Travel trailer weight: from dry weight to the weight you tow
Enter the dry weight from the brochure, the water you carry and your gear: the calculator gives the loaded weight to compare with your vehicle, and the tongue it will put on the hitch.
Loaded camper weight to compare with your rating
6,350 lb
| Dry weight | 5,200 lb |
| Water (8.34 lb a gallon) | 250 lb |
| Gear and supplies | 900 lb |
| Trailer GVWR, the most it may weigh | 7,000 lb |
| Tongue at 10 to 15% | 635 lb to 953 lb |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Sources and method · makers’ towing documents read October 20 to 21, 2026
The weight that counts for towing is the loaded weight of the travel trailer, as it leaves for a trip, not the dry weight printed in the brochure. Dry weight, also called unloaded vehicle weight, is the trailer as built, usually without water, propane, batteries or anything you pack. Fresh water alone adds 8.34 lb per gallon, so a 30-gallon tank holds 250 lb. Food, bedding, tools, chairs, a generator and the propane tanks add hundreds of pounds more. In the example worked below, a 5,200 lb dry trailer becomes 6,350 lb once loaded, a jump of 22%. The trailer's own GVWR, printed on its certification label, is the most it may ever weigh, and it is the safe figure to use when you cannot weigh it. Compare the loaded weight, never the dry one, with your vehicle's rating, and size the tongue at 10 to 15% of it.
Dry, loaded and GVWR
A travel trailer carries three weights worth knowing. The dry or unloaded weight is the starting point in brochures. The cargo capacity is what the builder allows you to add. The GVWR is the sum of the two, the most the loaded trailer may weigh, printed with its axle ratings on the certification label that every trailer, like every truck, must carry (49 CFR 567.4). Options fitted at the factory or by a seller, such as an awning, a second battery or an upgraded air conditioner, are often missing from the brochure's dry weight, so the real starting point is higher. A scale ticket for the loaded trailer settles it.
Water is the heavy part
Water weighs about 8.34 lb per US gallon at 60 °F, from the density the US Geological Survey gives (USGS). Fresh, gray and black tanks all count when full. Many owners travel with the fresh tank near empty and fill it at the campsite, which is one of the easiest ways to stay inside the ratings.
| Water carried (example) | Weight | Tongue share at 10% |
|---|---|---|
| 10 gallons | 83 lb | 8 lb |
| 20 gallons | 167 lb | 17 lb |
| 30 gallons | 250 lb | 25 lb |
| 40 gallons | 334 lb | 33 lb |
| 50 gallons | 417 lb | 42 lb |
Where the tank sits matters too. A tank ahead of the trailer axle adds to the tongue weight; a tank behind it lightens the tongue and can push the share below 10%, which is where sway begins. Check the tongue weight both full and empty.
From the example to a vehicle
Our example trailer weighs 5,200 lb dry, carries 30 gallons of water and 900 lb of gear, propane and batteries: 6,350 lb loaded. Among the vehicles covered, every configuration of the Ford F-250 Super Duty, Ram 2500, Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Toyota Tundra and Chevrolet Tahoe is rated for it, and the Ram 1500, Ford Expedition, Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma only in some configurations. The Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota 4Runner, Kia Telluride, Ford Explorer, Toyota Highlander, Ford Maverick and Toyota RAV4 cannot pull it at all. The tongue would weigh 635 lb to 953 lb, which the vehicle's payload must absorb along with everyone aboard.
Does this trailer need its own brakes?
Does this trailer need its own brakes?
Yes, by Ford and Chevrolet
| Ford (all models in its towing guide) | required above 1,500 lb |
| Chevrolet Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe | required above 2,000 lb |
| Other Chevrolet models (Colorado) | required above 1,500 lb |
Height and width count as well
A travel trailer is a tall box, and Ford limits the frontal area of the trailer for each vehicle, often with a higher figure once the tow package is fitted. The limits printed in Ford's towing guide:
| Vehicle | Frontal area limit, as printed |
|---|---|
| Ford Maverick | 29 sq. ft. without, 40 sq. ft. with 4K Tow Package (53Q) |
| Ford Ranger | 30 sq. ft. without, 55 sq. ft. with Trailer Tow Package |
| Ford Explorer | 40 sq. ft. with Trailer Tow Package |
| Ford Expedition | 55 sq. ft. without, 60 sq. ft. with Heavy-Duty Trailer Tow |
| Ford F-150 | 55 sq. ft. for tow ratings of 7,700 lbs. or less, 65 sq. ft. for 7,701 lbs. and greater, 75 sq. ft. 5th-wheel/gooseneck; Lightning 60 sq. ft |
Measure the trailer's height above the road and its width, and multiply. A trailer that fits the weight rating can still exceed the frontal area allowed without the tow package. Altitude takes its share as well: Ford reduces GVW and GCW by 2% per 1,000 ft, so at 7,000 ft the GVW and GCW a Ford may reach shrink by 14%, and a rig planned close to its limits at sea level is over them in the mountains.
Weighing before the first trip
Load the trailer as you will travel, then cross a public scale twice: once hitched, with the truck's axles and the trailer's axles on separate pads, and once with the truck alone. The trailer's axle reading plus the tongue, which is the rise in the truck's reading once hitched, is the loaded trailer weight; compare it with the trailer's GVWR and with your row on the vehicle page. The step-by-step calculation and the SUV page take it from there.