Towing Capacity Calculator
Work out how much trailer your truck's own GVWR and GCWR ratings allow, with the tongue-weight payload check.
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What this tool does
Work out how much trailer your truck's own GVWR and GCWR ratings allow, with the tongue-weight payload check. Arithmetic on ratings YOU enter from your vehicle's label/manual — there is deliberately no vehicle database. Hitch, axle, tire and legal limits also apply.
How to use the Towing Capacity Calculator
- Enter or select gross combination weight rating gcwr (lb).
- Enter or select gross vehicle weight rating gvwr (lb).
- Enter or select tow vehicle curb weight (lb).
- Enter or select passengers, cargo & hitch weight in truck (lb).
- Enter or select trailer weight to check (lb).
- Enter or select tongue weight (% of trailer weight).
- Read the calculated result; change any measurement to compare alternatives.
Formula
max trailer = GCWR − (curb + load); tongue = trailer × tongue%; remaining payload = GVWR − curb − load − tongue
- gcwr
- Gross combination weight rating GCWR (lb)
- gvwr
- Gross vehicle weight rating GVWR (lb)
- curb
- Tow vehicle curb weight (lb)
- load
- Passengers, cargo & hitch weight in truck (lb)
- trailer
- Trailer weight to check (lb)
- tonguePct
- Tongue weight (% of trailer weight)
Arithmetic on ratings YOU enter from your vehicle's label/manual — there is deliberately no vehicle database. Hitch, axle, tire and legal limits also apply.
Worked example
For towing capacity calculator, the following measurements illustrate the exact method: Gross combination weight rating GCWR (lb): 15000; Gross vehicle weight rating GVWR (lb): 7000; Tow vehicle curb weight (lb): 5500; Passengers, cargo & hitch weight in truck (lb): 600; Trailer weight to check (lb): 8000; Tongue weight (% of trailer weight): 10.
Inputs
- Gross combination weight rating GCWR (lb)15000
- Gross vehicle weight rating GVWR (lb)7000
- Tow vehicle curb weight (lb)5500
- Passengers, cargo & hitch weight in truck (lb)600
- Trailer weight to check (lb)8000
- Tongue weight (% of trailer weight)10
Result
- Maximum trailer weight by GCWR (lb)8,900
- Remaining payload after tongue weight (lb)100
- Tongue weight of entered trailer (lb)800
- Actual combined weight (lb)14,100
- Rating checkWithin both entered ratings
Results explained
- Maximum trailer weight by GCWR (lb)
- Maximum trailer weight by GCWR (lb) from the formula above. Arithmetic on ratings YOU enter from your vehicle's label/manual — there is deliberately no vehicle database. Hitch, axle, tire and legal limits also apply.
- Remaining payload after tongue weight (lb)
- Remaining payload after tongue weight (lb) from the formula above. Arithmetic on ratings YOU enter from your vehicle's label/manual — there is deliberately no vehicle database. Hitch, axle, tire and legal limits also apply.
- Tongue weight of entered trailer (lb)
- Tongue weight of entered trailer (lb) from the formula above. Arithmetic on ratings YOU enter from your vehicle's label/manual — there is deliberately no vehicle database. Hitch, axle, tire and legal limits also apply.
- Actual combined weight (lb)
- Actual combined weight (lb) from the formula above. Arithmetic on ratings YOU enter from your vehicle's label/manual — there is deliberately no vehicle database. Hitch, axle, tire and legal limits also apply.
- Rating check
- Rating check from the formula above. Arithmetic on ratings YOU enter from your vehicle's label/manual — there is deliberately no vehicle database. Hitch, axle, tire and legal limits also apply.
Frequently asked questions
GCWR minus the loaded tow vehicle: max trailer = GCWR − (curb weight + passengers, cargo and hitch gear you entered). With GCWR 15,000 lb and a 6,100 lb loaded truck, the ceiling is 8,900 lb.
On your truck's door-jamb certification label and in the owner's manual towing section. This tool has NO vehicle database on purpose — ratings vary by engine, axle and cab, so only your truck's own published ratings are safe to use.
Yes. The trailer's tongue weight (commonly about 10% of trailer weight for a conventional hitch) sits on the truck and must fit inside GVWR along with the truck, passengers and cargo. The entered trailer's tongue load is checked in the remaining-payload output.
Both must hold: the GCWR check limits the combined rig, the GVWR/payload check limits what the truck itself carries. The lower effective limit governs, and exceeding either is unsafe and can void coverage.
Hitch and ball ratings, axle and tire load ratings, trailer brakes and state law, and frontal-area limits in some manuals. Treat this arithmetic as the first screen, not the whole answer.