Weight Question

I'm with the group that suggest it could be done for a short trip, but what you have planned will stress everything including you the driver. You will be beat at the end of each day and as a result won't enjoy the trip.

rhagfo wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Good luck! The truck in real world is only good for towing aroung 7500 pounds IMHO.

Why is it that many think a gasser is only good for 80%n of capacity's??

It's all about the word "only".

I don't fault folks for maxing out.

Neither do I fault folks who say that using the 80% "rule" makes for more relaxed towing when the TV is not on the edge of doing everything it can do. The 80% rule gives you a little extra slop that makes everything go a little easier: accelerating, climbing, passing, crusing, decelerating, handling...

If you do lots and lots of towing, you should think more about the 80% rule. If you tow for a smaller % of the time, then most folks are going to want a slightly smaller TV that saves on gas when they are not towing, and 'do a little bit more work' and/or go slower when they are towing.

^^^ agreed.

The problem with towing limits is they do not reflect real world towing and this is what gave rise to the so called "80%" rule (and no, it is not a "Rule"). That theoretical 10K tow limit is the most (as determined by the engineers/experts that built the TV), you can safely tow. That does not mean you can tow a travel trailer that weighs 10K. The windage of a 10K TT vs a boat or flat bed trailer imparts far more load and stress on the TV.

The second issue is that for the vast majority of TT's you will exceed the TV's GVWR/payload long before you even get close to the max tow rating. This is particularly true of half ton TV's. My F-150 SCab is rated to tow 8,600# which would generate over 1100# of Tongue weight which would exceed the hitch's 1,000# limit. The truck has 1426# of payload which is about average for half ton trucks. Take 100# off for the WDH and you would be left with a paltry 226# of payload for passengers and gear. I have a Leer shell so there goes another 200# lost to available payload.

Despite being 4,000# under my TV's rated tow capacity (and 3,500# under the GCWR... but I digress), with the truck and trailer normally loaded for camping I only have a couple of hundred pounds of remaining payload: 22' TT = 4600# (this weight reflects 1,000# loaded into the TT) :

TW = 600#, WDH = 100#, Leer = 200#, my bride, da pooch and I, = 380#. It doesn't take much gear in the back of the truck to consume the remaining 146# of payload. If you are towing anywhere near your max tow capacity chances are good that you are over your TV's max payload/GVWR and that is a number you should never exceed. As always... Opinions and YMMV. :C

phillyg hit the nail on the head.

rhagfo wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Good luck! The truck in real world is only good for towing aroung 7500 pounds IMHO.

.......Why is it that many think a gasser is only good for 80%n of capacity's??.............

Because, IMHO, some folks have a pre-conceived but erroneous notion or heard something from their father about only being safe at 80% load. If the TV mfgr. states the tow limit is 10k, then I believe you can tow up to 10k. I believe the mfgr's lawyers set limits lower than their engineers to minimize liability exposure. On the other hand, you have to look at other numbers such as your actual tongue weight to ensure your receiver hitch is adequate.

I had the same truck,diff. tranny (2007 MY), towing our current TT (about 7500lbs loaded). Power was okay, but the stability just wasn't there for me, even with the equalizer WD hitch setup. I wouldn't want to do it for 2k miles.

Think outside the box...

Do you have a good friend with a 2500/3500 truck that would "swap" with you for a few weeks?

I wouldn't do it. My 2012 Silverado 1500 felt overloaded at 7,000 pounds and I had the same ratings as you do. It will have enough power, although you will spend a lot of time in 2nd and 3rd gears. The complaint will be the poor stability resulting from a lot of weight on the rear axle.

APT wrote:

BubbaK wrote:
OK, don't kill me out here with this one. Truck has a 9600 tow rating (2013 5.3 Silverado). Trailer weighs 7550 dry. Add another 1000 for cargo (That number is a little high but better more than less) so I am up to 8550. Add another 450 for the family so total will be 9000 lbs. This is a one time trip with a friends TT before mine is ready from the dealer that weighs less (around 7000 loaded). Pushing the line to far? Looking at doing about 2000 miles over a 8 day trip. This is going to be mostly flat driving no mountain hills on this trip. OK FIRE AWAY!

1000 pounds of extra weight/camping gear is an underestimate for a week long trip. I bet you'll be closer to 9000 pounds loaded. That means tongue weight over 1100 pounds with 900 or so on the truck's axles. So I see a couple problems, 1100 pounds on a receiver that probably is not rated for that and payload which needs to handle at least 450 pounds of family (plus you?) and 900 pounds of TW and whatever you put in the truck bed.

I predict you'll be over trucks's GVWR, GCWR, rear axle rating, and receiver rating. That's not something I'd do with a less than 1 year old $30k+ truck.

My thoughts exactly. The truck will probably do it. Is it safe? Depends on your defenition of safe. It may stress your truck to the point that when you start towing your TT that something will break. If it was 200 miles might not be that bad, but I think 2000 miles at or above your limit may cause some problems in the long run.