Towing Weight Ratings

[Big Blue]

I have been following and contributing to the various towing threads for some time now. I have come to the conclusion that the most posted yet most misunderstood and misused information about our trucks is the 7500# max. tow rating. I will probably get flamed for this. It is just an advertising number Ford uses to sell trucks. It does not apply to everyone in all cases. The actual max weight you should tow is actually a combination of many actual ratings for your truck. I put together a PDF of what these ratings mean, what they include, and a little of how they interact with each other. Hopefully it will educate some of the new people to towing, especially RVs, to what is actually involved when looking at purchasing a RV. Trusting a RV to be truthful about what you can/should tow with you truck is giving the keys to your Shelby to your teenager on a Saturday night. They just want to sell you the biggest RV possible.

So, please read and take it for what you will. Constructive criticisms always appreciated. Just my little PSA.

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[Frenchy]

Put simple a stock Ford Ranger right now will tow a maximum of 7500 lb if you have the tow package and right equipment attached to the vehicle and whatever it is you're towing. That is already a known fact. Those who already understand telling like myself have no problems taking it to the max if needed. And as a common sense rule when in doubt take it slow

 

[Big Blue]

Put simple a stock Ford Ranger right now will tow a maximum of 7500 lb if you have the tow package and right equipment attached to the vehicle and whatever it is you're towing. That is already a known fact. Those who already understand telling like myself have no problems taking it to the max if needed. And as a common sense rule when in doubt take it slow

Not entirely true. It depends on what trim level and packages your stock Ranger has from the factory and how much you weigh. Without doing the math, you don't know. But yes, a base XL SCAB with town package and minimum tongue weight driven by your 140 lb teen age son with an empty bed, could probably be within all weight ratings. How many times is that happening? Let's face it someone pulling a big travel trailer is not doing it with a base model truck by themselves. They have their family, maybe some pets, some traveling supplies, hopefully some emergency gear. My point is, and this was really aimed at travel trailers, you can't just plan on pulling a 7500 lb trailer without doing some planning and math. That is a Max number Ford publishes to sell trucks and the Sun, the Moon and the Stars all need the line up to do it. If you want to stay within the actual RATINGS of the truck, and you should, you may find you need to look for something lighter.

 

[Frenchy]

Not entirely true. It depends on what trim level and packages your stock Ranger has from the factory and how much you weigh. Without doing the math, you don't know. But yes, a base XL SCAB with town package and minimum tongue weight driven by your 140 lb teen age son with an empty bed, could probably be within all weight ratings. How many times is that happening? Let's face it someone pulling a big travel trailer is not doing it with a base model truck by themselves. They have their family, maybe some pets, some traveling supplies, hopefully some emergency gear. My point is, and this was really aimed at travel trailers, you can't just plan on pulling a 7500 lb trailer without doing some planning and math. That is a Max number Ford publishes to sell trucks and the Sun, the Moon and the Stars all need the line up to do it. If you want to stay within the actual RATINGS of the truck, and you should, you may find you need to look for something lighter.

You must not have paid attention to what I said. I said those who know will have no problems taking it to the max. Clearly that means loading everything correctly.

 

[Big Blue]

You must not have paid attention to what I said. I said those who know will have no problems taking it to the max. Clearly that means loading everything correctly.

I'm just saying the max. May not be 7500 pounds. And unless "those who know" do the math, they may be overloaded.

 

[aslusers]

Thank you for sharing this information on the pdf. It is very useful. I have weight my truck unloaded and loaded with our travel trailer via Cat. The rule of thumb for me is to pick a loaded travel trailer that is half of the maximum #7500. Just a trouble-free tip! Not only this, it will save the MPG as well. I tend to go 55 mph on the highway where the maximum is 70 mph. Yes, I do wear a hat. At least, it is always a baseball cap! Just old enough not to give a shit of what people think of my driving.

 

[Cabose-1]

All rangers can tow 7500lbs. Regardless

All of them, when properly equipped, receiver hitch.

What changes is payload

My 4x2 xlt has a bigger payload 1700lbs
Than a lariat tremor 4x4 1200lbs

10% tongue weight of 7500lbs is 750lbs plus passenger he is close to maximum payload already.

