Towing and Payload Checker
Type in the numbers from your truck's door-jamb labels and your trailer's weight sticker, and this page does the arithmetic a dealer usually skips: it estimates tongue or pin weight at a percentage you control, subtracts people, cargo, the hitch itself and that tongue weight from the truck's payload, checks the trailer against the tow rating and, if you enter one, the combination against GCWR. It is for anyone matching a truck to a travel trailer or fifth wheel before buying, or wondering why the back of the truck sags. Everything is shown step by step so you can check it, and the verdict says marginal rather than pass when you are inside 10 per cent of a limit. Weights are in pounds.
Enter the truck GVWR, payload (or curb weight), tow rating and trailer weight to see the check.
How it works, how to use it, and what it does not cover
The checker runs four tests, in the order they usually fail. First it works out tongue weight (pin weight on a fifth wheel) as a percentage of the trailer weight you entered: the default is 13 per cent for a travel trailer and 20 per cent for a fifth wheel, inside the 10 to 15 and 15 to 25 per cent bands that hitch makers publish. If you have scaled the tongue, type the real number and it overrides the percentage. Second it finds available payload: the figure on the Tire and Loading label if you have it, or GVWR minus curb weight if you only know the latter. Then it adds up everything that consumes payload, which is passengers, cargo, the hitch hardware itself and the tongue weight, and reports what is left. Third it compares the trailer weight with the maximum tow rating. Fourth, if you entered a GCWR, it checks that the truck at its loaded weight plus the trailer stays under it.
The verdict is over if any test fails, marginal if everything passes but you are within 10 per cent of payload or tow rating (or 5 per cent of GCWR), and pass otherwise. Each line of arithmetic is printed.
To use it well, get the inputs from the right places. GVWR and GCWR-related data are on the Safety Certification label on the driver's door jamb; payload is on the separate yellow Tire and Loading label beside it, and the federal placard rule requires the sentence "the combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed". That label figure already accounts for your truck's options and is the number that matters, not the brochure maximum: Ford's 2026 F-150 tops out at 13,500 lb towing and 2,440 lb payload only in specific configurations. For the trailer, use the loaded weight if you have been across a scale, otherwise its GVWR, because unloaded figures leave out water, propane, batteries and everything you own.
Enter people as they will actually ride, including the driver. Hitch hardware is easy to forget: a weight-distributing head and bars are commonly around 100 lb and a fifth-wheel hitch 150 to 250 lb, and all of it is payload.
What it does not cover: axle ratings (GAWR), which the rear axle can exceed while total payload is fine; tire load ratings, which the RV Safety and Education Foundation notes can be overloaded at one wheel position while every gross rating is met; hitch receiver and ball ratings, which have their own tongue-weight limits; and altitude or heat derating some manufacturers apply. It cannot tell you your tow rating; read that from the manufacturer's towing guide for your engine, axle ratio, cab and bed. The percentages are planning defaults, not measurements. Nothing here replaces a trip across a CAT scale with the rig loaded the way you travel, which costs $15.25 and settles every question this page can only estimate.
Data last verified 2026-10-28. Prices, hours and rules change; confirm with the official source before you go.
Sources
- Ford towing dictionary: GVWR, curb weight, payload includes tongue weight, door-jamb label
- 49 CFR 571.110 (FMVSS 110): Tire and Loading Information placard wording and location
- Equal-i-zer hitch FAQ: tongue weight usually 10 to 15 per cent of trailer weight
- etrailer: how to determine tongue weight (10 to 15 per cent; scale subtraction method)
- Reese 30160 fifth-wheel hitch manual: 15 to 25 per cent of trailer weight on the pin
- Ford F-150 towing page: 2026 max available towing 13,500 lb and payload 2,440 lb vary by configuration
- Jayco Jay Flight SLX 260BH: UVW 4,745 lb, dry hitch 540 lb, GVWR 6,500 lb
- Grand Design Reflection 303RLS spec sheet: UVW 10,100 lb, hitch 1,980 lb (Rev. 11.05.24)
- Grand Design Imagine 2970RL spec sheet: UVW 7,880 lb, hitch 809 lb
- CAT Scale: how to weigh a truck and trailer; $15.25 first weigh
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Why does the checker care about payload more than the tow rating?
Because payload runs out first on almost every half-ton and many three-quarter-ton trucks. The tow rating assumes a nearly empty truck. Every pound of people, dogs, firewood, a weight-distributing hitch and, above all, the trailer tongue or pin weight comes out of the same payload number printed on the driver-door Tire and Loading label. Ford's own towing dictionary defines payload as cargo plus passengers plus the tongue weight when towing. A truck rated to tow 11,000 lb with a 1,600 lb payload sticker cannot carry the 1,100 lb tongue of an 8,500 lb trailer plus a family and gear.
Where do I find my truck's real payload?
On the yellow-and-white Tire and Loading Information label on the driver's door jamb (the B-pillar). Federal rule FMVSS 110 requires it to say "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed XXX lb". That figure is for your truck as built, with its options, and it is usually several hundred pounds lower than the brochure maximum. If you cannot read the label, GVWR minus the truck's actual scaled weight with a full tank gives the same thing. Do not use a brochure or dealer "up to" number.
What tongue weight percentage should I use?
For a conventional travel trailer, 10 to 15 per cent of the loaded trailer weight; hitch makers such as Equal-i-zer say most trailers land in that band and etrailer gives the same range. For a fifth wheel, 15 to 25 per cent pin weight, which is the figure in Reese's fifth-wheel hitch manual. Real trailers vary: a Jayco Jay Flight SLX 260BH lists a dry hitch weight of 540 lb on a 4,745 lb unloaded weight (11.4 per cent), and a Grand Design Reflection 303RLS lists 1,980 lb on 10,100 lb (19.6 per cent). Start with the brochure percentage, then weigh the loaded trailer because batteries, propane and a loaded front pass-through all add to the hitch.
Should I enter the trailer's GVWR or its dry weight?
Enter the loaded weight you will actually tow, and if you do not know it, use the trailer's GVWR. Dry or unloaded vehicle weight (UVW) leaves out water, propane, batteries, dealer-installed options and everything you pack, which together often add 1,000 to 2,000 lb. Grand Design's spec sheets say plainly that UVW and hitch weights are based on the average weight of the standard build. Running the check at GVWR tells you whether the combination works on the worst day; running it at a scaled weight tells you how it works today.
What does "marginal" mean in the verdict?
Every rating is met, but with less than 10 per cent of payload left over, or the trailer is within 10 per cent of the maximum tow rating, or the combination is within 5 per cent of GCWR if you entered one. Nothing is illegal about running at 95 per cent of a rating, but the inputs on this page are estimates until you have been across a scale, and a 13 per cent tongue that turns out to be 15 per cent is enough to tip a marginal setup over. Treat marginal as "go weigh it before you buy or before the long trip".