What % tow capacity

I have a '06 2500 Quad Cab 4 x 4 and want to get a toy hauler fifth wheel.

I have read that the towing capacity is 13,700#. I wouldn't want to load it up with that much trailer and gear because that is approaching capacity. Is there a good % to limit your load to so as to leave a margin of safety?

Steve

Reply to
Steve B
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Your vehicle manual should have that info. Also total gross vehicle weight should be labeled on the driver door jamb. As for safety, the limit shown is a margin of safety. In reality it can tow more, but should not be done.

Reply to
GeekBoy

And those vary. I have seen that it will tow 13,700#, and then I have seen it will tow 14,600#. GCVWRs run from 22,000 to 24,000.

I just wanted to ask those who tow and have towed what they find to be a safe % of that rating.

My wife, for instance, thinks that if it says it will tow 14,700#, that it is alright to buy a trailer that weighs 14,500#. She doesn't comprehend that all the water, canned goods, clothes, and things taken along for a trip add up to considerable weight quickly.

My guess is that I should buy something under 10,000#, thusly with the added cargo, it would come in at around 12,000. If I can find an UltraLite rig made of aluminum, I'd even like to stay closer to 9,000. It all depends on space. It has to be big enough to carry two ATVs, which immediately add around 1,200# just for them.

Just wanted to ask what others think. I know there's ratings on door jambs, but I also think those are optimistic in some cases. I for sure know people who have been sold vehicles with the promise, "Oh, it will tow X,000#", and when they do it, it's white knuckle driving and 40 mph on upgrades.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

Reply to
azwiley1

This is a repost from a few months ago, but it might answer your question. Don't be confused by the Duramax title, he happens upon a Dodge.

Reply to
Ed H.

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I almost fell off my chair when he makes the comment of the Dodge being an inferior product to the DuraMax.

Then, he stated he was within 300# of maximum. That's taking it to the edge, and what I was talking about when asking for a % of maximum so as to leave a little for safety.

My BIL has a DuraMax, and it is a nice truck. At times, I have wished I had gone with a DuraMax, but then I hear of another problem with them. I'm sure they're a good truck, but when you do a GCVWR load within 300# of maximum, if something's going to go wrong, it will then.

IIRC, he states on the tape that his GCVWR is 24,000, or maybe 22,000#.

300# is .0125 of 24,000# 300# is .0136 of 22,000#

So, you're running at 98% of capacity, and running at seventy in hot weather. Sounds to me like anything would run hot in those conditions.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

I agree, when this was first posted, I looked up Keystone Gougar trailers on the internet, added 3,500 lbs. for the Jeep and calculated that the Dodge was towing between 9,200 (the lightest model, dry weight) and 15,800 lbs. (the heaviest model, loaded to capacity).

Reply to
Ed H.

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i've got friends with the ford 6.0l and friends with the duramax. the fords have been the most troublesome, but everyone loves their own truck, so who knows which is the better?

i have a '03 3500, 48re. i love it and wouldn't part with it. my fifth wheel weighs just a touch under 10k dry, so loaded up i'm afraid to see what it weighs. i have no problem towing it at all. i worried a bit about stopping it though, but that has not been a problem either. a lot of the towing seems to depend on the particular fifth wheel though. prior to this one i had a fifth wheel that weighed 8200 pounds dry and it didn't tow as well as the one i have now. i also like the fifth wheel much more than the tow trailer. my initial entry into the rv world was a cheap pull trailer (a terry) that was about 7k dry and it was a bear to pull. the fact that it was built so cheaply probably had a lot to do with that though. i agree with your idea of giving yourself some wiggle room with the load though.

Reply to
theguy

Be it a Dodge, CHevy or Ford there is more to safe towing than just putting a motor in something. There is a reason the they make 2 and 3 ton trucks because they have more chassis and brakes to deal with things when they go bad. I do not care if you have a 400 HP motor, 13 K is a lot of weight for a P/U chassis. about 30 years ago when going to college i drove contruction equip and trucks. I used this old Chevy

