We are getting ready to purchase a travel trailer, and our truck is rated to tow 6,000 pounds. Should the trailer tongue weight be subtracted from the truck’s tow rating?
That’s a good question. The easy answer is yes. Any weight added to the tow vehicle takes away from the truck’s tow rating. But it gets a little more complicated than that. The tongue weight will depend on the hitch system you use. If you hook the trailer up and don’t use a weight distribution hitch, all of the tongue weight would be subtracted from the vehicle’s tow rating. If you use a weight distribution hitch, the tongue weight is distributed to the axles on the trailer and the front and rear axle of the tow vehicle, so the actual tongue weight on the hitch itself is less. The only way to know exactly how much tongue weight to subtract is to weigh the tow vehicle separately, then weigh the tow vehicle with the trailer hooked up to the type of hitch you plan to use.
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