Can someone help me with tow ratings?

[JDMcC]

I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7 V8 Quad Cab 4X4. The GVWR in the manual shows 6010 pounds. My wife and I have been looking for travel trailers for a year or so and we found a 2002 Coleman Caravan 25' that we really like. Dry weight on it is 4300 lbs. and the GVWR is 5500. Can we pull this with my truck? Do we need more truck to pull this trailer? What size trailer (GVWR) should we be looking at? Any help would be greatly appreicated.

Thanks,

JDMcC

[JDMcC]

I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7 V8 Quad Cab 4X4. The GVWR in the manual shows 6010 pounds. My wife and I have been looking for travel trailers for a year or so and we found a 2002 Coleman Caravan 25' that we really like. Dry weight on it is 4300 lbs. and the GVWR is 5500. Can we pull this with my truck? Do we need more truck to pull this trailer? What size trailer (GVWR) should we be looking at? Any help would be greatly appreicated.

Thanks,

JDMcC

[CyberVet65]

Well, first of all "Welcome to the Site"!

Here are the specs out of Trailer Life.

Dodge Dakota Quad cab 4.7L

7,000/6,850 for Tow Capacity

11,700 for GCVW

That is both truck and trailer loaded for two weeks camping. 11,700!

So you first have to know what your truck weighs with wood, tools, gen set. Loaded for two weeks vacation. Then from that you can subtract the GCVW to get your trailer weight. A good rule of thums is the "80%" rule. OTR truckers only go 80% of what their max is. Thas allows for 8% grades, winds, traffic, emergencis, etc.
Take the weight on the side of your prospective RV and add 1,000 pounds for food,water, clothes, camping toys, etc.

Do NOT under any circumstances buy into the salesman's rap about "That truck will tow anything on my lot"! Do NOT let a "Special" on sale today sale cover up the size. Do NOT let a "Special floor plan". Sell you something that you can marginally tow.
Putting extra wear on your truck and drive train will detract from you camping experiences.

That should get you a start.
Chet

[Ken Lenger]

See the link in my signature on RV towing weights.

[AnneW]

I get nervous every time I read about how to calculate tow weight! LOL! My Tahoe has a tow rating of #6500, and my TT dry weight is #4335. We've only towed it once, and the Tahoe did fine, even up the grade, in wind, coming of the Columbia River Gorge. So I'm hoping we'll be OK when we actually load up next weekend for our first trip. I may have hubby stop at the scales on the way out of town, so we'll know for sure. I'm excited and nervous at the same time!

[TXiceman]

Anne, visit Ken Lenger's site above your post and review everything. At initial look you will probably be within ratings. Add about 1000# to the dry trailer weight and you will be close to what you are rolling down the road with. Remember that water adds 8.33 pound/gallon so 10 galos will add 83.3#, 20 gallons will add 166.6#. So don't carry any more water than you need. If you are dry camping, wait until you are close to your destination to fill up and dump your tanks as soon as possible when you leave.

Also remember that your actual tow rating will be less since you wil be adding cargo and passengers to the Tahoe.

The Tahoe is a short wheelbase vehicle so be sure you have a good weight distributing hitch with sway control. When you have the hitch set up correctly with a loaded trailer and truck, the trailer should be level front to back and the truck should also be level. The weight distributing bars should also be nearly parallel to the ground. The truck should drop or squat the same amount on both the front and the rear when you are hitched.

I would prefer a brake controller like a Prodigy or the one I prefer is the Jordan 2020.

Just take everything slow and easy and do not let some jerk that is in a hurry get you frustratd and do somethingtha you should not. We carry a pair of FSR (family service radios) for backing into a campsite. I pull the trailer up cose to the site and I get out with the copiplot and we check the site for clearances, and obstructions before I every try to back in. Note the location of the electric/water/sewer connections. My wife knows to stay in sight on me and the drives side mirror. If she can not see me, I cannot see her and I stop until she is back in view. We also use hand signals if we do no break out the radios.

If you have not done it, take the rig up to a large empty lot and practice driving and backing. Learn where the trailer tires go in a turn and also note that the rear bumper swings a different arc than do the wheels.

Since you have already pulled some, you should not have problems getting the whole routine fine tuned.

Now, go have fun.

[bobnkathleen hartman]

Hear Hear for the FRS radios! We have a diesel, and you cannot hear over the engine without the radios. They make it nice. Plus, if you have kids out wandering the campground, and they are old enough to use a radio, it can be a great mind settler.
Enjoy the Road.

