Stupid Question...

Captcharger · Dec 11, 2016

I'm totally new to this and have been looking for a trailer that I can pull with my truck. The truck has a towing capacity of 6400 pounds.

But when I research the trailers I find diffrent weights for each camper.

For example a 24 foot I looked at had these down

[font=Ubuntu, sans-serif]Towing Capacity
2790 lbs
Dry Weight
4730 lbs
Gross Vehicle Weight
7520 lbs[/font]

[font=Ubuntu, sans-serif]Which one of those do I use to see if I can pull said trailer? Would really help to know how much trailer I can get.[/font]

[font=Ubuntu, sans-serif]Thanks for any help you could give.[/font]

[font=Ubuntu, sans-serif]Bill[/font]

rickr · Dec 11, 2016

Dry weight is "empty". Gross vehicle weight is dry weight plus water,food, batteries,etc. can't exceed 7520 lbs. if your truck is rated for 6400 lbs., I would find a trailer all loaded up with everything you plan to carry, not to exceed 80% of that 6400lbs. (5100 lbs) why? Elevation gains equals loss of power. So, if you stay at sea level on flat,level roads, 6400 lbs would be fine. Does this make sense? Hope this helps.

Optimistic Paranoid · Dec 11, 2016

The DRY WEIGHT is the actual weight of the trailer as it came from the factory, all water tanks - black, gray, and drinking - empty and no propane on board.

The TOWING CAPACITY is how much weight the trailer can carry - water, food, clothing, propane, your good china, etc. This is a MAXIMUM permissable load.

The GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT is the combination of those two numbers. How much will the trailer weigh as you are pulling it down the road.

As you can see, the 7520 lbs is more than a thousand pounds more than the 6400 lbs. your truck can safely pull. If you could carefully weigh everything you plan to carry and limit it to no more than 1640 lbs., you could just make it work.

Captcharger · Dec 11, 2016

Thanks! That was most helpful and quick! Thank you so much!

LeeRevell · Dec 11, 2016

I would go with a smaller lighter trailer.
1) It always seems we load as much stuff in as we have space for. Think purses and toolboxes, scaled up.
2) It's not good to keep a truck working at maximum capacity. It causes premature wear and tear.

SoulRaven · Dec 12, 2016

This is a great website all around and it goes into detail on understanding trailer weights: http://changingears.com/rv-sec-tow-vehicles-understand.shtml I agree with Lee above on a smaller, lighter trailer. Generally, a 24' with that empty weight is using a lot of OSB (strand board) and if you can find one using plywood instead, they run lighter. Going to a 22' or 20' would also help. We just looked extensively at and purchased a small TT. We also added a heavier tow vehicle as we felt the Durango would tow it (rated 6,600) but just barely get the job done. There is nothing worse than wondering if you will make it up the hill or not - old Winnebago motorhome in the TN mountains years ago.

With more specifics of what is being looked for in a unit, having just researched/purchased, I might have some ideas to share.