HELP! calculating towing capacity driving me nuts !!!

[netpro]

i have had soooooo many different " interpretations " on how to figure out my towing capacity my head is starting to spin i fell like i'm and ready to go I would appreciate any input from you guys on proper wait to figure this out ....

i want to know how to correctly understand and figure out how much i can tow with my current configuration .... in b.c. they throw a wrench in the gears to figure it out just to mess with your mind

the trailer is supposed to be subtracted from the trucks gvwr ???? i always thought the trailers gvwr was separate somewhat ???

anyway how much can i legally haul with this truck and trailer combo ...i wanna be able to haul trucks and cars and scrap with it .....

i have 1993 f450 super duty with 15000 gvwr
frt gawr = 5000 lbs
rear = gawr = 11000 lbs

i recently took the truck across a scale to weigh and got these figures
frt 1705 kg ( 3758 lbs)
rear 1710 kg ( 3769 lbs)

with trailer attached 1805 kg for rear
trailer was 1800 kg itself which i find strangley heavy isn't it ???.....

my trailer is trail king tk10u ( 16 ft tandem axle equipment / car hauler) with 12,300 gvw

for some dumb reason the truck has a current " licensed" gvw rating of only 5000kg

with that " rediculous " rating you can't even legally attach that trailer to it becuz it weighs 1800 kgs itself ( truck approx 7527 lbs ) they say you need to get a national safety code rating for anything over that 5000 kgs

[mustangman02232]

trailer under 10k it goes by actual trailer weight, over 10k the GVW of the truck and trailer gets combined. so 12,300 plus the 7XXX your truck is is your total, just dont overload each axles weight rating (watch your tounge weight)

[Rick C]

A suggestion if I might. Apples to apples. Either kg or pounds...its makin my head swim doing the conversions. Thats a big gvwr for a 16' trailer...my 18' tandem is only 8000. The legal towing issues are fairly straight forward.

1. Don't exceed your trucks gvwr/cgwr (you may be able to license for more...but there may be liability issues)

2. Dont exceed your trailers gvwr.

3. Make sure that your load is balanced properly, ie hitch loading wt., rear axle wr etc.

Your F-450 is very light imho. My 05 F-450 tips the scales at 10,300 lbs, full tanks 2 occupants.

Canada has more, or should I say different regs than here it would seem.

On edit your truck is licensed for 11,000 lbs (5000 kg). Your GVWR is 15,000. Probably tried to save registration fees/taxes by under rating the truck at the DMV. Your rear axle rating you say is 11,000, vs actual weight of 3769. Your truck weighs 7527...so by licensed weight you can put 3473 lbs on your rear axle provided your hitching mechanism is appropriately rated for that weight (would require a gn or 5th wheel). Your gcwr (trucks capacity to tow in combination) could be as high as 30,000 (probably more like 25 given the age of the truck...check the specs). So...if you could hypothetically have a gcwr of 25k minus the trucks wt of 7527, you could pull a load of about 17k. NOW...more about your trailer. Trail King's spec sheet says load capacity of the TK10U ia 10,000 lbs. Given that it is a conventional type of hitch and most of those hitches (Reese Titan Class V for example) have a max tongue wt of 2K/trailer wt. of 18K. At a trailer tare wt. of about 4k you could theoretically put 10k on the deck with 2k on the hitch and be within your trucks capability (IF EVERY THING IS AS STATED, MOON, SUN AND STARS LINE UP).

Use this information carefully as any time that you tow at near max capacity vehicle condition is crucial to safety. The operator is always responsible to verify all weights and towing limits (disclaimer)