How much can I really tow? Towing capacity guide for travel trailers

Towing and towing capacity, a hot topic. Don't listen to the dealership lies before buying your next travel trailer. What can you actually safely and legally tow? Payload is one, if not, the most important factors, yet is misunderstood and often not even taken in consideration! Please watch this video to stop the spread of misinformation about what you can actually safely and legally tow. Towing capacity on vehicle is often used as a Marketing term, yes some vehicles, specifically half ton trucks have an insane number when it comes to the towing capacity, however is is often based on a long bed, single cab 2wd truck, not the most common crew cab 4x4 combination.

In this video we determine the towing capacity of a 2020 Ford F150 and the towing capacity of a Jeep Cherokee using the same travel trailer, the Jayco 174BH.

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[fs_dave]

Picking up my trailer tomorrow. I've done another spreadsheet, but I was glad that your "second opinion" verified what what it told me. I have an F250 and an 8800 lb GVWR trailer. It's a 6.2 gasser 4x4 with a standard bed, so the payload is great. Your spreadsheet shows that with 450 lbs of people and dogs, 500 lbs of additional cargo and using a hitch weight of 1000 lbs, I still have over 1300 lbs of payload left. That's about the same as the TOTAL amount of payload in my old F150. You have to dig into the charts of the Ford towing guide. My truck is advertised to have a huge towing capacity. In real life, it has a 12, 500 lb towing capacity. That's less than Ford advertises for the current F150. It's a shame that this information isn't required to be calculated and disclosed before selling somebody a trailer that would be dangerous to tow.

[NegreteFamily-yi]

You literally salved the question that has been haunting me for weeks. Same truck and literally the same trailer. Thank you so much 😊

[WireEd]

Great video!! One thing to note that most people do not realize is that the fuel in your truck or suv is accounted for in the weight ratings and assumes a full tank. You do not have to add that weight to your payload number.

[scottbiezad]

This video is fantastic. I originally thought 16 minutes - and it was going to be a lot of unecessary dialogue. You a great job of just giving the information I needed. I'm unhappy with my tow vehicle's numbers, but this video is awesome. Thank you.

[TheEmmauswalk]

Thank you so much. We had all sorts of towing issues and multiple visits to Cat Scales, but your spreadsheet saved us from a narrow escape from an accident. We are first-time RVers and dealerships who want money but are not interested in our lives.

[jh]

Great video and explanations; thanks. The details are always in the numbers; your carrying capacity is 1821 yet the max for this year and engine according to Ford is 3270. WOW !!

[lizpsutka]

Thank you for making this video. I am new to towing and this has really helped in my understanding. I was able to find all the numbers I needed to complete the spreadsheet and it highlighted a similar situation as your Jeep for my vehicle and trailer. Good to know I can't put too much in my vehicle. Thanks again.

[carloshonestopinions]

Where were you when I got started towing and RVing in 2021!? Your video is a wonderful refresher of all the terms I had to learn back when we tried to pair our Dodge Grand Caravan with our Wildwood FSX 177BH trailer - Not a happy combination. And yes the vendor touted the dry weight of the trailer to say our Dodge could tow it with its 3600 lbs towing capacity - Not true. Nor was the fact that the trailer’s brakes would work with the Dodge, since it did not have a brake controller; towing a mere 500 Kms chewed up much of the minivan’s new brake pads!

Now we have a RAM 1500, and while it indicates that it can tow up to 12000 lbs, realty is that the maximum weight of a trailer we should ever tow is more like 6000 lbs (GVWR). Thanks for the great video!

[youcanthide]

BOOM BEST TOWING VIDEO INFO ON THE TUBE!!!

[jaccole]

Excellent information. I would say take all your numbers and multiply by 75% to get the safe amount of cargo, tongue weight, tow ratings, etc. This is the margin of error and safety a person should stay within. When emergency maneuvers or emergency stopping has to take place you want to have room for safety. Manufacturers don’t come up with tow ratings with a 12’ high camper.

[lisaladd]

Thank you so much for this video! I have been looking into buying a camper and trying to figure out if I need to also invest in a larger vehicle to tow it with! This helps me so much!

[Landlordsplace]

Thanks so very much for helping me to figure this out. Been banging my head. I am new to this. Great info and thanks again.

[ShawnPatterson]

very nice review of your weights. I recommend that everyone towing a trailer should at some point go to a CAT scale and get your real loaded weights on each axle. Not only does this ensure that you are not overloading your steer, drive or trailer axles, but it allows you confirm how much weight your weight distribution is pushing to the front axle which is important for control. As always, safe travels.

[kingstonsean]

I have a 2021 F150. Ford has a website where you input your VIN. Ford will then give you a form to enter total passenger weight, accessory weight, and cargo weight. It will then tell you YOUR tow capacity.

[TimSharpe-xppe]

Excellent video and thanks for the link to the spreadsheet! Will keep this on file!🙂

[Gremlin]

FYI. Read the bottom of the chart and it says that you can only tow 7k pounds with a class 4 hitch. Almost makes the chart obsolete if you have that

[werty]

My totals came back 0, 47, -357
If camper trailer is 2260 dry and says 3500 GVWR, I wonder if that’s shooting high? I doubt the water tanks and what not would add 1300 lbs on the trailer.
Either way, I wonder if I’m a little too close for comfort.

[pfinch]

Good video, I try and explain this sort-of info to people.

[GPBAMB]

What about if you add a weight distribution hitch? How much more do you get with that?

[bobmartens]

14 F150 5.0 7700lb towing cap. Tow a 5000lb wet TT and i would not want to tow more its all about wind. I tow every winter from Mb to AZ at about 60mph and try and stay away from wind.