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Old 03-31-2013, 06:32 PM   #41
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Mike,
Its important to keep your tongue weight between the recommended 10 and 15% of trailer weight. Redistributing the cargo in your TT in order to reduce the TW will be problematic if you end up with too light a tongue.

IME my current TV/TT combo tows best at 13-14%TW. YMMV but keep it above 10%.
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Old 03-31-2013, 07:23 PM   #42
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Great information. I've been concerned about payload with our new 1/2 ton. Lots of tow capacity (for our TT) with the new TV however the plan is to carry two motorcycles that weight in at a combined weight of roughly 900lbs. With the TT tongue weight at roughly 500Lbs, we're creeping up on our payload capacity; understood to be just under 1,700. Are there options on loading the TT to reduce weight in the truck (payload) and keep it off the tongue weight? I've heard loading on the TT axles is an option - truth or myth? Could always offer to ride my bike (in good weather) while the DW drives.
Alot of good info on the following link.

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Old 03-31-2013, 08:11 PM   #43
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What's up with the new sales pitch "1/2 ton towable"? That bothers me. I can see a lot of RV dealers abusing that. So if you have a 1/2 ton with a V6 you're good to go? Or if you have a crew cab, 4x4, LB loaded with lots of heavy stuff, you are good to go? I can see a lot of 5th and TT buyers buying units way over their ratings because they go by the "1/2 ton towable" listing. Something isn't right here.

I know that this camping season, I will be eyeing people's 5th wheels and TTs more closely to see how many might be overdoing it. I bet it's a lot. Glad the payload topic has been brought up.
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Old 03-31-2013, 08:44 PM   #44
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The "1/2 ton pitch" has been going on for the last three or so years. I agree about the oversell of the the product by shall we say ,unscrupulous dealers sales people. We have this discussion all the time here on this forum. That's why it's important for potential truck and RV buyers to be armed with all the knowledge possible when they hit the dealers lot, not after the fact. The wrong match up can lead to some very unsettling and "white knuckle" vacations.

Here's the bottom line. The whole RV industry is begging for alot of Fedaral and local regulation, from mfgr. to dlr. So it's time they clean there act up before it gets to that point.
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Old 03-31-2013, 08:47 PM   #45
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Sorry, one last thing I would like to say. Not all dealers and Mfgrs are included in this kind of stuff, but the ones that are give the good ones a bad name. Just
my opinion.
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Old 04-02-2013, 11:21 AM   #46
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Another link on the subject - something that I wrote a couple of weeks ago after helping my in-laws:
What Can I Tow?
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Old 04-02-2013, 12:26 PM   #47
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The "1/2 ton pitch" has been going on for the last three or so years. I agree about the oversell of the the product by shall we say ,unscrupulous dealers sales people. We have this discussion all the time here on this forum. That's why it's important for potential truck and RV buyers to be armed with all the knowledge possible when they hit the dealers lot, not after the fact. The wrong match up can lead to some very unsettling and "white knuckle" vacations.

Here's the bottom line. The whole RV industry is begging for alot of Fedaral and local regulation, from mfgr. to dlr. So it's time they clean there act up before it gets to that point.
its not just that they are unscrupulous, its just that many have no dang idea what they are selling! I make it a point to walk in to purchase something no matter if its a car, television, or trailer after having done thorough research. many times i ask questions just to see if the salesperson is truly educated in the product he sells....if not, then any opinion he offers is just babble....

and on top of that, they tell you your fine to tow pretty much whatever you want (as long as its not cheaper than the original item you were looking at) with no real knowledge of your individual tow vehicle!...and that can be a huge difference in say a base model f150 and a max tow ecoboost....

basically if you already have your truck, then that will dictate which trailer you can purchase......if you already know which trailer you want then buy a truck to match..... you should ask "how much trailer CAN i tow" before you ask say I FOUND A TRAILER..."can i tow it?"


in any case, just post it up here and we will be on it like white on rice!! there are lots of individuals with a phd in "towabilty algorithmic computation" on this board! LOL
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Old 04-02-2013, 12:30 PM   #48
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Dang turbs you were pulling that with a 6.0 before. I have a 2500hd work truck that has the six speed auto and its a turd with a light load. My tundra could run circles around it. Couldn't imagine putting a 5er on the back of it that big.

