Titan Vehicle Load Weight Capacity

razorback · 01-06-2005, 07:43 AM

I have a question that my dealership can't answer and my local tire place can't answer.

I have a 2004 Titan Crew Cab SE w/High Utility Bed option. The owner's manual says the the Vehicle Load Weight Capacity is 1,458 lbs. This is defined as the maximum total wight of passengers, optional equipment (a/c, hitch) and cargo that your vehicle is designed to carry.

If I take the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 6,400 lbs (on the sticker located on the drivers door) and subtract the curb weight (vehicle weight including standard and optional equipment, fluids, emergency tools, spare tire) which is 5,019 lbs, I get a max load capacity of 1,381 lbs.

However, when I look on the Tire & Loading Information sticker on the front door frame, it states:

"The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1,208 lbs."

Can anyone tell me why the differences between the three numbers? I tow a camper with an 800lb tongue weight and my combined family weight in the truck is 455 lbs, so a difference in 100 lbs in the load capacity is important.

Thanks for any insight.

logicjunky · 01-06-2005, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by razorback

I have a question that my dealership can't answer and my local tire place can't answer.

I have a 2004 Titan Crew Cab SE w/High Utility Bed option. The owner's manual says the the Vehicle Load Weight Capacity is 1,458 lbs. This is defined as the maximum total wight of passengers, optional equipment (a/c, hitch) and cargo that your vehicle is designed to carry.

If I take the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 6,400 lbs (on the sticker located on the drivers door) and subtract the curb weight (vehicle weight including standard and optional equipment, fluids, emergency tools, spare tire) which is 5,019 lbs, I get a max load capacity of 1,381 lbs.

However, when I look on the Tire & Loading Information sticker on the front door frame, it states:

"The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1,208 lbs."

Can anyone tell me why the differences between the three numbers? I tow a camper with an 800lb tongue weight and my combined family weight in the truck is 455 lbs, so a difference in 100 lbs in the load capacity is important.

Thanks for any insight.

There is going to always be that difference. I'm sure a Nissan Titan engineer could actually testify that the maximum load is much higher than what it is rated for, but generally speaking, most machinery, vehicles, safety equipment, anything that has to have some kind of rating for maximum weight, tensile strength, maximum load bearing, etc has a specific number that they are reduced by. I don't remember the exact number from the Safety course I took 2 years ago (required for my degree, odd I know I have a BS in Industrial Technology and work as a programmer) but everything that has a rating is reduced for safety reasons.

My deduction for this is that if they told people that the Titan could haul a maximum of 5000lbs safely before the Titan was unsafe to drive b/c of poor handling or stopping distance is increased too much for the already juddering brakes or the engine blew, people would push that all the time creating the safety issue or excessive wear to the point of equipment failure. This seems to be true of anything else w/ people pushing the limits of what it can handle and IMO Nissan like everyone other manufacturer is hedging its bet on what the vehicle could handle. 100lbs I wouldn't sweat. 500lbs I would start to be even more cautious and I would hesitate to do that too often, I don't know what the breaking points are for this truck or any other vehicle.

Doghouse · 01-06-2005, 08:29 AM

Guess what, I will be the first to say I have exceeded that limit (by a lot) and other than the truck being loose to drive, it handled the load without a problem. THis has happened twice.

Austin · 01-06-2005, 08:46 AM

If you're towing a camper (or anything) with an 800# tongue weight, the first thing you need to do is get rid of the crap stock tires - get some D or E load rated tires on your truck. That'll firm the ride up.

I've had my BFG M/T's on since about 200 miles - they're "D" load rated, max pressure 65psi. I put the oem off-road tires back on about a week ago (they're siped for the winter), and they're just craptastic.

Zardoz · 01-06-2005, 08:52 AM

Sure
Numbers below are for my Titan. Use your numbers from your Titan.
Don't worry for the time being about weight for occupants and cargo part.
You have three numbers that matter. You have the GVWR which is 6500 lbs.
This is the maximum weight that the vehicle can weight. It is the sum of the
front and rear axle weight. You also have FAWR which is 3500lbs. This is the
maximum weight you can have on your front axle. You also have RAWR which is
3800 lbs. This is the maximum weight you can have on the rear axle. Note that
the FAWR and RAWR added together is more than the GVWR. You probably won't
have a problem with the FAWR but you can easily violate the RAWR with a trailer
and it is real easy to violate the GVWR with a trailer.

So my rig with full tank of gas, driver, tools, canopy, weighs 5650. So subtract this
from your GVWR which for me is 850lbs. This is the amount of weight I can add including the tongue weight. Remember if you use a load equalizing hitch some of
the weight will be put back to the trailer so your 800lbs tongue weight will actually
be 700 lbs on the truck or something like that. Half ton trucks are easy to overload.

