Be VERY CAREFUL if you are buying a Tundra for towing

Generally it would matter because all the limitations of the truck matter. If possible it is ideal to stay below all ratings rather than just focusing on one. Also, keep in mind that advertising/marketing is just lying as legally as possible. It's been done in multiple industries forever, but sticking with automotive stuff a prime example would be HP and torque. It's not uncommon for those numbers to be optimistic. They'll get those numbers for ads based on the most ideal situations, and it will never account for elevation, fluctuations in temp or humidity, etc. Same stuff happens with tow/haul numbers.

Let's look at payload separately from towing for a moment. Payload is the maximum amount of weight you can put on the truck itself. Any passenger, added options, aftermarket addons (including skids, wheels, tires, bumpers, etc.), and anything and everything you carry in the bed comes out of payload. Your lunch picked up at the drive thru? Counts against payload. Your tow straps under the seat? Counts against payload. You get the idea.

Well, the hitch you put on the truck to hook up to a camper counts, and so does any weight that hitch supports. This is where it will start to curb what you can tow. To tow safely it is the basic standard that you want 10% minimum and at most 15% of your trailers weight as tongue weight. 5th wheels/goosenecks work different and have WAY higher weights. This offers good balance to the set up and helps maintain control. Go too low on the tongue and the trailer will sway like a drunken prom date. Go to heavy and you get a "heavy" feel and sluggish response.

Say max tow is 10,000 lbs. So you get a 10,000 lbs. trailer and it has 12% tongue weight when it's all said and done. This is not the advertised weight, because none of those on trailers are real numbers. We are talking true weight. The sticker would probably say this trailer is 7-8k dry. Anyway, that's 1200 pounds of tongue weight straight out of the payload. Then take out another 80 pounds for the WDH that you will need for it. 1280 pounds payload gone leaves 400 pounds for anything on the truck if you start with a 1680 payload. That means you have 400 pounds to cover the weight of any mods to the truck, any tools in it, any passengers, and anything those passengers have with them. It doesn't take more than a couple people and the odds and ends they bring with them to eat that.

That's if you've left the truck completely stock. Realistically, say you've put on wheels and tires that are 80 pounds heavier, keep some basic tools and straps that weigh another 20 pounds, have a 180 pound driver, a 120 pound passenger, a 30 pound dog, a kid in a car seat that totals 40 pounds, and another 20 pounds of passenger items (purse, toys, drinks, snacks, water dish for dog, etc.) and you're at 470 pounds total. 70 over the payload when towing the max trailer. Nothing earth shattering, but that's also pretty conservative on the amount of shit people have in/on their trucks.

Towing at the max rating is also completely miserable. Think of it like a paycheck/budget. You don't want to be spending everything you have, right? A buffer makes it all easier. Same concept applies here.

Some choose to tow over their ratings, and that's up to them, but I don't like to cause excess wear on my stuff if I don't have to. Plus, I've got wheels, tires, multiple skids, and other mods on the truck. There's no way most people will ever hit the max tow rating without completely crushing their payload. Maybe with a low sitting, triple axle flat trailer loaded with bricks, but not with a travel trailer.

 

A lot of these tow ratings are based on a driver their self towing a trailer at like 10% tongue rating with a W/D hitch.

Its all gimmicks.

No one is hooking up a w/d hitch to a utility trailer.

No one is pulling a travel trailer with w/d hitch long distances by themselves.

YMMV

 

I see what you mean but thats really not necessary and degrades ride and mpg.

There is plenty of tires below E rating that are safe and light. Just have to shop it out and settle sometimes. Adjust tire pressure etc.

 

Just to play devil's advocate, look closely. There are WDH mounts on the tongue. On an HD with way higher payload it's being done.

 

I pulled a travel trailer down to Florida with a weight distribution hitch and back to New Hampshire with my 2019 Titan no issues

 

A teardrop? A big Airstream?

 

Well, I've seen TFL haul a 7klb travel trailer with a load in the bed from LA to Denver, added a tour of Moab offroading with the trailer hooked up. No WDH, no airbags. Very impressive. Toyota did a good job with the stock dual-rate rear coils.

 

I figure if the Tacoma can do it, the tundra could as well and without any complaints

 

6400 would make that heavier than a Tundra or my parents 4x4 Expedition Max Limited. 6400 is probably the gvwr

 

Correct. Just looked up curb weight and it says it weighs 4780. So 6660 lbs roughly. Anyway still didn’t even flinch hauling so I’m happy. Much better than the Tacoma and now wife wants a travel trailer which will barely be used half the dang time.

 

No idea. Internet picture. I'm not cool enough to have a tractor.

 

Yes, they do. Gross vehicle weight rating is the total weight the vehicle can weigh, right? Subtract curb, which is actual weight, to get payload, right? Well what's your curb (actual) weight going to do when you add heavier wheels and tires?

 

Payload is not only about the springs. It is about engine stress, braking, cooling, safety, etc. That added mass 100% does count against you.

 

Those are part of what is used to determine the payload rating. That's part of why there is a payload rating. So you can't overload the vehicles abilities to function safely. If it were only about how much the springs can hold then things like helper springs, add a leafs, and air bags would increase how much you can haul. They don't, because putting those on so your truck doesn't sag when you put 3000 pounds in the bed doesn't do jack to help it corner, brake, or maintain a workable load on parts that keep the vehicle functional. All of those things, not just suspension, are factors in the payload rating.

 

may I know which trim or which combo (cab+bed) provides the exact towing capacity as advertised?

 

You mean which one provides the max advertised tow capacity? Generally speaking this will be the most basic, 2wd, smallest cab truck with no options added whatsoever. To get an official declaration on the model that has the towing capacity advertised you'd have to ask the manufacturer directly.

 

Jab away. I love the conversations. I'm just playing devil's advocate, and being what table top gamers would call a "rules lawyer" about it.

 

Embrace el275 travel trailer

 

wait, you don’t want a space shuttle?

 

Soooo when the hybrid comes out does it have the same gvw? Ie will the battery and electric motor drop the payload to a grocery getter?

 

It has an upgraded suspension to give it a higher GVWR to make up the difference.

 

Oof less than 2kwh?

the prius plug-in battery is twice the power and half the weight.