Help with possible trailer purchase. Can I haul it? Wife wants to buy ASAP

[Dan Topp]

I have a 10k max aluminum trailer which is a lot lighter 2990lbs and a 1500 tradesman. I haul under 4K. No issues with a good hitch and less saggy springs.

 

[CamperMike]

I see a few people talking about timbren or other springs or lt tires... my opinion is if you really need those things the load is too heavy. With a decent and properly adjusted weight distribution hitch sag should not be an issue and the std tires are rated to well over the rear axle rating.

 

[Gero]

I see a few people talking about timbren or other springs or lt tires... my opinion is if you really need those things the load is too heavy. With a decent and properly adjusted weight distribution hitch sag should not be an issue and the std tires are rated to well over the rear axle rating.

We started out with just the wdh which did fine. It removes some squat in the rear end (around 1.5") but when we load our vehicle with passengers, fuel, firewood, kids bike: the truck will inevitably squat more. Adding timbren corrected that issue nicely. Our tires eventually needed to be replaced so I decided to spend a bit more for LT due to its stiffer sidewall which doee helps reduce sway.

I've verified the weight a few times at the CAT scale (truck, truck and TT without wdh, truck and TT with wdh) and it shows I am still within limit of both GVWR and GAWR. Since the op is going to be towing on the heavier side of the spectrum, those added upgrades I mentioned will help.

Edited: the P rated passengers tires are so soft and light. The LT weigh almost double that. It's almost comical.

 

[Qcman]

So I figure we would allow for 1200ish lbs in the trailer as we are modest travellers in truth. Realistically that 1200 is pretty high I believe. That would put the tongue weight around 875. Two of us and our cat say 350. Don't need to add for hitch as it originally came with a Class III that was removed before I bought it. Perhaps 80 for the sidesteps and tonneau cover. That puts me about 1305 loaded on the truck give or take. 1485 for the trucks capacity so about 180 lbs to spare. I researched today that fuel is not part of payload and is allowed for in manufacturers calculations. Am i missing anything of consequence here?

Edit: I will add that we started out looking at a 23' so we searched the specs for it. Its dry weight is 5100ish and hitch weight was 625 iirc. Which is to say it only takes 110 lbs off the trucks payload amount and just isn't enough difference for the very different and lesser camping experience. My brother in Law has a 21 Rebel Classic with the 3.92 rear. Its rated for about 11000 towing or thereabouts and he is pretty proud of its capacity. But its got the Ram boxes and other bells so if anything his is more payload limited than mine is. He can however pull a 11000 lb rail car better than I can.

 

[Qcman]

We started out with just the wdh which did fine. It removes some squat in the rear end (around 1.5") but when we load our vehicle with passengers, fuel, firewood, kids bike: the truck will inevitably squat more. Adding timbren corrected that issue nicely. Our tires eventually needed to be replaced so I decided to spend a bit more for LT due to its stiffer sidewall which doee helps reduce sway.

I've verified the weight a few times at the CAT scale (truck, truck and TT without wdh, truck and TT with wdh) and it shows I am still within limit of both GVWR and GAWR. Since the op is going to be towing on the heavier side of the spectrum, those added upgrades I mentioned will help.

Edited: the P rated passengers tires are so soft and light. The LT weigh almost double that. It's almost comical.

Thx yeah we don't have those added weights in our truck. Nothing extra really. I see you also have a truck cap that would add 3-400 lbs to your payload capacity as I assume its an after market addition? Also we would put any additional weight in the trailer as it minimally affects the payload relatively speaking.

 

[Qcman]

I see a few people talking about timbren or other springs or lt tires... my opinion is if you really need those things the load is too heavy. With a decent and properly adjusted weight distribution hitch sag should not be an issue and the std tires are rated to well over the rear axle rating.

I agree if I need to add a bunch of stuff besides a WDH I'm probably overdoing it. I think the 20" rims and tires I have should be better than say a 17 or 18" rim setup with less sidewall to flex.

 

[Qcman]

5800# trailer with 1200# of stuff in it = 7000# - assume 13% tongue weight you're at 900# on the truck. 1500# payload - 900# from the trailer means you have 600# for other things on the truck.

