Tow Capacity - Double Check the Math

[ShadowsPapa]

Tongue weight will vary depending on the type of trailer. Yes the general rule of thumb is 15-20% of your trailer weight on the tongue, but your axle location is going to play a role in managing that tongue weight. Car trailers for example are often times naturally tongue heavy because once you load a vehicle you should be adjusting the load to balance it properly.

Whew - that's pretty heavy on the tongue weight. Generally it's 10-15%

I tow 5,000 with a 525 tongue weight.
According to Curt and others -

I am getting something mixed up here myself.. So, three questions:

1. Doesn't the weight of the tongue take away from the payload? Subtract the tongue weight of 600lbs from a 1150lbs payload will leave you with 550lbs of room for yourself and gear?
2. Also if the tongue can only handle 600lbs, the trailer really shouldn't can't weigh more than 4000lb GVWR(.15*6000)<-- tongue taking 15% of the weight.
3. What about the left over towing capacity? If you can't exceed 4000lb of trailer GVWR due to the limitations of the tongue, this would leave you with 1800lbs of spare towing space. Can you just move your gear in the trailer and free up your payload?

Yes, 10-15% of the loaded trailer weight for the tongue weight and that comes off the payload number.
#2 - 10% is fine very often and that's how Jeep and others figure it when they talk trailer and tongue weights. They figure a max of 6,000 pound trailer, 600 pound tongue.
#3 - yes, a lot of people do just that. I haul stuff in the car on the trailer of I have a lot of stuff to bring back home from a swap meet or show.

Frankly, I've towed everything from combine corn heads to tractors to loads of antique hit and miss engines, you name it, and I've never gone over about 10% tongue weight. But a lot depends on the trailer itself, too.

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[JTdiRtyD]

Whew - that's pretty heavy on the tongue weight. Generally it's 10-15%

I tow 5,000 with a 525 tongue weight.
According to Curt and others -

Yes, 10-15% of the loaded trailer weight for the tongue weight and that comes off the payload number.
#2 - 10% is fine very often and that's how Jeep and others figure it when they talk trailer and tongue weights. They figure a max of 6,000 pound trailer, 600 pound tongue.
#3 - yes, a lot of people do just that. I haul stuff in the car on the trailer of I have a lot of stuff to bring back home from a swap meet or show.

Frankly, I've towed everything from combine corn heads to tractors to loads of antique hit and miss engines, you name it, and I've never gone over about 10% tongue weight. But a lot depends on the trailer itself, too.

yeah you're right, 10-15%, not 15-20%. It's been a while since I had to work out those numbers. Regardless, you can control the tongue weight depending how you load your trailer. When I first figured out how I wanted to load my squaredrop camper I knew it would be somewhere between 1800-2000lbs loaded, so I measured the tongue height empty, loaded some gear, measured again, loaded more gear, measured again, moved stuff around to bring the tongue back to where I wanted, rinse and repeat. Then once loaded just to double check I put the tongue on the scale and it was good at 190lbs.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

 

[dakota_man]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll aim for 10%!

 

[dakota_man]

Would something like this be too much? https://www.bestrv.com/product/new-2025-winnebago-industries-towables-micro-minnie-2100bh-2583563-29

 

[JTGuy]

Dry weight is DRY. no water, no battery, no propane. Nothing in it. I would not want to tow it far in the summer in the mountains or in the wind.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Dry weight is DRY. no water, no battery, no propane. Nothing in it. I would not want to tow it far in the summer in the mountains or in the wind.

4,049 dry weight - likely without any added options as well as being "empty" or "dry".

Add propane, food, any supplies, clothes, whatever, it's going to go up from there.

5500 gross weight of the trailer - also need to take the frontage of the trailer into account. The max stuff you can put into it would be a bit under 1500 pounds.

If one had a JT with a 6,000 tow rating, it would be ok, but just that, IMO.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

The 4500/6000 difference gets an eye roll from me. The only difference is a fan pushing more air (driven by a larger alternator). My biggest concern when towing is braking, the fact that every iteration of this truck has the same brake set up tells me all I need to know.

If I was in a hot climate maybe I’d worry about that limit, otherwise-eh, I have no trouble towing the occasional car when needed. Key word is occasional.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The 4500/6000 difference gets an eye roll from me. The only difference is a fan pushing more air (driven by a larger alternator). My biggest concern when towing is braking, the fact that every iteration of this truck has the same brake set up tells me all I need to know.

If I was in a hot climate maybe I’d worry about that limit, otherwise-eh, I have no trouble towing the occasional car when needed. Key word is occasional.

I hear ya, and see where you're coming from, but we also know they used several different spring numbers on each level of the JT. So one would likely want to ensure they had the springs to handle it.
Brakes - so far no one has shown a difference on any of them - Sport to Rubicon to Mojave (or the Overland of the past)
I'd absolutely want the larger alternator and higher wattage fan - no way I'd try to tow with the non-tow package fan. I've watched temperatures and I'm in Iowa, not at altitude and I wasn't towing in 100-110 degree temperatures. No way I'd have towed my 5,000 pounds with the lesser fan (and alternator to match) Our hills are enough to show me that I'd not want to have towed with less.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

I hear ya, and see where you're coming from, but we also know they used several different spring numbers on each level of the JT. So one would likely want to ensure they had the springs to handle it.
Brakes - so far no one has shown a difference on any of them - Sport to Rubicon to Mojave (or the Overland of the past)
I'd absolutely want the larger alternator and higher wattage fan - no way I'd try to tow with the non-tow package fan. I've watched temperatures and I'm in Iowa, not at altitude and I wasn't towing in 100-110 degree temperatures. No way I'd have towed my 5,000 pounds with the lesser fan (and alternator to match) Our hills are enough to show me that I'd not want to have towed with less.

Oh yeah, they’re on my list of “pick it up when I find it cheap” parts for sure.

 

[dakota_man]

4,049 dry weight - likely without any added options as well as being "empty" or "dry".

Add propane, food, any supplies, clothes, whatever, it's going to go up from there.

5500 gross weight of the trailer - also need to take the frontage of the trailer into account. The max stuff you can put into it would be a bit under 1500 pounds.

If one had a JT with a 6,000 tow rating, it would be ok, but just that, IMO.

my current jeep, is a 2020 sport with the trailer tow package. I am trying to find the sweet spot for a small rv trailer to take the kids. Thinking 3700 dry might be the max.. lol

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