Opinions on payload on my 2015 Siverado HD Diesel

As you have seen, the trailer GVWR is not the only measure of a "bigger trailer".

When they do the testing per SAE J2807 to establish the Max Tow rating, they always use a low-boy trailer loaded with dense weights to keep the profile low and wind resistance at near zero. That lets them get bigger Max Tow numbers for bragging rights. However, that low boy trailer uses a ball mount hitch and is balanced to carry most of the weight on the trailer axles, not on the truck.  Further, that max tow rating cannot be sustained if the trailer has a lot of frontal area - Ford even has a page in their Tow Guide dedicated to the effects of frontal area (wind resistance).

The Ford Tow Guide also states this:

Weight assumes a towing vehicle with any mandatory options, no cargo, tongue load of 10?15% (conventional trailer) or king pin weight of 15?25% (5th-wheel trailer) and driver and passenger (150 lbs. each). Weight of additional options, passengers, cargo and hitch must be deducted from this weight.

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The ChevroletTowing  Guide has this warning:

It is important that the combination of the tow vehicle and trailer does not exceed any of its weight ratings ? GCWR, GVWR, RGAWR, trailer weight rating or tongue weight. The only way to be sure to not exceed any of these ratings is to weigh the tow vehicle and trailer
combination, fully loaded for the trip, getting individual weights for each of these items

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Are my numbers right?  I don't want to believe I bought a new truck with a max trailer rating of 17,100 lbs that will only haul a half ton towable.

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The 17k lb trailer tow trating is for all types of trailers...not just a 5th wheel rv trailer.
Example is my 16k GN tri axle stock trailer.
  With your truck we can load the trailer with light stock in the front of the trailer and heavies over the trailers axles. This way you won't exceed the trucks 6200 RAWR..
The yellow payload sticker is a gvwr based payload which when used in the bed payload are notorious for over loading "some" trucks rawr. Thats one reason the yellow payload sticker isn't used in any legal sense/legal civil lawsuits for a overloaded vehicle. The yellow payload sticker became mandatory in the '06 era. Some were in use earlier.
My '03 2500 and '98 3500 DRW don't have a payload sticker.  We simply safely carry weight in the bed up to the trucks RAWR.
Your actual payload can be determined by actual scaled front and rear axle weights.
Example; many late model 2500 GM trucks rear axle can weigh in the 3000 lb range leaving around 3200 lb in the bed payloads. The only difference in your 2500 and the 3500 SRW is a heavier rear spring pack. However a 17k lb 5th wheel rv trailer has too moch hitch load for any one ton SRW truck.
I would stay under a 12500 lb gross weight trailer.  Or mod the truck with higher rated tires/wheels and rear spring pack may gain another 400-500 lbs of payload.

If you need to know your trucks legal load limits contact your area local state troop hdqtrs. They can help you with those numbers.

So...What happens if your 250 lb sister-in-law wants to go camping with you ? 

Besides,  that "Yellow Sticker' says the weight Should not exceed that amount.....It's the factory suggested weight limit, it's not a DOT mandated weight limit.

I think it'd be okay to let you sister-in-law ride along once or twice.. ;D

 

My son has a similar truck.  He could not believe how limited the payload was for his diesel truck. Less than 2,200#.

TonyDtorch said:

So...What happens if your 250 lb sister-in-law wants to go camping with you ? 

Besides,  that "Yellow Sticker' says the weight Should not exceed that amount.....It's the factory suggested weight limit, it's not a DOT mandated weight limit.

I think it'd be okay to let you sister-in-law ride along once or twice.. ;D

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She would have to drive her own car.

I have a 2016 Chevy 4X4 Duramax CC and my build sheet shows:

Curb Weight - Front
4511  lbs  3788.0 min 4511.0 max
Curb Weight - Rear
2872  lbs  2736.0 min 3280.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Trailer Wt.
13900  lbs  13900.0 min 14000.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Tongue Wt.
3475  lbs  3475.0 min 3500.0 max

TonyDtorch said:

So...What happens if your 250 lb sister-in-law wants to go camping with you ? 

Besides,  that "Yellow Sticker' says the weight Should not exceed that amount.....It's the factory suggested weight limit, it's not a DOT mandated weight limit.

I think it'd be okay to let you sister-in-law ride along once or twice.. ;D

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This is a quote from Ford user manual....

"Trailer tongue (trailer king pin for 5th-wheel towing) load weight should be 10% (15% for 5th-wheel towing) of total loaded trailer weight. Make sure vehicle payload (reduce by option weight) will accommodate trailer tongue (trailer king pin for 5th-wheel towing) load weight and weight of passengers and cargo added to towing vehicle. Addition of trailer tongue (trailer king pin for 5th-wheel towing) load weight and weight of passengers and cargo must not cause vehicle weights to exceed rear GAWR or GVWR. These ratings can be found on the vehicle Safety Compliance Certification Label."

TonyDtorch said:

So...What happens if your 250 lb sister-in-law wants to go camping with you ? 

