Calculating payload question

[jdux999]

Hello All. I'm buying Ram 2500 to tow a new 10,000 lb GVWR 5th wheel and I'm trying to determine payload capacity. The Carrying Capacity sticker on the door says I have 2990 lbs of capacity. My question is, do I have to add the weight of 32 gallons of gas into my calculation, or has the gas weight already been added to the base weight. Hope I explained this well enough. Thanks in advance for the help.

[Grumpy]

Right from the web:

The payload capacity DOES NOT include a driver. It DOES include a full tank of gas!!!

[Lake Huron]

Yes, that is with a full tank of fuel. So, you fill the truck with fuel and put it on the scale with nothing in it other than what it came with from the factory when it rolled off the line. The 2990, per your door sticker, is the max weight of all passengers, all their belongings, whatever accessories you installed and your favorite hitch AND tongue/pin weight.
Just shooting from the hip here, your 10k 5th wheel has 2000# of pin weight. That's empty, the way it came from the manufacturer. Let's say you put in a B&W hitch that weighs say 200#. Now you're up to 2200#. Now add you the driver, DW, 2 kids and some other on the road nonsense that adds another 500#. Now you're at 2700#. That's gonna leave you a 290# buffer and you still have to load the trailer with all of your stuff which WILL add pin weight. You'll add 200# of pin weight pretty quickly.
Take your trailer to the scale, empty of all your personal stuff and see what the pin weight is. Then load it up and re scale the pin weight. You might be a little surprised.

[eow]

The OP stated the FW GVWR is 10,000 lbs, so not empty and therefore a little more margin than suggested in the previous post.

[Lake Huron]

You're right, the 10k is GVWR. My numbers are a little off, but that's why I said I was shooting from the hip.
I looked up a 2021 25.5 just for kicks and it is a 10k GVWR and the pin weight of that specific trailer is 1440. So that would give and extra 560# of buffer. That extra buffer can still be consumed pretty quick. That 25.5 has an 81 gal fresh water tank. At 8#/gal, that's 648# and if that tank is forward of the axles a bunch of that is going to be put to the pin weight. That's why I said to weigh it empty to see how accurate the pin weight is on the sticker of the trailer, then load it up and re weigh the pin weight.

[jdux999]

Thanks All for the help. I'm very new to the 5th wheel world - I just sold my 28' Redhawk. Can't figure out how to weigh my Hitch weight on a scale. Any suggestions how to do it?

[Cincinnati Kid]

Originally Posted by jdux999

Thanks All for the help. I'm very new to the 5th wheel world - I just sold my 28' Redhawk. Can't figure out how to weigh my Hitch weight on a scale. Any suggestions how to do it?

Hook up the trailer to the truck and drive to a CAT scale. Get weights of 1)front Axle
2)rear axle,
3) trailer axle(s)

Then unhook trailer and weigh truck again.

There are many calculators you can use online to get all the weights, but the pin weight is the difference in the truck weight (both axles) by itself when hooked up.

If your truck axles COMBINED weigh 7500# with no trailer, and 9500# with trailer, your pin weight is 2000#

[RedHorse1]

Our pin is 25% of the GVW, so I would estimate your pin at 2500# (based on GVWR). I suggest taking the 2500 to the CAT Scale (if you can take the 5th too that’d be best). The Rear GAWR vs the rear axle weight will give you a good guess to the “can l” question.
Assuming a pin weight of 2500# add 200# for hitch, 200-300# for passengers and “stuff”. The added weight should be in the 3000# range. If the Rear GAWR minus Rear axle weight (CAT Scale) is greater than 3000# then you are good to go.
I suspect you may be close to the limits of the 2500 but close may not be over.
Weights don’t lie.

[jfk69]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

Weights don’t lie.

Yes they do. My bathroom scale lies every time I step on it.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by jfk69

Yes they do. My bathroom scale lies every time I step on it.