If You Tow Or Want To Tow

[StarEcho]

If I'm understanding this correctly,  the HITCH rating actually limits what you can pull, right?

For instance, I currently drive a 1500 suburban and it is rated to tow 5500 lbs...it has a class 3 hitch receiver (the part of the hitch welded to the vehicle frame) which limits the tow rating to 5000 lbs without a weight distribution (wd) hitch and 10000 WITH a wd hitch. 

We are looking to upgrade our tow vehicle to an actual 3/4 ton or higher truck so that we could potentially carry a side by side in the truck bed while still pulling a trailer.

Found a f-250 long bed that seemed perfect to do the job...specs online said 12500 tow capacity. ...but the dealer's spec sheet said it had a class 3 hitch! So it really  can only tow 10000 lbs WITH a wd hitch.  Am I right on this?

I'm not talking about tongue weights here ok. I know about those.  I'm just irritated that a manufacturer lists the towing capacity of their vehicle as one thing and then puts on a hitch receiver that CANNOT tow that safely.   Am I overthinking the whole hitch receiver rating thing?

 

[B and C]

You are correct. The vehicle has a rating and the hitch has a rating. Use the lower of these two ratings.

If you want more hitch rating, you get a higher class hitch. Hitch ratings here: https://www.drawtite-hitches.com/learning_center/general-towing-classes

You will also want to look at GCWW (Gross Combined Weight Rating) specifications. GCWW is the vehicle and towed weight combined with all loads (including people).

 

[StarEcho]

I only wish the manufacturers would actually list the gcwr!  Even online it's hard to find. Gross VEHICLE weight restriction gvwr is listed on the sticker in the door but that combined weight, I think, often has to be figured out on your own, by adding the max tow capacity  to the gvwr ... and what's the point of *computing* a gcvr when it's the max tow capacity you are interested in anyway...and if you have to have the max tow capacity to figure out the gcwr.....and then even with all the mental gymnastics it DOESN'T MATTER if your hitch is not rated for what the vehicle can pull. Arggghhhh!

 

[bullfrog]

Yes it is hard to make decisions with out lots of practical experience and numbers that don't seem to make sense. There are so many ways to over load with payloads and toys. Will you be making it a flatbed or adding a ramp rack? I have always wanted to error on the side of too much capacity and poorer fuel economy rather than too little and unsafe. Heavy duty tow vehicles are expensive but it is difficult if not finacially impossible to "fix" too light a duty tow vehicle. I personally would not want to trust someone else's numbers to that extent and apparently the manufacturer doesn't expect you to either. I would personally be looking for a 1 ton truck as a tow vehicle if I were attempting to carry, pull and stop over 10,000 pounds not to mention the possibility of being top heavy and sway with a side by side in the bed. You may want to consider a toyhauler trailer but one large enough for a side by side may require a 1 ton tow vehicle as well.

 

[StarEcho]

Thanks. We have a light weight TT( 1 axle) now-not a toy hauler , but we want to start doing more back country prospecting and for that we need / Want a side by side utv with a bed in back. (Shortest we have found is 8' 5")  

Since we can't afford a New (to us) truck, new (to us) trailer , AND a side by side, We figured to do it in stages. Get the truck first and then the toy (which we would prefer to just put in the bed of the truck - hence the long bed), pull our current (paid off!) trailer, and eventually get a toy hauler. 

So yeah, a 1 ton would be ideal.  Realistically though, it is going to be difficult to find one with a long bed and at least an extended cab that we can afford. 

So for now, a 3/4 ton with sufficient payload  and a long bed will have to do and we will still pull our light weight tt.

In any case the toy hauler at this point is just a future thing.  My thought was to get a vehicle that would work for that possible future and we can still do that with a 3/4 ton if I scale down my wishes for a 35ft trailer with a separate garage!  Lol

My main problem is I have champagne tastes with the beer pocketbook. 

The main reason I posted here though was to point out that tow capacity of a vehicle is also and mainly a factor of the class hitch that is installed and I hadn't seen that limitation addressed.