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Old 04-02-2013, 01:50 PM   #49
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What's up with the new sales pitch "1/2 ton towable"? That bothers me. I can see a lot of RV dealers abusing that. So if you have a 1/2 ton with a V6 you're good to go? Or if you have a crew cab, 4x4, LB loaded with lots of heavy stuff, you are good to go? I can see a lot of 5th and TT buyers buying units way over their ratings because they go by the "1/2 ton towable" listing. Something isn't right here.

Chrysler no longer manufactures a 1/2 p/u truck(maybe the dakota before it was dico'd). they haven't marketed them like that for years as they are no longer a 1/2 ton(10,000lbs tow capable compared to older ones). altho the payload in the 1500 is 1620lbs (tire restricted i am sure)they are marketed as 1500(good), 2500(better) 3500(best) senario etc.The weak point for the Ram 1500 is the pathetic 4 ply goodyears they put on at the factory.
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Old 04-02-2013, 03:07 PM   #50
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The weak point for the Ram 1500 is the pathetic 4 ply goodyears they put on at the factory.
I had a '05 Ram 1500 with the 20" Goodyears and they were rated at 2601 lbs. The other OEM was 265/70/17 Goodyear which is rated at 2535 lbs. You hit the payload limit with GVWR (6650 lb) or RAWR (3900 lb) long before the tire load limits.

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Old 04-02-2013, 03:41 PM   #51
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Thanks so much for posting this!!! As a newbie it's very difficult to know who's telling the unvarnished truth about tow vehicles, so I'm going to use this tool to find out if the F150 with the heavy tow package will pull the Lacrosse trailer I'm looking at. One person tells me no probblemmm, the other one says "no way"! Ugh, it's annoying!

Thanks again
Our TT had a factory sticker in it - 'small suv towable'. Technically I suppose that might be true. A ford explorer can have a tow rating of 7500lbs and the TT has a door sticker of 5350lbs.

But as you can read in this post there are soooo many more numbers you need to look at. I learned...

we bought an expedition (HD F150 based SUV) and that is 'rated' to tow 8900 lbs. Unless it's 4x4 (like ours) or has the optional 17" rims (like ours). That drops it to 7900lbs.
Add in the family's weight, hitch, propane and battery and it drops another 800 or so to 7100 lbs.
BUT the GCWR is 12,500. If the truck goes 5500 (or more...didn't weight it) that only leaves 7,000 for TT and cargo before you max out that figure.

Hence we got a new TV and all the numbers are fine but I"m sure we'll be close on payload. I plan to take it out next week for state inspection and will try to find a place to get things weighed so I"m not guessing in the dark.
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Old 04-02-2013, 03:48 PM   #52
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Hence we got a new TV and all the numbers are fine but I"m sure we'll be close on payload. I plan to take it out next week for state inspection and will try to find a place to get things weighed so I"m not guessing in the dark.
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Old 04-02-2013, 04:33 PM   #53
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its not just that they are unscrupulous, its just that many have no dang idea what they are selling! I make it a point to walk in to purchase something no matter if its a car, television, or trailer after having done thorough research. many times i ask questions just to see if the salesperson is truly educated in the product he sells....if not, then any opinion he offers is just babble....

and on top of that, they tell you your fine to tow pretty much whatever you want (as long as its not cheaper than the original item you were looking at) with no real knowledge of your individual tow vehicle!...and that can be a huge difference in say a base model f150 and a max tow ecoboost....

basically if you already have your truck, then that will dictate which trailer you can purchase......if you already know which trailer you want then buy a truck to match..... you should ask "how much trailer CAN i tow" before you ask say I FOUND A TRAILER..."can i tow it?"


in any case, just post it up here and we will be on it like white on rice!! there are lots of individuals with a phd in "towabilty algorithmic computation" on this board! LOL
No disrespect to any of our fellow forum members, but in the end it's really
up to the purchaser to arm themselves with all the info available and do the calculations themselves before they walk into a dealers showroom and your exactly right it doesn't matter weather your buying a TV or a TT or a 5'vr the sales people need more training in vehicle an camper match ups in terms of what the combinations can handle.

I do have to say THANK YOU to all who contribute on this forum to help all the newbies and even some of us more experience members that need more information. It's really a solid group.
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Old 04-02-2013, 08:25 PM   #54
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What's up with the new sales pitch "1/2 ton towable"? That bothers me. I can see a lot of RV dealers abusing that. So if you have a 1/2 ton with a V6 you're good to go? Or if you have a crew cab, 4x4, LB loaded with lots of heavy stuff, you are good to go? I can see a lot of 5th and TT buyers buying units way over their ratings because they go by the "1/2 ton towable" listing. Something isn't right here.