1700 lbs plus passengers plenty of payload left when 10% of trailer is tongue weight.

But all rangers tow 7500lbs. Same engine, tranny, rearend. Just depends on pay load what the truck can do.

Unlike super duty, and f150, what rear end, what engine, max tow package so on and so on.

But all rangers can tow 7500lbs. Just need the receiver hitch. Not even a 7 pin connector is needed. Nothing surge brakes cant fix. Tt towing and a backhoe of course are different in the way they tow. I have no problem with 1500lb payload plus a 6000lb trailer. Nothing is overloaded.

Every tow and pickup is different. You just have to know what the payload is for each truck and trailer.

But all rangers can tow 7500 lbs. And thats the bottom line.

 

[Peragrin]

You can always tow the 7500 lbs. with 750 pounds tongue weight.

What you need to be mindfull of is that a 600 pound tongue weight trailer, 100 pound weight distribution hitch, and 80 pounds of batteries and propane(2 20 pound propane tanks plus the weight of the tanks, and a battery) (also on the tongue ) adds up to over 750 lbs.

That is where you run into potential issues. those that know the difference can handle it. others should aim for a 500 lb tongue weight and live with the safety margin. (that's what I aimed for).

hauling a boat or race car? well you can aim higher.

 

[Frenchy]

You can always tow the 7500 lbs. with 750 pounds tongue weight.

What you need to be mindfull of is that a 600 pound tongue weight trailer, 100 pound weight distribution hitch, and 80 pounds of batteries and propane(2 20 pound propane tanks plus the weight of the tanks, and a battery) (also on the tongue ) adds up to over 750 lbs.

That is where you run into potential issues. those that know the difference can handle it. others should aim for a 500 lb tongue weight and live with the safety margin. (that's what I aimed for).

hauling a boat or race car? well you can aim higher.

Not necessarily. There's a possibility certain trailers will already include that stuff as part of the tongue weight. Weight distribution hitch is a little different but then again the weight distribution hitch takes weight off the tongue as well because it evenly distributes the load up on all axles

 

[Big Blue]

Not necessarily. There's a possibility certain trailers will already include that stuff as part of the tongue weight. Weight distribution hitch is a little different but then again the weight distribution hitch takes weight off the tongue as well because it evenly distributes the load up on all axles

Wrong! A weight distribution hitch does not take weight off the tongue. It simply distributes it differently to the axles. It does this by vertically stiffening the joint between the tow vehicle and the trailer. The weight is still there. It actually puts more stress on the vehicle and trailer frame to do this.

 

[Big Blue]

OK, I knew this was going to draw some reactions. Let me explain a few things. First, No where did I says a Ranger could not pull a 7500 lb trailer. Should it is the question. Second, No where I can find, does Ford call this number a hard and fast number for ALL Rangers. It is always preceded by the works "Max." or "up to", which leaves room for it to be less. They also call it a capacity not a rating. As I said it is an advertising number. They also have a disclaimer in the 2022 towing guide stating, must not exceed the GCVWR. Which the best I could find is 12150-12500 lbs with tow package.

What I did say was, you need to know the ratings, how they interact and the weights for your setup, and you should stay within those ratings. If you do the math, you may find a 7500 lb trailer is too heavy. All setups are different.

Once again, I never said a Ranger could not pull 7500 lbs, Heck it could probably pull 10000 lbs. Should it is the question. I will leave it at.

 

[Pinecrestjim]

A couple of posts have inferred that the weight of a WDH is a component of the calculation of the tongue "load" as Ford calls it. This is incorrect. The WDH is a component of the payload weight, not the tongue load.

Ford outlines how to determine the tongue load of a trailer in their 2021 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide on Page 43. In short, it is strictly the weight of the trailer tongue.

 

[Grumpaw]

A couple of posts have inferred that the weight of a WDH is a component of the calculation of the tongue "load" as Ford calls it. This is incorrect. The WDH is a component of the payload weight, not the tongue load.

Ford outlines how to determine the tongue load of a trailer in their 2021 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide on Page 43. In short, it is strictly the weight of the trailer tongue.

