Tow capacity?

Hello all. I'm new here and completely new to all of this. We have just purchased a 2014 Zinger 26DT travel trailer. I keep worrying that we have gone too big of a trailer for our truck. It's a bit late now, but when we were shopping, I had asked some friends and also the salesman assured us that we were fine, but I want to know for sure. I've read some posts on this site, but still confused by all of it. I'm hoping that some of you can help me with the proper calculations.

2008 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4- GVWR- 7000lbs
                                        Max trailer weight stated in the manual with 3.73 ratio- 7500lbs
                                        GCWR- 13000lbs

2014 Zinger 26DT - Sticker inside trailer says it was weighed at 6100lbs
                            Brochure says GVWR-7830lbs
                           
I'm not sure what the weight of our gear would be. I think maybe a safe guess could be 1000lbs?
People weight should be approx 700lbs.

I'm sure this has been asked over and over, but I would really appreciate if someone could help me calculate it.

Thanks 

1000 lbs is kind of a minimum add-on to the dry weight. Water alone will add at a couple hundred lbs, and you will be amazed at how quickly the "necessary' stuff gets added on. BBQ, lawn chairs, kids bikes, pots & pans, beverages and canned goods, etc.

Given your unladen weight of 6100, you  are probably on the road at 7000-7500 lbs. That's really stretching the limits of your tow vehicle, since you also have to allow for the weight of passengers in the truck (less the 154 lbs standard allowance for the driver), the weight of the trailer hitch, and any gear stowed in the truck. Hope the rating on your truck was conservative!

Thanks Gary. We're going on our first trip next Sunday. I have found a place that I can get everything weighed, so I'm going to stop there before we head out.

Once I get it weighed, what will my main concern be? I'm assuming the most important figure would be the GCWR at 13000?

The GVWR is the weight of the GMC, with all the people,
equipment (loaded in and on it) and the tongue weight
of the trailer.  The tongue weight is 10 to 15 percent
of the gross trailer weight, that would be 610 to 915 pounds
before you put anything in the trailer.  If you put 1000
pounds in the trailer the tongue weight goes up another 100-150
pounds.  The GCWR is the weight of the above GMC and
the gross weight of the trailer being towed.  The only
way you can tow a 7500 pound trailer is if you keep the
weight of the GMC at 5500 pounds.  Not likely
If you keep the trailer weight down around 7000 pounds
the maximum weight of the GMc would be 6000 pounds.
Not likely, think you need a bigger truck. 

The GCWR is the primary thing, but you need to be concerned about the rear axle GAWR & truck GVWR as well, because the trailer's tongue weight will be be pushing the rear axle to near limits, and passengers and gear in the truck may exceed its GVWR even if under the GCWR.

I think you are going to be close on all counts.

Sound like a good time to upgrade your tow vehicle. There has never been a problem with having too much truck and most owners would agree that having too much truck is relaxing and easy towing. But having marginal or overweight truck might make for some wild white knuckle trips.

Mopar1973Man said:

Sound like a good time to upgrade your tow vehicle. There has never been a problem with having too much truck and most owners would agree that having too much truck is relaxing and easy towing. But having marginal or overweight truck might make for some wild white knuckle trips.

Click to expand...

Saved me the trouble of typing it. 

Macdad,
I spent a good bit of time studying this topic, while I owned a popup and was considering buying a large TT.
I have no doubt that your truck will pull the trailer.  You might even think it feels acceptable even if it's overloaded.... if you're a brave sort.  If you're a more timid driver, you might notice what some call white knuckle experiences, insufficient brakes, etc....  I've seen and even driven over loaded rigs before.
properly loaded rig will drive much better and will be much safer to you, your family, and those of us sharing the road with you.

You need a lot more data to really know.
You really don't know how muc the truck weighs now, loaded.
Your 1,000# might be a very goo estimate, added to the 6100# dry weight, so that very well might be a good estimate, bt no way to tell from what you know what that does with re. to tongue weight, or where you are under or over the GCVWR.

First off, are you sure that your truck has the 3.73:1 diffs.?  The manual will list all options.  You can't asume, as I discovered in my silvy that HAS the factory tow package, but also has the lesser 3.43 rear end which severely limits the tow capacity.  Check the RPO codes in your glove box.  You can find the codes online
try this, it might be the right set.....http://www.longroof.info/pdf/rpo.pdf

The best thing you could do right now is to go weigh the rig.  I find it amazing how much stuf I have in my truck on a regular basis...... tools, spare change, etc..... it all adds up.  Then fill the back with bikes and coolers for camping and it adds up.

What I liked to do was weigh on the way out camping.  That's when i would be the heaviest.... full coolers, all the bikes, family in the truck, etc....
find a cat scale, hopefully enroute.....
http://catscale.com/cat-scale-locator

it's easy enough..... pull up on the scale which is divided into diferent pads... one for the steer axle, one for the drive axle, and one for the trailer axle.
With everyone in the truck, get a weight, then go unhitch the trailer in the parking lot and weigh just the truck.  Then you'll know the actual truck weight and how much margin you have under teh GVWR.  You'll also be able to figure the toungue weight of teh loaded trailer, as well as the total trailer weight (tongue + trailer axle)
and you'll know where the total rig weight is in reference to the GCVWR

Thanks everyone. I'm going to get it weighed next weekend and go from there. I'm hoping that although it will be close, it will be doable. We have been seriously considering parking it in a park for the summer next year so if its doable to tow every once in awhile, I'll just keep the truck I have.