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Put the lady on a diet.

bailer6334 said:

I have a 2016 Chevy 4X4 Duramax CC and my build sheet shows:

Curb Weight - Front
4511  lbs  3788.0 min 4511.0 max
Curb Weight - Rear
2872  lbs  2736.0 min 3280.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Trailer Wt.
13900  lbs  13900.0 min 14000.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Tongue Wt.
3475  lbs  3475.0 min 3500.0 max

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what does the door decal state? it will tell you cargo capacity in simple terms - meaning wieght of passengers and cargo in or out of the box ie hitch wood tools etc - drivers side door  while its not absolute it is the EASYIEST way to figure out what the vehicle can safely handle - take the pin weight of the trailer and subtract from the payload that will give you whats left to carry

or use this

http://www.towingplanner.com/Calculators/TowingPayloadEstimate/?ccc=4125&dw=235&pw=165&hw=250&bd=125&ct=FW

steveblonde said:

what does the door decal state? it will tell you cargo capacity in simple terms - meaning wieght of passengers and cargo in or out of the box ie hitch wood tools etc - drivers side door  while its not absolute it is the EASYIEST way to figure out what the vehicle can safely handle - take the pin weight of the trailer and subtract from the payload that will give you whats left to carry

or use this

http://www.towingplanner.com/Calculators/TowingPayloadEstimate/?ccc=4125&dw=235&pw=165&hw=250&bd=125&ct=FW

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That's a pretty easy calculator. I plugged the info in for my truck and the lower end estimate was pretty close to what I had calculated. I calculated a trailer weight of 5430lbs but only used 90% of that weight due to some earlier posts on the subject. 90% brings it down to 4887lbs. Our trailer GVWR is 3800lbs. One thing I don't understand is the range your formula gives. For my truck it was 5053-7580 lbs. That's quite a range.

Oldgator73 said:

That's a pretty easy calculator. I plugged the info in for my truck and the lower end estimate was pretty close to what I had calculated. I calculated a trailer weight of 5430lbs but only used 90% of that weight due to some earlier posts on the subject. 90% brings it down to 4887lbs. Our trailer GVWR is 3800lbs. One thing I don't understand is the range your formula gives. For my truck it was 5053-7580 lbs. That's quite a range.

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the range is based upon tongue weight or in most cases with a travel trailer or 5th wheel it would depend on where or if you had a full tank of water. which would affect tongue weight

bailer6334 said:

I have a 2016 Chevy 4X4 Duramax CC and my build sheet shows:

Curb Weight - Front
4511  lbs  3788.0 min 4511.0 max
Curb Weight - Rear
2872  lbs  2736.0 min 3280.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Trailer Wt.
13900  lbs  13900.0 min 14000.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Tongue Wt.
3475  lbs  3475.0 min 3500.0 max

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where did you find this information?

bailer6334 said:

I have a 2016 Chevy 4X4 Duramax CC and my build sheet shows:

Curb Weight - Front
4511  lbs  3788.0 min 4511.0 max
Curb Weight - Rear
2872  lbs  2736.0 min 3280.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Trailer Wt.
13900  lbs  13900.0 min 14000.0 max
Fifth Wheel Hitch - Max Tongue Wt.
3475  lbs  3475.0 min 3500.0 max

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where did you find this information?

My last two diesel trucks were maxed out pulling our TT due to the auxillary fuel tank and topper I keep on the truck.  Just because the specs claim a max conventional trailer towing weight of 13,000 lbs, doesn't mean you can actually pull that much without overloading the truck.  I chose this configuration because I like having the auxillary fuel tank and the topper and we're very happy with the size of our TT.  My GMC has  a 2314# payload limit on the yellow sticker.  Our TT has a GVWR of 7800lbs. 

Below are the weights. 

780 lbs -10% of the TT
775 lbs - auxillary fuel tank filled with 75 gallons of diesel
200 lbs - Leer fiberglass cap
559 lbs - max weight for passengers and cargo
2314 lbs total

The actual combined weight of the loaded trailer and truck ready to travel is a touch under 17,000 lbs. with two passengers in the truck, a full tank of fresh water and empty grey and black tanks. 

If you look at the specs on the truck on the GMC web site, the GCWR of the truck and trailer is 25,300 lbs, with a max conventional towing weight of 13,000 lbs.  As near as I can tell, it would be impossible to achieve, even if I removed the topper and the fuel system.



 

Bailer, the OP is talking about a FW, what matters most is payload sticker number.  As I said my son?s 2500 HD Duramax has a payload less than 2,200#.  He thought he could pull a 13K FW because it has a Duramax. No way with his payload.

Sticker says payload 2,412lbs.

This is what Towing Planner says with 300 pounds of driver/passengers and 150-pound hitch.

I quote

"You're adding approximately 450 lbs. to the truck. You have 1,962 lbs. of payload capacity. Fifth wheels typically have 20% - 25% pin weight which gives you a maximum loaded camper weight of 7,848 - 9,810 lbs."

Here a link to tow planner so you can play with the numbers.
http://www.towingplanner.com/Calculators/TowingPayloadEstimate/?ccc=2412&dw=150&pw=150&hw=150&ct=FW

There also a section that allows you to take a dry pin weight and estimate the ready to camp weight. 

I don't understand the numbers posted "maximum loaded camper weight of 7848-9810lbs". 7848 pounds would be at the max pin weight. 9810 would way over at 2450 pounds pin weight (using 25%).

Oldgator73 said:

I don't understand the numbers posted "maximum loaded camper weight of 7848-9810lbs". 7848 pounds would be at the max pin weight. 9810 would way over at 2450 pounds pin weight (using 25%).

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7848 = 25%
9810 = 20%

So the range Towing Planner gives you is 20 to 25% range of the max GVWR of 5er you can tow with your truck without exceeding your trucks GVWR and allowing for people, hitch and etc in the truck.  Most 5er fall in between 20 and 25% but there are some exceptions.

My 2015 2500 Silvy is a 6.0L gasser.  I know that with two people on board, full load of fuel, and roughly 200 lb of stuff in the bed, it comes in at a hair under 7200 lb.  GVWR of the pickup is 9500 lb.  So available payload is a hair over 2300 lb.  Given the weight of the Dmax, I can see that the available payload under the same circumstances would be less than 2000 lb.