Towing and Weights
The number on the truck brochure is towing capacity. The number that actually limits most half-ton owners is payload, printed on the yellow sticker inside the driver door, and it includes the trailer tongue weight, the hitch, the passengers, and the firewood.
The guides in this section walk through the measurements: how to weigh tongue weight with a bathroom scale or a CAT scale, how to do the door-sticker math, and how to set a weight-distribution hitch with before-and-after numbers. The tongue-weight calculator does the arithmetic.
Guides
- First-Trip Checklist for a New Travel Trailer: The 12 Things the Dealer Walkthrough Skips
Most first-trip trouble on a new travel trailer is tire pressure, lug torque, and an untested brake controller. The 12 checks in order, driveway to first night.
- Travel Trailer Tongue Weight: How to Measure It and Why 10 to 15 Percent Matters
Most trailer sway traces back to tongue weight under 10 percent of the loaded trailer. Three ways to measure it, with the math, and how to shift weight forward.
- Payload, Not Towing Capacity, Is What Limits Your Truck: Door-Sticker Math With Worked Examples
Most half-ton trucks run out of payload long before towing capacity. How to read the yellow door label, what counts against it, and three worked examples.
- Weight-Distribution Hitch Setup: The Measurement Sequence, With the Numbers to Write Down
Most weight-distribution hitch trouble is bars set by feel. The fender-height measurement sequence from the hitch manuals, with the numbers to write down.