Free RV tool
Can My Truck Tow It?
A free checker for recreational vehicles (RVs) you tow: travel trailers and fifth wheels. Type in the numbers from your truck’s door sticker and your RV’s sticker, and we’ll show you which limit you reach first, in plain words. All weights are in pounds (lbs).
1. Your RV
How do you want to give the RV’s weight?
On the RV's sticker, usually by the entry door or on the front left side. GVWR is the most the RV may weigh loaded, so it is the safest number to plan with.
2. Your truck
Owner's manual or the maker's towing guide for your exact truck (engine, axle ratio, cab, bed).
Yellow Tire and Loading sticker on the driver's door frame: "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed ___ lbs."
White sticker on the driver's door frame, marked GVWR. Optional; needed for the GCWR check below.
Owner's manual or towing guide (sometimes written GCVWR, Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating). Optional; needs Truck GVWR too.
3. What rides in the truck
Add up everyone who rides along, in pounds.
Cooler, firewood, generator, tools, bikes in the bed… A guess is fine.
Weight-distribution hitch is usually 75–120 lbs. A fifth-wheel hitch is usually 150–250 lbs.
4. Your hitch (optional)
On the label of the hitch receiver under your bumper, and on the ball mount and ball. Use the lowest number. With a weight-distribution hitch, use the “weight distributing” figures.
Same labels as above. Again, use the lowest number.
Just looking?
Enter the RV weight, your towing capacity and your payload to see the result.
Before you hitch up
- Weigh it for real. Drive the loaded truck and RV over a certified truck scale (CAT Scale, a chain of certified scales, has them at many truck stops, for a small fee). It is the only way to know your true weights.
- Check the tires and hitch too. Tires, the hitch receiver and the rear axle each have their own ratings. Never go over any of them.
- Buying at an RV show? Ask for the RV’s GVWR, not its dry weight. Find RV shows near you.
⭐ Tow Checker Pro is coming
We’re building a Pro version for RV owners and shoppers:
- Save your truck once, then compare any RV you’re looking at in seconds
- Log your truck-scale tickets and see your real weights over time
- A printable one-page towing report to take to the dealer or RV show
Planned launch price: $19.99, one time (no subscription). Join the list and we’ll email you when it’s ready, with a launch discount.
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Words we use
- RV (recreational vehicle)
- A camper you live in on the road. This checker covers RVs you tow: travel trailers and fifth wheels.
- Travel trailer
- An RV that hooks to a hitch at the back of your truck or SUV (sport utility vehicle).
- Fifth wheel
- A larger RV that hooks to a special hitch in the middle of a pickup truck's bed.
- lbs
- Pounds. Every weight on this page is in pounds.
- Dry weight (UVW, Unloaded Vehicle Weight)
- What an RV weighs empty, as it left the factory: no water, propane, batteries or gear. Brochures often show this lower number.
- GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating)
- The most a vehicle may weigh, fully loaded. The RV has one and the truck has one, each on a sticker.
- Payload
- How much weight the truck itself may carry: people, gear, the hitch and the RV's weight pressing down on the hitch.
- Towing capacity (tow rating)
- The heaviest trailer the truck maker says the truck can pull, for your exact engine, axle and options.
- Tongue weight / pin weight
- The part of the RV's weight that presses down on the hitch. Tongue weight is for travel trailers; pin weight is for fifth wheels.
- GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating)
- The most the truck and RV may weigh together. Sometimes written GCVWR (Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating).
- Hitch receiver
- The square tube under the back of the truck that the ball mount slides into. It has a label with its own weight limits.
- Ball mount and ball
- The parts that slide into the receiver and connect to the RV. Each has its own rating; the lowest-rated part sets your limit.
- Weight-distribution hitch
- A hitch with spring bars that spreads the tongue weight across the truck's axles for a level, steadier ride.
- CAT Scale
- A chain of certified truck scales at many truck stops, where you can weigh your loaded truck and RV for a small fee.
This checker is a planning guide, not a guarantee. It only uses the numbers you type in, and ratings differ by exact model, engine, axle and options. Always follow your truck and RV makers’ ratings, and weigh your real setup before you tow. More help: our free RV guides.