Thread: Upgraded
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Old 01-12-2021, 07:55 AM   #4
flybouy
Site Team
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Joppa, MD
Posts: 11,714
Welcome to the forum. Not trying to rain on your parade but perhaps help you understand your truck's capability. Hauling a 34' 10,000 lb. Trailer is typically considered the work of a 3/4 ton or more truck. Look to the yellow and white tire inflation sticker on the drivers side door pillar. It will state the maximum weight of all passengers and load should not exceed xxxx lbs. That's the maximum weight IF the truck was as it was from the factory, i.e. No added equipment like a bedliner, bed cover, tool box, tools, jack, ice chests, etc. That's the number to be concerned with. The max towing number they like to brag about is meaningless when it comes to campers. The weight on the hitch will be the limiting factor before you come close to the tow capacity.

That length trailer will act as a large sail on the back of the truck. The vast majority of 1/2 ton trucks, especially if the truck does not have LT tires will experience sway. P rated tires (P is passenger car) aired to 35 psi simply aren't up to the task.

Now let's look at some trailer numbers. Trailer "empty weight" or "shipping weight". This is a useless number. That's what it weighed from the factory before the dealer installed the battery, the LP tanks, and the spare tire. Then you load all the stuff that you'll need like food, cooking utensils, tableware, linens for beds and bathroom, clothing,drinks, hoses, extension wire and hoses, and the list goes on. So, without weighting and knowing using the GVW of the trailer as you will be closer to it than that "empty weight".

Trailer tongue weight. The published number is based on "empty weight" which is no where near the "actual" weight therefore it's useless as well. The tongue weight is generally accepted for the point of calculating an unknow weight to be between 10%-15% of the trailer weight for travel trailers. Middle number about 12% for theoretical calculations. For a GTW of 10 k lbs. that's a 1,300 lb. tongue weight. Now you must also add about 120 lbs for a decent WDH . Now the weight on the back of the truck is over 1,400 lbs.

Take the truck's payload capacity and subtract that 1,400 lbs. The remaining number will be what's left of your payload for passengers, pets, snacks drinks, kids, and anything else you place in the truck (including in the bed). There are a few 1/2 ton trucks out there that are capable of attaining the payload of a trailer that size but they are few in numbers and typically are not found in dealer inventory.

The point of this is to make you aware if you already are not of how the towing numbers working real world weights. I wish you all the best in your new adventure with safe and enjoyable travels.
__________________
Marshall
2012 Laredo 303 TG
2010 F250 LT Super Cab, long bed, 4X4, 6.4 Turbo Diesel
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