TomGriff
Well-known member
- First Name
- Tom
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2021
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- 78
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- 164
- Location
- Washougal, WA
- Vehicles
- 15 MS 70D, 17 Bolt Premier, CT Reserved, Yamaha T7
It will be interesting to see, because you are right, it will probably limited to 2 people, their gear and a 3000-5000 pound trailer. Due to the small payload, trailer tongue weight will end up being the limiting factor for towing.--------------------------------
Curb weight of Rivian R1T is way too heavy. Worse than Ford-F-150 Lightning. Weight class limit is 8,500 lbs total for vehicle, driver, passengers, additional payload of luggage / coolers / sports gear / tools / food / beverages / ice in cabin, frunk, bed, and payload of trailer tongue weight (10-15% of trailer weight). The Rivian R1T is so heavy that if owners have a pretty normal full load of driver/passengers (5 adults), luggage, coolers, hunting/fishing gear, tools, etc ( 1,500 lbs total for cabin, frunk, bed) the truck will not be able to support even a 6,000 lbs loaded trailer.
With R1T's 7,000lbs curb weight, the R1T would need to be less than half empty (only driver, 1 adult passenger, 100lbs total of gear/tools/food/beverages/ice) when towing 11,000 lb trailer.
A NFL linebacker driving a R1T carrying 4 of his Linebacker buddies plus coolers of beers and food, sporting equipment and NO trailer could easily go over the 8,500lbs limit.
This example would not be a problem for most ICE 1/2-ton full-size pickups. Should not be a problem with 500mi Trimotor Cybertruck carrying all those people & stuff plus 11,000lb trailer.
All of this will be worse for R1T with the optional 400 miles ( and much heavier) battery pack which will reduce usable payload even more.
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How Tongue Weight Works
By: Scott C. Benjamin | Updated: Apr 6, 2021
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/information/tongue-weight.htm
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Most experts agree that an acceptable tongue weight for any trailer is somewhere between 9 and 15 percent of the gross trailer weight (GTW). There's good reasoning behind these numbers, too. It all comes down to trailer towing safety.
If the tongue of the trailer does not exert enough downward force on the tow vehicle's hitch ball -- meaning that the trailer's tongue weight is too light -- a dangerous condition called trailer sway could result.
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Tongue Weight Is Key To Safe Towing - GMC Life
Properly loading a trailer to maintain a proper tongue weight is paramount, especially when it comes to handling.
https://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/trucks/why-tongue-weight-is-important-for-safe-towing
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Trailer too light for tow vehicle?
https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f72/trailer-too-light-for-tow-vehicle-79710.html
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05-12-2017, #4
Cat futrell
Name: Cathy
The way it is loaded makes a huge difference in how it pulls. Because of how light the trailer is, doesn't take much to throw off the pull. Too heavy on the front and the the trailer will fishtail. To heavy in the back and it flops and jerks. I have corrected a pull by relocating a large toolbox from the rear of the cabin to the front. You could hook up to a smaller tow vehicle, without changing the load, if you have doubts.
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That being said smaller F150 engines have similar payloads (including the 3.0 liter diesel), while the larger ones are significantly higher.
It will also be interesting to see some of the other towing specs, including Gross Vehicle Combined Weight Rating which is the limiting number for a lot a vehicles, especially smaller SUVs and mini-vans.
I think for most EVs though, towing large trailers over distance won't be really be viable unless the destination is less than the range while towing (so the tow vehicle can unhook and then charge or in a pull through campsite charge while still hooked). Very curious to see how EV trucks do towing, I've seen X's and Y's that lose half to two-thirds range. Any large trailer takes time to hook and unhook (especially with a weight distribution hitch) and there aren't many chargers that one could charge at without blocking other people (at least at the chargers I've been to in my area).
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