I'M CONFUSED! Reading Chevy and Ford 5th wheel maximum towing capacities from their websites, Chevy claims 15,900 lbs and Ford claims only 13,300. These are the diesel ratings, 3500 and 350 respectively. Does the Chevy really outperform the Ford that much or is Chevy being optomistic and Ford being conservative? I see these huge rigs being pulled by both vehicles and am wondering if the Fords are grossly overweight and the Chevys, maybe, just a little. I would appreciate anyones help.

Bill

 

I believe that Chevy is optomistic and Ford is conservative. It also stems from the fact that Ford's trucks weigh more than GM's. The max capacity, GCWR-truck weight, doesn't matter anyway. Most people will exceed the vehicle's GVWR before they reach the GCWR.

 

Be sure you are comparing apples to apples. Are both figures for the same type of transmission (5-speed auto or 6-speed manual) and the same final drive gears (3.73, etc.). Those are the main variables in tow ratings. I think John is right about the empty truck weights also, but not by 2,600 lbs.

Jim

 

Another possible reason the F350 is rated lower is that Ford also offers the F450 and F550, whereas Chevy only has up to 3500 series.

 

Thanks for all the responses. Ford has updated their trailer towing guide and now the max 5th wheel towing capacity is 12,500 lb instead of 13,300. The Chevy and Ford are speced the same....Diesel engine, 5 speed automatic and 3.73 rear end. (no choice on gear ratios) Who knows why. If anyone is interested the Ford towing guide address is: http://www.fleet.ford.com/products/r...03_default.asp

Thanks to all,
Bill

 

Ford's are sleepers. They are under-rated so you don't wreck your truck or get sued.

Chevy literature (and their commercials) are well...full of it...

 

my understanding of this is that this is more licensing purposes than anything else... a 350/3500 is considered a class 3 vehicle, and according to dot this is a vehicle with a GCVW of 10001 to 14000 anything more and it gets bumped up to a class 4 which is considered a "commercial vehicle" now i think it is pretty obvious in low gvwr trucks the rating is a bit more realistic, ie rangers f150, but imho the ratings in the larger trucks is to keep them in this range to help out the people who own them (ie insurance, and licensing is much less than on a class 4 vehicle)

my understanding of how they come up with gcvw is that they come up with the lightest vehicle possibe in that configuration, it may even be a cab and chassis model with absoultely no options, unless they are lighter than the factor option and subtract that number from 14,000 this is the reason the diesel has a lower gcvw than the v10 with more power(last time i looked anyway) it has to do with the weight difference, the same is true with the four wheel drive option, it reduces the gcvw but the gawr is higher....

anyway that is my 2 cents

nickolas

 

This would be a good discussion in the Ford VS Competition fourm. Also yes, Ford always has conservative towing ratings.

 

My 03 psd 4x4 DRW crew cab f350 has a (GCWR) of 20,000 Lbs, (truck and trailer)and a GVWR of 11,000 Lbs (truck only) and a max trailer weight of 12,400Lbs because of the pull hitch that I'v changed to a 15,000LBS hitch. so if the truck weight is 6,500 empty you can put 4,000 LBS of load in to it for 10,500 then pull a 9,500LB trailer with 500 LBS tongue weight for a total of 20,000 GCWR.

 

Don't follow towing guidelines set by the car maker. They usually set those for legal purposes so that if somebody snaps an axle towing a trailer slightly above below the maximum limit, the manufacturer can't get sued. Now that's not always true, but only use them as helpers. Don't purposely scamp on a trailer that is a few pounds lighter to fit under the limit.