Hi Leslie,
First, we commend you for digging into this and sorting it out beforehand. Good for you.
I’ll ask a few questions to clarify some details and then comment on some things. This ended up being longer than expected, but I touched on many points to consider. Read over, add answers to the questions, and feel free to ask any questions I stated for clarification.
Some comments:
Both of your trucks are half-ton trucks. Both are terrific trucks within their capacity. As you have already found out, being able to pull the camper is very different than being able to hold up the weights and control a large travel trailer (TT).
These newer ½ ton trucks with a small V6 turbo-charged engine sure can create the power; the issue is payload and rear axle ratings.
Let’s look at some of your assumptions. The payload in the truck as this applies to both trucks. You stated this:
GVWR and Payload
Passengers 400
Cargo - Camping Gear 500
Total payload (w/o hitch weight) 900
Hitch Weight of trailer 1,000
Total payload (hitched up) 1,900
Since you selected a bunkhouse camper, that suggests kids or grandkids may be involved. Please confirm this yes/no? The only reason I ask is that it will pertain to extra cargo weight needed for the kids in the camper. The 400# of passengers suggest small child/children with a mom and dad. The 400# cargo number is what it is, and it sounds good.
I see you added 500# of truck cargo weight. This is a good, estimated number. I carry 500# of stuff, and we all have our stuff. Our “stuff” all adds up: tools, firewood, lawn chairs, grills, bikes, etc.
The 1,000 # of loaded camper hitch weight, how did you arrive at this number? Please provide the details, as it points to being low for a loaded 2003 T-267SR when you stated Full Water weight on the camper.
You listed the F150 with a max limit of 1,000# hitch weight. I agree, as Ford may limit it to align with the rear axle capacity. Between payload, axles, and truck receiver ratings, the F150 will be ruled out as it cannot handle the weights and be under the truck ratings.
The Chevy 1500 work truck starts off weighing much less, which does help the truck weight issues. The F150 with all the goodies has a curb weight of 1,112# heavier than the Chevy. The Chevy work truck has 812# more payload available.
Something else stuck out between the two trucks, the GCWR, and I “think” I know part of why. The 2012 F150 at that time was rated at 17,100#. And the 2020 Chevy at 15,000#. The two trucks most likely had different towing specs to follow other than Ford and GM. The F150 was pre-2013, and the Chevy was post-2013. In 2013, SAE issued SAE J2807, a new guide for towing standards on creating the ratings. Before this, all the manufacturers created their way of declaring the ratings. Not all the truck manufacturers adopted the new guide initially. It took a while, and some had to lower the tow ratings from a prior year. That is now old news; just mentioning it as FYI as both trucks are rated to tow just under a 10,000# trailer with all the fine print disclaimers on how to obtain that value. See here as one place for more on the SAE J2807
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1502-sae-j2807-tow-tests-the-standard/
There is something that TTs bring along that needs to be reflected in the tow ratings: the frontal area and what tow rating is declared against what front area of the camper is exposed to the wind. Some manufacturers use 60 sq. feet as the point where towing performances will degrade regardless of weight. Wind drag is real. Most larger campers exceed this frontal area spec. The only way to compensate for it, is to have excess pulling capacity (be under the GCWR excess). More is better; in your setup, 1,500 to 2500# excess is a good thing if you load to obtain it. The truck will work less hard, and the tow will be more enjoyable when hills come your way.
Let’s talk about the camper weight estimates. You stated this:
RV GVWR
Dry Weight 5,730
Batteries 100
Camping Gear 500
Food/h20/clothes 300
Gross Weight Est. 6,630
GVWR 8,600
RV Avail. 1,970
You will need some adjustments to this, I’ll explain. Sunline uses the dry weight in their brochures, and yes, 5,730# is what they stated for your camper. This is for a stock camper without added options, battery, or LP gas in the tanks. Full Fresh water is also not included in the dry weight.
The 2003 T267SR is shown to have a 32-gallon fresh “system”. 32 gal. x 8.3/gal = 266# of water weight when the “system” is full. Sunline was good to us; they supplied a good steel cradle under the fresh tank if the tanks were under the camper to be able to tow with full fresh water to camp. You mentioned Full water before, and it seems to be stated in the h20 value also, but 300# is listed, and 266# is just water, leaving only 34# for food and clothes. I suspect you may not have realized that full fresh water is added cargo and not part of dry weight. If you need to tow with full fresh, add it to your weights.
