acdii

Kudos to the first person to mention this. Until you put that truck on a sale, everything is speculation. Here is what you do. Fill the tank with gas, put just YOU in the truck, and if you can, empty the cab of non essentials. Get a weight, subtract that from the GVWR on the white sticker. now you have your true payload capacity. Now figure in passenger weights( you can do this by bringing all passengers with and doing a second pass on the scales), and what ever you have left is what you can put in/on the receiver. Because of the low payload, keep the bed empty when towing, as anything you put in there reduces payload, put it in the trailer instead. Now find the limit to 13% and that will be what to look for in a trailer. Lets say all said and done you have 960# payload, minus the hitch, figure 80 pounds, 880# tops. This limits you to around 6500# GVWR trailer.

In theory you *could* get a 7600# trailer like I have, and traveling light, keep it under 6500#, which is what I do, but I also have over 1550# payload, and be OK, BUT you have to be diligent in how you load the trailer and NOT go over 6400# or 13% ball weight.

It is doable with the KR, you just have to find the true payload and work off that.

Simnut

Remember though......the tongue weight (including your WDH) does NOT change ! All it does is change the weight on the rear and front axle of the truck....and the axles on your trailer. Your tongue weight does not change. The WDH changes how your truck handles or carries the weight.

mrbudman24

Thank you for all of the comments and suggestions. My wife thinks I am crazy for, as she calls it "overthinking this" but as I explained to her last night I am not at all concerned about if the truck can tow something, it is how I (being new to towing) will handle even going over the slightest bit when I have to stop quickly anything else. I do not regret the truck I just got and will figure out the best trailer I can tow safely. I like some of the suggestions about removing the tailgate for example. My concern now is finding a trailer with a 6500 GVWR trailer that will fit at least wife and I (and grandkids on occasion).

Simnut

I have a 2014 Lariat and we tow a Bullet 225RBS VERY comfortably! Towing something within the trucks capability allows you to enjoy your trip that much more!

smokeywren

That's not a problem at all. There are numerous RV trailers available with wet and loaded weight of 6500 pounds or less that can sleep 4 or 5 adults. If there are not more than 3 grandkids, and they are all little kids, then they can sleep on the converted dinette in most RV trailers.

But I suspect 6,500 pounds max gross trailer weight is stretching it a bit. I'd try to stay below about 5,500 pounds. For example, the Minni Winni 2306 BHS has dry weigh of 4,260 with 2740 pounds cargo carrying capacity CCC). Two 3,500 pound axles means lots of CCC.
https://winnebagoind.com/products/tr...nie/floorplans
But you don't have to use all that CCC. Assume that empty weight is really 4500 pounds with battery and propane. Most RVers add about 1,000 pounds of gear to their TT, so that's a wet and loaded weight of 5,500 pounds. The bunk beds are not needed when the grandkids are not with you, so use that space for storing gear. No need to convert the dinette to a bed when no kids are along, and maybe not at all if the kids can all sleep in the bunks. You'll appreciate the slide room in the 2306 BHS to give you some elbow room, especially with kids romping about. (My TT doesn't have a slide, and it's crowded with just DW and me (and two dogs) trying to move around at the same time. The dogs are trained to stay under the dinette so they don't get stepped on.)

jcb206

nickf2005

They're packing a lot in there for a sub-4,000lbs trailer!

i2oadi2unnei2

To add a tidbit about WD and how weight get's shifted; many thinks adding WD will magically disappear...wrong :P Technically it's almost the opposite. You add more weight due to the WD parts, then when it's applied correctly, it should disperse that weight evenly. WD manual to me is more of a guide, but the scales will truly tell you if you've 'properly' set it up correctly per towing guide in your trucks manual.

acdii

True, the TW is still there and never changes, it is just redistributed off the rear axle to the front and trailer axles with the fulcrum lever action of the bars. It's like placing a jack under the receiver and lifting it up a bit, the weight moves forwards and backward, but that trailer tongue is still pressing it's full weight down on the ball.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-...on-systems.htm

Elkhornsun

Check the tongue load rating for the factory hitch - it should be stamped on the hitch. Stay below that weight and you will be fine. For a little over $10 you can go to a public CAT scale and have their three platforms provide the load at the front and rear axles of the truck and the true weight on the trailer. No need to guess.

What is often overlooked is the load capacity of the tires. When you have the load for the drive axle from the CAT weigh in you can see if the two rear wheels will support the load. With my 2500 truck I replaced the factory tires rated at 3195@80 PSI with ones rated at 3750@80 PSI and gained 1100 lbs of load capacity at the rear wheels.

I have usually had no difficulty in locating older trailer guides for vehicle from any US truck manufacturer. These provide information as to which vehicle and at what trailer weights a weight distributing hitch is recommended.