Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

[Knightgang]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

Current F-150 body styles have tow capacity up to 11,300lbs......

 

[642mx]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

Current F-150 body styles have tow capacity up to 11,300lbs......

Have you drove one of these underpowered pigs?.... lol.

 

[Subliminal]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

you also gain on average vastly better build quality

 

[Lou C]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

It is odd that they are putting class III hitches on trucks that are capable of pulling much more...both of my Jeeps OE hitches are class IV (on the 98 the V-8 version was rated for 6500 and on the 07 the Hemi is rated for 7200)...

 

[Philster]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

i wouldn't just limit it to domestics... toyota tundra has a tow rating over 10000 pounds, depending on model/specs. as far as I know, no domestic 1/2 ton can do that.

you also gain on average vastly better build quality, and in most cases buying foreign supports the american worker, vs buying 'american' and supporting the american CEO, and mexican worker. (my last ford I owned was built in mexico. My current subaru, japanese car, built in indiana by americans)

Your limited knowledge of how businesses work does not belong in this thread. This is about vehicle recommendations, and issues about how Class III hitches are being found on new tow vehicles rated at 7k+ lb limits.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

Have you drove one of these underpowered pigs?.... lol.

No, I have not driven and F-150 in three years. I stick to 3/4 ton trucks now due to the rigs that I pull. That said, I find it hard to beleive that ANY, and I do many ANY (Toyota, Nissan, Honda and the Detroit Big Three) can really rate a 1/2 to tow 10K.

Have I done it with a 1/2 ton? Yes. Several times... I had a '94 F-150 2WD with the 5.0 302cid. Towed our '95 Suburban on a flatbed trailer on several occasions. It was only rated for 7300lbs. It did the job, and on flat land pulled fine, just took some time to gain speed.

Towing is not all about the tow vehicle as soom people seems to think... It also has a great deal to due with skill and knowing how to two. That means knowing how to allow the vehicle to work at its pace and not forcing it to do something it can't. Forcing a tow vehicle to acheive something it cannot do is what causes breakdowns and unsafe situations...


Do I think an F-150 can pull 11K? Yes... Do I think it should be done everyday? No... That goes for any 1/2 ton truck in my book.... To me, if you want to tow over 8K, buy a 3/4 ton.... And they are only made by the Detroit Three... JMHO...

 

[northernmerc]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

I just have to throw this in there:

Moral of the story: Stay away from Nissan.

Good advice!! Friends bought a Nissan and say never again!

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

Have you drove one of these underpowered pigs?.... lol.

Yes every day and it has great power ,mileage and tows my boat great. If you are going to tow with a F150 get the 5.4 with the tow package.

If you are looking to tow on a daily bases and above 8000lb get a one ton dullie with a diesel.

 

[rbh]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

If I needed an all purpose used truck to haul a boat or whatever, it would be a early to mid 90s dodge cummings 4x4, no elec crud on the motor to worry about, and they are a beast of a truck, almost bullet proof, except for rust on the body.

 

[642mx]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

Yes every day and it has great power ,mileage and tows my boat great. If you are going to tow with a F150 get the 5.4 with the tow package.

My Dad has an 05... It does drive nice, but the 300 horse engine is waaaaay behind the others. I think they bumped it to 320 horse now.... but thats still 60+ horse shy of the class leaders.

 

[Subliminal]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

If I needed an all purpose used truck to haul a boat or whatever, it would be a early to mid 90s dodge cummings 4x4, no elec crud on the motor to worry about, and they are a beast of a truck, almost bullet proof, except for rust on the body.

Like so:

Bought it a few weeks ago for $5.5k. Will pull the house over, gets 17 around town (low 20s on the highway) and has NO RUST!

/threadcrap

 

[rbh]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

Like so:

Bought it a few weeks ago for $5.5k. Will pull the house over, gets 17 around town (low 20s on the highway) and has NO RUST!

/threadcrap

Yup thats it.

 

[Lucky Penny]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

I did some checking concerning the use of a 6000 limit on hitches. It has nothing to do with the vehicle. It is all in paperwork. When a vehicle is registered, most states automaticly enter 6000 pound on the reg. All you need to do is go to DMV and purchase a "weighted tag" and specify the weight according to what the manufactory has listed the for the vehicle. As an example, a full size p/u with a v8 with a type III hitch and WDH can safely tow up to 18,000 add a class IV hitch and the max weight can go as high as 28,000 All the paperwork does is protect you if something happens. no lawsuits. no roadside DMV checks and tickets.

 

[mike343]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

As long as you stay below 500 lbs tongue weight and within the max allowable tow weight--7500 or what ever--you are OK.

What you are up against is the truck guys specifying 10-15% tongue weights for TRAILERS--boat trailers, horse trailers, travel trailers or whatever. So if your rig weighs more than 5000n lbs and you are at 10% you exceed the deadweight rating and need a wd hitch.

But all the BOAT TRAILER and surge break actuator mfgrs specify tongue weights of 5-10%. A good set of figures is a 6500 lb rig with 6-7% tongue weight (39o to 4600 lbs) well within the capability of half ton vehicles.

