Cargo limit with a Travel Trailer - contradicting info from Tesla chat

[Kwajtrader]

I have a MY LR with 19” wheels and the factory tow hitch. I’ve been looking at a R-POD 189, which comes in with a tongue weight of 350lbs and an actual dry weight of 3181lbs. I’ve seen the posts here stating that the tow weight subtracts from the 826lb cargo weight, but since that wasn’t spelled out in the manual I reached out to Tesla via chat. I was told that the 350lb tongue weight did not subtract from the 826lb cargo limit. I pushed back on this several times and was told that this is a separate calculation from the tow either

 

[MP3Mike]

Tongue weight does impact your payload capacity. Here is one site talking about it: Calculating Your Truck's Maximum Payload and Towing Capacity (readingbody.com)

If you had a trailer, you also need to subtract the tongue weight from the GVWR. For this same example, if you had a trailer that weighs 2,000 pounds, the tongue weight would be 200 pounds. The total payload capacity will now drop to 2,800 pounds:

• GVWR – curb weight – tongue weight = payload capacity when towing
• 9,000 pounds – 6,000 pounds – 200 pounds = 2,800 pounds

 

[MY-Y]

View attachment 618304... I was told that the 350lb tongue weight did not subtract from the 826lb cargo limit. I pushed back on this several times and was told that this is a separate calculation from the tow either

That is ridiculous. As someone who tows heavy and often, I can assure you the payload sticker rating includes any accessories (including your hitch if added after you bought the car), people, cargo, and tongue weight.

The tire ratings and GAWR should never, never, be exceeded. It is best to not exceed the GVWR (and corresponding payload, which is the GVWR minus the weight of the car when it left the factory). Exceeding GVWR is more of an issue if you don't have trailer brakes. Keep in mind that your GAWR is with the tires inflated to the door sticker pressure. Drop a few PSI and the rating drops quite a bit.

 

[Kwajtrader]

It looks like the end of my post got cut off. I agree, it doesn’t jive with RV sites I’ve seen either. This leaves me with 176lbs of cargo with 300lbs for myself and a passenger. I find this table from the manual confusing because it implies that with 5 passengers (@150lb each) your maximum tongue weight is 350lbs, which would exceed the 826lb cargo rating. That’s why I had the chat session. They should simply add a line explicitly stating that tongue weight should be subtracted from cargo capacity calculations.

 

[MY-Y]

Fortunately, there plenty of GAWR on these cars (my sticker says 3003# and 3606#). You can look at your sidewall to see the tire rating (and the pressure for that rating) , but it should be at least as much as the axle rating. You can look up various opinions on how big a deal exceeding your GVWR a little it is or isn't.

GVWR is usually well under the sum of the axle ratings, but I'm a little surprised that Tesla set the GVWR at only 80% of the axle ratings.

 

[SSedan]

Weight distribution comes in to play, so you can't just add up the max limit of each axle.

 

[MY-Y]

Weight distribution comes in to play, so you can't just add up the max limit of each axle.

Absolutely. Even with perfect weight distribution, never load to the sum of the GAWRs. That would be 1308# over GVWR. Some wouldn't worry about exceeding GVWR by a 150# passenger, but few would think a 1308# overload is sane.