Figuring out my tow ratings BEFORE buying!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
andman2002

andman2002

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Posts
5
Location
Prince George, BC Canada
Alright, I've been reading all day on here and wow! I realize now how much I DON'T know! But hey, it's all in the learning.
After reading quite a bit about tow ratings, driving in the west, cooking tranny's and rear axle concerns, I figured I should just give you my numbers and ask you to double check them for me. Here goes!
NOTE: numbers in brackets are my calculation for 20% less max, as I've read suggested for driving in the west and thru mountainous terrain.
2010 Dodge 3500 Cummings diesel:
Max towing: 17,400 (13,920)
Max payload: 2,670 (2,136)
GVWR: 10,500 (8,400)

I am looking for a 5er toy hauler and am now wondering if I should be thinking of a smaller unit.
Can you guys please give me your opinion of the max weights I should consider safe for my truck to haul- mostly in northern BC?
Are there any modifications I should consider for the truck before using it as my TV?
Do I really need to stay at 20% under or is 15% still a good margin?
Thanks!


 
First thing I see us you have diesel, not gas.  So I think you can just step down 10% for added weight (passengers, fuel, cargo, mcdonalds breakfast, etc)  that should give you another 1700lbs more than you thought.  Diesel isn't affected like a gas engine by altitude.  15700 should be the high end of total loaded trailer weight, including toys.
 
After you have figured in your loaded weights, you can tow right up to your GCWR with no issues. The truck will handle it fine. It has been said that to full time you will need between 2k and 3k pounds of room to fill up with your stuff. And that doesn't count the weight of your toys in the back!  Take the weight of your toys, and add it to the empty weight of the trailer. What is left is how much stuff, people, food, and misc you can put in it. 

It is extremely smart of you to figure out your weights first!
 
Based on my past experiences, I have no problem loading a vehicle to it's manufacturer ratings.  There are many tests that these vehicles are put through to receive the ratings that they have. 

Here is how the vast majority of us get our tow and payload capacities:

Trailer Weight: GCWR (gross combined weight rating) minus the tow vehicles weight when ready for a trip. i.e. your fuel, tools passengers, hitch, dog, etc.

Example:  My truck has a GCWR of 20,000 lbs, minus the 8,400 lbs for the loaded truck, I have a trailer capacity of 11,600 lbs.

Payload: GVWR of the tow vehicle minus the weight of the tow vehicle itself.

Example:  My truck has a GVWR of 9,900 lbs.  That leave me with 1,500 lbs capacity.

Since all trucks are different, you need to know the GVWR, GCWR and ACTUAL weight of your "ready to travel" truck.  With those three numbers, you can figure out exactly how much you can tow and how much weight you can put on the truck.

I'm guessing that a 10% reduction in ratings is fairly accurate.  If so, you should be looking for a toy hauler with a GVWR of 12-13,000 lbs.
 
As has already been stated, you don't need to discount the diesel by 20%. In fact, I wouldn't discount it at all - a turbo diesel performs extremely well in high altitudes. Just make allowance for the weight you carry in the truck and subtract that from the tow capacity and you will be fine. Or use the truck's GCWR (combined truck and trailer limit) and stay within that  limit.

As best I can tell from the numbers you posted, the GCWR of your truck is probably 24,000 lbs or maybe 24,500. Weigh the truck as it will be loaded for travel (passengers and gear) and subtract that weight from 24,000 and you will have a good number for the max trailer weight (loaded). If you buy a trailer with a trailer gvwr no greater than that, you should be in safe territory.
 
Andman2002, and others, when comparing ratings for the Dodge Diesel be sure to compare the various models. For Example, Dodge offers two Cummins engine configurations along with a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, three axle ratios, various cab configurations, etc.

Our 2011, D3500 with the Cummins High Performance Diesels, (Not the standard Cummins) with manual Transmissions, and 3.83 axles are rated at 800 Ft Lbs Torque and rated to tow up to 30,000 lbs. Also, at least for the present, (and our Dodge dealer tells us there is no plans for Cummins to require the Urea additive as required by other makes) Dodge has the best warrantee. The Dodge-Cummins trucks have the Exhaust Brake factory installed (we used Banks Brakes before Cummins provided the exhaust brakes for Dodges). About a month ago I happened to meet a Chrysler Corp Rep with a PacBrake Rep who told me that Cummins is developing an engine brake (Jake Brake) to possibly be an option in the 2012 or 2013 models for Dodge trucks. This remains to be seen.

Our trucks are work trucks all year around and we use them to pull our Montana RV Trailer also. So we have always ordered our trucks with the equipment, accessories, etc., we need for working and pleasure. By ordering the trucks at purchase we do not have to pay for items not needed or wanted while getting what we actually use.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,099 (members: 26, guests: 1,073)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,984
Posts
1,388,630
Members
137,731
Latest member
Monjoe99
Back
Top Bottom