I know that this camping season, I will be eyeing people's 5th wheels and TTs more closely to see how many might be overdoing it. I bet it's a lot. Glad the payload topic has been brought up.
Some of our friends just bought a 30' bunk house with double slides and outside kitchen. Once I saw what the bought I told him that was probably too much camper for his 06 Chevy 1500 CC Z71, his response was "the sticker says its 1/2 ton towable".

Other friends have the same exact camper and tows it with a 04 F350 CC 4X4 6.0L diesel, he told me that he has just under 1200lbs of tongue weight.

How the ____ is a TT like that suppose to be 1/2 ton towable?? When we are going camping with the friends towing with the 1500 I am going to make sure I am in front of them, just in case something happens, then we don't have to see it.
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Old 04-02-2013, 08:34 PM   #55
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How the ____ is a TT like that suppose to be 1/2 ton towable?? When we are going camping with the friends towing with the 1500 I am going to make sure I am in front of them, just in case something happens, then we don't have to see it.
The same reason that the manufacturers claim some 5W are half ton towable...all they look at is the max tow number ignoring the payload limitation. I've seen some claimed half ton towable 5Ws with a dry pin weight of 1600 lbs!

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Old 04-02-2013, 08:44 PM   #56
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The same reason that the manufacturers claim some 5W are half ton towable...all they look at is the max tow number ignoring the payload limitation. I've seen some claimed half ton towable 5Ws with a dry pin weight of 1600 lbs!

Dave
I don't get it!! (I do, but its not right!) That TT our friends have is totally fine for the F350, but way too much for the 1500!

My boss has a 28' Jayco 5er like that, say 1/2 ton towable, but it put his 1500HD over weight. He now has a 2500HD Duramax, no problems now.
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Old 04-02-2013, 08:59 PM   #57
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The same reason that the manufacturers claim some 5W are half ton towable...all they look at is the max tow number ignoring the payload limitation. I've seen some claimed half ton towable 5Ws with a dry pin weight of 1600 lbs!

Dave


That's just it. Dealerships try to sell a TT or 5er with a dry weight at or just below a TV max capacities if it were a stripped down model. Many dealerships have said my 3/4 ton diesel can tow anything on their lot and then try to challenge me when I tell them my trucks true capabilities. I have literally shown the door sticker and even cat scale weight sheets to dealers. I even had one salesman tell me he had no idea a 3/4 ton could have that low of a payload and that he wondered how many overloaded trucks he had sent out. I still wonder if he chose to forget that conversation after I left their lot.
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Old 04-02-2013, 09:22 PM   #58
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This was my reason for the jump from my 04 1/2 ton Ram to the current 3/4 ton Payload went from 1360 to 2750! With the Dodge trucks the gassers have a better payload rating then the diesels in the 2500's series, that Cummins motor is heavy. Next issue is my hitch Dodge uses the same hitch on their 1/2 , 3/4 and 1 ton pickups! Ridiculous it's rated for 1,200 tongue 12K trailer with WD setup. At a listed dry tongue weight of 980 i'm over in that dept i'm sure. I usually put the batteries and propane tanks in the bed to limit tongue weight way forward it's a PITA but until I get a hitch I do it. I have a small 30 amp hour battery I use for the emergency trailer brake. I have not weighed my camper the listed dry weight is 6400 truck will tow 8,800 with a 3.73 10,800 with a 4.10 I installed a set of 4.56's and tho "technically" it does nothing for tow rating mechanically i'm fine pulling what I estimate to be in the 7500-8000 pound region. Payload is the least of my worries even at 1,300lbs of tongue weight i have over 1,400 lbs of payload in reserve.
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Old 04-04-2013, 07:36 PM   #59
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That is exactly why I say DO YOUR OWN MATH... It's an enlightening exercise ... everyone should do it!!

Nice post Acadianbob, I hope everyone reads it.
X2 actually set up a spreadsheet so we could try different scenarios quickly. Really helped and gave me some peace of mind when we got our new TV (F350 DRW).
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Old 04-04-2013, 07:46 PM   #60
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Putting load over the axles is always a good idea. As long as you don't overload them.
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