Yeah, the hitch head weight goes to the truck loading, the clamps that the bar chains attach to go to the trailer...the bars themselves...I guess when under tension the weight is split...
My Blue Ox set up weighs in at right around 95-100 lbs. Call it 60 lbs for the hitch head with ball, 2 clamps at 5 lbs each x, and 30 ish for the 2 bars.

 

[Big Blue]

Yeah, the hitch head weight goes to the truck loading, the clamps that the bar chains attach to go to the trailer...the bars themselves...I guess when under tension the weight is split...
My Blue Ox set up weighs in at right around 95-100 lbs. Call it 60 lbs for the hitch head with ball, 2 clamps at 5 lbs each x, and 30 ish for the 2 bars.

Ah, another interesting subject. Tongue weight what is it, where does it go to, and what does a WDH do with it.

For one thing there are really two types of tongue weight. Tongue weight as it relates to the trailer and tongue weight as it relates to the tow vehicles hitch.

As far as the trailer is concerned it is the weight on the trailers hitch or what the hitch ball sees. this would include anything attached to the trailer including the WDH brackets and part of the bars.

Now as far a the tow vehicle hitch receiver is concerned it is everything that is part of the trailer tongue weight plus the WDH hitch head and what ever part of the bars not included with the trailer. The tow vehicles hitch receiver rating is what we are concerned about here. So, it includes the trailer tongue weight plus the entire WDH assembly.

Next where does this weight go. Well weight is weight. A WDH does not reduce tongue weight, it redistributes it, hence the name. The hitch receiver still sees all the weight. The WDH distributes the weight by vertically stiffening the joint between the vehicle and the trailer frames. It in effect takes weight off the rear axle of the tow vehicle and sends it to the front axle. It does this by inducing torsional stress into the tow vehicles frame. Some of it a small percentage will also be transmitted through the spring bars and the trailer frame to the trailer axles.

So where does all this "tongue weight" get counted. It all gets listed as payload for the tow vehicle. the percentage of it sent to the trailer is not relevant to these calculations. If you are cutting that close you need a bigger tow vehicle. Not sure if it also gets counted as trailer weight, but who cares as long as long as you are below the GCVWR for your tow vehicle.

Sorry for the long post, but the engineer in me found this to be an interesting case study that needed repeating.

 

[Cabose-1]

Ah, another interesting subject. Tongue weight what is it, where does it go to, and what does a WDH do with it.

For one thing there are really two types of tongue weight. Tongue weight as it relates to the trailer and tongue weight as it relates to the tow vehicles hitch.

As far as the trailer is concerned it is the weight on the trailers hitch or what the hitch ball sees. this would include anything attached to the trailer including the WDH brackets and part of the bars.

Now as far a the tow vehicle hitch receiver is concerned it is everything that is part of the trailer tongue weight plus the WDH hitch head and what ever part of the bars not included with the trailer. The tow vehicles hitch receiver rating is what we are concerned about here. So, it includes the trailer tongue weight plus the entire WDH assembly.

Next where does this weight go. Well weight is weight. A WDH does not reduce tongue weight, it redistributes it, hence the name. The hitch receiver still sees all the weight. The WDH distributes the weight by vertically stiffening the joint between the vehicle and the trailer frames. It in effect takes weight off the rear axle of the tow vehicle and sends it to the front axle. It does this by inducing torsional stress into the tow vehicles frame. Some of it a small percentage will also be transmitted through the spring bars and the trailer frame to the trailer axles.

So where does all this "tongue weight" get counted. It all gets listed as payload for the tow vehicle. the percentage of it sent to the trailer is not relevant to these calculations. If you are cutting that close you need a bigger tow vehicle. Not sure if it also gets counted as trailer weight, but who cares as long as long as you are below the GCVWR for your tow vehicle.

Sorry for the long post, but the engineer in me found this to be an interesting case study that needed repeating.

Agreed, all of the tongue weight, all of it, regardless of where it goes is payload. I am sure you know more about stresses and so forth having the engineer background. All i know about a wdh is that it does help keep the front wheels down, adding weight, thus allowing for a more even and stable ride with the tow vehicle. No traction and sketchy steering if the squat is too much on the tow vehicle.

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