How much can we tow?
We are looking for a new tow vehicle and was wondering how we figure what each vehicle can tow? I know it depends on tow package and such so varies. Thanks for any help!
Forum Discussion
- They all come with a tow rating.
- Two factors are involved.
Tow rating and payload rating. Tow rating is pretty clear.
Payload rating is variable depending on your truck or beliefs. CCC vs RAWR
The truck has a CCC sticker on the door jamb. That tells you how much weight the truck can carry, i.e pin weight, camper weight, tongue weight.
While you may be able to tow a 15,000 5th wheel, you may not have the payload capacity for the pin weight, 5th hitch and passengers in the truck.
Same for a travel trailers tongue weight.
Some use the door sticker as gospel and some use the RAWR.
I won't get into a discussion on the merits of either. - Don’t violate the cardinal rule...buy or select the TT or 5er first then match a TV to it. And I also question your “how much can we tow?” viewpoint. How much can you eat? Smoke? Or drink? Towing at the max isn’t much fun...just like eating, smoking and drinking to the max.
- The so called "Tow ratings/capacity" are as big a joke as dry weights. You will never be able to tow up to your tow capacity as you will run out of payload by hundreds if not thousands of pounds before you even get close to max tow.
As a general rule of thumb figure 75 - 80 percent of of your tow capacity will get you into the ball park if you do not load too heavy. My F-150 SCab {5.4L V-8} was rated to tow 8,600#. When towing our 5,600# TT we were within 200# of our max payload.
Beware of Crew cabs and 4 X 4 as they are heavy and notoriously short of payload. Don't forget to add the tongue weight {roughly 13 percent of the loaded trailers weight}+ another 100# for the weight distribution hitch. Those numbers come right off of your avaialable payload before you load an ounce.
:C - If at max gvw before adding hitch weight, you have NO towing ability!
Too many variables to say you can to X lbs with a given truck!
Marty 2oldman wrote:
They all come with a tow rating.
And more often than not, the "tow rating" is not the controlling factor.
There are a few items you need to verify:
- Tow Rating
- Max Hitch Weight (adjusted if you use a weight distributing hitch)
- GCVWR (combined truck and trailer weight)
- Rear Axle weight rating (technically should check the front axle but almost no weight goes on the front axle, so it almost never is a factor).
Then you need to differentiate between empty vs loaded weights. No one travels empty, so for the trailer, you typically assume the GVWR (max trailer weight). That also factors into the hitch weight increasing.
Don't forget people and cargo in the truck. Typical is the manufacturer assumes a single 150lb driver and otherwise empty truck...which is rarely the case. Don't forget to add the hitch and any other accessories such as running boards, luggage racks, etc...
It really sounds more complicated than it is. If you do a search, you can find spreadsheets online that allow you to enter the figures and it will calculate for you but it's just simple addition.- You can tow about eight times what you can haul. This is because the typical tongue weight of a travel trailer is about 1/8 (12.5%) the weight of the trailer.
Now, COMFORTABLY towing is a whole other question, and has nothing to do with capacities or safety. If you load a 15-series pickup truck up to its maximum and start traveling with any regularity, you are going to get sick of it quickly. It's going to be frustrating and stressful to drive after the newness wears off.
Read some posts from people who have upgraded to the heavier trucks. Most claim a night and day difference, no comparision, why didn't I do this sooner, etc..
Whatever you do don't start out with a maxxed-out rig right out of the gate. - Thank you for all the input. We tow now with a 2000 Suburban LT 1500 and it is a wonderful tow experience. We are looking at another Suburban and they seem to vary greatly in what they can tow.
- It'll depend on model year (because they replaced the old 4 speed auto transmission with a 6 speed transmission), engine (I believe you could get a 5.3L, 6.0L and 8.1L in Suburbans), and the rear axle ratio also has a big effect (3.23, 3.42, 3.73). Higher numbers pull better than lower numbers with axle ratio.
As an example, my 2014 Ram 2500/Hemi was rated at 15,000 lbs with a 4.10 rear, but if it had a 3.73 it was 12,000 lbs. That's a 3000 lb difference just based on axle ratio.
