At what size is an enclosed trailer too big/heavy for a V-8 half ton truck? I am thinking 6 or 7 ft wide X 14ft long. I am looking for a truck/ trailer combo right now. I got rid of an F250 b/c of horrible mpg for 150 miles or so every day. Looking at the Tundra but I don't think it would tow as good as a z71/F150/Ram would. I as big a trailer as I can get away with on a half ton. What do you experts think? I think its time to dump the 4cyl Tacoma/4x8 utility trailer and upgrade!
How big can you go?
- Thread starter Bandit9
- Start date
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is the total weight the vehicle has been designed to carry. Keep this in mind when looking for pickups. Keep in mind that you will want a tow package on your pickup of choice. An auto tranny will have more tow rating than a stick tranny. Shop trailers, and look at the dry weight of the trailer. Then add up all the weight of all the bikes, fuel, riding gear, tools and what ever else you might have. Then add up the weight of the trailer loaded, combine that with the weight of the pickup and you'll get the GVWR of the pickup. If your weight exceeds the GVWR of the pickup, look for a tow vehicle with a higher GVWR.
Way to often someone will buy a trailer without really concidering the amount of weight they are towing.
Rick
Way to often someone will buy a trailer without really concidering the amount of weight they are towing.
Rick
Pick the trailer you want and figure the weight conservatively. Then get your truck with a 20% safety margin to pull the trailer. For example: the trailer loaded weighs 4000 lbs. Get a truck with at least a 5000lb GVW. This way the truck will last longer and drive more safely. Plus it will be much more pleasant and relaxing to drive so you will arrive rested and relaxed. There's nothing more stressful than driving something that is just barely enough or is over weight. also consider this: If you were involved in an accident and found to be overweight your insurance co could leave you high and dry with no coverage. Do your homework first! Always use the proper tool for the job!
toolman :thumb:
toolman :thumb:
Allright, there is some poor information here. The GVWR is one thing and the GCWR is another. Your pickup and trailer each have their own GVWR and the truck has a GCWR. GCWR is the total weight going down the road of your whole rig as in "gross combined weight rating". The "gross vehicle weight rating" is a better place to start and is more likely the first rating that will get you in trouble with a half ton. You have to do the math if you want to be legal.
If you are not interested in calculating everything and weighing everything to see if you have a sufficient tow vehicle, a rough rule of thumb is to take the GCWR of the truck and subtract the GVWR of the truck, the difference is the allowed GVWR of the trailer. This can get you into some trouble with the nit-pickers (myself included) but it beats the heck out of depending on a salesman or totally ignoring the issue (same thing).
Rather than look at the size of trailer, check the GVWR of the trailer for suitability. Different brands of the same size trailer can have much higher weight ratings.
The tundra will give you very crappy mileage. I love toyotas but they screwed the pooch on the tundra, it is smaller then a fullsize and gets much worse mileage than my half ton chevy. You don't seem tp have a problem daily driving a fullsize. If you want towing capability and mpg and with your long commute I would suggest a diesel.
There has been much debate about towing overloaded. The argument being that if you break a rule and kill someone is the insurance company going to cover you? If I run a red light and kill someone they will cover me. How is that different from overloading your truck? The result of these debates has been to consult your insurance company, experiences have varied. Better safe than sorry.
If you are not interested in calculating everything and weighing everything to see if you have a sufficient tow vehicle, a rough rule of thumb is to take the GCWR of the truck and subtract the GVWR of the truck, the difference is the allowed GVWR of the trailer. This can get you into some trouble with the nit-pickers (myself included) but it beats the heck out of depending on a salesman or totally ignoring the issue (same thing).
Rather than look at the size of trailer, check the GVWR of the trailer for suitability. Different brands of the same size trailer can have much higher weight ratings.
The tundra will give you very crappy mileage. I love toyotas but they screwed the pooch on the tundra, it is smaller then a fullsize and gets much worse mileage than my half ton chevy. You don't seem tp have a problem daily driving a fullsize. If you want towing capability and mpg and with your long commute I would suggest a diesel.
There has been much debate about towing overloaded. The argument being that if you break a rule and kill someone is the insurance company going to cover you? If I run a red light and kill someone they will cover me. How is that different from overloading your truck? The result of these debates has been to consult your insurance company, experiences have varied. Better safe than sorry.
dklink2000
Damn Yankees
- Feb 18, 2002
- 764
- 0
I use to pull a 6X12 all the time with my Tacoma V6 all the time. You could really feel it back there, but tho only place it would strugle is up big hills. My truck is rated for something like 5000 pounds. I would use the stock class III hitch.
- Thread starter
- #7
Ok, let me see if I have this straight. According to my manual, the GCWR is 7400lbs. The GVWR on my data plate of my Tacoma is 5100lbs. So the maximum load of a trailer plus it's gear etc... can not exceed 2300lbs (GCWR-GVWR). 2300lbs minus 1000lbs of bikes and gear equals an empty trailer weight of 1300lbs. That makes sense. Now the next question....What is the unloaded weight of your typical 6x12 enclosed trailer?
- Thread starter
- #11
Just a little update for those interested. I test pulled a 6x12 rental from a dealer on monday. I drove it down the interstate for about 15 miles. It was windy and the little 4cyl Tacoma wasn't doing to good. I was getting blown all over the place. I couldn't maintain 75 mph in 5th! Every overpass it would drop 8-10 mph on cruise control. This trailer was almost empty. Had maybe 300 lbs of scrap angle iron in it. I can't see myself dealing with that for the 8 hour drives up to Arkansas where I race.
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,788
- 35
I believe the CargoCraft 6x12 that I used to have was 1000 lbs empty and was rated to carry another 1000 lbs. I never noticed it behind the PSD, but at 80 it dropped the mileage on my wife's van from 23 to 13 (Dodge V6).
- Thread starter
- #13
Wow! You would think that the Van pulling it would get good mpg b/c of the aerodynamics. That is something else. The 4cyl does all right in 4th gear, but I can only do about 63 mph @2900 rpms. That is about 15 mph slower than I am used to traveling at and with an average drive time of 8 hours, that adds 2 hours to my travel time. That is the main concern. Oh well, my neighbor is a welder and we are make my little 4x8, into a 6x10 or something. I won't get an enclosed until I get a bigger truck.
Kawierider
Member
- Jun 7, 2001
- 281
- 0
you wanna see losses, try a 318 doge van pulling a 28 foot nomad travel trailer, with the low gears in the acle for the towing package, i wanna say our mileage was around 10.......in the mountains its even worse!!1
