Clarification on tow capacity

jaycocreek wrote:
LarryJM

What part of, this is only my opinion, nothing more that you don't get?

We all are entitled to our opinions on a topic without getting a lip lashing or getting personal.

What you stated were IMO NOT OPINIONS, but FACTS of what you did and thought was O.K. and therein lies the suggestion that one might do the same and was what I was taking issue with. I think you need to research what opinion means ....

Defn: "a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge."

AND you post were based on both those ... facts and knowledge (personal on what you actually did and seemed proud of). If you would have simply said "IMO you can often tow in excess of a vehicles stated capacity with proper mods" then that is IMO and OPINION.

Larry

Titan good mileage???

LOL! Honestly, too many folks find this forum while researching how to fix their towing issues, instead of finding it while doing some research in advance of a purchase like you are. So you are already a step ahead.

Look at it another way: towing is not really about bigger motor = can tow more. That's how the mfrs market to us though...and it has some truth when you are towing boats, equipment trailers and the like. RVs put 13% (on average) of their weight on the tongue so vehicles run out of carrying capacity long before they run out of towing capacity. So what you are getting with a 250 or 2500 series is the ability to carry more weight with heavier springs, tires, brakes, axles, frame, etc. A 2500 truck with a 6.0L gas engine can tow a bigger RV because it can carry more tongue weight than its 1500 counterpart, and the gas mileage on the 6.0L and the 5.3L when not towing are not much different.

Contrary to what our dealer told us, the 26' Mallard that weighed 6200 lbs fully loaded was really beating up our 2000 Expedition, so we were forced to trade up to the Suburban and take a big depreciation hit after owning the truck for only a year. The upside was that we could now get the 34' trailer we wanted with 4 bunks and a huge slide. The downside was that the Suburban was sweetie's daily driver for 5 years. When I started working close to home we switched, but it does get driven almost every day. But it's part of the price we pay for the 34' trailer...not just the gas when towing but the extra gas when not towing.

A realistic way to attack this would be to pick a truck that you think would fit your daily needs and post up the GVWR and other ratings from the mfr. Get some opinions here on what size TT you could expect to comfortable tow and then go TT shopping and see if you like anything in that weight range. Do some virtual shopping and stop back here for opinions and advice and you should be able to dial in what will work best for you without having to commit too soon to either truck or trailer.

BurbMan wrote:

rbpru wrote:
These six pages have once again shown that a TT purchase is dependent on three things.
• TV capacity
• Floor plan
• Cost
All three have to be carefully studied before purchase.

It's important to PRIORITIZE each of these in your decision.

To the OP:

If you are most worried about finding the "right" trailer, then shop for it first especially if you are buying used, you may not expect to wind up with what you buy. Then buy a truck to tow it.

BUT

If gas mileage is more important, then buy the Titan and be prepared to walk away from trailers that are too big. Remember that the Titan will run out of cargo carrying capacity to hold the tongue weight loooong before it reaches it's max tow rating (true with any truck). Depending on how you load the truck you will realistically looking for units with dry weight 5000 lbs or less.

OR

Do what many do, buy the Titan because it gets good mileage as a daily driver, then shop for the TT of your dreams and have full confidence when the salesman says "Your truck will tow anything on the lot!" Then post about sway issues over in "Towing" and ask about chips and cat-back systems to get more power out of the Titan over in "Tow vehicles".

That's good advice. Thank you.... I think I'll skip the last part, haha. :)

rbpru wrote:
These six pages have once again shown that a TT purchase is dependent on three things.
• TV capacity
• Floor plan
• Cost
All three have to be carefully studied before purchase.

It's important to PRIORITIZE each of these in your decision.

To the OP:

If you are most worried about finding the "right" trailer, then shop for it first especially if you are buying used, you may not expect to wind up with what you buy. Then buy a truck to tow it.

BUT

If gas mileage is more important, then buy the Titan and be prepared to walk away from trailers that are too big. Remember that the Titan will run out of cargo carrying capacity to hold the tongue weight loooong before it reaches it's max tow rating (true with any truck). Depending on how you load the truck you will realistically looking for units with dry weight 5000 lbs or less.

OR

Do what many do, buy the Titan because it gets good mileage as a daily driver, then shop for the TT of your dreams and have full confidence when the salesman says "Your truck will tow anything on the lot!" Then post about sway issues over in "Towing" and ask about chips and cat-back systems to get more power out of the Titan over in "Tow vehicles".

These six pages have once again shown that a TT purchase is dependent on three things.
• TV capacity
• Floor plan
• Cost
All three have to be carefully studied before purchase.

APT wrote:
My 3/4 ton gets 14mpg is mixed driving, 18mph highway non towing. Both are 2mpg better than my 2003 half ton. The 3/4 tons aren't that bad since big blocks went away. Current half tons are getting 16-17mpg in mixed driving and 20mpg highway.

15k miles per year, $4/gal for gas, 17mpg vs. 14mpg is $63/mo extra in fuel. Use your own estimates to understand if $63/mo is your whole salary or not. People like to make wild claims about how bad things are without proper research. It is a compromise for sure so just use real numbers to understand what that is worth.

I am well aware that it's not going to take my whole salary and I'm pretty sure every other person who read my post knew that too. We will already be buying a new (to us) TV, a TT, an increase in gas whether we get a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton (because what we have now will be better gas mileage than whatever we buy) and then it'd be additional gas and purchase price if we get the 3/4 instead of the 1/2. I'm not trying to complain I'm just saying that when we will already be forking out a hell of a lot at once then $63 could actually feel like a lot on top of it all. Oh and we don't have mixed driving in the vehicle we will be replacing - it's all city.

Shorteelaw wrote:

joshuajim wrote:
If you get an EcoBoost with BOTH max tow and HD payload it will be rated to tow 11,300# and has GVWR of 8,200# which gives you 2,600# of TV cargo capacity. That's roughly equivalent to previous generation 3/4 ton trucks.

You won't find one on a lot, they have to be ordered.

Would I need both of those to be able to safely a trailer that's about 6500-7000 pounds with everything in it (cargo/water/etc)?

A 7000# trailer could have a 1050# tongue weight (15%TW). My 7500# trailer does (1130# TW). You can get a Maxtow Eco with 2000# payload, I did off the lot, but it's a 4x2 SCab, not a 4x4Crew Cab. And it doesn't have a lot of options.

So figure 1000# TW add 50# WDH weight and add up weights of everybody and everything that will go in the truck in addition. Then find a truck with the Yellow Sticker on the Doorjamb Payload to match, or higher.

Goldstalker wrote:
To answer your question I think you would be OK with the Titan and a trailer in that range. The Ecoboost would be better towing experience but to get both MAX packages you will most likely have to order one. The Ecoboost will tow at much lower RPM because of the Turbos, whereas the Titan will be doing 4k rpm up hills. Also to be honest the Titan is pretty long in the tooth at this point and gets poor mileage. I would recommend the Ecoboost for your situation but if you ever plan to get a bigger trailer or 5th wheel you will need a 3/4 ton.

Thank you for answering my question. :)

To answer your question I think you would be OK with the Titan and a trailer in that range. The Ecoboost would be better towing experience but to get both MAX packages you will most likely have to order one. The Ecoboost will tow at much lower RPM because of the Turbos, whereas the Titan will be doing 4k rpm up hills. Also to be honest the Titan is pretty long in the tooth at this point and gets poor mileage. I would recommend the Ecoboost for your situation but if you ever plan to get a bigger trailer or 5th wheel you will need a 3/4 ton.