Towing a TT

[JoMoLite]

What is the optimum % of the tow vehicle maximum limit in towing a TT.I have read percentage of 80% to 50%. I am buying a new truck and I want a reasonable amount of towing excess capability. Thanks.

[Hannibal]

Depends on where you are and where you plan to go. Down here in the southeast where Monteagle is the only pass we rarely see, I've gone well over our tow ratings while staying within GVWR and axle ratings. If we lived in a very hilly area or in mountains, I would definitely want to stay under that proverbial 80% of GCWR or less.

[DinTulsa]

With my TT and F250 I've been right at Max payload before, but well under my axle ratings and tow ratings. Maybe because it's a Diesel but the truck handles and pulls/Stops excellent. I set the cruise at 65 and cruise for hours, we even pulled off a 13 hour day last year. If the truck was constantly shifting or I actually have to drive it over every hill then it would be a different story. I guess what I'm getting at is, depending on the truck towing at max ratings could be fine or exhausting.

[Camper_G]

It may not fly apart, but it will wear out faster, no question if your consistently working it hard.

I have found that if i don't exceed 80% of the tow rating with the trailers gvwr, ot makes for a good towing experience with pleanty of margin left. Others don't mind being that close to the max. That's their choice.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[Terryallan]

Lwiddis wrote:
"The engineers really did do their job. And you have to know. The tow capacities are pretty conservative"

Show me something from GM, Ford etc. that says their tow capacities are "conservative" and by inference that you can safely exceed their tow capacities.

Simple really. That is what they warranty it to do. If the ratings were close. they wouldn't warranty it. Not going to set themselves up to fix a lot of trucks towing too much. Working in the automotive field. I see it every day. They back off max tolerance.

And yes you CAN safely exceed their capacities. Because they are ONLY for warranty. I don't say do it. but you can, and your truck will not fly apart..

[Lwiddis]

"The engineers really did do their job. And you have to know. The tow capacities are pretty conservative"

Show me something from GM, Ford etc. that says their tow capacities are "conservative" and by inference that you can safely exceed their tow capacities.

[Campfire_Time]

Sandia Man wrote:
It goes without saying that the closer a towing combo is to being maxed out the less desirable the towing experience. Towing comfort while underway is different from one driver to another. Some have no qualms pushing the limit and are plenty happy with their results, after all they got to where they were going. Others go to the opposite extreme to have that feeling as if they weren't towing at all, their choice, their money.

Actually this did need to be said. Yes, you can tow right up to 100% of your rated towing capacity. But I can tell you from experience of doing this with 2 different trailers and TVs that it's perfectly safe and won't hurt the TV, but it's certainly not the best towing experience. I like the 80% rule myself. More often than not the 80% rule also keeps your payload in check as well.

[Terryallan]

It's really true. The engineers really did do their job. And you have to know. The tow capacities are pretty conservative. The ratings are more for warranty than anything else, as in. The weights are what the company warranties the truck to tow with out hurting it. IF it would hurt it. they would lower the weights,. Because they don't want to fix it free.

[Lwiddis]

"Those 80 percent rules of thumb are for people who can't or won't do the math on payload and axle ratings."

Unfair assumption, KD. I've done the math and choose to stay at 85% or below...TT weight, tongue weight and TV payload.

[rexlion]

Weight is not the sole factor. I would run up to 100% of rating if the trailer has fairly low frontal area and total length. Wind resistance at hwy speeds is huge, and a light but long TT will handle worse than a short heavy one.

[KD4UPL]

You can tow right up to the ratings. Those 80 percent rules of thumb are for people who can't or won't do the math on payload and axle ratings.
With my diesel dually I often tow my equipment trailer above the tow rating with no oroblems.

[Sandia_Man]

It goes without saying that the closer a towing combo is to being maxed out the less desirable the towing experience. Towing comfort while underway is different from one driver to another. Some have no qualms pushing the limit and are plenty happy with their results, after all they got to where they were going. Others go to the opposite extreme to have that feeling as if they weren't towing at all, their choice, their money.

Todays half-tons offer some pretty impressive towing specs properly equipped and there are plenty of RV manufacturers pumping out lightweight rigs that in-themselves are pretty impressive with all their amenities. If you go with a 3/4 ton you will be able to tow pretty much any TT available, many of the heavier high-end TTs have the same floorplan as their 5er counterparts on a single level deck, although storage isn't as expansive.

We have a Chevy 3/4 ton gasser with 4.10s to haul our 33' 10K# TT around the four corner states, nearly all of our RVing is above 5K' elevation where a gas engine's power is derated 3% every 1K' of elevation. IF you decide on a gasser don't be afraid to let her rev up as they are designed to do just that in order to reach their power band. Going up the many inclines in our region, our gasser happily roars into life to carry our rig where it needs to go.

[valhalla360]

The manufacturer already put in a safety margin.

If you want to pull a popup with a 1 ton dually diesel, you can. You can cruise up steep grades without downshifting and it won't even feel like you have anything back there. Of course it's overkill.

Anything below 100% should be fine (assumes all ratings are below 100% not just the towing number).

[downtheroad]

Put more attention into PAYLOAD rather than tow rating.

[wowens79]

As everyone will chime in, most of the time your payload will be maxed before your tow rating. I'm between 90-95% of my tow rating, and the truck is working hard.
I've got an older GM 6.0 gasser with the 4spd tranny, and on the highway at 65mph, I'm normally in 3rd gear turning 3000 rpm. If it is really flat, it will hold the speed in 4th, but any incline and it is back to 3rd. In the mountains of North GA, and East TN, I've had a couple of hills that I got down to 1st gear, turning 4500rpm, and it would not hold the speed in 2nd gear. It does the job, but I feel I'm working it to hard sometimes. The next truck will have a higher tow capacity.