Help Me Understand this "Towing Worksheet"

[armyturtle]

I'm not sure I'm getting this correct, or that this particular towing worksheet filled out by my dealer is even 100% accurate.

From the Jayco Website:

WEIGHTS
2540 Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs) View Definition
305 Dry Hitch Weight (lbs) View Definition
3200 Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (lbs) View Definition
660 Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs) View Definition

My Vehicle:
Weights and Capacities
3500 MAXIMUM TOWING CAPACITY**
4549 CURB WEIGHT

My hitch:
Equal-i-zer 90000600 Equalizer

I thought I have 960 lbs of cargo capacity since 3500 is the maximum my vehicle can tow and the weight of the trailer is 2540. I know adding the larger capacity propane tank for the baja edition and the two 12v batteries takes away from some of this 960 lbs., but the attached worksheet shows my "Cargo Capacity" as only 528 lbs. Is this accurate? Is the cargo capacity for the trailer only or does that include the weight of any people & items in my tow vehicle?

[charles_cincy]

That's a BS towing worksheet...

Try the one on this page...
RV Itch - Resources

[bankr63]

Well there is a difference between the UVW you report and the UVW on his worksheet. If he got the UVW from the sticker then that is the correct number to use. It is often higher than the web site rating as your TT may have options added.


The 528 lbs is the maximum additional weight you can add to the TT. You need to still calculate how much your Odyssey can carry. That would be a similar calculation, subtracting the Curb Weight from the Maximum GVWR of the vehicle. That number represents the maximum load and would be comprised of the ACTUAL tongue weight (which is higher once you have loaded the trailer!), vehicle occupants, gear, etc.


Also, you need to be aware of not overloading each of the TV axles. Each has a listed GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating). With more weight at the rear, you are likely to exceed the rear GAWR before you are fully loaded with cargo. But with an Equal-I-zer you have the ability to shift some load off of the rear axle to the front and TT axles. It doesn't allow you to carry any more weight than the GVWR, but it helps distribute the weight more evenly across the TV axles.


Your vehicle may also list a GCWR (gross combined weight rating), which should be roughly the GVWR plus the Maximum Towing Capacity, but if it is listed it is sometimes lower. What they are saying here is that to safely tow the maximum trailer weight, you should not also be hauling the maximum payload as well.


And the best advice of all is to look up the thread here about CAT scales. You can write it all down on paper and calculate all you like, but a real scale weighing your real rig will be really correct 100% of the time.

[Force]

Doesn't really matter what your truck can tow, that sheet and those payload #'s are for what the trailer can handle.

Your trailer axles and tires are the primary limiting factor on payload. The sheet and your numbers above state the trailer cannot weigh, when fully loaded, > #3200#. The difference between that weight and the unloaded weight is 528# (aka, the remaining payload capacity if your trailer)

EDIT: bankr63 beat me to it and has a more complete explanation, so x2 for his reply

[armyturtle]

Would I weight just my trailer? Should I disconnect from it when weighting it?
Or should I weigh both my trailer AND my car hooked up together and on the scale at the same time?

[bedrck46]

The cargo capacity of the TT is 528 lbs That is 3200 GVWR for the TT minus 2672 dry weight for the TT. That means you can put 528 Lbs of cargo in the TT before you are at max for the TT. Now that still keeps you in range of the 3500 MAXIMUM TOWING CAPACITY of the TV What you now need to do is to look at the sticker on the TV to see what the max cargo capacity of the TV is That will tell you how much cargo weight is available That would be weight of the passengers, tongue weight of the TT, weight of the hitch All of those combined affect the cargo weight of the TV

[bedrck46]

read the attached link

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...html#post24549

As someone on the forum has said The CAT SCALE is your friend

[armyturtle]

Originally Posted by bedrck46

The cargo capacity of the TT is 528 lbs That is 3200 GVWR for the TT minus 2672 dry weight for the TT. That means you can put 528 Lbs of cargo in the TT before you are at max for the TT. Now that still keeps you in range of the 3500 MAXIMUM TOWING CAPACITY of the TV What you now need to do is to look at the sticker on the TV to see what the max cargo capacity of the TV is That will tell you how much cargo weight is available That would be weight of the passengers, tongue weight of the TT, weight of the hitch All of those combined affect the cargo weight of the TV

Thx for the quick breakdown - so it looks like this sheet is accurate then. Unfortunately the maximum cargo capacity for my vehicle only lists "145.8 cu. ft." and not in weight (Edmunds).

Time to go weight the trailer.

[Hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by bedrck46

The cargo capacity of the TT is 528 lbs That is 3200 GVWR for the TT minus 2672 dry weight for the TT. That means you can put 528 Lbs of cargo in the TT before you are at max for the TT. Now that still keeps you in range of the 3500 MAXIMUM TOWING CAPACITY of the TV What you now need to do is to look at the sticker on the TV to see what the max cargo capacity of the TV is That will tell you how much cargo weight is available That would be weight of the passengers, tongue weight of the TT, weight of the hitch All of those combined affect the cargo weight of the TV

Actually, it's more complicated than that. True, the TT GVWR is 3200 and the supposed dry weight is 2672. That yields a trailer cargo capacity of 528. However, remember that trailer tongue weight is carried by the tow vehicle and not by the trailer. So, you can also add additional cargo equal to the tongue weight as that weight is not on the trailer axles. Assume 600# tongue weight then true cargo capacity of the travel trailer would be 528 plus 600 for a total cargo capacity of 1128.

Of course, we have no idea what the load carrying capacity of the tow vehicle is.

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by Hohenwald48

Actually, it's more complicated than that. True, the TT GVWR is 3200 and the supposed dry weight is 2672. That yields a trailer cargo capacity of 528. However, remember that trailer tongue weight is carried by the tow vehicle and not by the trailer. So, you can also add additional cargo equal to the tongue weight as that weight is not on the trailer axles. Assume 600# tongue weight then true cargo capacity of the travel trailer would be 528 plus 600 for a total cargo capacity of 1128.

Of course, we have no idea what the load carrying capacity of the tow vehicle is.

Actually, it's shouldn't be more complicated than that. The GTWR of the trailer is it's total maximum capacity, already taking into account the TW. The GAWR(s) of the axles are a part of the GTWR, but the mfg should have already accounted for the TW as well. You are apparently adding that capacity in twice.

[Subaru297]

Originally Posted by Hohenwald48

Actually, it's more complicated than that. True, the TT GVWR is 3200 and the supposed dry weight is 2672. That yields a trailer cargo capacity of 528. However, remember that trailer tongue weight is carried by the tow vehicle and not by the trailer. So, you can also add additional cargo equal to the tongue weight as that weight is not on the trailer axles. Assume 600# tongue weight then true cargo capacity of the travel trailer would be 528 plus 600 for a total cargo capacity of 1128.

Of course, we have no idea what the load carrying capacity of the tow vehicle is.

No you can't do that. The GVWR is just that. The total amount the vehicle can weigh. Just because the tow vehicle is carrying some of that weight as tongue weight does not change what the trailer weighs. It only changes what weight the axles are carrying.

That is why you can get away with axles that are rated for less than the GVWR.

Cheers