RV TOWING EXPLAINED With Truck & Trailer Examples!
RV towing isn’t as complicated as you might think, so we’re explaining all of the acronyms and numbers you need to know in only 3 minutes! We’ll cover UVW, GVWR, GCVWR, GCWR, payload, curb weights – everything!
If just seeing numbers isn’t enough, we also pick out four random RVs and four random tow vehicles and see which ones are good matches and which ones are definitely overloaded.
Make sure your truck can handle that big and beautiful new RV, and handle it safely. We see too many small trucks pulling big RVs and that is a recipe for disaster! Don’t be that guy…
RV and Truck Towing Diagrams
Here are some of the diagrams from the video so you can look at them more closely:
I have a situation with my 2018 Silverado HD diesel 4×4 crew cab that makes no sense, and I have been given the run around by Chevrolet when trying to get an answer. The manual states the GCWR is 25,300 lbs. but it also states the towing capacity for a fifth wheel is 13,500. Seems to me it should be 15,300 if you do the math as explained in your article about towing. I have asked them if this is a typo, but you just have a person sitting at a computer screen looking at the same thing I am looking at. I asked to speak to someone like an engineer that could answer my question, but the person said they didn’t have anyone there like that. Your thoughts?
Thanks
The GCWR is only really useful if the thing you’re towing is supporting 100% of its own weight, which travel trailers and fifth wheels do not. They both apply weight to your truck, so the main number you need to focus on is your truck’s max Payload capacity.
Calculate your payload as explained in my writeup above. If you’re looking for a travel trailer, it’s going to put 10% of its GVWR onto your truck (a 10,000lb TT takes 1,000lbs of your payload). A fifth wheel will put 20% of its GVWR on your truck (a 16,000lb fiver takes 3,200lbs of your payload). As you start looking at those numbers you’ll see that you run out of payload long before you get close to those GCWR numbers.
I can’t find the exact GVWR and UVW numbers for your truck otherwise I’d run them for you really quick. You should be able to find them on one of your door stickers.