Community Forums

Blueknight · 05-11-2016, 12:05 PM

Hi,

I posted this in my newbie intro thread, but haven't heard back from anyone.

We're getting our first truck/trailer combo soon. The truck we're looking at in a Chevy Silverado 2500HD, 6.0L gas.

I think it'll handle the trailer. Here are the specs:

I used this web site:

Towing Calculator based on Truck's Payload/CCC - Towing Planner

The truck has a payload of 3181lbs, gross weight of 9500lbs, and max tow of 13000lbs. The trailer has a max weight of 10500lbs, hitch weight of 1050lbs. Given our weight, and that of the dog and scooters, the web site says we're adding 1400lbs to the truck, giving 1781lbs of payload capacity. It says we can tow a max loaded camper weight of 11873-17810lbs...

Towing Calculator based on Truck's Payload/CCC - Towing Planner

Does that look right?

Thanks

drdarrin · 05-11-2016, 12:47 PM

As far as it goes, yes. But it won't tell you if your hitch, shank, ball and equalizer will handle the weight. I would figure 15% tongue weight until you weigh it and know for sure.

SmokeyWren · 05-11-2016, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueKnight

...The truck has a payload of 3181lbs, gross weight of 9500lbs, and max tow of 13000lbs. The trailer has a max weight of 10500lbs, hitch weight of 1050lbs.

The numbers look good except for the hitch weight. As drdarrin said, use 15% of a tag trailer's GVWR to estimate hitch weight until you have a scale ticket that shows different. Average tongue weight is about 13% of gross trailer weight, plus you must add the weight of your weight-distributing hitch to that. So if you load the trailer to 10,000 pounds and your trailer has average tongue weight, that's 1,300 pounds. Plus another 50 to 75 pounds for the head of a good WD hitch, so count on a minimum of 1,350 pounds hitch weight.

Quote:

Given our weight, and that of the dog and scooters, the web site says we're adding 1400lbs to the truck, ...

1,400 pounds payload plus 1,350 hitch weight = 2,750 actual payload. So if you estimates are close, then the 3,181 pounds of payload capacity should still leave you with over 400 pounds of unused payload capacity for things such as tools, jacks, campfire wood, etc.

Quote:

It says we can tow a max loaded camper weight of 11873-17810lbs...

If you actually have 1,781 pounds of payload capacity available for hitch weight, that's a TT with 13% tongue weight and that has with GVWR of over 13K. But the CAT scale will probably show you actually have less than 1,500 pounds of unused payload capacity available for hitch weight. That's a TT with GVWR of 11,500.

Quote:

Does that look right?

It looks like if you want to tow a TT that grosses up to 10,500 pounds actual weight, then that Chevy 2500 gasser should do the job. The 13k tow rating is overstated, but indicates that drivetrain should be able to pull any TT that grosses 10,500 without burning up anything in the drivetrain and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on steep grades.

If you load the trailer to 10,000 pounds, you'll probably wish you had paid more money and got the diesel. But the gasser will probably get the job done.

Blueknight · 05-12-2016, 05:52 AM

This gets so confusing for me, LOL!

If the hitch weight, including a WD hitch, is figured into the payload of the truck, wouldn't it then have to be removed from the total weight of the trailer? Otherwise, it would be figured twice, right?

drdarrin · 05-12-2016, 07:33 AM

If you're confused then you're paying attention.

You are correct, your trailer axles won't carry that weight, the truck does.

SmokeyWren · 05-12-2016, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blueknight

If the hitch weight, including a WD hitch, is figured into the payload of the truck, wouldn't it then have to be removed from the total weight of the trailer? Otherwise, it would be figured twice, right?

Right. With a weight-distributing hitch, about 80% of the total hitch weight becomes payload on the truck.

When you weigh your rig on a CAT scale, you will never see the total weight (GVW) of the trailer. Instead, you will see the weight on the trailer axles, plus the weight on the rear axle of the tow vehicle, plus the weight on the front axle of the tow vehicle.

With a weight-distributing hitch, the total weight of the trailer is spread across the trailer axles, the rear axle of the tow vehicle, and the front axle of the tow vehicle. About 20% of tongue weight is distributed back to the trailer axles, another 20% is distributed forward to the front axle of the tow vehicle, and about 60% of gross hitch weight remains on the rear axle.

cmcguire48 · 05-12-2016, 06:37 PM

Please tell me about your F150 Ecoboost. I just bought a 2016 2.7 and will be pulling a 4800 dry TT, I traded my 2013 F150 v8 for this, did i screw up or will I be okay. I got a great deal on new truck didn't have to trade just something I decided to do. My new one is loaded with all the towing bells and also got the backup assist which works great. Thanks for your advice