Now the last thing to look at is the weight rating on the tires. Since the stock tires
are P rated not LT you need to discount this weight by 10% so if it says 2500 lbs at
40psi you need to only carry 2250 on each tire. Note this does not apply to LT tires.

If you meet the specs for GVWR, FAWR, RAWR, and the tire rating you should be OK.
My guess is with your load you will be fine with FAWR, RAWR but may be over the
GVWR. You should be OK on tires but make sure the back axle tires are at the maximum
pressure when towing.

The last number which I think will be fine is GCWR. This is the sum of the tow vehicle
and trailer. You should be fine withe this number but it will be close. I can't tell because you did not tell us what your trailer weighs but I am guessing since you have
a tongue weight of 800 lbs your trailer weight is around 8000lbs.

If you check all these number using truck scales this will tell you what is going on. My
guess is you are going to be pushing the GVWR and possibly the RAWR but this all
depends on how much cargo you keep in the bed of the truck. To minimize this I would
load heavier stuff into the trailer if it has the capacity. Also heavy stuff in the bed
should be as far forward as possible to help counteract the tongue weight. You should
be trying to load more weight on the front axle.

Don't mean to panic you at all but you are probably at the max and should adjust the
weight as much as you can. The Titan is a very strong rig and Nissan rating are always
very conservative. Personally I would change the tires out to LT C or even D rated
tires for some extra protection. The stock tires whether they be the 17 or 18" units
are not the best heavy duty tires. You also could add air bags in the back if you have
a sagging problem. I would also add 5 extra lbs of air in the back tires which might help
the sidewall a little. Also add air into the tires when it is cool not in the heat of the
day or when the tires are hot.

GVWR Gross vehicle weight rating
FAWR Front axle weight rating
RAWR Rear axle weight rating
Tire weight rating (don't forget to discount it 10% for towing or heavy hauling if you
have P rated tires)

You are close but with careful loading I think you will just squeak by but you might
be a couple of hundred pounds over the GVWR.

Good Luck
Zardoz

*COTitan* · 01-06-2005, 01:31 PM

If you are designing structural steel structures (like a truck frame) the base reduction for safety is 66% of ultimate strength (when steel member bends). Then there at all kinds of reducers that can facture in. If an engineer signs off that means that the working load or design load(what the truck was designed for) will show no signs of failure if used in that manner. The problem is if you go way over you don't know what will fail first.
Usually engineer’s design that the lowest rated item within the system is the safest item that would cause the least harm is it does fail. So for most vehicles that would be the tires.
But keep in mind that the guy at the Nissan plant or the tire plant might have had a bad day when creating your truck so as long as you never test the system to ultimate you won’t have many problems.

This is why I’m getting D rated tires on my truck and not worrying to much about they numbers as long as I don't hit 33%-50% above which is when something has a very high possibility of failing

Rocket67 · 01-06-2005, 02:51 PM

This is all good info but I have a question. If someone is going to haul an 8000# trailer with an 800# tongue weight, why get a Titan? I mean it's a great truck and everything but it's not a 1-ton. I know that 8000# is in the capacity but that is still a lot. I would upgrade to something with a 15000# capacity if I was going to do that regularly.

JMHO though.

1st Titan · 01-06-2005, 05:35 PM

I have had 2200lbs of tile in my truck, no problem.

TitanHauler · 01-09-2005, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocket67

This is all good info but I have a question. If someone is going to haul an 8000# trailer with an 800# tongue weight, why get a Titan? I mean it's a great truck and everything but it's not a 1-ton. I know that 8000# is in the capacity but that is still a lot. I would upgrade to something with a 15000# capacity if I was going to do that regularly.

JMHO though.

I agree with you except for one important point. Most of us don't have the financial resources to have a 3/4 or 1 ton truck sitting around just for towing. And anyone who has a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck will tell you they are not the ideal daily driver unless their business is dependent on it. I tow my trailer maybe 1/2 dozen times a year. For the other 95% of the time I want a vehicle that is not to hard to park, gets decent gas mileage, and rides decent. So for me, pushing my 1/2 ton to it's limits 6 times a year is worth it for the comfort when not towing. But I agree with you, if you tow a heavy trailer real often like 2 or 3 times a month, you would be smart to upgrade.

joy · 05-17-2006, 09:56 PM

Maybe you can help me with my trailer dilema. I just bought an 18ft. aluminum 3 horse slant gooseneck trailer with full living quarters (microwave, 40 gal. water tank, mini fridge) Trailer weighs 4700lbs. empty. I have 3 horses I need to pull at 800,1010 & 1000lbs. I drive a 2005 Nissan Titan LE with towing package. I've pulled this trailer empty, and with the largest horse in it and it pulls fine. My question is am I exceeding the GVWR as far as my rear/front shocks go, and what can I do/add to my truck to make sure it will pull ok? I haven't tried pulling with all 3 horses inside yet because with the trailer hooked up my rear sits down a good 3 inches in the back. I've been told that Nissan has not come out with overload shocks yet and am considering air bags for the shocks/springs. Also, what type of hitch is a distributing hitch?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardoz

