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Help Calculating Payload and Towing Capacity

J

jayeduke

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Hey Everyone - I wanted to validate the payload and towing capacity of my truck with you all. I’ve read the guides and did the math to my dismay lol.

Below are the pictures.

Its a 2021 1500 Limited. 3.92

In my case I think I am going to be limited by the Payload of the vehicle.

When we travel its my family if 4. Maybe 550 pounds plus another 100 for the hitch I have yet to buy.

If I understand it correctly I need to account for all the above weight and tongue weight of the trailer which is somewhere between 10-15% of the camper weight. Well 1046 - 650 (Hitch and Family) is 396. Even at a 10% Tongue Weight we are looking at a trailer under 4k regardless of the Max Towing Capacity (Almost 11K)

Perhaps I have misread or misinterpreted something. That's why I came here for a double check.

Thanks for any help and advice you guys can send my way.

Thanks

Jay


EC88AD83-C1CB-4E61-B147-C088BFF45C0F.jpegB7F79684-4074-495A-90D2-12B591560FD4.jpeg
 
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Your math is correct, that’s the unfortunate reality of the high trim level trucks. Hopefully there’s a camper that suits your needs under 4k. Being on the safe side always calculate at least 12% tongue weight, 10 is a little on the light side for most small travel trailers, especially if you load anything in them.

You’re realistically looking for a trailer with an empty tongue weight around 300 pounds, some will say it’s ok to go a little more than the numbers but that’s really up to your personal comfort of going beyond the limits.

If you do chose to go past GVWR I’d recommend staying well under the axle ratings and make trips to a nearby scale, but again going over gvwr is not recommended!

Your truck is a great example of how unrealistic the towing numbers are, your max tow is 10,946 pounds yet to get there with your payload you’d need 8% tongue weight and a 16 year old girl in the driver seat🤣
 
Nsleone said:
Your math is correct, that’s the unfortunate reality of the high trim level trucks. Hopefully there’s a camper that suits your needs under 4k. Being on the safe side always calculate at least 12% tongue weight, 10 is a little on the light side for most small travel trailers, especially if you load anything in them.

You’re realistically looking for a trailer with an empty tongue weight around 300 pounds, some will say it’s ok to go a little more than the numbers but that’s really up to your personal comfort of going beyond the limits.

If you do chose to go past GVWR I’d recommend staying well under the axle ratings and make trips to a nearby scale, but again going over gvwr is not recommended!

Your truck is a great example of how unrealistic the towing numbers are, your max tow is 10,946 pounds yet to get there with your payload you’d need 8% tongue weight and a 16 year old girl in the driver seat🤣
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Thanks for the replay... I appreciate it. I showed my wife your response and got the typical "There better not be any female in this truck but me" line. and then I got punched lol. Why did I get punched? Who knows lolol. She scares me.

This spawned and entire conversation about weather we should get a bigger truck or go the class A route. We have talked for a while about getting a Class A and renting it to help cover some of the monthly.

Thanks to you guys at least I know now that if I go up do a powerwagon I still need to be careful with how I build it to ensure it can carry what I need it to.

Decisions...Decisions....
 
jayeduke said:
Thanks for the replay... I appreciate it. I showed my wife your response and got the typical "There better not be any female in this truck but me" line. and then I got punched lol. Why did I get punched? Who knows lolol. She scares me.

This spawned and entire conversation about weather we should get a bigger truck or go the class A route. We have talked for a while about getting a Class A and renting it to help cover some of the monthly.

Thanks to you guys at least I know now that if I go up do a powerwagon I still need to be careful with how I build it to ensure it can carry what I need it to.

Decisions...Decisions....
Click to expand...
Oh my🤣 I guess she didn’t like my joke! Class A’s are certainly a whole other animal but there are a couple threads on here about towing your Ram behind one. As for a power wagon you really won’t gain a whole lot of payload, with zero options a power wagon has around 1600 pounds of payload but 1300ish is more realistic with options.

it really comes down to which size/type of camper you want, start there and then see what type of truck you’ll need. If you have a lot you’re looking at you can post them here for us to help get you a properly capable truck.
 
Common misconception that the high trim level is responsible for the low ~1,000 lbs payloads on the Ram 1500. That plays a small part.

The options have a bigger impact; such as eTorque, Ram Box, Multi-function tailgate, Pano roof and even the 33-gallon tank contributes to the low 1,046 lb sticker on your truck.
 
IvoryHemi said:
Common misconception that the high trim level is responsible for the low ~1,000 lbs payloads on the Ram 1500. That plays a small part.

The options have a bigger impact; such as eTorque, Ram Box, Multi-function tailgate, Pano roof and even the 33-gallon tank contributes to the low 1,046 lb sticker on your truck.
Click to expand...



Yea... I have all of those things lol. Don't get me wrong, I love the truck but this is a bit of a curveball that I simply didn't educate myself about ahead of time.

Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it.
 
Nsleone said:
Oh my🤣 I guess she didn’t like my joke! Class A’s are certainly a whole other animal but there are a couple threads on here about towing your Ram behind one. As for a power wagon you really won’t gain a whole lot of payload, with zero options a power wagon has around 1600 pounds of payload but 1300ish is more realistic with options.

it really comes down to which size/type of camper you want, start there and then see what type of truck you’ll need. If you have a lot you’re looking at you can post them here for us to help get you a properly capable truck.
Click to expand...

Nah, she was good. She just like to hit me lol. Par for the course.. The truth is I am pretty sure I deserve it. But.. yea. She scares me.

Thanks for taking the time to confirm my questions. I really appreciate it. We have some decision making to do about which direction we want to go in and how much LOOT we want to spend doing it.

Time to go see some Trailers/Class A's for myself and figure this out.

Thanks

Jay
 
This won't help a lot, but you could keep the 33 gallon tank at half-full or less. That would save you 90-100# of payload. Of course, you have to stop more often...
 
The Ramboxes have 150lb cargo capacity each so RAM automatically subtracts 300lbs from your payload. As long as you know how much weight you have in there you can "gain" some payload back.
 
Bigbags85 said:
The Ramboxes have 150lb cargo capacity each so RAM automatically subtracts 300lbs from your payload. As long as you know how much weight you have in there you can "gain" some payload back.
Click to expand...
Uhhh that is not correct, your payload is your GVWR minus the Weight of the vehicle with full fluids (including fuel). Ram does not subtract payload when you option the ram boxes, you lose payload because the ram boxes weigh more than just a regular bed.
 
Nsleone said:
Uhhh that is not correct, your payload is your GVWR minus the Weight of the vehicle with full fluids (including fuel). Ram does not subtract payload when you option the ram boxes, you lose payload because the ram boxes weigh more than just a regular bed.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Someone had to say it.

Wish folks wouldn’t just make things up on the internet, especially concerning safety issues.
 
Okay, I guess I'm in the wrong here haha. I swear I read on Ram's site that they define payload as only in the bed (but then I went back and looked and they define it two different ways on their website).
 
Bigbags85 said:
Okay, I guess I'm in the wrong here haha. I swear I read on Ram's site that they define payload as only in the bed (but then I went back and looked and they define it two different ways on their website).
Click to expand...
All good, I believe Ram has a 150 pound limit per rambox which is what you were referring to, but that limit is not subtracted from payload, whatever you put in the ramboxes reduces your remaining payload
 
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