Have you been trying to figure out which RV you can tow with the truck you have or which truck you need to tow the RV you want? You will need to determine your GVWR and Payload for your truck and GCVWR for both your truck and trailer – we will do this here.
How to Determine Payload for your Truck
Acronyms
Let’s start at the very beginning – there are so many acronyms you’re going to come at you left and right when it comes to determining your tow capabilities.
GVWR – Gross Vehicle Weight Rating – this is the maximum amount of weight that your vehicle can weight, including vehicle, fuel, passengers, cargo, etc. You will have a GVWR for both your truck and one for your trailer. (Think of this as you have two legs, how much can your two legs carry before the risk of breaking or damaging your legs increases).
GCVWR – Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating – this is the COMBINED total your truck can handle pulling and carrying all at once. (Think of this as how much your legs can carry and how much you can pull WHILE carrying, without increasing the risk pf damaging your legs).
UVW – Unloaded Vehicle Weight – this is how much your vehicle weighs completely empty. It does not include cargo, water, propane, or dealer-installed accessories. But it does include the weight of fuel and fluids. ***Pay close attention to how the manufacturer defines UVW because this is often used to calculate other weights, such as the cargo carrying capacity or Payload. Such as Ford tends to INCLUDE passenger weights for as many seatbelts as there are, which changes your payload significantly.
Dry Weight – Similar to UVW but doesn’t include fluids or fuel.
CCC – Cargo Carrying Capacity – this is a trailer specific terms, not used in trucks, but will give you the exact weight you can add to your RV, including cargo, fluids (fresh, grey, black water fluids), add ons of extra air conditioners or accessories that didn’t come from the factory, all count as extra weight – and count towards your CCC.
Tongue Weight/Hitch Weight/King Pin Weight – this is the actual weight pressing down on the hitch by the trailer. The average Tongue Weight is 10-15% of the GVWR of your travel trailer. The average King Pin Weight, also called Pin Weight is 15-25% of the GVWR of the fifth wheel trailer.
AWR – Axle Weight Rating – This is the amount of weight each axle can hold, including the truck, all it’s parts and fluids and cargo.
Let’s Get to Calculating
Let’s first take into consideration the truck dealership you likely bought or plan to buy your truck from. They don’t look at specific details, they simply will look at the manufacturers sales sheet. These numbers are very broad and generic and not specific to each individual truck built and sold.
There are at least four different items that matter specific to YOUR truck and then you can configure what you can safely tow.
I’m going to use some of my truck and trailers numbers to help break this down.
You’re going to want to start with your UVW and your GVWR, these numbers can found on your drivers door, on the information sticker.
Our truck is 9900lbs GVWR and UVW is 6695lbs. Which, with just doing the math of GVWR-UVW will give us the CCC for our truck: 3205lbs (loosely) but according to the manufacturers details for our specific truck, the payload (CCC) is 3130lbs.
The total towing capacity our truck is given is stated as 12,500lbs (we are a crew cab, long bed, 4×4 and gas). The total GCVWR for our truck is 19,500lbs.
Ok – we’ve got lots to work with here. If you can search up all these numbers for your SPECIFIC truck make, model, trim and whether it’s 4×4 or 4×2 – you will be able to do some calculations.
Let’s write this down and math it out:
2019 Ford F-250 Lariat Crew Cab 4×4 Long Bed Gas:
| UVW | 6,695.00 |
| GVWR | 9,900.00 |
| GCVWR | 19,500.00 |
| Payload | 3,130.00 |
| Towing Capacity | 12,500.00 |
Then we need to factor in what is going INSIDE the truck:
5 people + 2 dogs = 900lbs (wowza!)
Plus add items in the back of the truck totalling approximately = 500lbs (we did lighten the load recently)
Puts us at 1400lbs in cargo and passengers real quick! (see how towing our trailer with a half-ton already wouldn’t work?)
That brings our payload down from 3130lbs to 1730lbs.
Now we need to look at what we plan to tow. Again, we will use our current set up for example numbers.
We tow a 2021 Grand Design Imagine 3250BH travel trailer (also called a bumper pull).
| UVW | 8,496.00 |
| GVWR | 10,195.00 |
| Hitch Weight | 844.00 |
The number that isn’t shown here as it’s mixed in with the GVWR is the CCC – which again we can math it out to GVWR-UVW=CCC. 10195-8496=1699lbs. So to keep the axles of your trailer happy, do not exceed that weight in just your trailer alone.
Now let’s combine them all together to see if we are towing safely within our limits WITH wiggle room.
Payload
Take your total truck payload – cargo & passenger payload – hitch weight = available payload
3130 – 1400 – 844 = 886lbs
Now combine to check your total current VWR: Truck UVW + cargo & passenger payload + hitch weight = new VWR (to not exceed your GVWR)
6695 + 1400 + 844 = 8939lbs The GVWR is 9900, so we have not exceeded it
Finally we check our GCVWR to confirm we are well within our numbers and not exceeding our GCVWR for the truck: Tow vehicle GVWR + Hitch weight + New GVW = Total GCVWR
10195 + 844 + 8939 = 18290lbs The GCVWR is 19500, so we have not exceeded it.
If You’d like your own copy of the GVWR Payload Calculator:
The Breakdown
| Your Truck Option | 2019 Ford F250 Gas | Trailer Option | 2021 GD Imagine | |
| UVW | 6,695.00 | UVW | 8,496.00 | |
| GVWR | 9,900.00 | GVWR | 10,195.00 | |
| GCVWR | 19,500.00 | Hitch Weight | 844.00 | |
| Payload | 3,130.00 | |||
| Towing Capacity | 12,500.00 | |||
| Estimated Payload | ||||
| Passengers | 900.00 | |||
| Cargo | 500.00 | |||
| Total payload (minus hitch weight) | 1,400.00 | |||
| Hitched | ||||
| Available Payload | 886.00 | |||
| New GVW | 8,939.00 | |||
| NEW GCVW | 18,290.00 | |||
| Difference Left: | 1,210.00 |
What does this mean?
According to our records, like we show above, we are well under our towing capacities and our payloads on both vehicles. This is so important, not just for safety of being able to tow and stop, but also for avoiding fines and legal issues.
Towing above your GVWR on either vehicle runs the risk of increased fines or even, if in an accident, that your insurance would leave you on your own.
There are also states when your GCVWR is over 20,000lbs, you must have a commercial license (Texas being one of them). Make sure you know your local laws, your insurance coverage and what your numbers are. Get your set up weighed often as you increase items into the rig and truck to ensure you are still within your limits. (You’d actually be quite surprised at what you can stuff inside these RVs and be well over your limit fast!
Do you know your numbers? If you’re looking for the excel sheet to use for yourself, fill out the form below and I’ll make are to email it to you.
If you’re thinking about starting the RV life and aren’t even sure what RV might be right for you and your fellow travelers, check out this series I did to cover:
The differences between new and used as your purchase
Different types of RVs on the market
Is RV Travel actually cheaper than owning a home?
Is RV Stationary Living cheaper than RV Travel?
All of these are a great place to get started! Don’t forget, I’m only a message away, if you have any questions about getting started in this RV life and way to live and travel – simply comment below and let’s chat!
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