 

[highdesertranger]

"My main problem is I have champagne tastes with the beer pocketbook"

hahahaha I love that saying.

beside all the BS about tow ratings and hitches keep in mind that about 5 years ago(?) all the major manufacturers got in trouble for using shady data to inflate their tow ratings.

back country prospecting, that's right up my ally. have you been to any of my seminars?

highdesertranger

 

[ped]

I think the owner was just going along for a laugh especially if you told him your 2500 cant quit tow 3,000lbs.



...that means a large 5th wheel would literally need a freightliner

 

[tx2sturgis]

beside all the BS about tow ratings and hitches keep in mind that about 5 years ago(?) all the major manufacturers got in trouble for using shady data to inflate their tow ratings.

They are trying to fix this, with a towing spec called SAE J2807.

The article is long and very detailed, but the jist is, if a manufacturer uses this 'standard', it helps us compare 'apples to apples':

http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/towing/1502-sae-j2807-tow-tests-the-standard/

BTW my 2017 Nissan Titan XD is rated using J2807 standards...so they are in use now, at least for my truck.

 

[StarEcho]

"My main problem is I have champagne tastes with the beer pocketbook"

hahahaha I love that saying.

beside all the BS about tow ratings and hitches keep in mind that about 5 years ago(?) all the major manufacturers got in trouble for using shady data to inflate their tow ratings.

back country prospecting,  that's right up my ally.  have you been to any of my seminars?

highdesertranger

Donna Fargo - Society's Got Us - you tube link for the song where I first heard the phrase....

I didn't know about the inflation of ratings. How about that. .. good to know.

Re your prospecting seminar, I did manage to make one...I think it was in 2017...drove up from the yuma area to make it.  The thing that drove home our need (want really) for a side by side was doing some inadvertent rock climbing with my freaking suburban trying to get to a claim. Swore to myself that would never happen again.  :s

 

[highdesertranger]

yep I learned a long time ago not to use your main driving vehicle to do radical four wheeling. I believe I remember you, you came up and talked with me after the seminar. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

Where I wintered this year there were lots of prospectors that teamed up, one with the truck and trailer and the other one with a truck, equipment trailer with the gear and UTVs/ATVs. That way if one broke they could tow, double up or go get parts. The more serious ones had lots of equipment.

 

[highdesertranger]

bullfrog where might that be? highdesertranger

 

[wayne49]

bullfrog where might that be?  highdesertranger

HDR, Sounds like your camp.

 

[WalkaboutTed]

Somewhere you should be able to find the gross combined weight of the tow vehicle + the trailer. My combined weight limit is 16,000 pounds. I took the van (6300# empty) to a truck stop and weighed the van empty (after all the add-ons includong the batteries and installed solar) and it was 8300#. My trailer GVWR is 5500#. That gives me about 2200# of other crap to carry. Not much wiggle room when loaded up, especially if the the grey/black/freshwater tanks are filled (1125#). So, especially with doing mountain grades, I try to tow with empty tanks.

The weight adds up quickly.
Ted

 

[bullfrog]

In the mountains between Green Valley Arizona and Arizona HWY 286. Cabello Loco Ranch (elevation 3770') about 10 miles south of Three Points Arizona. Was ranch, then a rock club property and years ago an RV park sort of (limited utilites). Eight plus miles east of HWY 286 on a dirt road ( the wash was actually as good as the road some times) which the owner says keeps the riffraff out! Several abandoned mines as well as active claims in a several hundred acre area. Mostly BLM and State Trust land with lots of Border Patrol. Basically reservation to the west, Buenos Aires National Wildlife Area to the south and Diamond Bell Ranch to the north and of course no roads except ATV trails into the mountains to the east. I was told of one active claim/mine called the "Sunshine" supposedly owned by one of the residents there if that helps. I hopefully will have more time to ask questions when I go back next winter.

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks bullfrog. highdesertranger

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

I am going to revisit this. I have found that there is a limited timeframe my brain allows me to contemplate the towing question and by the time I get back to it I have to start all over!