There are a lot of assumptions and unknowns in my calculation but from what you describe of your lifestyle it should be close. I'd probably be advising differently if you had 3 teenage kids and 4 dogs to load on the truck

Thank you! I think I can make it on payload. I'm assuming payload means the truck can sustain that weight for long periods as it doesn't say anywhere things like "Only if you go for milk."

 

[Barr2255]

Your truck can do it, as others have said, your getting to the upper limits legally. Get a good weight distribution hitch, weight distribution hitches are indeed an item where money talks and the better ones are exspensive.

I tow an 18’ 10ET Big Tex equipment trailer, with my 2015 1500 laramie. The trailer dry is about 2500lbs and with my tractor it’s pushing 8000lbs. The truck does fine, plenty of power and gearing as well as stopping power. The weight distribution hitch keeps me legal as far as GVWR goes.

My trailer has dual axle brakes and my truck is equipped with trailer brakes from the factory. I’m suprised no one has brought this up but what kind of brakes does the trailer your looking at have? Does your truck have a trailer brake controller equipped? If no to both those answers or if the trailer only has a surge style brake with that much weight even dry that trailer will bully your truck around.

I’d say as long as you have adequate stopping capability a decent weight distribution hitch you will stay within the legal limits and your truck won’t have a problem.

With that said, if your new to towing it will be quite the learning curve going to something that large. Like others have said take it slow and maybe find a big parking lot near you and practice backing the trailer up and just feel out how your truck does. Especially if you plan on going to smaller campgrounds and trying to back your trailer in. The more practice you get under your belt the less embarrassment/frustration you will have to endure when having to maneuver in tighter situations.

Might be worth looking at rear bags for your truck even with the WDH, don’t confuse bags though with being able to pull more they will just help keep your truck level so it doesn't squat so much. It will squat quite a bit with that trailer even with the WDH.

 

[tron67j]

The only real way to know is load your truck with everyone and everything you will carry in it (full tank, draw bar hitch attached, cat, everything) when you tow and go get it weighed. Take that and subtract from payload capacity on door sticker and the remainder is what you can safely tow from a hitch weight perspective.

Realistically you are going to find your truck is heavier than you think, your trailer hitch weight will be more than you are expecting, and that can make the trip a white knuckle ride. 95 and 81 are terrible highways to be unsure of the handling with the former a race track from VA to FL and the latter is nothing but flying big rigs. My 5 decades of trailer life tells me you should consider a smaller trailer to be safely enjoying your trips rather than at or above capacity and the "fun" that becomes. We can all guess at your eventual experience if you buy that trailer but truly all that matters are the actual fully loaded truck weight, and the hitch weight of the fully loaded trailer.

Good luck

 

[GTyankee]

One other thing to consider :
Say you are traveling on a trip of 1500 miles & stay there for a few days, before moving on to the next part of your journey.

Start out with just enough Fresh Water in the tanks to get to your destination, then top off the Fresh Water tank when you get closer to your destination.

Your Brown/Waste water tank should be as close to empty as is suggested for Traveling

Water weight is something that many travelers do not think about.

 

[oledirteh]

Factor in water if you plan to carry that on board. along with everything you plan to pack. coolers, food, beverages ect. it all adds up. my camper holds 100 gallons of water, 30 gallons of fuel before i even start loading it.

just keep it in mind

 

[mtofell]

Thank you! I think I can make it on payload. I'm assuming payload means the truck can sustain that weight for long periods as it doesn't say anywhere things like "Only if you go for milk."

Correct... under payload is under and fine to drive for milk or across the country.

 

[nlambert182]

Thx yeah we don't have those added weights in our truck. Nothing extra really. I see you also have a truck cap that would add 3-400 lbs to your payload capacity as I assume its an after market addition? Also we would put any additional weight in the trailer as it minimally affects the payload relatively speaking.

Few things to consider... you mentioned you weren't adding a hitch and you mentioned the hitch being installed already. They're talking a WDH. You have to get that, and it adds about 65-100 lbs depending on which you go with. Factor that number in... and you need to maintain about a 15% tongue weight on the truck.

