2018 F-150 hype....believe it or not?
So while looking into travel trailers, I’m also looking into the trucks to pull it. I’m applying the same rule of weights that I was applying to truck campers when I was looking into them; whatever th...
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I did find this in trying to decipher V-5 vs class V..
V-5 is a testing standard, not a Class.
A Class III hitch is rated at Class III by way of the V-5 testing standard.
The V-5 testing standard is now obsoleted, but those interested in comparing hitches should be aware that V-5 is only a testing standard, not a class rating. Most OEM hitches (up until the recent adoption of a new SAE standard) had "V-5" on the label, regardless of weight Class rating. The V-5 simply signifies that the V-5 standard of testing was used to determine the Class rating.
Incidentally, there is no such thing as a Class V in the V-5 testing standard. The highest class rating in the standard is Class IV. The use of the term Class V was a marketing ploy initiated by Reese, that later became a colloquialism for any hitch rated higher than the ratings defined as Class IV.
Specifically, "V-5" is simply a short hand acronym for the Vehicle Equipment Safety Commission Regulation 5, or VESC-5, or V-5. This federal commission was convened by the US Govt in the 1960's to address the lack of standards on the ratings of automotive towing equipment. In 1968, a final regulation was adopted, which was later revised in 1973 and 1977, and was later supplemented in 1980 by VESC-19, or "V-19", pertaining to fifth wheels and gooseneck trailers. Similar standards were commissioned by the Society of Automotive Engineers entitled the SAE J684, first issued in 1938, and more recently revised in 1998 and 2004. Some hitch receivers will say SAE J684 on the label instead of, or in addition to, V-5. Again, these symbols do NOT indicate a "Class V" weight or capacity rating, as no such rating exists in either of those standards.
The SAE standard was further supplemented with SAE J2638 pertaining to gooseneck and 5th wheel trailers, and was more recently revised with the towing testing standard that has been in the news during the last five years as the big three play chicken with each other as to who will adopt the new standard first or last, as the newer standard is more stringent, often yielding much lower tow ratings on the same equipment.