[thecatsfan]

I love having our two way radios. We use them for backing up and also for family communication. I purchased a nice set of GMRS / FRS radios that I keep in the truck. They are rechargeable and can charge off of the inverter under the passenger seat. I also bought a second pair of handhelds and a set of GMRS radio watches for my kids - not that we ever let them out of our sight. The radios are also very handy for trips with multiple vehicles.

[Wilber1]

Forget tow ratings, you will exceed your truck or trailer's GVWR or truck's GCWR before you exceed its tow rating.

If your truck's GVWR is 6010, its GCWR 11,700 and the trailer's GVWR is 5500, that would make your actual GCW 11510. It may not be a sparkling performer but it looks to me like you are good to go as long as you don't exceed the GVWR of either vehicle.

Personally I don't think there is a problem loading a vehicle right up to it's published limits. That's why manufacturers publish limits.
Performance and vehicle longevity will decrease the heavier you get but that's life if you tow something.

[BaseCamp]

I'm currently shopping for a trailer/truck combo. Have owned a pop-up/minivan combo for 6 years. I've read most of of the topics on tow weights and have read both RV vehicle weight and loading papers.

A few have stated using 80% for calculation. Is this 80% of the "towing capacity" or "GCWR"?

I like the Outback which has a dry weight of 3990, Carry capacoty of 1510, giving a GVWR of 5500. Using 12% for tongue weight would set it at 660.

I like the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan. Interestingly, based on the ads for the Titan, it seems it was a show in. However, based on what I've learned here, the Tundra seems to be a better rowing truck.

Titan Tundra
Curb weight 5,013 4,800
Max Towing Cap 9,200 6,800
Max Payload 1,457 1,835
GVWR 6,400 6,600
GCWR 11,467 11,800

Since I can't get these vehicles and trailers to a weight station, I've to use available published max specs. which would be 5500 for the trailer and 6400/6600 for the truck. These numbers would put me really close.

I live in the San Francisco bay area in California and must go over mountain passes on almost any camp trip, are you all going to recommend that I go look at a 3/4 ton GMC or Ford?

Thanks for any input you may have.
Gary

[TXiceman]

Gary, look fro a post on this site by Ken Lenger. He has an excellent "towing calculator" spreadsheet link in his signature. Also check out this one.

Ken

[BaseCamp]

Hi TXiceman,

THanks for the input. I've used the load calc but the problem is they all tend to tell you to take the TV/Trailer to a scale and not trust the published info. That is fine if I had both vehicles. Since I don't, I was using the GVWR on both TV & Trailer since they are the max numbers.

Gary

[rksydor]

My wife and I are considering buying a 2005 Gulfstream Amerilite 24RB. I've done some calculations, but would really appreciate experienced opinions about whether I will be ok towing this. (Mostly in prairies, but also in BC mountains about once every 3 years.)

I have a 98 Chev 1/2 ton ext. cab, 2wd, 5.0 L 3.42 gear ratio, with trans. cooler, and brake controller. My hitch is rated to 10,000 lbs with weight distributing equipment.

Is it ok or common to ask the dealer if I can test-drive the trailer before buying it to see how it 'feels' behind the truck?

Truck specs:
-Max allowable trailer wt from truck manual (assuming driver, one passenger and all req'd trailering eqpmt.): 5,500 lbs. (or 6,500 lbs with 3.73 gear).
- Actual measured wt. of vehicle with wife and 2 kids and full tank of gas in it:
front axel - 3,010 lbs
rear axel - 2,290 lbs
total - 5,300 lbs
- GVWR 6,200 lbs max
- GAWR FRT 3,600 lbs
- GAWR RR 3,686 lbs
- CWR 837 lbs (don't know what this is)
- GCWR - don't know, can't find. GM & dealers not a great help so far.

Trailer specs:
- 24' 9"
- Dry wt. 3,625 lbs.
- Hitch wt. 430 lbs.
- Net Carrying Capacity 2,295 lbs.

Thanks!
Kevin and Rachel Sydor
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada

[TXiceman]

Kevin, your biggest problem will be the small V-8 and the 3.42 axle. Your loaded trailer weight will be closer to 4500# which will be a pretty good load on your drive train. You only have 900# (6200-5300) net carrrying capacity for your cargo and hitch weight. Your hitch weight once loaded should be over 450# (prefer closer to 500 to 550#) This will leave you 350 to 400# for cargo in the truck, so you should be OK there.

If you keep to flat ground, and do not get in a big hurry, it should do OK, but a 3.73 axle would be a big help.

Ken