Somebody, anybody show me a law that says that Ford, Ram, etc ratings are legal.


What is legal, you do not exceed tire capacity, axle capacities on truck or trailer.

Manufacturers don't have the legal right to dictate to you.....what's next.....
​​​They can tell you what color your trailer can be or what aftermarket toys you add or play with (excluding tuners of course because those violate the clean air act)

I'm often over the rated GCWR, I have never seen a officer pull out a book and look up truck capacity..... never ever.

The ratings are based on a test that The manufacturers are agreed upon....... It's all about marketing playing and simple.

 

J2807 is the SAE standard that determines the tow rating of a truck. What earns you a ticket is an entirely different matter between you and the nice highway patrol officer.

SAE J2807 Tow Tests - The Standard

 

If your greater than your GCVWR and you get into an accident, your automatically at fault with your insurance if they put 2+2 together

And actually, the max you can register a 450 for would be 26,000 lbs and that is because 26,001 would require CDL. Nobody is gonna get a CDL to drive a 450 because that is insane

 

Not in every state. In Texas, at least, a trailer over 12000 with a DRW f350 or F450 requires an exempt class A which is *not* a CDL. You can’t register the truck for over 14000– you’re likely not getting an overweight ticket without a CDL anyway. (But maybe! The law is murky and I’m not sure any one really understands).

Your insurance agent will probably pay the claim and drop you like a hot mic.

 

Yes, I said a test

Really..... I'm stopped at a red light, get rear end.... Yeah it's my fault. I live and work in the real world, been thru more DOT safety checks, and weight stations then I care to remember.

I'm also the ELD administrator, for our company, DOT trained, and a Class A holder. Every two years, we go thru a insurance audit. We deal with facts, not assumptions.

Gotta love Texas.

 

It simple, show us a law saying manufacturers set the legal limit?

Give Google a work out.

The FMCSA is the sets the rules, states enforces them.

Think about it, how many light duty trucks/SUV's/Cross overs are out on the road, in various configurations, do you think DOT is going to carry around a manufacturers recommendations of GCWR for each model, and then break it down by engine, transmission, gear ratio....hell no.

And I won't even bring up grandpa and 1996 Crown Victoria pulling a trailer.

 

You can also register a vehicle over 26k as a farm truck and drive it with a Class C. My dump truck is 28k with farm tags and I legally drive it with a Class C. I've been considering getting a non-commercial Class A just because but haven't gotten around to doing the testing. My trailers all have farm.tags which gets me some leeway.

 

Technically speaking, you could drive up to 36,000 pounds without needing a CDL.

 

Texas let's you go to 46,001 on a Class C with farm tags.

Single vehicle with a GVWR of less than 26,001 pounds towing a farm trailer with a GVWR that does not exceed 20,000 pounds

​​https://www.dps.texas.gov/DriverLicense/dlClasses.htm

 

I won't even pretend to know anything about farm life..... LoL

isn't there a mileage limit set?
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As mentioned in other threads, my regular ride is a 550 and a 45ft GN triple axle with tandems with a avg gross of 45K. Truck is rated at 18K, trailer is 37,500 for a GCW of 55,500. If using my other 550's, add 1500 more.

 

If you look at the j2807 towing test, it's just so they rate trucks on a level playing field. most class 8 trucks cant pass that test and roll all day at 80,000.
what matters is axle ratings and hitch ratings to DOT who regulates it.
If truck is 16k and trailer is 20k, combo is 36k if hitch is rated for that weight.
if above example hitch is only rated for 30k gcwr, then 30k is max weight.
if you look at manufacturers towing test they care about acceleration, DOT not so much, otherwise a gas and diesel truck would have the same rating since axles and brakes are the same between chassis.
so if your hitch is rated 37k and you have axles (with the brakes as well) rated up to that, you can weigh that much.

 

Yoire supposed to stay within 100 miles of the farm but, if I need to go get farm equipment that’s 300 miles away, I go get it. I suppose I could get in trouble for that, it seems like they’re more interested in people that are using stuff with farm tags for non-farm use than they are about enforcing the mileage limit. They’ve been cracking down on that because they want the tax money, my farm trailers are $9/yr, a regular tag on a 20k trailer would be almost $200/yr. So, like most things, it’s about the money more than anything else.

 

You can do basically whatever the heck you want with farm tags in TX, lol. I got rear ended in a 96 F350 DRW with close to 30000 lbs of hay on a gooseneck and nobody even bothered to calculate weights. I was way over whatever Ford had rated that poor truck for in ‘96.

But you are limited to farm use...(“Where ya headed with this giant camper and a truck with farm plates, son?” “The horse show, sir” )

 

What makes it capable of towing 37,000 pounds? Ford specs.

 

Funny story, I've been having some trouble with losing coolant somewhere in my 2014 F450 and I haven't been able to track the source down. EOT has been a little high, main indicator has been that the trans temp would climb about every 100 miles, especially when towing, and I'd have to add about 3/4 gallon of coolant to the radiator, not the reservoir, it would always still be full. So, I dropped it off at the mechanic and picked up.a 2016 F450 as a backup truck and now I've got one with the 19.5" tires. Boy are those suckers expensive. 😳. I think I like the 2016 better though, so it may be the primary and the 2014 will be the backup when they figure out the problem and I get it back. The 2016 has airbags as well and it definitely feels more stable when towing. We just bought a new ranch about 3 hours away so I couldn't afford to wait on the mechanic to figure it out, too much going on to be without the truck right now.