TRAVEL TRAILER WEIGHT QUESTION?

[joelyn]

looking at a 05 salem TT and the brochure on line states the following:

AXLE WEIGHT; 4310
HITCH WEIGHT: 415
GROSS WEIGHT:4725
GVWR: 7460

SO MY QUESTION IS, WHAT WOULD BE THE DRY WEIGHT OF THE TT, SO I KNOW IF I CAN TOW IT AND ITS NOT TO HEAVY.

THANKS

[bobndot]

I don't know of an industry standard regarding dry weights. Each mfg., sets their own standard. As far as i can figure out, the dry weight is without any factory options which can add 400-500# to a dry weight. But still, at what point is a dry really a dry weight ?

[JIMNLIN]

Always look at a trailers dry weight......CCC......and its gvwr. From those you can determine if your tow vehicle is capable of carrying the hitch load and pulling the trailers gross weight.

Its not necessary to use the trailers full gvwr as some (not all) trailers may have way more CCC than you will ever use.
Simply depends on your particular trailer and tow vehicle numbers.

[jmtandem]

SO MY QUESTION IS, WHAT WOULD BE THE DRY WEIGHT OF THE TT, SO I KNOW IF I CAN TOW IT AND ITS NOT TO HEAVY.

7460 is the number you are looking for. Never use dry weights or brochure weights. If you can't tow 7460 pounds you have too much trailer or too little tow vehicle.

[rbpru]

My TT dry weight is said to be 5004 lbs. Across the scales loaded for the road it weights 6500 lbs. The tongue weight is 750 lbs.

It pretty well maxes out my F-150.

Judge accordingly.

[Lwiddis]

Like "dry" counties, I stay far away from "dry" trailer weights.

[Chuck_thehammer]

IF, and I mean IF. the printed weight is Right...

many are off by 10 or more percent.

mine states 7,500 pounds in 2 locations. but empty its 8,300 .. at 2 different Cat scales.

[Slowmover]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
2012 RAM 1500 TOW CHART SAE J2807

Check out WHICH 1500 you have and see what MAX TOW is

Use TTs GVWR 7460#

Then use 15% of 7469 for tongue weight and check it against payload rating on drivers door jamb sticker.

The limit is axle rating on TV. The other is a suggestion.

No one loads a TT to max. .90 is pushing it.

TW is 12-15%. Use 12.

[Old-Biscuit]

2012 RAM 1500 TOW CHART SAE J2807

Check out WHICH 1500 you have and see what MAX TOW is

Use TTs GVWR 7460#

Then use 15% of 7469 for tongue weight and check it against payload rating on drivers door jamb sticker.

[APT]

4700 pounds dry means 5500-6000 loaded with 700-750 pounds of loaded TW. I can't think of many vehicle with tow ratings under 7500 pounds that should be towing that.

[westend]

The weight of the trailer with nothing in it or dry would be 4725 lbs.

[1320Fastback]

The difference between the GVWR and the Gross Weight is how much stuff you can put into it, this includes Freah water.

The trailers empty weight is 4,725 though to answer your question and you have 2,735 pounds of available weight to put into it.

There is more math to do though unless your just transporting it not with the intended tow vehicle when loaded.

[donn0128]

READ MY LIPS!!!!
You will NEVER EVER tow a trailer dry. You have to account for food, clothes, water, battery, propane only to name a few things. Base your towability on the trailers GVWR and decide if you can handle that much. If not, look for smaller lighter trailer. While you may never see the gross weight it will always give you a safety margin.
BTW, when looking at vehicle towing ratings, remember to load the vehicle up with family and everything you will pack for a trip, go to the scales and subtract the scaled weight from the vehicles GVWR. That will give you how much tongue weight you can handle.