The wife and I are thinking of getting an RV and I had a few questions about trailer weight and tow ratings. I looked on the net and my it said that the max tow rating for my truck was 9150 lbs. We looked at several trailers, and we found one we really liked, but it had a dry weight of around 7100 pounds and a GVWR of around 10K. It's my understanding that the GVWR is the total weight of the trailer and all the contents. Should I be concerned about the dry weight or the GVWR when looking at campers?

My truck is a 2009 1500 Crew 4x2, Lonestar package, 3.92 gears, Hemi, 20" wheels, and tow package.

Also, if any of you guys have a similar truck and tow an RV, please let me know about your experiences.

Thanks.

 

the dry weight of the trailer should be the weight as it left the factory and sits on the grounds minus your LP tank and Batteries. There is a sticker in the trailer somewhere that gives you an accurate weight as it left the factory, you cant go by some of the brochures as they are before it is equipped.

your truck has a towing capacity and a gvwr. the total weight of the truck all occupants gear and the trailer should not exceed the trucks gvwr.

the trailers gvwr is much the same, it represents how much weights the trailers axles can hold. if you trailers dry weight is x and the gvwr is y the trailers weight capacity is x-y. for towing sake you need to be concerned with the trailer's loaded weight plus the vehicles weight and everything in the vehicle (people gear etc) and how that relates to the vehicles gvwr.

also if you dont know dodge upped all the towing capacities from 2009 to 2010 without changing the vehicle at all. the said they "reevaluated" their figures, my particular truck gained 2000 pounds.

I just went through this whole equation myself so if you have any other questions let me know.

Also you will need a weight distribution hitch and probably a good idea to get sway control if you are new to this but what I have found is the bottom line if the set up needs to be correct and how you load the weight in the trailer is very important.

 

do a forum search with "towing capacity" there is a lot of great info on this forum. you also need to be looking at the trailer's Tongue Weight, this is VERY important as it represents the weight that is distributed from the trailer to the hitch.

 

Thanks for the info. I had definitely planned on getting a weight distributing hitch and probably sway control. I guess I need to find out my trucks GVWR and then go from there. I have been searching the forums and sifting through all the info. There is a lot to learn.

 

2009 weight specs

http://www.dodge.com/bodybuilder/200...r/mlup1500.pdf


2010 weight specs

http://www.dodge.com/bodybuilder/201...ammlup1500.pdf