PowerBoost Payload - What Am I Missing?

[dafish]

Yea, you can sure screw up a PB payload wise, but short of really being nuts (and keeping the sunroof out of them) most seem to have 1430lbs or so of payload. That seems enough. Question: What am I missing?

My thoughts:
* I plan on towing a TT w/a max weight rating of 7klbs. Let's just assume 800lbs of tongue (likely not even possible to get to).
* I expect to have my wife, cats, a small cooler, and myself in truck at 500lbs
* I expect to have 50lbs of unplanned crap and 100lbs in a WD hitch.
* Let's assume I can move 200lbs of payload back onto the trailer via the WD hitch.

I get 1,250 lbs. Not a lot, but I'm just not gonna put another 200lbs in the truck.

Seems adequate. Is there something wrong w/my math?

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[HammaMan]

Moon roof 64lbs
Bed liner 45lbs
Lock in bed cleats 8lbs (come with bed utility package)
running boards, 40lbs (powered 57lbs)
max tow 26lbs
tow mirrors +15lbs
Skid plates 28lbs
tailgate step 40lbs (also bed utility package inclusive)
20" wheels 33lbs
FX4 (believe it's ~26lbs)

Which trim are you after?

I have a well-optioned XLT PB -- had the bed liner, bed utility package, FX4 and movable pedals not been on it, it'd be 1600lbs stickered.

 

[dafish]

I'm looking at KR and Platinums. Keep the moonroof out and I've not seen anything under 1400, most 1430 or so. Mind you I avoid and Fx4 and max tow. I thought FX4 included skid plates, yes?

I seem to recall seeing the dual moon roofs at something like 140lbs, but that's memory for you.

 

[HammaMan]

4x4 includes something, FX4 includes another. Never did see a completed options mass sheet. Quite a few TBA on it.

I believe all KR and plats have the self-closing gate w/ steps due to including the bed utility package. No replacement for the scales though so you know what you're working with. Some of the little things are hard to shed w/ out killing overall convivence.

 

[Snakebitten]

For me, my KingRanch Powerboost has a tad more Payload than my 2018 KingRanch did because I no longer carry, or load unload my Yamaha 3000 generator and the 5 Gallon gas can.

And actually I'm ahead because I purposely skipped the Panorama roof this time.

It's win win win for my use case.
And I live in an RV full time, so I have ample use for the generator.

 

[HammaMan]

For me, my KingRanch Powerboost has a tad more Payload than my 2018 KingRanch did because I no longer carry, or load unload my Yamaha 3000 generator and the 5 Gallon gas can.

7.2kW is worth every bit of its 14lbs.

 

[Snakebitten]

7.2kW is worth every bit of its 14lbs.

It's been so much more than a novelty or occasion power outage power source.
I no longer forget that I have it as a tool.

 

[wrgrimes]

If you are looking at 2024, forget KR and above. Moon roof, power running boards, bed utility, 14 speaker stereo and 4x4 are all standard plus power pedals, office, power tilt steering wheel, etc.
1430# unlikely!
My 2WD 2023 standard KR is around 1800# (sticker 1787#, scale 1850#).
HammaMan has hit the high points well from the 2021 information.
4x4 290#
Moon roof 64#
Bed utility around 50#
power running boards +17#
1787-421=1366# at best.
If you want a 2024 PowerBoost and 1400#- guessing a lightly optioned XLT or no option Lariat.

 

[Davexxxx]

Yea, you can sure screw up a PB payload wise, but short of really being nuts (and keeping the sunroof out of them) most seem to have 1430lbs or so of payload. That seems enough. Question: What am I missing?

My thoughts:
* I plan on towing a TT w/a max weight rating of 7klbs. Let's just assume 800lbs of tongue (likely not even possible to get to).
* I expect to have my wife, cats, a small cooler, and myself in truck at 500lbs
* I expect to have 50lbs of unplanned crap and 100lbs in a WD hitch.
* Let's assume I can move 200lbs of payload back onto the trailer via the WD hitch.

I get 1,250 lbs. Not a lot, but I'm just not gonna put another 200lbs in the truck.

Seems adequate. Is there something wrong w/my math?

I think you're likely light in your expected tongue weight.

Published unloaded trailer weights are notoriously optimistic.

As for your truck, with careful options selection (= nothing heavy sans 4wd), mine has 1658lbs of payload and with careful shopping of after mkt options, added a tonneau, bed and tailgate mat, mud flaps and floor mats for 64 more lbs.

 

[dafish]

I shall keep those things in mind. Of course I also used the maximum gross weight, which I'd best not break, then used almost 12% of this worst case number for tongue weight. It seems a pretty safe set of numbers.

I'll have to pick TT to get more exact numbers, but above ore worst case of the candidates.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[SomebodyInGNV]

I shall keep those things in mind. Of course I also used the maximum gross weight, which I'd best not break, then used almost 12% of this worst case number for tongue weight. It seems a pretty safe set of numbers.

I'll have to pick TT to get more exact numbers, but above ore worst case of the candidates.

