Two numbers that often confuse people are pin weight and payload. So, is pin weight the same as payload?
No. It isn’t. They are both weight measurements, and are both numbers that you should probably be paying attention to, however, they are not the same. Pin weight is the amount of weight that a trailer is placing upon the hitch of a vehicle. The payload is the total weight being pulled. So, pin weight is just one of the numbers that goes into the calculation for the payload.
When you are connecting a trailer up to a vehicle, you will have all sorts of numbers thrown at you. It is important that you understand these numbers too. If you don’t, then you could end up having a rather nasty accident with the towing vehicle.
What Does Pin Weight Mean?
Pin weight is the amount of weight that your fifth wheel trailer will be putting down on that hitch. You may also find pin weight referred to as hitch weight and tongue weight. However, technically, neither of those terms will apply to fifth wheel trailers. It won’t matter too much, though. For all intents and purposes, they are the same thing.
You can think of pin weight as the amount of extra weight that is added to the towing vehicle, excluding the weight of the trailer being pulled. Let’s give you an example using some made-up numbers:
- Your towing vehicle weighs 1000lbs without a trailer attached to it.
- Your towing vehicle weighs 1500lbs with a trailer attached to it
The pin weight of a trailer can actually change. By moving items to the back of the trailer, less weight will be put on the hitch of the trailer. This reduces the overall pin weight.
What Does Payload Mean?
The payload will be the amount of weight that a vehicle is capable of pulling. However, this calculation isn’t just a case of working out how much weight you will be pulling in the trailer. It is all additional weight in that vehicle. So, the payload will include:
- The people inside of the vehicle.
- Any luggage being carried inside of the vehicle
So, the more people inside of a vehicle, the lower the amount of weight that vehicle is able to pull on the hitch.
Does Hitch Weight Count as Payload?
It does, and it needs to be factored into the calculation when determining payload.
A big mistake people make is only thinking about the weight of the trailer when calculating their payload. However, things don’t work like this. You will have to consider two figures when looking at the trailer’s overall contribution to the vehicle’s payload:
- The weight of the trailer
- The hitch weight (or pin weight)
Basically, only by knowing the hitch weight of the vehicle will you be able to know the exact payload number that you are pulling. If you do not calculate that hitch weight, then the chances are pretty high that you will be going over the payload rating of the vehicle.
This, in turn, is going to end up causing you all sorts of problems. We aren’t just talking about increased fuel efficiency here either. Too much hitch weight could actually contribute towards your vehicle breaking.
Is Hitch Weight the Same as Pin Weight?
Yes. Although, if you are pulling a fifth wheel trailer, then hitch weight will probably not be a term that you see all that much. This is because pin weight is the preferred term when pulling those larger trailers that require a dedicated fifth wheel hitch.
However, you can use the terms interchangeably if you want. At the end of the day, both the hitch weight and pin weight will contribute toward the calculations for your payload.
How Do You Calculate Pin or Hitch Weight?
You can’t just go by what the manufacturer says here. This is because the way in which a trailer is loaded up will change what the overall pin weight is. This means that the only way to check pin weight is to actually weigh your vehicle. You will need some large vehicle scales for this. You may be able to gain access to these if you are in a larger town or city.
Your first job is to weigh the vehicle without the trailer attached to it. This is your ‘base weight’.
You will then need to weigh the vehicle once the trailer is attached to it. It is important that you do not weigh the trailer. At all stages, you will be weighing the vehicle only.
Subtract the second weight from the first weight and you have your pin weight.
If your pin weight is greater than the rating for your hitch, then you will probably have to make a few adjustments in your vehicle. There is a reason why hitches are only rated up to a certain amount.
If the weight gets too heavy, then they could just break, and you will end up with a broken trailer in the middle of the road, and that is deadly.
The recommended amount of Pin Weight is 15-25% of the GTW (gross trailer weight) that your specific hitch is rated for.
We recommend this hitch by B&W; Trailer Hitches. It offers a GTW of 20,000 pounds, has a cam action latching handle for easy release, has great pivoting potential, is rattle free, and comes with a limited lifetime coverage.
How Do You Reduce Pin Weight?
Hitches will have a maximum pin weight on them. Therefore, if you are creeping towards your hitch’s quoted pin weight, but you aren’t quite there with the overall payload, then you can make adjustments inside of the trailer to ensure that you are within all quoted limits.
In order to reduce pin weight, you will have to move items inside of the trailer to the back of the trailer. The heavier items will need to be placed behind the vehicle’s axles.
This means that those items will be putting the weight pressure on the trailer as opposed to adding weight on to the vehicle’s hitch. Despite what some people may say, this is the only way that you are going to be able to reduce pin weight inside of a vehicle.
Final Thoughts
The pin weight and payload weight are two different types of measurements. Pin weight is the amount of weight that a trailer is putting upon the hitch of the vehicle.
The payload is the total amount of weight that is being pulled. Both of these weight measurements are used to determine if your vehicle will in fact be able to successful haul your fifth wheel or camper trailer.
The overall weight of your trailer will determine the type of tow vehicle you will need as well as the type of hitch that will need to be installed to successfully pull your trailer.