Understanding Payload and Towing Capacity! Real Life Example

In this real-life example video, Tim explains the difference between Payload and Towing Capacity, and how the weight of the trailer can affect how much payload you have available to haul your passengers and gear. Does this Sequoia have what it takes to transport 6 adults and their stuff to the campsite while towing a full-size camper?
#Towing #Payload #Haul

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[kevinroark]

Forget about mansplaining, there was a lot of interrupting nagging in this video.

[keithtrumble]

This is why I upgraded from a 1/2 ton to 3/4 ton. With full gas, trailer packed for camping and my wife and I in the truck, I only had 250# to spare. That being said I was 3500# under the towing capacity. Now I have 2980# payload and will never be close to my limit. Nice video Tim and Jill

Bring back the diesel Excursion

[deanmay]

Great video! Payload is often overlooked. Most trucks will run out of payload before tow capacity.

[Jackie]

Thank you! This is so helpful. I just bought an SUV with towing capacity and now I understand!

[TandBKount]

Thank you for this video!! It's very clear and concise. I have spent two days watching over a dozen YT videos and read even more articles and forums trying to grasp the info you graciously provided in a clean format (the side typed info = yay!).

[LifeIsAJourneyUs]

Do not forget GCWR..gross combined weight. Let’s say you tow 5000 and your vehicle is loaded to 6500 which is 11500 BUT your GCWR is 11, 000 it wont matter that you are within your vehicle and trailer GVWR. For example, my truck can tow 7650. My truck also has a GVWR of 6250. My GCWR is 12, 800. If I totally took my truck up to its GVWR of 6250 all I have left for the trailer GVWR MAXIMUM is 6550. It does not matter that my max tow capacity is 7650 because if I did that I would be over 12, 800. Also Gross axle is extremely important.

[kevinvanlohuizen]

Best to take your vehicle to a scale to get an accurate weight to help with towing numbers. Never sure what fuel level is assumed in factory numbers.

[MrTe]

Before this video I was clueless, after this video I am confident, thank you very much for pushing him Jill, definitely glad this video was made !

[michaellopour]

Kudos Jill for making this video happen! Large SUVs are great because you can tow OR haul. But they are not engineered to do both simultaneously. Something else to consider is trailer length. Large SUVs have shorter wheelbases than extended cab pickups and will be more susceptible to sway with some of the longer towable travel trailers out there. In my opinion you should stay under 26ft even with long SUVs like the Expedition Max or Suburban.

[bradleysargent]

I'm glad we checked payload. We were going to use our 08 Toyota Landcruiser to Tow a medium sized 23 ft airstream. the math works out with just my wife and me. But if we add our two teenage boys to the vehicle (another 400 lbs), we blow past the 1585 lbs payload capacity! So we are looking for something with over 1900 lbs of payload capacity. Good video!

[brianscudder]

Nice effort clarifying a complex and poorly understood set of topics. I find it interesting to consider how stringent the towing standard is today (SAE J2807) compared to 10 years ago when each manufacturer simply had their own standard for determining tow capacity (and seemed to be creative with their calculations). Go back further and a 1986 K5 Blazer with a 185 hp 305 ci engine was asked to tow far beyond anything a similarly equipped vehicle would be rated to tow today. If you’ve not read the SAE J2807 standard, it’s a stringent set of requirements and might be interesting to research…. Thanks again for your informative approach.

[reyT]

I got a 2007 RAV4 -4cyl with all wheel drive capability. Can I tow a 3k lb civic si on a tow dolly?

[SuperDutyXL]

Very good explanation. Great job by both of you!

[djdigital]

I’m 58 years old and always wanted a mobile home. For the first time l bought a SUV. 2012 Jeep Liberty in mint condition. This thing weighs 5, 600 lbs.
It even have a tow hitch installed. I’m looking at 3, 000 lbs for a 5th wheel. The vehicle is rated at 5, 000 lbs max tow capacity.
Subscribed ✔️

[saxophonistscorner]

I read people saying the cargo weight limit listed doesn't include 150 lbs for a driver (nor gasoline in the car), is that true?

[imrevils]

I have Toyota Sienna 2018 AWD. Trying to buy right Camper, it is kind of confuse... I found out that Sienna Limited AWD can only tow 2000 pounds. If you want to tow 3500 have to add Towing Package, , , , They going to instal transmision cooller "thing" :) also I was asking about larger brakes but ... I called them (dealer) they said not offer it.... LOL My Q is do I need to get transmission cooler to tow camper weight around 2500 Ibs and my family weight around 500 lbs or not? I have not much other options... because most of campers weight more than 3500 lbs. Thanks

[LAP]

Great video. Would love to see you guys do an actual tow using the new 2022 Honda Ridgeline.

[davidcolgan]

First the question - who’s Silvia? 😜. Seriously, we have a 2017 Acadia Limited that we tow a 3500 lb rated utility trailer once a year. I am guessing that total trailer weight is 2500-3000 lbs for this trip. This year, the Acadia, will be loaded probably 1400-1500 lbs. internally. I am trying to limit tongue weight by how I load the trailer. I know I will exceed maximum load.

[lordaca]

There are many videos on YouTube about payload and just looking at the sticker. I was really hoping for a more in depth engineering discussion about payload. We have all seen the million mile trucks and how beat up and abused those trucks were. Do you think they considered the payload? I would love to know what is setting the limits. Is it the suspension, bearings in the axle, or braking performance that set the limits?

[howardandrus]

My daughter bought a SUV and said they want to get a trailer. I think they better study the size of the trailer first, then get the vehicle. Thanks for the video. Very nice.