Tow Calculator is a responsive web application to help you understand if your tow vehicle can safely tow a trailer. This can also help you understand if your tow vehicle or trailer runs the risk of being overloaded and informs you where you re-distribute payload.
This web application can be used in the following ways:
- Shop for a new truck
- Shop for a new trailer
- Ensure you are not overloading the tow vehicle or the trailer
- Help you visualize what, if any, payload can be re-distributed between the tow vehicle and/or trailer to create a safer towing experience.
This application was created by Abrom Douglas and it can be used by anyone free of charge.
A simple, yet effective, calculator to help visualize towing capabilities.
Created and open sourced originally in November 2023.
I love math and numbers and I happen to tow a ~30 foot travel trailer. I wanted to create a tool that I could easily and quickly reference to understand my own towing limits and capabilities. This is a serverless web application that is currently hosting using Vercel. Therefore the cost of ownership is little to none. Hopefully this calculator helps anyone needing to tow something.
Using the application is extremely easy- just enter your data about your tow vehicle, trailer, and ensure everything is balanced. See the How to use section below are more detailed instructions.
This is a personal web application created by Abrom Douglas to help you understand if you're theoretically towing your RV safely. Not too long ago my wife and I sold our Class C motorhome and purchased a travel trailer. I have towed a trailer maybe 3 times in my life, but nothing even close to a ~30' travel trailer. It's certainly a lot to understand about towing safely and ensuring you're not overloading your tow vehicle or the trailer.
I also have been learning React and Typescript over the years and this was a perfect opportunity to create a simple web app using React and Typescript and happens to be extremely useful. I figured to open source the web app, in case there’s a community of developers in a similar situation as I and who wants to contribute to the application or even take what I started and create something even better on their own. Otherwise, feel free to open an issue if there’s a bug or for a new feature.
Using the Tow Calculator is very simple- it's a matter of you entering specification data (e.g. GVWR, GCWR, etc.) about your tow vehicle and what you're towing, then letting the calculator do the rest.
- Gather all specification data for your tow vehicle and trailer
- Enter all data in the Tow Calculator, respectively per vehicle (i.e. truck & RV)
- Review data
The most important numbers to focus on after entering all data are the “Truck Available Payload”, “RV Available Payload”, and the “GCVW Available”. You want to ensure none of these values are a negative number. Otherwise, something is over the limits and you will need to adjust accordingly
This is a great tool to also use when shopping for either a truck or trailer. For example, if you’re looking at an new awesome 5th wheel trailer and currently own a ½ truck, you may want to verify you can actually safely tow the 5th wheel. Otherwise, this tool can help identify for you that you may need a different tow vehicle or get something smaller to tow.
Unfortunately, car dealerships don’t always do right by their customers. For example, you may have seen on TV that a new Ford F-150 can tow “up to 13,000 pounds” and the new 32’ 5th wheel trailer you’re looking at has a GVWR of 12,000 pounds. Without hesitation, the car salesman will tell you that you can tow that with no issues. However, it’s very likely the pin weight of that 5th wheel weighs close to 1,800 pounds. And if your ½ ton truck only has 1,700 lbs of payload capacity- you have a problem and will absolutely not be able to tow that 5th wheel! Not to mention, you more than likely would blow past the GCWR of the truck.
In summary, make sure to do your homework and use the Tow Calculator!
- Curb Weight: Is the weight of a vehicle without passengers or cargo, but with standard equipment, fluids, and a full tank of fuel.
- Fifth Wheel: A type of large travel trailer that is towed by a pickup truck using a specialized hitch in the bed of the truck, known for its spacious living accommodations and stability
- GAWR: Gross Axle Weight Rating) is the maximum weight either axle can carry individually – and there will be a different rating for both the front and rear axles
- GCWR: (Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating) is the maximum allowable combined weight of a towing vehicle and its attached trailer, including cargo and passengers
- GVWR: (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is the maximum weight limit set by the manufacturer for a single vehicle, including its weight, passengers, fuel, and cargo.
- Travel Trailer: A towable recreational vehicle (RV) that provides living quarters for travel and camping. Unlike motorhomes, travel trailers do not have their own motor and must be towed by another vehicle, such as a truck or SUV
The Curt website has a full exhaustive list of towing terms: https://www.curtmfg.com/glossary.
Please keep in mind using the Tow Calculator solely is not recommended. Things such as individual axle weight ratings are not considered as well as the max hitch weight rating of the tow vehicle (if pulling a travel trailer). These items need to also be considered if you plan to tow something safely. It’s also highly recommended that you use a CAT scale to fully understand the front & rear axle weight of your tow vehicle and the trailer weight.
