Total weight of Rubicon with gear 7000lbs. Thoughts?

[Blonde goes Camping]

What is opinion on 300lbs over max payload for truck, things to be concerned with??

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[LostWoods]

Depends on how it's distributed. GAWR numbers are the more important ones to worry about and GVWR is generally more conservative (i.e. below F+R GAWR) because otherwise it would require perfect loading to be able to max out the truck. Payload = GVWR - Curb Weight and you can be sure some idiot would read a 2,100 lb payload (which is Max Tow combined GAWR minus Curb) and throw all that in the bed before crying that it broke something. To avoid that, they shave a few hundred off to ensure it doesn't happen.

Without a huge breakdown of why it's the case (short version is that if it can tow 7,500 lbs, the powertrain and brakes aren't the issue), as long as you're respecting your axle ratings (GAWR combined are 600lbs more than the GVWR) and loading fairly distributed then you are in all likelihood fine and adding minimal stress to the truck. The forces of a trailer at max tow capacity are far more abusive than a properly distributed load.

 

[LANGeek]

You can usually get away with for short easy hauls. It is pretty tough the vehicle (chassis, braking, transmission, suspension, cooling, etc...) Going for a long haul or technical trail overloaded is not a good idea.

 

[Blonde goes Camping]

Thank you for your replies. I have added a Ali cab explorer cap and have added the gear to the bed. I am doing full time Overlanding with a tear drop trailer.

 

[LostWoods]

What's your measured tongue weight?

 

[Blonde goes Camping]

What's your measured tongue weight?

Not sure how to get the tongue weight. The jeep is 7000 lbs and the trailer ways 2400.

 

[kevman65]

The engineers and safety people will say I am completely wrong, but here goes.

300 pounds over, you're fine. There is a federally mandated safety multiplier manufacturers have to adhere to and you have barely cracked into the range.

 

[LostWoods]

Not sure how to get the tongue weight. The jeep is 7000 lbs and the trailer ways 2400.

So you're at 300 lbs over without accounting for the trailer? That would mean you are at a minimum 550lbs over once you account for tongue and ideally closer to 600lbs over. That's also a lot of weight on the rear axle so you might already be near the limits of the rear axle itself.

Tongue weight (and axle weights which are equally valuable here) would be determined by going to a 3-axle truck scale fully loaded and doing a little math. There's a few sites out there that will tell you how to get it.

 

[Blonde goes Camping]

That makes sense. I didn’t take into count the tongue weight. So I will put me, the wife, the dogs, and Jeep on a diet and trim around 600 lbs.

 

[LostWoods]

Yeah 300lbs payload is trivial as long as it's all truck. When you start hanging weight off the back, every lb you put behind the axle adds a greater amount to the axle itself because it cantilevers weight from in front of the axle.

 

[Blonde goes Camping]

One last question, and thank you for teaching me soooo much today. Would this issue explain trailer sway. It has never swayed before but this trip is swaying bad. The only thing changed is the cap on the bed and the added weight to said cap with gear.

 

[kevman65]

One last question, and thank you for teaching me soooo much today. Would this issue explain trailer sway. It has never swayed before but this trip is swaying bad. The only thing changed is the cap on the bed and the added weight to said cap with gear.

Depending how your trailer is loaded, heavy tongue OR light tongue can affect the handling and sway.
Ideally you want a level tongue on the trailer. Too heavy makes front of truck light. Too light of tongue can lift the rear of the truck.

Sometimes it is as simple as moving items from one end of trailer to other, or centering it.

 

[Blonde goes Camping]

Thank you. You have been great.

 

[WXman]

Yep I was about to say....the main thing to be concerned with is liability in the event of a crash. 300 lbs. over legal payload means you can't tow ANY trailer. You're already "in the hole" so the speak. Your insurance company ain't gonna' be happy if you're involved in a crash, especially if serious injury or death to others results, even if you weren't driving recklessly.

I see people with Gladiator Rubicons all the time who are severely overloaded because they have no idea how payload affects towing numbers.

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