Normal range for tongue weight is 10%-15%, so 12% is not worst case. My 6.8K Mini-Lite is usually over 900#, i.e., 13%+. If I have to carry water, it's higher.

 

[Aron]

Normal range for tongue weight is 10%-15%, so 12% is not worst case. My 6.8K Mini-Lite is usually over 900#, i.e., 13%+. If I have to carry water, it's higher.

Seconded. I would recommend planning for 12-15% to begin with, and adjust after you’ve towed with it some. My 6500lb travel trailer tends to have 850-950 tongue weight, depending on how much gear we load in for the trip and where we stash it.

That being said, @dafish ’s basic math doesn’t sound far off. I would assume another couple of hundred pounds imparted by the tongue of a 7k trailer, but if it’s only two of you in the truck, it should be doable. You can find many trucks out there with payload ratings in the 1400-1500 range. Avoid the moonroof, power steps, big wheels/tires, and bed utility package to save on payload.

 

[dafish]

Thanks for the input!

FYI, and it's no biggie, but I didn't think 12% was worst case. I said I used "worst case trailer weight"

Still, I might as well take advise, so I suppose I'll just add another 100 lbs to my potential TT load.

Here, BTW, is an example of what I'm expecting and why:
XLS 22MLE Tongue Weight (mygrandrv.com)

It is very interesting guy w/TT's are seeing high tongue weights. I keep hearing from guys complaining it's hard to get as much tongue weight on them as they want, so you can imagine my surprise. I'd already been working around "how to get more tongue weight" and ya'll are suggesting you've more than you want. I believe this is trailer floorplan differences. Guess I need to look deeper (heavy sigh). At this time the models I'm looking at literally decrease tongue as you add water. In fact, a buddy adds water to unload to his desired tongue weight as he's more trailer capacity than he needs.

Water: That's already on the list of "where is it" in the decision tree. So is "how many batteries, how many LP tanks, and what kind of batteries are they.

Thanks guys!

 

[Aron]

Thanks for the input!

FYI, and it's no biggie, but I didn't think 12% was worst case. I said I used "worst case trailer weight"

Still, I might as well take advise, so I suppose I'll just add another 100 lbs to my potential TT load.

Here, BTW, is an example of what I'm expecting and why:
XLS 22MLE Tongue Weight (mygrandrv.com)

It is very interesting guy w/TT's are seeing high tongue weights. I keep hearing from guys complaining it's hard to get as much tongue weight on them as they want, so you can imagine my surprise. I'd already been working around "how to get more tongue weight" and ya'll are suggesting you've more than you want. I believe this is trailer floorplan differences. Guess I need to look deeper (heavy sigh). At this time the models I'm looking at literally decrease tongue as you add water. In fact, a buddy adds water to unload to his desired tongue weight as he's more trailer capacity than he needs.

Water: That's already on the list of "where is it" in the decision tree. So is "how many batteries, how many LP tanks, and what kind of batteries are they.

Thanks guys!

That's absolutely spot on! WHERE the weight is is as important as the weight itself (often more important). Think of trailers like mobile see-saws...putting 500 lbs of water right over the trailer axle won't really have much effect on tongue weight at all. On the other hand, put just 100 lbs of water at the extreme front or rear of the trailer and you're likely to see that tongue weight fluctuate by hundreds of pounds (meaning more effective tongue weight than the added weight itself) due to the principle of leverage, with the trailer axles being the fulcrum. Water is a particularly tricky one to judge, because the water tanks in many trailers are concealed, so you kind of have to guess where the tanks are positioned.

The unloaded vehicle weights and unloaded tongue weights published by trailer manufacturers are often nearly useless (bordering on actively misleading), since those numbers are generally so far off from reality once you include just the other stuff that comes with the trailer from the factory (battery, LP tanks, solar panels, etc.). Loading other personal gear into the trailer (dishes, clothes, bikes, etc.) will also change the trailer balance pretty significantly, but that's completely dependent upon where that gear is located. Water is generally the worst offender: Depending upon where the fresh water tanks are, filling those will likely have a HUGE effect on your tongue weight because the see-saw balance shifts. Water weights about 8.5 lbs per gallon, so it adds up quickly.

The reason why the general recommendation is to ensure that 10-15% of trailer weight is carried by the hitch is to ensure that the trailer is significantly over-weighted towards the front while in motion. Once you get moving and wind resistance becomes a dynamic factor pushing against this weight, you still want enough total force to keep pushing the tongue down, which in turn keeps your truck's wheels engaged with the ground properly. If you start with a neutrally-balanced trailer (or worse, a trailer that is back-heavy), the wind resistance will push the nose of the trailer up and probably inducing unrecoverable sway, plus it could reduce the amount of friction between your truck's tires and the road, resulting in a very bad day.

It's a good all-purpose generalization when buying trailers that you'll eventually load the trailer up to it's full weight capacity/GVWR (probably a lot sooner than you think), and therefore should plan to be able to safely carry 10-15% of that number on the truck's hitch.

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