Engineered Weight payload question

I'm planning on getting a travel trailer in the near future and have been educating myself on all that goes along with this. Currently I’m reading about weight distribution hitch’s and how its recommended (rule of thumb) if your towing something greater than 50% of your curb weight.

I have Limited non-hybrid 4x4 Crew cab listed at 5490lbs curb weight on Toyotas website. I used to simple math with the listed GVWR to work back to the listed payload rating and everything fit so it made sense. On the comparison column next to my truck was a Limited with the same configuration but with the hybrid drive train. The curb wight is 520lbs more which also makes sense due to the battery and extra hybrid equipment.

That being said the math didn’t work out the same for the Hybrid when I worked it back to the payload. The payload rating is very close to the non-hybrid with a 520lbs weight difference. How did they do this? Do the hybrids have different axils or something like that to change the numbers?

 

Being a cynic you could think that it's an artificial limit on the non hybrid to prevent the loss of sales on the more expensive platform due to it being drastically worse on paper. That is just speculation. To get the truth you'd have to ask the engineers why they rated it the way they did. You won't find that info on an enthusiast forum, and I doubt the engineers can talk about it.

You also need to stop looking at online charts and marketing pamphlets for the ratings. Look at the sticker on the actual truck. Few ever hit the numbers advertised because the magical configuration to hit those numbers is seldom if ever built. Don't look at generic charts, look at what is on your actual truck. Those are the only numbers that matter.

In any case the how doesn't really matter "how" they did it. The payload rating is what the truck is legally rated for and you can't change it. Work within the limits and don't sweat it, or blow by them and accept that the liability is completely on you at that point.

 

Ya your first step should be weighing the truck with a full tank of gas and you in it.

Weight adds up quickly

 

@GODZILLA is spot on with this recommendation. Look at your payload sticker on the drivers door frame.

We got sucked into 1,940 lbs of payload on the nice brochure showing a Platinum trim towing a trailer. Then when ours arrived in Sept of 2022, we discovered 1,390 lbs of payload. (In our case, we preordered the truck so it wasn't available to look at or we might have changed our minds).

There is the fine print with any ad but the biggest "load" was coming from the marketing department. This made it tough when planning our trips with the trailer as we had to have a scale and spreadsheet to workout the total weight!

 

Thanks for the reply, yeah tracking the actual number associated with my truck I’m just a guy that reads to much lol…just thought there was simple thing I was overlooking with the math.

 

Marketing is never simple. Best way to think of it; marketing is just lying as legally as possible. Never take it at face value.

 

where do you get this done at? Can you just pop into any weight station on the freeway and do this? They always seem very busy to me.

 

I live in Las Vegas and hit the Cat scales at truck stops at least 4 times and drove straight up. The truck stops always have numerous trucks either refueling or parked, but haven't seen one on the scales yet.

 

Lots of truck stops have certified CAT scales. Usually costs a $9-$15 to get a weight. You do not just pull in to a port of entry though.

 

Also is there any reason not to get a weight distribution hitch for a trailer? We are not planning on anything big - 20ft 3-4K weight range. I would think any type of travel trailer would benefit from it and they are not really expensive but it seems like a lot of people online are resistant or argue against getting one.

 

The hitch is heavy and counts against the payload rating. They are fairly expensive. I've heard there can be issues with trailers that have surge brakes, but that is unlikely in that weight range.

Keep in mind, trailers do the same marketing BS as auto makers. That weight they advertise is very often hilariously optimistic. Many are heavier than advertised because the weights they advertise are based off stripped down trailers with no options, and frequently don't count propane or batteries in the tongue weights either.


Look in your truck's manual. It will tell you at what weight you need to be using a WDH.

 

My short answer is yes, even if your towing in the 3-4k lbs range, the WDH will restore weight to the front end and increase the stability of the vehicle, especially if you are planning on towing on the highway for a half days drive or more. Also, I would get a system that incorporates sway control, or purchase one that accommodates sway control. There is a Canadian Airstream guy from Can-Am RV named Andy Thompson. Look up his towing tutorials. They are very informative.

