It is a confusing topic. The total weight your vehicle can carry, including tongue weight of a trailer is 10,000lbs. That 10,000lbs must be distributed such that the front axle carries no more than 4800lbs and the rear axle no more than 6100lbs.
You can't add the GAWR to get the GVWR. So, you are 20lbs overweight in the scenario you describe.
Does that help?
Sorry that's wrong. Gross vehicle weight rating is the TOTAL weight of vehicle and everything in or on it. This includes people, fuel, engine oil, camper, coffee in the cup holder, tongue weight of a trailer.
It's not the weight the vehicle can carry. That's load capacity. You get that by subtracting the total wet unloaded vehicle weight from the GVWR. What's left is the load capacity.
Gross axle weight rating is just that. The weight capacity at each end of the vehicle sitting on that axle.
Some scales weigh each axle. Front, rear, trailer.
Take the truck to a Certified scale. Weigh the whole package as packed for camping. If it weighs more than 10,000 you are over weight. If you weigh the vehicle at each axle and either one is over the GAWR than that axle is overloaded.
That said weight ratings and tow capacity are often pretty arbitrary numbers. For many manufacturers the lawyers have more say in this than the engineers. Same vehicle in different markets can have different weight ratings depending on country sold in. Sometimes the springs are different sometimes just gear ratios in the axles. Some times no difference.
There was no Industry standard in the US until a couple of years ago. When the manufacturers agreed to Towing capacity standards several trucks lost a good bit of capacity some gained a little. Many factors including stopping distance loaded are considered.
Edited by Squatch, 01 April 2016 - 02:06 AM.