The EASIEST math to do to figure it out is to take the GROSS weight of the trailer (not the dry) and multiply that x 15%. That is your number to use for payload calculations. Then subtract that from your payload. After that, subtract the weight of anything that wasn't in/on the truck when it left the factory (including the weight distro hitch). If those numbers exceed your payload, find something else.

Adding stuff to the trailer does not minimally affect payload. It depends on where you load it. You could try shoving everything in the back of the trailer, but at that point you could remove too much weight from the tongue. Travel trailers are much different than cargo trailers. A lot of the weight is fixed and can't be adjusted to compensate for tongue weight.

If you think you're going to be close and you have to make a lot of adjustments just to squeeze in under the numbers, you need a bigger truck. If you can load up how you want and still come in under, you're good to go.

If you're an inexperienced tower, I would suggest you always err heavily on the side of caution. Learning to control a trailer with a truck that's pretty close to max isn't something you do overnight. If you were an experienced tower, I'd be more inclined to say give it a shot.

Here's what you'll learn in the rv world. Everybody thinks they're going to stay to the bare minimum of gear and that they'll be mindful of what they load. You won't. Eventually the wife will find that air fryer she likes, you'll figure out you want a grill, extra dishes, clothing, a firepit, firewood, etc...

Each time you'll tell yourself that little 5 lb widget won't change much. Before you know it, you'll be over max weight.

If you have to change anything on the truck to compensate (springs, tires, airbags, etc...) you have the wrong truck. I've hauled everything from mower trailers to 43' fifth wheels all using the right trucks. Never had to add a single thing to any of them.

The 2500 in my sig pulls a 33' travel trailer and believe it or not, I am about 350 lbs below payload with the family in the truck and camp ready. Been towing trailers for almost 20 years.

 

[chri5k]

Rather than ask random strangers on the Internet, ask the trailer salesman. After all you know him and can look him straight in the face and even shake hands. They are the experts since they do this day in and day out. Go with someone you know, your new best friend at the RV dealership.

 

[09SilverRam]

Rather than ask random strangers on the Internet, ask the trailer salesman. After all you know him and can look him straight in the face and even shake hands. They are the experts since they do this day in and day out. Go with someone you know, your new best friend at the RV dealership.

Ha, the trailer salesman will tell you that you can tow anything you can physically hook up to the truck to make the sale.

 

[nlambert182]

Rather than ask random strangers on the Internet, ask the trailer salesman. After all you know him and can look him straight in the face and even shake hands. They are the experts since they do this day in and day out. Go with someone you know, your new best friend at the RV dealership.

I sincerely hope that was a joke.

RV salesmen are some of the dumbest people I believe I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Right behind them are truck salesmen. Neither understand capacities at all.

 

[2003F350]

I sincerely hope that was a joke.

RV salesmen are some of the dumbest people I believe I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Right behind them are truck salesmen. Neither understand capacities at all.

Same thought here - I hope that was posted in jest. RV sales people are the worst. If you don't go in knowing what you can/can't haul and how the dynamics of RVs are different from cargo trailers, you'll end up with a trailer that technically falls in your (manufacturer BS) tow rating but puts you WAY over on payload/axle ratings of your tow vehicle.

I had an RV salesman try to tell me that my 'Wagon could pull a 38ft front-living fifth wheel. We didn't stay there much longer.

 

[nlambert182]

I learned the lesson the hard way with my first 2500. Those are mistakes you only make once.

 

[Dean2]

ALL of these threads invariably focus almost exclusively on what the tow vehicle is "Rated" for. What actually matters a lot more is braking and handling. When the trailer outweighs the tow vehicle, having the right trailer brakes, trailer brake system, proper tires on both, proper weight distribution, towing level and good sway control will matter a whole pot load more than whether you are 300 pounds over the theoretical max.

 

[chri5k]

ALL of these threads invariably focus almost exclusively on what the tow vehicle is "Rated" for. What actually matters a lot more is braking and handling. When the trailer outweighs the tow vehicle, having the right trailer brakes, trailer brake system, proper tires on both, proper weight distribution, towing level and good sway control will matter a whole pot load more than whether you are 300 pounds over the theoretical max.

Really good point. I have seen trailers where they skimp and only put brakes on one axle.