Flipping through my buddies owners manual today in his 98 Chevy 2500 4x4. With the 5.7 liter and 3.73's is says max trailer weight is 6500 pounds. The same motor and gears in the 1500 is good for 7,000 pounds :confused: Diesel in the 2500 with 4.10's is only good for 7,500.....

My 94 Dodge 2500 with a 5.9, 5-speed, and 3.55's is good for 8,800 pounds. I have 20 less HP than he has. (Identical torque)

The ratings of any NEW 1500 from all the manufactures are WELL over the rating on both our trucks.

So what gives? It it all lies? With my friends setup he is almost over the limit with his cruiser on a 18 foot carhauler :flipoff2:

Based upon some of hte numbers above, it appears as if you are looking at the GVWR for the truck itself... Not the trailer rating.??? Specifically the 2500 and the 8800 weight??

Anyway...

"Trailer" ratings are nothing more than marketing figures. If you really wanna know what a specific vehicle is "rated" to do ... Use the GCWR - GVW = available trailer "capacity".

This GCWR by the manufacturer is not any kind of "legal" figure... They're used by the manufacturer to give acceptable performance and maintain "warrantability".

Well, I'm not sure what numbers he's checking, but 7,000 for a 1,500 with a 350, 3.73, & TH700 is correct. I had one & that's what the manual said for the max trailer weight. Realistically, 5,500 was more like it. And he's also right that most of the new 1500's are "rated" for 9,000+. Why? No idea.


TEX

Tow ratings are sometimes a joke as my '93 Cummins W250 4x4 auto was rated for 8500 lbs... the manual version was something like 10000lbs. Back in those days I think engineers at the big 3 never thought anybody wouild ever need to tow something beyond 10K lbs as that was usually the rating of the biggest 1 tons back in those days. Now the tow ratings are just a marketing gimmick because 1/2 tons usually have a large number of restrictions when trying to tow close to there adveretised limit (like 9K lbs on the F150). Things like frontal area, tongue weight, trailer braking, speed restrictions....

It it all lies?

yes, the big 3 change them with the stroke of a pen all the time.
It's a good basline number, but still pretty meaningless.
Your axle weight ratings, tire ratings, spings, and most importantly brakes, are the ones to really look at to figure out what you are able to SAFELY pull.
engine size and gear ratios really play a small factor in it, allthough those two are the primary ones the big 3 really look at figureing their own ratings.

They use a whole mess of figures to compute tow ratings, like ability of the tranny to hold back the weight on a down hill slide, acceleration, brake response and stability in panic situations, overheating issues in the tranny, engine, ring & pinion; in addition to the first things you think of like length of tow rig, weight, engine power, tires size and carrying capacity, axles, springs and suspesion, etc..

There's some hapless little bean-counter at every truck manufacturer whose job it is to get yelled at by the marketing dep't and the risk-management dep't and come up with a number for the tow rating for each truck model.

-t

Well, I'm not sure what numbers he's checking, but 7,000 for a 1,500 with a 350, 3.73, & TH700 is correct. I had one & that's what the manual said for the max trailer weight. Realistically, 5,500 was more like it. And he's also right that most of the new 1500's are "rated" for 9,000+. Why? No idea.


TEX

Why? it's drivetrain limited.

no drivetrain (engine/tranny/transfer case) installed, a 3/4 ton truck will weigh more than a 1/2 ton truck. For example the 3/4 ton will have heavier axle(s) and frame.

Since that drivetrain can only tow a certain amount, as determined by an enginerd (I ASSume), they increase the tow rating on the lighter vehicle, and decrease it on the heavier one.

gawd... I hope what I said made sense.

Why? it's drivetrain limited, etc etc


No, I understand what you're saying & how it applies to the original post. What I was wondering was why anyone would be nuts enough to rate a 1/2 ton at 9,900lbs towing.

TEX

The braking power is your limitations..

Why? it's drivetrain limited.

no drivetrain (engine/tranny/transfer case) installed, a 3/4 ton truck will weigh more than a 1/2 ton truck. For example the 3/4 ton will have heavier axle(s) and frame.

Since that drivetrain can only tow a certain amount, as determined by an enginerd (I ASSume), they increase the tow rating on the lighter vehicle, and decrease it on the heavier one.

gawd... I hope what I said made sense.

It makes sense. A regular cab F350 is rated to haul/tow more weight than a crew cab model. The extra weight of the longer frame and cab lowers the rating.