TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post - Things to consider about your tow vehicle when looking into a Trailer Purchase

**Bill** · 07-02-2009, 07:27 AM

Nature Recorder -

That is a very good post, and I'm glad you made it. I suspect that this will become a long thread.

Let me start by making a couple observations, or suggested changes.

In my opinion, the very first rule of choosing a tow vehicle should be "WHERE do you plan to tow your trailer?" If you are going to tool around the flatlands of Florida or Indiana, then you can think about a fairly lightweight tow vehicle. But if you plan to get into any mountains, including the Appalachians, then a more stringent set of contraints comes into play. And if you plan to get up around 10,000 feet in the Rockies or Sierras, for example, then the constraints become even more severe. This is true, not only because of the prolonged steep grades you will encounter, and because engine and transmission cooling are poor in the thin air, but also because for every 1000 feet of altitude, the engine loses more than 3% of its sea-level power. All these things are very hard on a car. So my first piece of advice is always "Figure out where you intend to tow before you even think about a tow vehicle". Or, if you are doing it in reverse, "Figure out where you intend to tow before you even think about choosing a trailer." Unfortunately, many people don't want to do this, because they don't like the answer.

I think that GCVW refers to the total weight of the car, the trailer, and all options and all cargo in both - regardless of how you get there. The issue of "This usually implies an empty vehicle, no gas or driver/passenger(s)" usually refers to the vehicle's tow rating, as specified by the manufacturer. In other words, when the manufacturer says "This vehicle is rated to tow 3500 pounds", check the asterisk! There always is one. And it always means "3500 pounds when there are no passengers, no cargo, no factory options, no aftermarket options, and (often) no gas in the vehicle". This is where newcomers often go wrong, concluding that a 3500-pound-rated tow vehicle can actually tow 3500 pounds, even after they add 1000 pounds of passengers, cargo, and options to the vehicle. T'ain't so.

And finally (and believe me, I am not trying to nitpick your excellent post), I think that the statement "you want to have a 7 position plug-in for your TM" should be rephrased as "you MUST have a properly wired 7-position plug-in ...". Over the years we have had a couple forum members trying to get by with a 4-pin-to-7-pin adapter (or a 5-pin-to-7-pin or 6-pin-to-7-pin adapter). This will not work. It must be a properly-wired 7-pin socket.

Again, thanks for starting a good thread.

Bill

07-02-2009, 07:27 AM	#3
Bill Site Team Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine Posts: 10,097	Nature Recorder - That is a very good post, and I'm glad you made it. I suspect that this will become a long thread. Let me start by making a couple observations, or suggested changes. In my opinion, the very first rule of choosing a tow vehicle should be "WHERE do you plan to tow your trailer?" If you are going to tool around the flatlands of Florida or Indiana, then you can think about a fairly lightweight tow vehicle. But if you plan to get into any mountains, including the Appalachians, then a more stringent set of contraints comes into play. And if you plan to get up around 10,000 feet in the Rockies or Sierras, for example, then the constraints become even more severe. This is true, not only because of the prolonged steep grades you will encounter, and because engine and transmission cooling are poor in the thin air, but also because for every 1000 feet of altitude, the engine loses more than 3% of its sea-level power. All these things are very hard on a car. So my first piece of advice is always "Figure out where you intend to tow before you even think about a tow vehicle". Or, if you are doing it in reverse, "Figure out where you intend to tow before you even think about choosing a trailer." Unfortunately, many people don't want to do this, because they don't like the answer. I think that GCVW refers to the total weight of the car, the trailer, and all options and all cargo in both - regardless of how you get there. The issue of "This usually implies an empty vehicle, no gas or driver/passenger(s)" usually refers to the vehicle's tow rating, as specified by the manufacturer. In other words, when the manufacturer says "This vehicle is rated to tow 3500 pounds", check the asterisk! There always is one. And it always means "3500 pounds when there are no passengers, no cargo, no factory options, no aftermarket options, and (often) no gas in the vehicle". This is where newcomers often go wrong, concluding that a 3500-pound-rated tow vehicle can actually tow 3500 pounds, even after they add 1000 pounds of passengers, cargo, and options to the vehicle. T'ain't so. And finally (and believe me, I am not trying to nitpick your excellent post), I think that the statement "you want to have a 7 position plug-in for your TM" should be rephrased as "you MUST have a properly wired 7-position plug-in ...". Over the years we have had a couple forum members trying to get by with a 4-pin-to-7-pin adapter (or a 5-pin-to-7-pin or 6-pin-to-7-pin adapter). This will not work. It must be a properly-wired 7-pin socket. Again, thanks for starting a good thread. Bill __________________ 2020 2720QS (aka 2720SL) 2014 Ford F-150 4WD 5.0L Bill's Tech Stuff album