Thanks Blw2. I just saw your post as you posted while I was posting. Yes I checked the codes and it was 3.73

Here's the other thing....even if it is doable and safe, will it be pleasant? 

We bought a new travel trailer in 2012, which weighs just a tick under 8000 lbs.  I was towing it with an older gas F250.  I was within specs fully loaded with roughly 1000 lbs to spare.  It did the job, but by the time I'd spent 4 hours getting to my destination, I was worn out.  It never swayed, but a heavy crosswind or semi passing could produce that dreaded "white knuckle" experience.  Then there was trying to pull a mile long 10% grade at 9500' elevation in low gear, pedal to the floor, at 18 mph.  After a couple of years, that got old.

In January, we bought a 2014 Crew Cab Ram 2500 with the Cummins diesel.  It's like night and day.  I barely know the trailer is back there, and even a 30 mph crosswind is manageable without the aforementioned white knuckles.  It pulls any grade I want with ease.

Something to think about. 

I think until you pull it and get it weighed, everything else is speculation.  Let us know how it works out for you.

Frizlefrak said:

Here's the other thing....even if it is doable and safe, will it be pleasant? 

We bought a new travel trailer in 2012, which weighs just a tick under 8000 lbs.  I was towing it with an older gas F250.  I was within specs fully loaded with roughly 1000 lbs to spare.  It did the job, but by the time I'd spent 4 hours getting to my destination, I was worn out.  It never swayed, but a heavy crosswind or semi passing could produce that dreaded "white knuckle" experience.  Then there was trying to pull a mile long 10% grade at 9500' elevation in low gear, pedal to the floor, at 18 mph.  After a couple of years, that got old.

In January, we bought a 2014 Crew Cab Ram 2500 with the Cummins diesel.  It's like night and day.  I barely know the trailer is back there, and even a 30 mph crosswind is manageable without the aforementioned white knuckles.  It pulls any grade I want with ease.

Something to think about.

Click to expand...

Years ago I had a gooseneck trailer at work I towed quite a bit behind an F-250.  Very similar experience.  Not enough safety factor or margin below capacity..... it was ok by the book but felt dangerous....... switched to the 3500 later on and it pulled like it should.

Well I was able to get weighed today. Looks like I'm pushing it.

Trailer - 6768lbs
Truck  - 6129lbs
Tongue - 860lbs

Total for truck and trailer 12897lbs

For the time being, I'm planning to pull it anyway. Gary mentioned above that I need to be concerned about the GAWR. How do I tell how close I am to that?

You needed to get the truck weighed axle by axle, not just a total for the whole truck. If you knew the weight on the truck rear axle, with the trailer hooked up, you would then know the total weight carried by that axle and could compare to the rear GAWR (which is usually found on the door post)

How did you determine the tongue weight is 860? Does that  6129 lb truck weight include the tongue load on it, or was that without the trailer hooked up? Likewise for the trailer weight - is that including the tongue, or was it hooked to the truck at the time it was weighed?

I followed the instructions listed in the library.

A-First weight was both truck and trailer - 12897

B-Second weight was with the truck pulled just off the scale, weighing trailer still attached to truck- 5908

C-Third was trailer removed from truck- 6768

A-C= truck weight

C-B= tongue weight


It seemed like a pretty good way to do it. Only it had said in the library that it was fine to leave the spring bars hooked up when doing the third weight. I decided to remove them and the scale guy told me the weight went down when I did.

OK, the more detailed weights is what I was looking for. However, to get GAWRs you have to get multiple weights on the truck, typically just the front axle, then front + rear (the "B" number). That would allow calculation of the weight carried on the rear axle.  That's probably not a major concern with a TT and 860 lb tongue weight on your truck, so don't lose sleep about it. Just don't put 500+ lbs of cargo in the truck bed when the trailer is hitched up!

I'm curious which weight went down when the spring bars were removed? Total weight can't change, but the distribution of weight between truck and trailer might.

Well, we just got back from our first camping vacation. It is certainly a bit heavy for the truck, but it can be done. It wasn't a horrible tow. I guess the tail wagging the dog comment would be fitting. We're thinking of getting a seasonal site next year. If not, I should definitely look into getting a 3/4 ton. Thanks for everyone's help on this.

Have 2008 Subaru Forester with no hitch yet. Towing capacity 2400 lbs. Trailer I'm buying: 61 Shasta reissue, dry weight: just under 2000 lbs. Combined weight of 2 passengers in car = 300 lbs. The Subaru hitch is class 2, plan to get it with the 7 pin brake hookup and a brake controller for the dash. Picking the trailer up in Michigan in December and driving 1300 miles. Anybody see any problems with this plan? Is towing capacity of the Subaru cutting it too close?