Re: [VAL] Tow vehicle questions

[airstreamingypsy <airstream2268@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi JoAnn,

I don't necessarily believe tow ratings.....

Someone who is very wise about towing wrote this.....

My oft-repeated suggestion to stay around 75% of the manufacturer's
tow rating seems to be generally supported by most experienced
trailerists as the safe and conservative POV.  The following is
excerpted from an older post on this topic.

	==============================================

The view that any vehicle ought to be quite safe towing its "rated
load" has a certain amount of support, in that a lot of people
believe it. And there is pretty general agreement that it is
unwise and possible dangerous to EXCEED maximum ratings. But many
of us feel strongly that "quite safe" is misleading. Recognizing that
safety is always relative and not absolute, I offer the following
reasons for disagreeing with the POV that a Jeep Cherokee (for
example) is safe towing 5,000 lbs:

1. The tow rating is ALWAYS a maximum figure, and is as large as the
manufacturer dares make it. They hope you will buy their stuff for
towing.  Their rating may or may not be right for you and the
conditions under which you tow.

2. MOST tow ratings (nothing personal or specific vs any particular
tow vehicle) do not allow for long steep grades - up or down. IMO,
brakes are a bigger factor than power.

3. Most tow ratings make no allowance for bad road conditions.

4. Most tow ratings are accompanied by asterisks that call attention
to special equipment "required". Your rig may not have those features.

5. Most tow ratings make no allowance whatever for emergency
maneuvers.  I assure you your vehicle WILL NOT turn or stop as
fast or as safely with the maximum load as it will with a lot less.

6. Vehicle tow ratings make no allowance for the DRIVER'S "tow
rating".  No insult intended, but if you have to ask how much your rig
will tow, you have neither the experience or the knowledge to handle
the maximum load safely.  IMO.

7. One of the most-overlooked factors in safe towing is a COMBINED
maximum that very often dictates a much lighter-than-maximum TOWED
load. The weight of cargo & passengers in the tow vehicle must be
deducted from the permissible towed load to find the true rating.

8. What is reasonably safe and comfortable at 45 mph may well be a
lethal weapon at 75.  Tow ratings, IMO, do NOT reflect any respect
for this hazard.

BOTTOM LINE:  IF you trust the experienced trailerists who have been
there and done that and don't want to go back, you will not exceed
about 75% of the rated maximum.  The number is of course not writ by
the finger of God on a stone tablet - it is merely an indication that
you should stay well below the manufacturer's maximum allowance if you
want a safe, comfortable trip.  Some say the figure ought to be as low
as 50 or 60%.  But virtually all agree in principle if not detail with
these concerns.



Hunter