guessing.

The trailer ?
A 6100 lb dry weight may mean a 7500-7800 lb trailer after loading may mean a 900-1000 lb hitch weight all depending on actual weights.
The trailers GVWR and CCC and dry weight will give a better idea how much hitch weight the unit can have.

The truck rear P tires will most likely be max loaded which means a upgrade to LT tires and possible higher rated wheels and air bags/etc.

[goducks10]

I see no problem meeting the tow rating. You payload will be the tricky one. Rams typically have lower payload ratings. A 7200lb TT will have a tongue weight around 900lbs. If you have enough payload for 900lbs and everyone else in the truck then go for it.

[APT]

Start with a trip to the scales to understand where you currently stand with respect to all your current truck's ratings and how much of each you can go up in weights.

[rexlion]

sch911 wrote:
It's really easy to figure out the actual towing capacity of your Dodge...

What it can tow = the GVWR Rating - It's actual weight (loaded for travel).

So, get it weighed and find out for yourself.

With all due respect, I don't see how that can be correct. Take my SUV as an example:
4900 lb curb weight
6200 lb GVWR
If I subtract my GVWR from just my curb weight (let alone actual weight), I can only tow 1300 lbs! But my Lexus GX470 has a 6200 lb tow rating!