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  1. #1
    supernananini
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    Carrying Capacity Mystery!

    Hello! Hubby and I will be retiring in 2 years YAY! and we plan to full-time. YAY again! We can't wait. I am the planner in the fam and research stuff to death, hubby is the don't worry we'll figure it out kinda guy.....we make a great team.

    I have spent the last year researching RV's. Hubby finally joined the search a couple of months ago. Armed with the knowledge I've gathered, we started visiting RV dealers. We missed our local RV show :-( After looking at oodles of trailers in person and online, we settled on a GD toy hauler. It fits with our lifestyle and the things we want to do when we retire.

    Our truck will haul any of these models 327M, 328M, 348M 350M. The 350M is our fav. I have spent hours reading forums and blogs....I am researching everything we will need......batteries, solar, satellite, toys, W&D, appliances etc......how to boondock in an RV (we are experienced tent campers), finding campgrounds, where to dump along the way etc etc.......gathering as much info as I can so when we get there we will be ready to just hit the road. (Did I mention I was a planner?)

    The one area I am sooooo confused about is cargo capacity. I think I know how to figure it out....so with the 350M the GVWR is 16,500# the UVW is 13,500# so the CC is 3000# (right?)

    If waters weighs 8.3# per gal and we get the 157g fresh water tank that's 1303.1# in water alone! Adding in full tanks (worse case scenario), full gas, full propane it comes to 3109.9#. That puts us over the CC. (I know we probably wont be hauling all of our tanks full at the same time, but like I said, worse case scenario......)

    What am I missing here? I just don't get how we get all the other stuff we need for full-timing in the trailer. HELP!

  2. #2
    King Pin
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    Welcome to the forum!

    You are not making any mistakes. But I can't envision a time when you would have both water tanks completely full along with the waste tanks. In 30+ years of RVing, I've never had that happen, even when we would boondock for weeks at a time. You may start out with full water tanks and empty holding tanks. But the liquid in the holding tanks will be coming from the water tanks. For example, when you wash dishes, you'll use water from your fresh tank, wash the dishes, then drain it into the holding tank. Same with the toilets, etc. So as you start filling the holding tanks, you'll be depleting the fresh tank.

    Of course if you'll be in a camp with hookups, you won't need a full fresh tank to start with, and you'll be dumping your holding tanks when you leave. And many of us don't travel with a full fresh tank. We add enough water to be able to use the facilities on the road, and then if we'll be dry camping, we fill up near our final destination.

    I've had rigs with only 900# of CC, and we were able to manage with careful usage of water and waste.

    Jim

  3. #3
    supernananini
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    Thanks for the welcome Jim! and for responding so quickly. That does help. :-) I'm am still concerned because when we boondock we will need water, gas and propane full.....that comes to 1815.1# leaving us 1184.9# for BBQ, camp stove, canopy, fishing gear, hunting gear, tools etc.....the main reason we wanted a toy hauler is for our Yamaha Rhino, that sucker weighs ~1100#......sigh..........feel like I'm just not getting this.......

  4. #4
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    What truck do you have? Sounds like a DRW diesel. Any brand is pretty great these days. What toys are you planning for the TH section of the fifth wheel? Awesome that you are on this forum, there are many good-hearted and knowledgeable people who can help you learn from their experiences. Us- full-timers with vehicles in signature, work camping in Pagosa Springs, CO for the summer, in 2 years have visited about 30 states.
    AKA Steve and Lynne
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  5. #5
    supernananini
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    Thanks for the howdy Steve! Been reading here awhile, folks are so helpful, it's why I finally decided to get help from the pros :-) Any advise will very much appreciated.

    We have a 2011 Silverado 3500HD crew cab long bed diesel 4x4 (hopefully I said all that right HA!) We have a Yamaha Rhino we wanna bring with us or a small aluminum boat with motor for some of our trips. On every trip, a QuietKat and 2 folding bikes. As I've said I've done lots of research but this cargo stuff is twisting my brain up. heeheeee

  6. #6
    Site Sponsor
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    Dual rear wheel (DRW)? Needed!
    AKA Steve and Lynne
    Storm the Black Lab
    Reflection 337 RLS vin 573FR3628E3300393
    2008 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab Longbox
    6.7 Cummins, 68 RFE transmission
    B and W Companion, Air Lifts

  7. #7
    supernananini
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    weird......based on the info hubby found on his truck the towing weight for a 5th wheel is 16,800#.....see image. Did we get that wrong too?Click image for larger version. 

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    UGH...double UGH......

  8. #8
    Site Sponsor Dave and Monica's Avatar
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    As you have a 3500 SRW, there's no difference in max tow weight between it and a 2500 because the motor, trans and rear gear ratios are the same. The 3500 SRW would have about 1000# more payload capacity. The 3500 DRW will have higher max tow weight because of the higher (numerical) gear ratios available.

    Dave
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  9. #9
    King Pin
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    Quote Originally Posted by supernananini View Post
    weird......based on the info hubby found on his truck the towing weight for a 5th wheel is 16,800#.....see image. Did we get that wrong too?Click image for larger version. 

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    UGH...double UGH......
    There are two primary considerations when matching a truck and trailer. The first one you've covered, and that is the towing capacity (how much weight you can pull) with the truck. That is very straight-forward and understandable.

    The second consideration is how much weight you can put ON the truck. This is called PAYLOAD, and it is similar to the Carrying Capacity (CC) of the trailer you mention above. The unloaded hitch weight of a 350M is 2,900 pounds. This is weight which will be sitting directly on the bed of your truck. It will actually be higher once you have the trailer loaded. The payload consists of all the weight you put on the truck, minus fuel which is already taken into account by the truck manufacturer. Payload consists of items such as the pin weight of the trailer, the trailer hitch, the passengers, pets, and other cargo. Let's say that when you add all the payload up, it equals 4,000 pounds. Your truck needs to be capable of handling that weight or it will be overloaded. You can easily determine the payload capacity of your truck by looking at the tire placard on the driver's door pillar. I'm posting an example below so you can see how to read it. In the example, the payload capacity is listed as "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed: 1514kg, or 3339 lbs. In this case, the 4000 pound payload would exceed the payload capacity of the truck by 661 pounds, and would be a serious overload situation on the truck.



    So I'd suggest you take a look at the tire placard on your truck to determine its payload capacity. Then determine how much weight you'll put on the truck with all of the items you'll load into it.

    Jim

  10. #10
    supernananini
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    Thanks Jim! I will forward your info to hubby.....what I am still concerned with is trying to understand the CC of the trailer.

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