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Mass-hole is correct. The GVWR sticker on the door jamb has a line that states 'the maximum weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed X,XXX lbs'. From there, figure out the weight of all the occupants, any aftermarket parts you've added, tools, luggage, etc. that will be in the truck when you tow the trailer, and subtract it from the cargo weight displayed on the sticker. What you have left is the highest potential tongue weight of your trailer. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as simple as, 'Ford says the truck is rated to tow 10,000 lbs'. The more you research, the more you will find how fictitious and misleading the manufacturer's claims really are (and not just Ford, they're all guilty of it).
Right.
And then you have to figure out the tongue weight of your LOADED trailer, which will likely be between 10 and 15% (people use 13% as a guide) IF the trailer is properly loaded. Boats put less on the tongue.
You were also told to find the yellow sticker on the door jamb. Have you done that?
It clearly shows your payload maximum, 1,643 on my sticker.
The bumper hitch, as shown by BadAltitude, will show you the max that the hitch can take - which will be 500 pounds without a weight distributing hitch, and more with one - but again - PAYLOAD or axle maximums will stop you from maxing out the WDH capacities.
This isn't a ___ is the answer, it's not that easy. To tow safely, and keep your family and our families safe, you need to do some work.
yes, 1795 - I did not see that last night as I thought that was all just tire information
yes, 1795 - I did not see that last night as I thought that was all just tire information
Using the MAXIMUM payload info is better than nothing, but it still requires you to do a lot of estimating. If you already have the truck, better is to load the truck with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing, drive to a truck stop that has a certified automated truck scale, fill up with gas, then weigh the wet and loaded pickup.
Don't cheat yourself. If you plan to haul campfire wood in the bed when towing, then include that wood in the truck. Include everything, including grill, fuel (charcoal?) for the grill, toolbox full of tools and stuff, toys, everything that weighs more than a handkerchef.
Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded truck from the GVWR of the truck and the answer is the payload capacity available for hitch weight. Subtract 100 pounds from the payload capacity available for hitch weight to get the payload capacity available for tongue weight. (The better WD hitches weigh around 100 pounds).
Divide the payload capacity available for tongue weight by 0.13 (13%) to get the maximum GVWR of a tandem axle travel trailer (TT) that has average tongue weight. Some TTs have more than average 13% tongue weight, so if you want to be more certain of not being overloaded when on the road, then use 15% instead of 13% in calculating max GVWR of the trailer.
Then when shopping for a TT, do not look at any that have GVWR of more than the calculated max GVWR.
If the trailer specs do not include GVWR, then add the dry weight of the trailer to the cargo carrying cacpacity (CCC) of the trailer to get GVWR.
11-06-2017, 08:35 AM
