My wife and I are considering RVing... we have been researching the many different types.. I think we have decided on the 5er style, but now I am really trying to understand the weight ratings.. I am not opposed to upgrading my truck to handle the load... lets say that the RV a Jayco eagle 31RLTS has a GVWR of 14500# and the truck a 04 F350 dually that has a GVWR of 13000#... that is a mis match...right???? I would appreciate any input
That truck should have no difficulty with that trailer. I am confident that the weight of the loaded truck plus the Pin weight of the loaded trailer (est. .2 X 14500 = 2900#) is less than the GVWR rating of the truck (13000#).
J & M
2005 Cardinal 33TS LX with TrailAir
2004 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 4x4 DRW D/A (LLY) Crew Cab
Don't try to compare the GVWR of your truck with the GVWR of your trailer as they have only a very tenuous relationship. All you need is enough payload to handle the pin weight when the trailer is loaded to it's GVWR. The F-350 will EASILY handle the trailer you mention.
I'm an automotive enthusiast, have truck drivers in the family, and have grown up around towing all of my life. Here are some various phrases and what they mean, and how they effect towing and hauling.
GVWR or GVW: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, or just Gross Vehicle Weight: The total your vehicle can weigh if it was to be weighed. Thats under the VEHICLE. If your truck is rated at 10k GVWR, and the truck itself weighs 6k lbs, you can have 4k lbs. of passengers, luggage, and cargo in the bed and cab. This includes the weight that a camper places on the truck. If the camper has a 1500 lb. tongue weight, the truck is down to 2500 lbs. for passengers and cargo.
GVWR for a trailer: Again, this is the total a trailer can weigh when loaded.
GCWR: Gross Combined Weight Rating: This is the rated capacity of your truck including any trailers and cargo. Think of it as the total weight of your truck and anything attached to it in any way. If your GCWR is 20k lbs., and your truck weighs 10k lbs. fully loaded, you can tow a 10k lb. trailer behind it.
Axle Capacity: This is the weight the axles on the vehicle can physically handle. If your truck has a 6k lb. rear axle capacity, and your truck has 4k lbs. on it already, the tongue weight of the trailer shouldn't be over 2k lbs. If its a gooseneck or 5th wheel, some of the weight is distributed to the front axle, allowing the truck to handle more weight. Weight distributing hitches have the same effect.
Those are the official meanings of the ratings. Now the unofficial stuff. The ratings are made up by corporations worried about getting sued. They rate the vehicles according to worse case scenarios. Obviously a truck can handle more weight on flat ground with an experienced driver who leaves more stopping room, knows not to jerk the wheel in turns, and generally uses more caution than a first time trailer tower pushing their truck on a curvy mountain road. But use caution and err on the side of safety if you are unsure about what you are doing. One example was when my Dodge truck froze up on a very cold winter morning. The only way I had to get it to the shop was behind my only other vehicle (at that time), a 1998 Jeep Cherokee. The truck had at least 3k lbs. of scrap steel in the bed, and was a '96 Dodge Ram 4x4 with a Cummins diesel. The Jeep was rated for 5k lbs. I put the 7k lb. truck on my 1500 lb. trailer, so including the 3k lbs. of steel, I had 11,500 lbs. behind the Jeep. I never went over 35 mph, pulled over for any traffic, and generally used my head. I was also very experienced in towing, and knew the very early signs of trailer sway and fading brakes, and knew about downshifting on hills to take some load off the brakes. I pulled that load 10 miles with no problem. I sure wouldn't want to head into heavy traffic or go very far with that load though!
To decide what your truck can pull, look in your owner's manual for the trailer tow capacities. If you don't have the owner's manual, or can't find it in there, go to your truck manufacturer's web site and look for the specifications, or do a search on the web for your particular model. You will want to know things like whether your vehicle has a towing package (usually has lower axle gear ratios, trans and oil coolers, larger cooling system, etc.) or at the very least what transmission you have (auto or manual) and the axle gear ratios.
The simple answer is that your 1 ton dually is more than sufficient to haul a trailer with a GVWR of 14,500 pounds. Depending on what numbers you choose are important and want to stay within, first duty is to load your truck up just like you would be going camping and make a trip to the local scales. Now with those numbers sit down and find the trucks GCWR. Taking your trucks scaled weight add 250 pounds for the fifth wheel hitch, that is your trucks ready to camp weight. Now, using the 20% number take 20% of the trailers GVWR, which in your example is 2900 pounds and add that to the trucks scaled plus hitch weight. Now you have a really close estimate of how much the truck will weigh when hitched up and ready to camp. As long as YOU are comfortable towing at that weight on the truck you should be ready to enjoy. Personally I would prefer staying under the trucks GVWR and GCWR, but you may find yourself in a situation that you are not comfortable at those numbers or maybe over those numbers. Then YOU need to make the decision based on what you are comfortable with and what you determine is safe and prudent for your families safety. Good luck and happy camping.
nhdiesel wrote: .....Those are the official meanings of the ratings. Now the unofficial stuff. The ratings are made up by corporations worried about getting sued. They rate the vehicles according to worse case scenarios. Obviously a truck can handle more weight on flat ground with an experienced driver who leaves more stopping room, knows not to jerk the wheel in turns, and generally uses more caution than a first time trailer tower pushing their truck on a curvy mountain road. But use caution and err on the side of safety if you are unsure about what you are doing. One example was when my Dodge truck froze up on a very cold winter morning. The only way I had to get it to the shop was behind my only other vehicle (at that time), a 1998 Jeep Cherokee. The truck had at least 3k lbs. of scrap steel in the bed, and was a '96 Dodge Ram 4x4 with a Cummins diesel. The Jeep was rated for 5k lbs. I put the 7k lb. truck on my 1500 lb. trailer, so including the 3k lbs. of steel, I had 11,500 lbs. behind the Jeep. I never went over 35 mph, pulled over for any traffic, and generally used my head. I was also very experienced in towing, and knew the very early signs of trailer sway and fading brakes, and knew about downshifting on hills to take some load off the brakes. I pulled that load 10 miles with no problem. I sure wouldn't want to head into heavy traffic or go very far with that load though!.......Jim
Just a question, if an accident was to have happened, is the insurance company still required to pay on a claim or has the policy been breached?
Here we go again. These insurance and legality arguements are getting old!
to hdman93: There are a few good explanations above that explain what each rating means. They are not legally binding numbers unless you are towing commercially. No one will make you go on a scale either.
Thanks for all the input!!!! My dad was an over the road trucker for years and I have worked a few of them myself... without the CDL... but with all those variables running around in my brain I just needed some clarification!!!! unfortunately my dad passed away almost 2 years ago... probably for the last ten years of his life he was taking off on the weekends camping.. mostly in a gas pusher.. again thanks to all and I will more than likely be back with more questions once my wife and I get a little closer to purchasing the RV..
Offline
