Quote:
Originally Posted by chopslot
Thanks Harvey...I have always loved the photo on your avatar. I'm a little confused regarding the GCWR figures. I determined that my curb weight on the 4runner is 4320 lbs. Does that mean I only have 680 lbs remaining for 4 passengers, gear, and trailer? ***NO*** if that's case I couldn't technically pull any version of the TM...sorry for the newbness of the question....I am doing web searches and not just being lazy.
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What is your GCWR???? I seem to remember the 4Runner being around 9,000# but I could be wrong and it's not safe to assume that your GCWR is the same as any similar vehicle. You should find out what
YOUR vehicle is rated at.
If the curb weight on your 4Runner is 4320 and the trailer is.....say 4400# loaded, you would need a GCWR of 8720# plus passengers and cargo in the 4Runner. If there are just 2 of you and you weigh in at around ~300# and another ~300# for cargo and fuel you could get away with a GCWR of ~9500#. It's nice to have a cushion too but a 10% cushion is going to put you over 10,000#.
The 5000# tow rating means nothing without knowing what the GCWR is. I have seen vehicles that have a 5000# tow rating and the GCWR is only 5000# more than the curb weight of the vehicle. That would mean that the vehicle can tow a
MAXIMUM 5000# trailer with no driver, no cargo and no fuel. That's why I say that tow ratings (or any other ratings) mean little of and by themselves. You have to look at all of the
maximum ratings and be sure that you don't exceed any of them.
It is common for manufacturers to rate the maximum tow rating and state that you must subtract all weight in the vehicle from that rating. in other-words, if some vehicles have a MAX tow rating of 5000# and have 1000# worth of passengers, cargo and fuel, that changes to tow rating to 4000#. Although that does not pertain to all vehicles.