GVWR vs GCWR: the truck alone, and the whole rig
Enter a GCWR and a curb weight, then the people and cargo: the calculator returns the heaviest trailer the combined rating leaves. The defaults are the 2027 Ram 1500 row with the top trailer rating.
Heaviest trailer the GCWR allows
11,398 lb
| GCWR | 17,000 lb |
| Vehicle as loaded | 5,602 lb |
| Hitch hardware counted | 75 lb |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Sources and method · makers’ towing documents read October 20 to 21, 2026
The GVWR, gross vehicle weight rating, is the most the truck itself may weigh, loaded with people, cargo, hitch hardware and the tongue weight of the trailer. It is printed on the certification label on the door pillar, together with the front and rear axle ratings. The GCWR, gross combined weight rating, is the most the truck and the loaded trailer may weigh together; the maker prints it in its towing guide. On the 2027 Ram 1500 row that reaches 11,530 lb, the GVWR is 6,900 lb and the GCWR 17,000 lb, with a base weight of 5,027 lb. The two limits fail in different ways. A heavy tongue and a full cab can push the truck over its GVWR with a trailer well under the rating. A heavy trailer behind a loaded truck can break the GCWR while the truck itself is fine. A legal tow respects both, and the axle ratings too.
Where each rating is written
Federal rules require every vehicle to carry a certification label listing its GVWR and the gross axle weight rating, GAWR, of each axle (49 CFR 567.4). That label sits on the driver's door edge or pillar and describes your own truck, options included. Next to it, the tire and loading placard states the combined weight of occupants and cargo that should never be exceeded (49 CFR 571.110), which is the payload in plain words. The GCWR is not on either label: it lives in the maker's towing guide or chart, one value per configuration, and it changes with the engine and the axle ratio.
One Ram row, every number
Ram is the only maker here that prints all of them on one line, axle ratings included (Toyota's Tundra sheet comes close, without the axles), which makes its charts a good place to see how they relate. The table gives the best-rated row of each engine for 2027 (Ram chart).
| Engine | Trailer rating | GVWR | GCWR | Base weight | Payload | Rear GAWR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0L Hurricane twin-turbo I6 | 11,530 lb | 6,900 lb | 17,000 lb | 5,027 lb | 1,870 lb | 4,100 lb |
| 5.7L HEMI V8 | 11,370 lb | 6,900 lb | 17,000 lb | 5,215 lb | 1,680 lb | 4,100 lb |
| 3.0L Hurricane HO twin-turbo I6 | 9,240 lb | 7,100 lb | 15,520 lb | 5,651 lb | 1,450 lb | 4,100 lb |
| 6.2L supercharged HEMI V8 | 8,580 lb | 7,400 lb | 15,200 lb | 6,258 lb | 1,140 lb | 4,200 lb |
| 3.6L Pentastar V6 eTorque | 8,100 lb | 7,200 lb | 13,370 lb | 4,790 lb | 2,410 lb | 4,100 lb |
| 6.4L HEMI V8 | 7,460 lb | 7,050 lb | 13,850 lb | 5,888 lb | 1,160 lb | 4,200 lb |
Take the first row. The GVWR minus the base weight, 6,900 lb minus 5,027 lb, gives 1,873 lb, and Ram prints a payload of 1,870 lb: the chart notes define payload as GVWR minus base weight, rounded to the nearest 10 lb. The GCWR minus the base weight minus the trailer rating leaves 443 lb. That remainder is what Ram's formula reserves for the occupants and equipment: the notes of its 2025 chart build the combined weight from the base weight, the options, the tow package, the maximum trailer and 300 lb for driver and passenger.
How Ford and Chevrolet get from GCWR to rating
Ford and Chevrolet print the GCWR and the trailer rating but no curb weight per row. Chevrolet states the rule on page 7 of its trailering guide: the maximum trailer weight is the GCWR minus the curb weight, with 150 lb each for a driver and a front passenger. Read backwards, the Silverado 1500 row rated 13,300 lb with a GCWR of 19,000 lb implies a curb weight of 5,400 lb. Every pound you add beyond those two people, and every option heavier than the base build, comes straight off the trailer you may pull. The checker recovers the curb weight this way when the guide prints none.
Which one stops you first
Back to the Ram row, with an example load: a 10,000 lb trailer, under the 11,530 lb rating, with 1,200 lb on the tongue, 500 lb of people and 200 lb of cargo. The truck then weighs 7,002 lb against its GVWR of 6,900 lb: over by 102 lb, and the 1,975 lb it carries also exceeds the 1,870 lb payload. The whole rig weighs 15,802 lb against a GCWR of 17,000 lb: within. The GVWR breaks first because the tongue and the people sit on the truck. Move weight out of the cab and into the trailer, keeping the tongue in range, and the GCWR becomes the limit instead. That trade-off is why the tongue weight matters for both ratings.
Tongue weight that lands on the GVWR
Tongue weight for this trailer
1,000 lb to 1,500 lb
| Your tongue share | 12.0% (in range) |
| At 10% of the trailer | 1,000 lb |
| At 15% of the trailer | 1,500 lb |
| Fifth wheel or gooseneck (pin weight) | 1,500 lb to 2,500 lb |
Altitude and the axle ratings
Ford asks owners to reduce GVW and GCW by 2% for every 1,000 ft of elevation (Ford guide, p. 9). On a 17,000 lb combined rating, a pass at 5,000 ft would take 1,700 lb off, if the same rule applied to that truck; Ford states it for its own vehicles. The axle ratings are the last check: the rear GAWR in the table caps the weight on the rear axle, which carries most of the tongue. A truck can be under its GVWR and still over its rear GAWR with a heavy tongue and a loaded bed. A public scale with separate pads gives the axle weights. The payload page and the step-by-step calculation take it from there.