Your battery estimate at 100# is good.
The LP gas in the two, 30# tanks will add 63# and most on the tongue weight. So add that this weight also.
Cargo, you split cargo at 500# and then 300# for food/h20/clothes. This would be 800#. That 800# estimate is not a bad one (other than the full water issue), but in time, it may grow as more campouts come. It is common for camper couples to add 1,000# of cargo from home to the camper. We all have our stuff, and it comes in small items, but it all adds up. Kids also have their own needs and, in time, add extra.
Added options, spare tire, power tongue jack, and crank down stabilizers are options, and if yours has them, they add weight also. The items I listed are not in the dry catalog weight.
You will need a weight distribution hitch (WD), part of this weight adds to the truck and some to the camper. While the truck will bear most of the dead weight of the WD hitch, the camper could gain 20 to 30# TW from it.
None of those extra weights above will put you over the camper GVWR, but it affects the loaded camper tongue weight, affecting the truck payload, rear axle, and truck receiver. The dry tongue weight is 750# on an empty stock model. Then add the 100# battery and the 63# LP gas = 913#, and this is with no gear in the camper. It will not take much to be above 1,000# loaded tongue weight.
You can only load cargo in the areas Sunline provided. You can store a fair amount of cargo in the front bedroom, under the bed and cabinets. A good percentage of this added weight goes to the tongue weight. The kitchen weight is over the axles, which adds GVW but does not always add tongue weight. Storage behind the rear axle reduces some tongue weight; how much depends on how much it weighs and how far behind the axles. It is a balancing act, but you want 12% to 15% tongue weight (TW) per loaded GVW to create a stable towing camper. 10% TW is the bottom limit, but be careful not to get that close as LP tanks go empty, and at times, extra weight is added to the back of the camper or removed from the front. Targeting 12% and up allows some freedom to shift cargo weights and still have stable towing.
Carrying full fresh water is a wild card with loaded TW. Only a few floor plans have the fresh tank over the axles, which does not add or subtract from TW. I had a 2004 T2499 where the fresh tanks were half away between the front axle and the tow ball. When I filled our the 42-gallon fresh system (349#), it added 200# extra TW. If you plan on carrying fresh water, you need to understand what the full fresh system does to TW. I do not know where your fresh tank is located, do you? I can help calculate the TW difference if needed, but I will need some dimensions from the camper to do this if we get to that.
Your estimated loaded tongue weight could be 1,100 to 1,200# when loaded with the 800# weights you mentioned. This estimate does not include freshwater, as we have to determine whether it adds extra weight or not. The point is, the odds are high that you will have more than a 1,000# loaded TW, and what does that do to the truck?
Truck receiver, what does the sticker on the back of the Chevy state as max weight in weight distribution mode? GM has always had a sticker there in the past.
Can the 500# cargo in the truck bed be lowered? It can help get you closer to the Chevy, making this work. I will say this: you will be at the maximum ratings on the truck for GVWR and possibly the rear axle. The truck is rated for a full load; you are just going to be right there.
You will not be able to load the camper to the full 8,600# GVWR and stay within the truck ratings. Some day, if you need to load that much cargo, that could be the time a 3/4 ton truck comes.
The only way to get this estimate closer is to weigh the truck. Fuel it up, go to a truck scale, and get it weighed axle by axle. This gives you a true with added options for the weight the truck is starting at. Then you know where you are starting from.
You mentioned that the TT could weigh more than the truck; yes, this does happen. While an older guideline was to have the trailer weigh less than the truck, that guideline only sometimes happens on modern-day trucks. Even Ford and Chevy show this in the tow ratings. The truck is rated to tow just under a 10,000# trailer on an empty truck plus driver, yet the truck GVW is much less than the trailer tow rating. The trailer must have good balance on TW %; the tires need to be inflated correctly and stiff enough for towing; a WD hitch is needed and properly set; a WD hitch with integrated anti-sway control is better; the trailer brakes have to be in good working order, and the whole system needs to be optimized to not be over their limits.
As FYI, my F350 loaded to go camping by itself is less than our big T-310SR TT loaded. But when the trailer and truck are hitched, and the WD hitch is engaged, the axle weights are heavier on the truck than unhitched, and it helps with traction and steering control. That older guideline may have been made when full-sized cars towed trailers with no WD hitch. The car's front end was too far unloaded in this case, and the trailer could push the car around more easily.
Hope this helps
John