If the sales folks at GM etc. could convince the lawyers that this conservative policy of not specifying real requirements for different trailers is costing them sales it would help. After all, what's the impact of another couple of pages in a 200 page ownwe'w manual.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

The bottom line is that the factory hitches leave a LOT to be desired. On my '02 3/4T Suburban that I used to own, I had an aftermarket hitch installed. Besides being more heavy duty and able to have a deadweight rating of 8000lbs it was also a much cleaner install as it tucked up more under the bumper. I asked what they did with the old ones. He showed me the huge pile of GM hitches that he threw it in before they went to the scrap yard.

 

[msojjo]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

I've been pulling a 6900 pound travel trailer for years with my 1/2 ton suv. But that's with a wdh. The max trailer weight is rated at 8200lbs. I'm guessing i have a class 3 hitch also, as it says 500lb hitch weight, 5000 pound dead weight, then with the wdh it goes up to 1200 pound hitch and 12000 pound trailer weight. If your hauling that large of a boat you should probably be using a wdh anyway with a 1/2 ton. I even use the wdh with my 3/4 ton F-250 otherwise it squats down pretty good.

 

[109jb]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

I did some checking concerning the use of a 6000 limit on hitches. It has nothing to do with the vehicle. It is all in paperwork. When a vehicle is registered, most states automaticly enter 6000 pound on the reg. All you need to do is go to DMV and purchase a "weighted tag" and specify the weight according to what the manufactory has listed the for the vehicle. As an example, a full size p/u with a v8 with a type III hitch and WDH can safely tow up to 18,000 add a class IV hitch and the max weight can go as high as 28,000 All the paperwork does is protect you if something happens. no lawsuits. no roadside DMV checks and tickets.

It has to do with the hitch. All the hitches I have ever put on or owned have had their weight limits either stamped into the steel or on a tag/sticker applied to the hitch. Those are the hitch manufacturer's limits and no DMV paperwork will change it.

 

[109jb]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

If I needed an all purpose used truck to haul a boat or whatever, it would be a early to mid 90s dodge cummings 4x4, no elec crud on the motor to worry about, and they are a beast of a truck, almost bullet proof, except for rust on the body.

My dad has a 96 Dodge 3/4 ton long bed extended cab with the Cummins. It has been a good dependable truck, but the ride is harsh when unloaded, and the engine is wayyyy beyond noisy. Some people like the noisy diesels. I'm not one of them. For a hauler it is great which is what my dad bought it for. For an "all purpose" vehicle no way.

I have a 2003 GMC Crew cab duramax and I love it. I will admit I am biased. It rides well drives well, has all the creature comforts and has not given any major problems since I bought it new in December 2002. My truck now has many more miles than my father's dodge and he often asks if I want to trade. No way would I even think about trading as in my opinion it would be trading down quite a bit.

Having said that though, I don't even consider my truck as a good "all purpose" vehicle. With a family of four it could be used as an "all purpose", but due to a unique family situation our full size van fills the "all purpose" roll for us. The OP stated that he had a family of 6. IMO, with 6 people, a truck of any kind is out of the question as an "all purpose" vehicle.

If I had a family of 6 I would be looking toward an full size SUV or full size van to haul the people and baggage and be able to tow. You have to remember that the tow rating only includes the driver and fuel. Anything more than this in the vehicle has to be subtracted from the trailer allowance. Because of this, I'd say that with a family of 6 and wanting to tow a 6,500-6,700 pound trailer you will actually need a tow rating of at least 8,000 pounds. Now a vehicle that has it absolute max tow rating at 8,000 pounds is going to require that a WD hitch be used for probably anything over 5,000 pounds, maybe even less. If you don't want to have to use a WD hitch then bump the towing capacity up another couple thousand pounds so that the non-WD hitch capacity is over your 6,700 pound trailer weight. I suspect that you would need to be up over a 10,000 pound rating to be able to tow without WD. Realistically you are looking at a full size SUV or van like a Suburban, Expedition, Armada, etc. Even at that you will probably need a WD hitch to tow the weight you want.

As for the hitch, If buying new, find out if the hitch is a separate item from the rest of the towing package. Sometimes it is and you can get the other stuff but not the hitch platform. Like others have said though, just put an aftermarket hitch platform on whatever you buy.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

I know for a fact that most of the new domestic trucks are already wired for the tow package, and they just don't provide the plug in harness unless you order the tow package, but the connections are still there, I have also found many people don't even realize they have all the wiring, it used to be with both dodge and ford, the wiring harness was often times, put in a box and stuffed under one of the seats and have seen many trucks traded in that were hardwired and the plug in harness was still under the seats, salesmen neglected to let the customer know it was there.

The demand for towing created a situation, that it was just easier to box it and put it in the truck, but you can also order the factory wiring harness through the parts depts of the dealers or less than $100..

Many trucks, didn't have the hitch installed because the truck was not speced out with a towing package, but check under the seats, and look at your fuse blocks, I bet you will find there are places to put fuses in and check under the cab, and you will find a plug in, perhaps wrapped with tape..check under the rear bumper and the plugs are there, or they are tucked up inside.

This has been standard practice on many trucks since the late '90's In the RV business, we used to hardwire everything, until such time as one of my tech's pulled a harness out and we got to checking, and sure enough it was the complete system for trailer towing, with the plug under the dash to put the trailer brake control in..

 

[mommicked]

Re: Looking over new full-size trucks, finding only Class III hitches (5000lb max)

how do the newer jeep cherokees do w braking w heavy trailor,you do have trailor brakes I asume?they look small w a large boat behind them to me.compared to a fullsize diesel pickup.just wondering.