 

Get one to help with the Tundra's spongy rear springs as it reduces some load on the rear axle and moves it forward and rearward to the trailer axle. Makes the steering fell better in my opinion.

Also most of them have sway control built in so you are a bit more solid on the road when getting passed by semis or have a strong cross wind.

We still use our WDH with our new (to us) 1 ton and the trailer is rock solid back and highway speeds.

 

The towing section in the manual starts on page 188. This has some good info. For the WDH, this is required by Toyota if the trailer is > 5,000 lbs.

 

Thanks all for the informative replies!

 

Like the guys say here, using a WDH below 5,000 lbs is beneficial. Plus the manual also says anything above a 2,000 lb trailer needs a sway control device.

 

Get a WDH with sway control on it. The sway control will give you much more performance on the highway than the WDH by itself will.

 

I agree on getting a WDH with built in sway control. Just make sure you get one sized properly. Many RV dealers will try to sell a 10,000 pound hitch and say it will work fine on lighter trailers. It will if you are going level but if you pull into a gas station with an abrupt change in grade you can easily bend the trailer frame.

 

Firstly, brave to post the wife's weight online. Second, your front axle weight drops when you're hooked up to the camper. Any adjustments to the WDH made to correct this?

 

I don't run a WDH just sway control.

 

Any reason why?

 

Main reason is if I transfer anymore weight to the trailer I’m going to bust rear axle weight rating. Secondary reason is I don’t want to have to mess with a WDH especially when backing back into our RV pad where numerous sharp turns and precision is required.

Thirdly I’m within Toyota’s 5K recommendation of not requiring one and our setup is now battle tested on our last trip to Utah running through thunderstorms, torrential downpour, strong winds, and steep twisty, mountain roads. No white knuckle issues and drove like a dream.

 

Good points but the Fastway E2 series doesn't restrict backing. Some other WDHs do.

 

Mine does not limit backing up either as the trunion bars that provide WDH and sway control slide fully in the mounts. But I understand why @Tunrod isn't running one. I have a 4200# TT that I pull with my FGT and I run WDH on it for better load distribution and sway control. I pulled it with my 2019 and it towed easily in comparison.

 

Ya, I didn't choose the camper or even RVing, however I bought it off my daughter when she had to get rid of it because it looked like fun when we normally joined her for the afternoon at a local camp ground. The only thing I don't like about it is single axle.

 

Yeah, I filtered for double axles when buying mine. The idea of a flat on a single axle is not exciting to me.

 

My trailer is a single axle and that has always concerned me. There are some things you can do to mitigate issues like adding a TPMS system to the trailer wheels (I had TST on mine and now have the GM TPMS). You can keep the tires fresh by changing them out every 5 years or earlier if they are cracking and dried out. Add Centramatics to the axle to keep the heat and wear to a minimum. Use a good quality tire and avoid the China bombs.

 

Good points. Other than TPMS I also carry an IR gun in center console. I remember a post by @Retired...finally about TPMS only measuring air temp inside tire. So on my last trip at first rest stop TPMS displayed 90° and I shot 120° on tire tread. I think 160ish is the danger point according to Google.

 

I will add a comment about backing up with a WDH. The only one that has a problem when backing is the WDH that uses the friction controlled sway bar... The flat friction bar that has a little ball mount on each end and has the hand bolt for tightening the friction... These will bend when trying to back up... You have to get out and loosing it ANY TIME you want to back up... of coarse unless your going straight backwards...

If you turn and stretch it out to the max and then try to back up without loosening first it will not slide back into itself and therefor bend... And they really don't do worth a damn controlling the sway...

 

Yup. I abandoned the old chain style bars with friction sway control add on setup after my first camper 15 years ago. I run a trunnion bar equalizer style hitch now. Easier to setup, and has sway control built in.