Tow vehicle

Onyrlef wrote:
No engineer ever established that the tow rating for all gas burner MH's is 5,000 lbs. Towing capacity is determined by a number of variables. H.P., Torgue, weight of TV, Transmission, and etc. The towing capacity of one MH with a V10 could be 6k and another 5.5 k and yet another 5k. To be on the safe, one size fits all, side therefore towing capacity is universally rated @ 5k.Notice too that the towing capacity of a MH sporting a 2V V10 is the exact same as that of a 3V V10 regardless of the differences in sustained output. Would one care to argue that an engineer determined none of the mitigating factors affect towing capacity or that somehow when all the variables are calculated the magic towing capacity of 5k is always arrived at?

None of this is accurate. I am not sure where you are getting your information that all engineers have determined that all gas MH's have a tow rating of 5k. They don't. There is no "universal standard" or magic number. While it is true that many gassers have a 5k hitch, That's just a component and does not in any way dictate what the actual capacity of the chassis is. It's just a part. I could bolt a 5k hitch to a Miata. Could I tow anything with it? No. I attribute much of this inaccurate claim to be on some dealers who either don't know better or are trying to make a sale. A few people on this thread have tried to explain to you how actual towing capacity is calculated. I am not sure if you are just ignoring that or it's not what you want to hear. Engineers arrive at a Gross Combined Weight rating. There is no "standard". It's very specific to every model. That GCWR is the maximum of all cumulating factors (weight of the RV, Weight of it's contents, weight of fuel, people, towed vehicle) and is arrived at by considering all structural and mechanical components of the RV.

One RV might have a GCWR of 25k with a total weight including contents of 22k. In this case your capacity is 3k. It makes no difference that it has a 5k hitch. Tow capacity is the LESSER of the GCWR minus the weight loaded for travel or the hitch. A dealer may tell you it will tow 5k because it has a 5k hitch. But in reality it's inaccurate. the ONLY way to know is to weigh the RV loaded for travel and subtract from the GCWR. period.

I have seen gassers come off the line with almost no tow capacity all all.