Towing vehicle weights

[altmans]

Hello everyone.  My family and I are new to this site.  I am in need of help from you experts here.  We currently own a Rockwood pop-up camper and are looking to upgrade to a travel trailer.  We are interested in a few but want to make sure the trailer is in out vehicle weight restrictions so that we do not wreck it. 

We own a 2008 Chev Tahoe, 5.3L V8, with 3.73 rear axle.  Manual states 7500lbs is maximum trailer weight and GCWR is 13000lbs.

So the trailer we would like to buy is a Dutchmen Aerolite, dry trailer weight is 6470lbs.

I know you have to take into account food, clothing and what not packed into the camper.  I plan on not putting any water into the tanks until we arrive at the campground we go to.

Is this trailer to much for my truck?  If so where does my trailer weight need to be.  Any and all advice would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance...

 

[Phil Hyde]

What is the GVWR for the Aerolite?

 

[Carl L]

Indeed you need to come up with a GVWR for that trailer.  We do not recommend a trailer GVWR not exceed 90% of a truck tow rating.  (If you would tow in the 11 western states with a gasoline engine, we recommend not exceeding 80% tow rating to account for the altitudes encountered there.)

Why GVWR?  That is the maximum weight that a trailer should weigh --- it is unladen weight + cargo carrying capacity.  Trust the old timers here, over the year you will fill the trailer with stuff.  GVWR is a good, prudent estimate for your trailer's weight.

Why 90% of tow rating?  Because tow ratings are based on the truck with only a 154-lb driver and coolant, lube, and full fuel.  Passengers, portly drivers, cab cargo, and trailer hitches should be subtracted from tow ratings.  We use 10% as a prudent estimate that avoids wishful thinking.

 

[altmans]

Ok so the unloaded weight of the trailer is 6470lbs.  The net cargo capacity weight is 1181lbs.  Adding those up I believe gives you the GVWR of 7651 lbs.  It says the hitch weight is 856lbs. Not sure if that is relevant or not.

I am just so confused as these numbers dont make sense and of course the salesman advised that he could tow such a vehicle with our Tahoe.

Thanks for your help.  If something else is needed let me know.

 

[altmans]

I know it is probably going to be way over, I am just trying to see what I can tow and how long I can get away with towing with my truck.

 

[krw]

We have the same truck with 5.3 and 3.73s.  We pull a Funfinder that weighs in at 5000 dry.  FWIW, I can't imagine pulling a trailer that weighs 1500lbs more dry with our truck.  It does fine with the Funfinder, but the trans temps were marginal until we added a trans cooler.  It also has enough power to pull it, but I am dropping gears and revving high more than I would like.  I don't feel like the trailer is driving the truck, but I wouldn't dream of pushing it up to the GVW of the trailer.  Our trailer is a good fit, but I feel like anything heavier would really be pushing it.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

1181 lb is not a lot of cargo, even for  apart time RVer.  After a year of use, you will find you are pushing right up against that, as necessary gear fills the trailer. And you will have water when you travel - at least 6 gallons in the water heater and a few gallons more in the bottom of the tanks which you think are empty. Dry weight doesn't even count the propane in the LP tanks, so add another 60 lbs or so.

Then consider that the Tahoe's max tow capacity is for an empty vehicle (driver and fuel only) and no trailer hitch. By the time the family and their travel gear is onboard and the hitch mounted, you have 300-500 more lbs that have to get counted somewhere.  So you really need to be looking at trailers whose GVWR is around 6700 lbs.

 

[fishinjim]

our first TT was a rockwood roo 25bh. We towed it with a 2005 ford explorer v8. it towed ok for the most part but I called it white knuckle towing. We had the proper weight distributing hitch and sway bar setup but any side wind, semi-truck passing and we swayed a reasonable amount to make me use both hands, and grip tight. Also, we didn't have much reserve for HP and torque in the tow vehicle.
We upgraded this year to a Ford F350 CrewCab Dually with the V10 and now tow a 5th wheel. I feel much more comfortable towing the 5th wheel, even though it is longer and heavier.  Lesson learned on my part.

 

[Marc L]

I have basically the same tow vehicle as you, except in the truck version and 4x4 with removes 100lbs of towing capacity.  Check my signature and see what I tow.  It tows it very well and would not want to tow more.  I've towed a different truck/trailer combo that was overweight and it's not fun towing.  You feel the constant strain on the drive train, crawl up the hills, over all not a pleasant towing experience.

If you don't tow in the mountains of the West, follow Carl's advice and find a trailer that has a GVWR 10% less of your towing capacity, in this case: 6750 lbs.  Right now, the trailer you are looking at has a dry weight close to what your max weight should be.

It also has not been mentioned, but the dry weight is a fictitious number that don't mean much in real life for 2 main reasons.  One, you never tow dry.  Two, it often does not include optional equipment, batteries and propane, which can easily add 500 lbs.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Give another example...

Truck Ratings - 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 - Cummins Diesel
Front GAWR 5,200#
Rear GAWR 6,084#
GVWR 8,800#
GCWR 20,000#

Trailer Ratings - Jayco Eagle FBS 296
GVWR 8,500#

Now I'm been out camping and with suppies, water etc... Rolled over the scales... 2 people, 1 dog, cargo in the bed, etc.

Truck Weight
Front Axle 4,040#
Rear Axle 4,280#
Total 8,320#

Trailer Weight
7,760#

Combined.
16,080#

Take notice nowhere did I refer to dry weight of anything...

I'm out West where there is good steep mountain grade and climbs. Even with this much weight I do have to drop out of top gear (5Th) and get down to 3rd a few time to climb the windy mountain passes of Idaho. Diesel are designed to pull along at lower RPM's still keeping there torque curve but gasoline engine have to wind way up in the R's to get the torque back. So the guys are right you would have to cut back on the weight if you consider towing out in the West...

 

[altmans]

Thank you all for your information as it helped greatly.  Not sure what we are going to do but I will not be buying the travel trailer in question.  I guess if the wife wants to travel with this camper I have to  try and talk her into just getting new truck and hopefully go with a 5th wheel.  At that point I might as well ask for a F350 Diesel and not worry about weight all together.  A guy can dream can't he.  Wish me luck...

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You have our best wishes... but  don't let that future F350 go to your head - there are trailer it can't handle either. That's why they make F450's. And F550's too.