Why your truck's tow rating is BS.....

mpierce wrote:
Duh! That seems obvious. Take a 8000# pickup, and put a 20,000# trailer behind it. You are now 3 1/2 times heavier, and you want to stop it with only the pickup brakes? Obviously it will take longer to stop!

Exactly ,but proves the point you need other than the Pickups's brakes to slow it.

RobertRyan wrote:
From that basically Horse Trailer site I got this,
2 tons versus 1 Tons

Then there's braking, though one ton dually's from the big three have improved their braking ability, they still aren't great with big trailers. In the tests and reviews I do with trucks, we run trucks on a race track with and without trailer brakes. Without trailer brakes, you'd be shocked at how far and long a new one ton dually diesel takes to stop without trailer brakes. It's hundreds of feet at 60 mph.

Duh! That seems obvious. Take a 8000# pickup, and put a 20,000# trailer behind it. You are now 3 1/2 times heavier, and you want to stop it with only the pickup brakes? Obviously it will take longer to stop!

The bigger the TV, the easier to stop without trailer brakes. But, I try to have working trailer brakes all the time. Not sure if you can size the TV, so that the it works the same if trailer brakes quit. That would mean I should have a Class 8 semi tractor to pull a 8000# trailer, so IF the trailer brakes quit, it will stop the same as without the trailer.

From that basically Horse Trailer site I got this,
2 tons versus 1 Tons

Then there's braking, though one ton dually's from the big three have improved their braking ability, they still aren't great with big trailers. In the tests and reviews I do with trucks, we run trucks on a race track with and without trailer brakes. Without trailer brakes, you'd be shocked at how far and long a new one ton dually diesel takes to stop without trailer brakes. It's hundreds of feet at 60 mph.

It would be great if the people writing these articles actually knew what they were writing about. The SAE J2807 is a testing procedure that incorporates duty specific tests. A truck's manueverability and accident avoidance and its acceleration and stopping distances at various speeds are tested with an actual load.

A truck's braking distance with a 4,000 lb. load in the bed or with the crew cab full of 150 lb. passengers may be double the manufacturer's stated stopping distance but that is not the same as stating that a manufacturer's GCWR or maximum towing capacity is BS.

If anyone bothers to take the time to read the truck tests done in 2011 by the people at mrtrailer.com or the ones done by Car and driver in 2012, both of which followed the SAE J2807 they would find that by and large the heavy duty trucks performed very well with substantial trailer loads. Despite the intense marketing and battle over pickup truck customers the information provided by them while possibly incomplete, it is not erroneous or purposely misleading.

My Chevy Tahoe without passengers or a trailer in tow could barely stop from 65 MPH without a lot of time and distance. I seldom used it for towing because of its poor brakes. On the other hand the advantage of a "heavy duty" class pickup truck is that the brakes, and frame, and suspension, and so forth are sized to handle the weight of the truck with passengers and with a heavy load. My 2500HD truck stops in half the distance with a 4K load as the Tahoe could do with the back empty and no passengers.

It is with the SUV's and 1/2 ton pickups (except for Toyota) that I would be most doubtful of the manufacturer's performance stats but that is still quite different from stating that the manufacturers are lying to people - that is something done all the time by bankers, brokers, and brass at the pentagon, FBI, CIA, et al. Want to take umbrage direct your anger at these people that have made millions of Americans jobless and homeless and still want to take more. In temrs of a sniff test I would put car salemen ahead of the press and pseudo journalists like Craig Cole.

pronstar wrote:
This goes beyond bragging rights.

Truck sales are big business, carmakers can't afford to lose a sale.
90% of Ford's global profits derived from the F Series, and 66% of GM's are derived from the Sierra and Silverado. You can't take risks with the goose that lays your golden eggs.

Exactly. It seems a very BIG issue in the US. Australian Design Rules Regulators have a big problem with the GCVWR figure and US Pickups are rated down by a considerable margin. i.e a small importer brings in the Raptor in tiny numbers . He is advertising 6000lb and 6,600lb towing figure for the Raptor.

Well I have to hand it to GM for listed theirs in the beginning. Then Ford and Ram backed out and GM followed suit. Something is better than nothing for the consumer. J2807 was not perfect but it was a start in fairness in advertising.

wilber1 wrote:
My tow rating is 13,900 and, GCWR is 23,000. I weighed my truck loaded to go and it was 8600, so my real tow rating should be 14,400. I'm good with that.:D

Cool !!!!

Someone who gets it !!!!

Wonder how these ratings would work for other stuff...like a boat or
an airplane or an elevator or anything to do with life and limb...

Can see it now...marketing for brand X boat says their boat can hold
5 people easily...saying brand Z can only hold 4 people. Both the
same length boat

What is missing is which insurance table for the 'average' man did
they use?

It used to be 150lb for the average 'man'...now the Coast Guard
is noodling changing that to 180lb

Or that brand Z's boat is also rated for ocean use, while brand X isn't

Ditto for an airplane...once had a meeting in the middle of Washington
state and the puddle jumper pilot had us move based on his eyeball
weighing us. Funny in a way, as he was trying to even out the weight
of a very fat couple...

My tow rating is 13,900 and, GCWR is 23,000. I weighed my truck loaded to go and it was 8600, so my real tow rating should be 14,400. I'm good with that.:D

The SAE towing standard won't help much when comparison shopping for RV TVs. It will show which truck is quicker to accelerate the same amount of weight.

Having an industry recognized standard will at least give the consumer a level playing field when comparing like models of Tow Vehicles so that is a good thing if it ever comes to pass

However, it is still just a rating based on known set of conditions (which includes style of trailer being pulled). Under those conditions, and those conditions only, it is the maximum wieght trailer than can be pulled. It does not mean and never will mean "my trailer is equal or less than the tow rating therefor I can tow it". You can "tow" a heavier flat bed trailer than a boat trailer. You can "tow" a heavier boat trailer than a TT. All with the exact same Tow Vehicle.