Tow Vehicle Capacitys

[gudmund]

Why not have a topic section just for everyone to list the Tow Capacity's of their tow vehicles? I see a lot of people asking questions about their tow capacity's with answers like "you should be able too or not be able too" but no actual listed ratings of what the factory owner manuels say for their own personal vehicle. All of us who still have our owners manual's could list our vehicle's ratings here directly from our owner manual info page. We could have a running list as people enter their info for others to view when researching newer vehicles or their present vehicles. I guess I could start with mine to see if this goes anywhere:
2007 Chev Colorado 4 dr Crew cab - 3.7litre 5 cyl 2 wheel drive - 242 HP/242 Tongue - 4 speed Auto - 3.73 rear gear
Max Trailer weight 4000 lbs - Gross Combination Weight Rating 9000 lbs

I tow a 4 x 8 teardrop that weights 800 lbs empty and 1250 lbs loaded

The 2000 S-10 standard cab I had before that was towing the same trailer had a 2.2litre 4 cyl 2 wheel drive - 120 HP/120 Tongue - 5 speed Manuel - 3.73 rear gear with a Max Trailer weight of 2000 Lbs

Both books for these two vehicles state a Maximum of 1000 lbs Trailer weight for their brakes loaded. "If more than 1000 lbs, trailer brakes are needed". The S-10 had 10 inch front rotors w/single piston caliper/9.5 inch rear drums and the Colorado has 11 inch front rotors w/duel piston calipers/11.5 rear drums. Yet both books say 1000 lbs total trailer weight.

(No, I do not have trailer brakes and after taking the ceramic brake pads off of the Colorado that came on it and replacing them with semi-metallic pads, which are recommended for towing - they work GREAT!!! and better than the S-10 brakes did, yet the S-10 did work fine also. I do think GM says this just to cover themselves along with the "we told you so" and it's in the book. Plus I'm not much over the 1000 lbs trailer weight anyway.)
PS I am hoping for an info page section for everyone - not a "mines better than yours" section and yes I am just as opinionated as any one else, so please keep your GM comments to yourself and lets just get some "good" info listings for "all" vehicles here for others to use! gudmund

[asianflava]

A database would be nice, but recommended towing limits aren't always accurate.

There are lost of factirs that can influence the tow rating. It can depend on the country, the same vehicle in the US will say "Towing not Recommended" but in Europe towing isn't a problem. Manufacturers also inflate numbers so that they can claim "Best in Class". It has gotten to the point where the manufacturers have agreed to the SAE J2807 standard so that it is an apples to apples comparison. I think this standard is only used for trucks. Technically my truck (2007 Toyota Tundra) has a tow capacity of 10400lbs, whereas the 2010 model's capacity is 8200lbs same truck same engine. The only difference is that the 2010 truck is measured to the J2807 standard.

[Rolly]

In my experience tow capacity can vary from vehicle to vehicle depending on what equipment was ordered on that vehicle. Some years ago my wife had a Dodge minivan with the tow package. As I remember the tow package included heavy duty radiator,trans cooler engine oil cooler, heavy duty brakes, high capacity alternator, and a wiring harness, but no hitch. Her Avalanche 2500 tow package included much the same plus a lower axle ratio. If you are worried about overloading many truck stops have a Cat scale, they can weigh 3 axles. I have used them with a standard 135" wheelbase pickup not sure about shorter vehicles. Instructions on utube, take a stick to use call button.

[dales133]

I realy struggle to see how they work it out.
I've got a 94 80 series land crusier (lx450) and in Australia it's only rated to tow 2500 metric ton where as some vehicles that weigh less and art half as strong...full chassis ect are rated to tow 3500 metric ton or more.
The mind boggles

[rowerwet]

My Focus is rated for zero, no towing allowed, as you may notice it tows just fine. I even took it to the dealership and had the clutch software upgraded, and they did not void the warranty, or even mention the receiver being there.
my Grand Caravan can tow 2,600 lbs, but that is with an empty van, every passenger and lb of stuff is subtracted from that 2,600.

