Payload capacity: what the truck may carry, tongue included
Enter the payload printed on your door label, the people and the cargo: the calculator shows what is left for the tongue and the heaviest trailer it allows.
Payload left for the trailer tongue
1,225 lb
| Payload | 1,800 lb |
| People, cargo and hitch | 575 lb |
| Heaviest trailer at 10% tongue | 12,250 lb |
| At 12% tongue | 10,208 lb |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Sources and method · makers’ towing documents read October 20 to 21, 2026
Payload capacity is the weight a vehicle may carry on top of its own curb weight: the GVWR minus the curb weight. The tire and loading placard on the driver's door pillar prints it as the combined weight of occupants and cargo that should never be exceeded, and that figure belongs to your own vehicle, options included. Everything aboard counts: driver and passengers, luggage, the cooler, a bed cover, the receiver hardware and, once you hitch up, the tongue weight of the trailer. Payload varies far more than buyers expect. On the 2027 Ram 1500 chart it runs from 1,140 lb to 2,410 lb depending on cab, box, engine and trim. On a door label of, say, 1,800 lb, a family of 640 lb, 180 lb of gear and 75 lb of hitch leave 905 lb for the tongue, which caps the trailer at 9,050 lb at a 10% tongue, whatever the towing rating says.
How the makers define it
The legal anchor is the placard required by 49 CFR 571.110: it states the combined weight of occupants and cargo that should never be exceeded. The certification label next to it gives the GVWR (49 CFR 567.4). The makers describe payload in the same spirit. Ram's chart notes put it as an equation, the GVWR minus the base weight. Jeep's specification sheet says: "Payload is the maximum allowable weight of driver, passengers, cargo and options, rounded to the nearest 10 lbs". The base or curb weight assumes full fluids and standard equipment, so every option bolted on at the factory or later already eats into the figure before anyone climbs aboard.
The payloads the makers print
Only some documents print payload at all. Ram and Jeep give it per configuration, and so do Toyota's sheets for the Tundra and the Tacoma (the 4Runner and Highlander sheets stopped printing it after the 2024 and 2023 model years); Ford's F-150 guide gives one maximum in its performance table; Chevrolet's trailering guide and Ford's heavy duty tables leave it to the door label.
| Vehicle | Year | Highest payload printed | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ram 2500 | 2027 | 4,580 lb | per configuration |
| Ford F-150 | 2026 | 2,440 lb | performance table, one engine |
| Ram 1500 | 2027 | 2,410 lb | per configuration |
| Toyota Tundra | 2026 | 1,940 lb | per configuration |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2026 | 1,705 lb | per configuration |
| Jeep Grand Cherokee | 2027 | 1,280 lb | per configuration |
A maximum is the lightest, simplest build: on the Ram 1500 it is a Quad Cab work truck. Across the whole 2027 chart, the lightest and the heaviest builds differ by 1,270 lb of payload. Well-equipped crew cabs sit far lower, as the next table shows. Kia prints no payload for the Telluride, but its GVWR minus the curb weight of the X-Pro gives 1,395 lb.
| Ram 1500 cab | Lowest payload | Highest payload | Rows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quad Cab | 1,740 lb | 2,410 lb | 7 |
| Crew Cab | 1,140 lb | 1,960 lb | 24 |
What counts against it
Four things, every time you tow. People: weigh them, do not guess, and include the driver, since the placard figure covers every occupant. Cargo: everything in the cab and the bed, plus accessories added after the truck left the factory, such as a tonneau cover, a toolbox or a bed liner. Hitch hardware: Ram's heavy duty charts count 75 lb for a conventional hitch and 250 lb for a fifth-wheel hitch (Ram notes). Tongue weight: 10 to 15% of the loaded trailer on a ball hitch, 15 to 25% on a fifth wheel.
| Item (example) | Weight | Payload left |
|---|---|---|
| Door-label payload | 1,800 lb | 1,800 lb |
| Driver and three passengers | 640 lb | 1,160 lb |
| Gear in cab and bed | 180 lb | 980 lb |
| Hitch hardware | 75 lb | 905 lb |
In this example the tongue may weigh 905 lb at most. At 10% that means a trailer of 9,050 lb, and at 15% only 6,033 lb. A half-ton rated well above that never gets to use its rating with this load, which is a common way owners end up overloaded without noticing.
A fifth wheel makes the arithmetic harsher. Its pin puts 15 to 25% of the trailer on the bed, and the hitch itself is heavier: Ram counts 250 lb for it. Take an example fifth wheel of 12,000 lb: the pin alone weighs 1,800 lb to 3,000 lb, before the hitch and the passengers, enough on its own to use up the 1,800 lb example label. Fifth-wheel buyers should start from the payload, then look at the trailer rating.
Tongue weight a trailer will add to the load
Tongue weight for this trailer
650 lb to 975 lb
| At 10% of the trailer | 650 lb |
| At 15% of the trailer | 975 lb |
| Fifth wheel or gooseneck (pin weight) | 975 lb to 1,625 lb |
Finding and checking your own figure
Read the placard on the driver's door pillar first; it is specific to your vehicle as built. If it is missing or the truck has been modified, weigh the empty truck with a full tank on a public scale and subtract that from the GVWR on the certification label. Then weigh it again loaded for a trip, with the trailer hitched and the truck's axles on separate pads, and compare the total with the GVWR and each axle with its GAWR. The GVWR and GCWR page covers the combined limit, and the half-ton versus three-quarter-ton comparison shows how much more a heavier truck leaves.