Completely confused over tow ratings.

[Bighurt]

Diesel or gas, when you look at towing you basically want to focus more on your GVWR more than the GCWR. The pin weight and rear axle axle rating ( I believe) are your most important numbers. If you don't go over your GVWR then I highly doubt you're going to go over the GCWR.

just example...

say you have a 22,000 GCWR and your truck weighs 8,000lbs. Now you should ( by number ) be able to pull a 14,000lb trailer.
but your pin weight is 2,800lbs. (Just taking 20% of trailer weight, normal is 15-25% trailer is usually the pin weight)
So your trucks GVWR is 9,900lbs. If truck is 8,000lbs + 2,800 lbs = 10,800 lbs so the truck is overloaded by 900lbs but you're fine for your GCWR.

I threw in the rear axles specs from the Ford Source Book for the 2008 models.
F250 axles are rated @ 6200lbs. <-- This is the number I wouldn't want to go over.

Individual axle weights are important, the diesel engine loads the front end more than the gas. Same goes for different bed styles. If you can get a unloaded weight on just the front and just the rear you can get an exact figure. I agree though Pin weight is usually the deciding factor.

Personally I think ford uses 26000 to figure some of its tow ratings, either that or its just a coincidence. 26k minus my tow rating is my GVW on the truck...

 

[Paul_W]

You are spot on Jeremy with getting an unloded weight on the front and rear axle. The scale I visited yesterday was not able to do that for me. All they could do was total gross weight. I have everything else calculated perfectly except for those axles. I know my king pin weight will come in at around 1,780 lbs and the hitch itself weighs 100 lbs or less. If I had that actual rear axle weight I would finally have all of the data I needed to give me the confidence I'm looking for. The numbers are more than adequate in every other catagory.

 

[Bighurt]

If you roll on the scale with the front axle, stop tally weight, roll on both axles tally weight, roll off front axle tally weight you should get three figures. Front, Gross, Rear. If the Front and Rear add up to the Gross the scale is good, otherwise you can use the three figures to average it out and get darn close. If the scale has pavement on either side you can do individual wheels and average it out.

Most Scale operators won't let you do it though. Most don't realize it takes 30 seconds more...

 

[mmomega]

I like most of the Love's CAT scales around my area cause they have 3 pads, so I can get the front axle on the first rear on the second and the trailer is on the last. I just haven't weighed our rig since I bought the dually. Last time I tried the guy inside kept telling me to pull on the scale because it wasn't registering and he said maybe your setup is too light to register. I just laughed a little and decided to do it somewhere else next time.

 

[DW_Gray]

Paul,

After reading all your posts on the subject, the bottom line is the Ford F-250 is more than enough to tow your Sundance. Buy it and think nothing more about it.

 

[mmomega]

Paul,

After reading all your posts on the subject, the bottom line is the Ford F-250 is more than enough to tow your Sundance. Buy it and think nothing more about it.

I agree the f250 should handle it just fine.

 

[Paul_W]

I closed the deal earlier this afternoon. I will be sure to post my scale readings when I have them. It wouldn't hurt to start a forum documenting actual scale weights for various combinations of truck and trailer models. With so many users on this site, it shouldn't be that difficult to compile their data. It would not replace using factory weight ratings for research but it would certainly be a great resource for those of us trying to make an educated decision without the aid of a scale. You can't weigh a fully loaded trailer if you haven't purchased it yet nor can you borrow a new truck from a dealer, load it with passengers and cargo, and find a CAT scale during a test drive. Thanks to all for your input. Be safe.