2 1/2 single axle dump with a 366 to tow a "float" with a backhoe or dozer on it. By todays standards some would consider it anemic but it got the job done and a 4 or 5000 lb tongue load was nothing for that truck for sudden manuver control and I darn sure could stop it to even with trailer brakes. You can tow 13K and more with a P/U as I was towing 23K grain trailers over 25 years ago but we did not go fast or far because you had to be able to deal with it when brakes fail which I had to do once. Even with tires locked up I was like a cork on a string with that trying to stop it. Just remember thyat you can tow a lot more than a OEM rating when things are just right but it is being able to deal with it and control it when things go bad that makes you or brakes you so do not take any towing rating blindly and try to keep weight down to no more than you need as it is better to erro under rating than at or over it just because "you can". It is the "what if's" that can get you in trouble.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

ok. now it is not a huge surprise to me that snotroll suddenly shows up in a thread conveniently authored by steve b. that snotroll would drop out of those bowells is not a shock, since the three amigos came here to avenge snotrolls honor in the first place.

now, in the sake of peace (ok, so maybe not) i thought about ignoring this post. but then i read it again. what a load. once again, snotroll is able to state the obvious, in incredibly boring detail and with a trip literally down senility lane; nope, no way, i just can't let it go.

ok snotroll, be careful with heavy weights and watch out if things go wrong. i got ya man. geez. what a great and wise post.

Reply to
theguy

Well, in all fairness, he -was- a bit overdue for his famous "back when I drove a gas engined dump truck" story. (And when I say "famous" I mean tired, old, heard it a hundred times.)

Reply to
aarcuda69062

In all fairness you are kinda clueless because you think that a motor makes a tow vehicle but it is not so but rather the chassis itself (springs, tires, brakes, frame, etc) and gearing of it relative to its motors power band. We survived for many years without oil burners and will when they are gone. This not a attack them but on those such are yourself that think they are a must have to do anything. They made some serious gas motors long ago before there was emission controls but this was likely before you even drove and likely before you were born too. Had gas motors had the lack emisson limits that diesel enjoyed till now, they would be different animals today. I still stand by that the chassis determines the tow weight that you can tow SAFELY while maintain positive control of it, not its motor. How fast you climb a hill is not a safety issue but rather a ego one because the "top" will still be there when you get there.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

snotroll..........sseriously, what the hell is your point?

Reply to
theguy

[SNIP]

Get lost troll.

----------------------------------- Snojob Follies: SBJ: Dumb brake question

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SBJ: Snoball Defense System v1.01
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Reply to
Heatwave

Priceless!!!!!

Reply to
Roy

What sort of moron thinks he needs to explain gear multiplication?

We survived for even more years with horses and oxen. Your point (besides bull shit) ?

Fuck efficiency right?

I explained this all a few weeks ago in the Ford truck group, but just in case you've forgotten; back when you claim to have been driving that dump truck, I was either precision grinding crankshafts for large outboard motors or tearing apart IH 549s and Eaton 5 speed and 4 speed auxiliary transmissions.

You ain't got nothing on me, time wise, knowledge wise or experience wise so give it up already. You keep trotting out the same old stories on a regular cycle. Makes me wonder how shallow a person you are that you need to live in the past as you do. It's like you hit your peak in 1978 and went downhill from there...

Buffoon. Just because diesel emission controls are getting a later start compared to gasoline emission controls does not mean that a few obstacles won't be overcome. In fact, just as it did for gasoline engines, the technology once it matures will assure even better performance than what was realized pre-emission control.

Where did I indicate otherwise?

In spite of those "slower traffic keep right" signs? Yup, we all live just so we can be stuck behind you while you crawl up a hill at 25 miles per hour on the Interstate.

I guess that works for someone like you since you have nowhere to go and when you get there no one wants to see you anyway, and there's eight months of downtime between work seasons.

Reply to
aarcuda69062

LMFAO! Man that was good.

Reply to
Heatwave

the gas engine was first built in 1860 (patented in 1854), Rudolph diesel built his engine in 1892 hardly long after the gasoline otto engine.

by the way, it seems to me the gasoline engine is on its way out. diesels are making their way into the small automotive market more and more, they run on organic fuels with nominal mpg or power losses unlike their spark plug limited cousins.

Reply to
Chris Thompson

Steve,

The lighter the trailer the easier it is to pull, stop and buy gas for. It's that simple. The longer it is the harder it is to go in and out of parking lots as the rear will drag easier. With a long trailer it's harder to find a parking spot, harder to maneuver in a camp ground, harder to store. My advice is to get the smallest, lightest trailer you can live with.

Al

Reply to
Big Al

Towing capacity is a junk number. It often assumes a 150 lb. driver, no cargo, and a 1/2 tank of fuel. Everything that goes into the vehicle has to be deducted from that number.

A lot of veteran RVers use this formula to determine a good match of trailer to vehicle:

GVWR (Tow Vehicle) + GVWR (Trailer)

Reply to
Mark Filice

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