Thor Forums

[atreis]

Originally Posted by Gary A

I have a Thor 28z and am wanting to tow a vehicle which weighs 6000 lbs. My receiver is rated at 5,000 lbs. Is this rating because of the vehicle or the receiver and is there anything that can be done to safely increase the amount?

That rating is for the receiver. You can almost certainly have someone put on a 7500 lbs receiver, but that doesn't mean you can tow 7500 lbs (or 6000).

If you're flat towing:
Look up the GCWR in your chassis owner's manual. Load up as you do for a trip, with all people and cargo, and go weigh your RV. Subtract the weight from the GCWR to see what you have left over - that's the maximum that you can safely flat tow. (It's a good idea to leave some margin.)

If you're dolly or trailer towing:
Do the above, to get the MAXIMUM you could tow. Then, get the axle weights, especially the rear axle. The dolly or trailer tongue weight will add to the rear axle weight. On your door sticker or in the owner's manual, there should be a maximum allowable weight for the rear axle. Subtract the current weight from that number to get how much you can add to the rear axle before going over - that's your maximum allowable tongue weight. (As above, it's a good idea to leave some margin.) You would then need to know how much tongue weight your dolly/trailer is going to add. That should be somewhere in the 11-15% range (660lbs-900lbs) for a trailer - not sure for a dolly. Whatever that number is for you, add it to your current axle weight to see if you would go over. (Amazon sells tongue scales. I should really use mine to weigh my dolly tongue ...)

As a note:
The weight limits that are legally enforceable are the axle weight limits and tire weight limits. GVWR and GCWR are manufacturer recommendations, but generally speaking, they're ones we should all follow for safety.