Manufacturer Tow Guides

[herk7769]

Originally Posted by traveler2955

The writer we have is a Brother, common to any office supply retailer, but other MFGs are available. Some call it a label maker.

Oh! DUH!

I thought it was something you used to MEASURE your rig with.
I am picturing a laser dohicky with a digital readout that prints a tape of your measurments in SAE and Metric.

You know; measure off a known distance from your connected rig; aim the laser at the bottom of a wheel and raise the sight tube to the highest point on the rig and press "print"...
Totally got that one wrong.

[traveler2955]

No worries Herk,
Most often I’m old-fashioned, but now and then I get into the techie stuff.
We used to use sextants until GPS’s, then had 7 on the boat and almost forgot how to navigate via the aforementioned, used excellent binoculars with a vertical and horizontal reticular to measure height then figured the tangent until radar, bottom depths with marks rather than depth sounders, and chart plotters with that radar overlay. Even my HAM radio's more sophisticated than the tube I first had, you get the drift.
In fact, I used the back of my hand for many miles to check the temp on tires until my laser pointer found its way to the PU, and the laser pointer measured the distance to the tree branch.
What would we do without technology today—save on batteries?
Certainly, all of your ideas are good as well, nice to have when the dead battery leaked.
Mike

[Rsgtivr6]

This is a little thread necromancy, but I used the Travel Trailer calculator while trying to plan what TT to get and it says my truck (see sig) should tow a trailer less than 3400 lbs loaded...I find that hard to swallow...

I could have towed more than that with my 92 Jeep Cherokee 4.0l... They must use government math to get that number. I am ok with being cautious, but those numbers seem redonkulous IMO. Anyone else have similar results?

[prof_fate]

What travel trailer calculator?

I'm guessing your TT is what, 5500lbs dry weight (should be a sticker on the screen door I assume?). Add in your dishes/food/bedding/bath/chairs/etc, battery, propane and you'll have 1000 lbs easy I should think.
A WD/Sway hitch and it's bits adds another 100ish.

So you've got some 6600lbs. Add in the weight of you, passengers, cargo in the truck (firewood, genset, bikes, etc). I get to 700lbs no problem, plus the truck (5800?)

So you've got 13,000-13,5000 gcwr using those numbers.
GCWR is more important than tow weight - the total weight is what's being pulled by the engine/trans/cooling system, managed by the vehicle brakes/weight/suspension during maneuvers.

If you do the math you'll see you can tow more - but only if you have less load in the truck (one 150lb driver and nothing else...).

[Rsgtivr6]

Well the truck curbs with its options at about 5400, with the 600lbs (2 extra adults and 2 small children) passengers and 200 lbs misc (hitch, aftermarket accessories and cab supplies), I figure 6200 truck and 1000 lbs added to trailer at about 6800lbs. that puts me at 13,000 with full compliments. thats right at the GCWR. Now if i change to 17" rims and 31" tires (which I am considering for towing) I can push it up to 14k max GCWR so i will have the extra 1k to play with.

[prof_fate]

My expedition loses 500 lbs to it's 17" rims (over 16"). Not sure why that would be. Load capacity of the tires is the same (or can be). Overall diameter (from my research) is the same so gearing's not affected.

[mtnguy]

Not exactly manufacturers towing guides, but Trailer Life puts out an annual pamphlet. Here is 1999 thru 2012:

Trailer Towing Guides | Trailer Life Magazine

[herk7769]

Originally Posted by mtnguy

Not exactly manufacturers towing guides, but Trailer Life puts out an annual pamphlet. Here is 1999 thru 2012:

Trailer Towing Guides | Trailer Life Magazine

Remember that these guides are based on the required options in the notes, just a 150 pound driver, and a full tank of gas in the TV.

[boubou]

Originally Posted by Rsgtivr6

This is a little thread necromancy, but I used the Travel Trailer calculator while trying to plan what TT to get and it says my truck (see sig) should tow a trailer less than 3400 lbs loaded...I find that hard to swallow...

I could have towed more than that with my 92 Jeep Cherokee 4.0l... They must use government math to get that number. I am ok with being cautious, but those numbers seem redonkulous IMO. Anyone else have similar results?

2010 Ram QC HEMi 4x4 SLT getting same results from changing gears as you are. That is just nonsense! i stared at those numbers for a week until I decided to just listen to good sense. Not that the good sense I listened to was all valid but there was a lot more replies from the good sense side than from ONE changing gear website telling me my Ram isnlimitted to a little over 3400 lbs!

[prof_fate]

Originally Posted by boubou

2010 Ram QC HEMi 4x4 SLT getting same results from changing gears as you are. That is just nonsense! i stared at those numbers for a week until I decided to just listen to good sense. Not that the good sense I listened to was all valid but there was a lot more replies from the good sense side than from ONE changing gear website telling me my Ram isnlimitted to a little over 3400 lbs!

If you do some component investigation you may find the issue, or assure yourself there isn't one.
Could be a light duty trans or transfer case or axle that's causing the rating to be different than expected.

My expy is essentially an F150 and rated to tow accordingly. But for put the 4R100 trans in the Expy's in 2001 - that's their big momma tranny so it can tow almost anything. I've not investigated the transfer case, but Iv'e got an AWD system..not a normal truck option. It moves the power to the front wheels as needed at any speed...nice idea and it works, but at times I've had it clunk hard (say, starting on wet grass or gravel when the rear wheels start to spin). Add 10,000 lbs to that and I'd guess component life would be shorter than a traditional transfer case.