[dales133]

Yep crazy.
Safty first n stuff but ...

[GuitarPhotog]

here's a nice tow capacity chart on the Alto camper website. It lists quite a few different vehicles and might be handy for you.

I think you forgot the link

<Chas>

[S. Heisley]

Also, since most of us have little teardrops and tiny trailers that don't require or have brakes, you would also need to know how many pounds each tow vehicle is rated to stop.
After all, if you only state how much a vehicle can tow, some people would think that was what they can do when that may not be so. For instance, I had a small truck that had a towing capacity of 3500 lbs but was only warranted to stop 1200 lbs...big difference. Then, add to that, the amount allowed to be towed without brakes varies from state to state and even country to country; so, you would also need to supply that. It gets complicated.

[Wolffarmer]

My Suzukis, a 1994 1600cc 5 speed and a 2000 2000cc auto, both say 1500lb max. Not sure what they say about brakes on trailer. But I tow my brake-less, 1100lbs TD with them and no problems. Brake size is about the same as your S10. Though I would not want to load up to much more than I have it now. Also I am rather use to driving old farm trucks and driving way ahead and not trying to do the speed limit all the time. I think with you S10 they might be concerned about someone pulling a heavy trailer with no added weight to the bed of the pickup. Something I would not want to do. Empty pickups are light in the rear thus lose traction on the rear axle.

Randy

[rowerwet]

My 2001 focus was rated to tow 2k lbs, my 2012 focus is 1k lbs heavier, has better brakes and better tires, it also has. More HP. The first time we towed the tear I took it easy for a bit slowly driving faster every few miles. At each faster speed I tried abrupt swerves and panic stops to see how it handled. Before long we were up to average traffic speed, 75 mph, and still didn't feel out of control or even feel the tear pushing in a panic stop. The car is perfectly able to haul our loaded tear without any drama.
If you tow, even with a rated tv, get a feel for how it will handle panic stops and avoidance swerves at increasing speeds, before it counts. When you find the speed where control is not certain, do not go faster.

[jss06]

2014 Jeep Cherokee V6 w tow package. 4500 lbs capacity. Tows the trailer like it was not there. All of the 2.4L and non tow package 2014+ Cherokees are rated for 2k lbs.

[gudmund]

never had any problems with the S-10 the 2 years I towed the 1200 lb Teardrop along with whatever I had in the bed. It got 25 to almost 30 mpg just as a daily driver and 22/24 mpg with the trailer in tow. It just was a little "lacking' on power on some of the big hills being it was only a 2.2litre 4 cyl - 120 Hp, the same basic motor they used in the Chev Caviler. It today is still a daily driver for a lady at work with 200,000 miles on it and is still running just fine. Can't say so much for the Colorado when it comes to mpg, 18 to 22 whether towing or not but it does tow a lot better when it comes to power, being it has twice the HP along with almost twice the torque. It also has all the do-dad's the S-10 didn't have, stuff I am still trying to get used too being I have not has a auto trans in over 30 years and have never had electric windows - electric mirrors - power door locks - tilt wheel - cruise control - air conditioning etc., etc., etc. Every once in awhile I still find myself trying to push in a clutch or hand crank a window or forget I even have the power mirrors or cruise control.

[Phooey]

2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser V6 with towing package and locking rear differential rated at 4700 pounds

[deleted]

My 1994 Acura Integra is, according to my owner's manual, rated to tow 1000 lbs. My trailer loaded is probably around 600 lbs. The dry weight is less than that and there isn't that much room to put things in there so the lack of space keeps things in control weight wise. My trailer does have brakes even though they weren't legally required. It just seemed like a prudent thing to have since my tow vehicle isn't that big.

[Ron Dickey]

http://www.onlinetowingguide.com/guidel ... ities.html
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-part ... -chart.htm

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/n ... w_ratings/
http://www.carsdirect.com/green-cars/hy ... ybrid-cars

prius anyone?
http://priuschat.com/threads/prius-towi ... z3LMUtiip8
http://www.coastaletech.com/04hitch.htm