Sure
Numbers below are for my Titan. Use your numbers from your Titan.
Don't worry for the time being about weight for occupants and cargo part.
You have three numbers that matter. You have the GVWR which is 6500 lbs.
This is the maximum weight that the vehicle can weight. It is the sum of the
front and rear axle weight. You also have FAWR which is 3500lbs. This is the
maximum weight you can have on your front axle. You also have RAWR which is
3800 lbs. This is the maximum weight you can have on the rear axle. Note that
the FAWR and RAWR added together is more than the GVWR. You probably won't
have a problem with the FAWR but you can easily violate the RAWR with a trailer
and it is real easy to violate the GVWR with a trailer.

So my rig with full tank of gas, driver, tools, canopy, weighs 5650. So subtract this
from your GVWR which for me is 850lbs. This is the amount of weight I can add including the tongue weight. Remember if you use a load equalizing hitch some of
the weight will be put back to the trailer so your 800lbs tongue weight will actually
be 700 lbs on the truck or something like that. Half ton trucks are easy to overload.

Now the last thing to look at is the weight rating on the tires. Since the stock tires
are P rated not LT you need to discount this weight by 10% so if it says 2500 lbs at
40psi you need to only carry 2250 on each tire. Note this does not apply to LT tires.

If you meet the specs for GVWR, FAWR, RAWR, and the tire rating you should be OK.
My guess is with your load you will be fine with FAWR, RAWR but may be over the
GVWR. You should be OK on tires but make sure the back axle tires are at the maximum
pressure when towing.

The last number which I think will be fine is GCWR. This is the sum of the tow vehicle
and trailer. You should be fine withe this number but it will be close. I can't tell because you did not tell us what your trailer weighs but I am guessing since you have
a tongue weight of 800 lbs your trailer weight is around 8000lbs.

If you check all these number using truck scales this will tell you what is going on. My
guess is you are going to be pushing the GVWR and possibly the RAWR but this all
depends on how much cargo you keep in the bed of the truck. To minimize this I would
load heavier stuff into the trailer if it has the capacity. Also heavy stuff in the bed
should be as far forward as possible to help counteract the tongue weight. You should
be trying to load more weight on the front axle.

Don't mean to panic you at all but you are probably at the max and should adjust the
weight as much as you can. The Titan is a very strong rig and Nissan rating are always
very conservative. Personally I would change the tires out to LT C or even D rated
tires for some extra protection. The stock tires whether they be the 17 or 18" units
are not the best heavy duty tires. You also could add air bags in the back if you have
a sagging problem. I would also add 5 extra lbs of air in the back tires which might help
the sidewall a little. Also add air into the tires when it is cool not in the heat of the
day or when the tires are hot.

GVWR Gross vehicle weight rating
FAWR Front axle weight rating
RAWR Rear axle weight rating
Tire weight rating (don't forget to discount it 10% for towing or heavy hauling if you
have P rated tires)

You are close but with careful loading I think you will just squeak by but you might
be a couple of hundred pounds over the GVWR.

Good Luck
Zardoz

rtapia · 05-18-2006, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joy

Maybe you can help me with my trailer dilema. I just bought an 18ft. aluminum 3 horse slant gooseneck trailer with full living quarters (microwave, 40 gal. water tank, mini fridge) Trailer weighs 4700lbs. empty. I have 3 horses I need to pull at 800,1010 & 1000lbs. I drive a 2005 Nissan Titan LE with towing package. I've pulled this trailer empty, and with the largest horse in it and it pulls fine. My question is am I exceeding the GVWR as far as my rear/front shocks go, and what can I do/add to my truck to make sure it will pull ok? I haven't tried pulling with all 3 horses inside yet because with the trailer hooked up my rear sits down a good 3 inches in the back. I've been told that Nissan has not come out with overload shocks yet and am considering air bags for the shocks/springs. Also, what type of hitch is a distributing hitch?

You should have asked these questions BEFORE you bought the trailer. You will definitely be overloaded with 3 horses. Those weights don't even count the 40 gal of water, passengers, luggage, saddles, hay, etc. You need a bigger truck to tow safely.

rbeech · 05-18-2006, 02:25 PM

I agree with Titanhauler in that I do not want to lug around the size and weight of a 3/4t truck the 95% of the time I'm not towing. I do have concerns with the GVWR, but will pack my trailer to help lighten the tongue weight. I also tow very conservatively and have a WD hitch to help some.