Guide · computed from 398 published pin weights

Fifth Wheel Pin Weight and Your Truck’s Payload

What fifth wheels of each length publish as their pin weight, and why that number is checked against your truck’s payload rather than its tow rating.

Short answer. The median fifth wheel here publishes a 2,340 lb pin weight (n=398), 18.8% of its dry weight (n=363). The pin weight sits in your truck’s bed, so it is checked against the truck’s payload, from the door-pillar placard, not against its tow rating. The published figure is the maker’s: 101 of the 398 labelled dry by their makers (the trailer empty); the rest are printed as a plain hitch weight, with no basis stated. The loaded pin weight differs with what you carry and where.

Pin weight is payload

Every truck carries a Tire and Loading Information placard on the driver’s side B-pillar. Federal rules require it to state “The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed XXX kilograms or XXX pounds” (49 CFR 571.110 S4.3). A fifth wheel’s pin weight, the hitch itself, the people in the cab and anything in the bed all come out of that one number. Read it on your own truck: it varies by cab, bed, engine and options, which is why this site prints no truck figures.

Published pin weight by fifth-wheel length

Length	Floorplans	Published pin weight, lb	Share of dry weight
28 to under 32 ft	36	1,432 (950–2,090; n=36)	17.8% (12.4%–23.0%; n=31)
32 to under 36 ft	71	1,900 (1,255–3,000; n=71)	18.7% (14.9%–24.3%; n=59)
36 to under 40 ft	78	2,188 (1,445–3,500; n=78)	18.5% (15.1%–24.1%; n=70)
40 to under 44 ft	153	2,685 (1,655–4,035; n=153)	18.8% (15.2%–25.7%; n=145)
44 to under 48 ft	45	3,240 (2,070–4,000; n=45)	20.3% (15.0%–25.2%; n=45)

Median, then range and n. 0 fifth-wheel records whose published hitch is a tongue, not a pin, are left out.

How published pin weights spread

Published pin weight	Fifth wheels
under 1,500 lb	38
1,500 to 1,999 lb	75
2,000 to 2,499 lb	130
2,500 to 2,999 lb	88
3,000 and up lb	67

The lightest published pin weights here

Floorplan	Brand	Pin lb	Dry lb	GVWR lb	Length
Reflection 24RL	Grand Design	950	7,664	9,995	30' 0"
Reflection 22RK	Grand Design	1,130	7,000	9,995	26' 11"
Arctic Wolf 261RK	Forest River	1,140	7,583	Not published	30' 9"
Blackthorn 229RK	East to West	1,145	7,324	9,945	28' 1"
Eagle 26RU	Jayco	1,150	7,805	9,995	29' 7"
Reflection 270BN	Grand Design	1,200	8,050	9,995	29' 11"
Rockwood Ultra Lite Fifth Wheels 2445WS	Forest River	1,215	7,764	Not published	28' 11"
Rockwood Ultra Lite Fifth Wheels 2622RK	Forest River	1,245	8,211	Not published	30' 5"
Rockwood Ultra Lite Fifth Wheels 2442BS	Forest River	1,252	7,950	Not published	28' 11"
Arctic Wolf 291RL	Forest River	1,255	8,358	Not published	33' 6"

More light fifth wheels: fifth wheels under 10,000 lb dry. Tow match checks published pin weights against the payload you enter.

Common questions

What is the pin weight of a fifth wheel?

Across the 398 fifth wheels in this catalogue that publish one, the median published pin weight is 2,340 lb (lightest 950, heaviest 4,225). That is the maker’s figure: 101 of the 398 labelled dry by their makers (the trailer empty); the rest are printed as a plain hitch weight, with no basis stated.

Where do I find my truck’s payload?

On the Tire and Loading Information placard on the driver’s side B-pillar. Federal rules require it to state “The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed XXX kilograms or XXX pounds” (49 CFR 571.110 S4.3). A fifth wheel’s pin weight rides in the bed, so it is part of that cargo, along with the hitch, passengers and gear.

What share of a fifth wheel’s weight is on the pin?

Across 363 fifth wheels here that publish both figures, the median published pin weight is 18.8% of dry weight (range 12.4%–29.6%).

Browse

Figures on this page are computed from the site’s own verified-specs dataset (1,628 floorplans; generated 2026-10-21), which is read from the floorplan pages and their named manufacturer and dealer-network sources. Dry, hitch and pin weights are as published, before options, water and cargo. Two published hitch figures that are physically implausible are printed on their pages with a flag and left out of every statistic here (conflicts). How the data is verified. Built 19 Oct 2026.