Truck towing capacity chart

[enjoytheride]

I’m going to be truck shopping on a tiny budget in the spring and I was wondering if there is a chart out there with tow capacities for different year/model/engine trucks

I’m probably going to be looking in the $3500 price range and in the late 1990s or early 2000s for a 1/2 ton truck with 4 wheel drive. My stepfather and so are very good mechanics and will inspect the vehicle before I buy it, as well as provide me with any repairs necessary.

I’m mostly looking at Chevy and Dodge. I figured a v8 but there is such a range with tow ratings.

[hosspuller]

This is one area where the cart comes before the horse. Figure which trailer you want THEN get the truck to pull it … It is far easier to get the correct truck for the trailer than getting a trailer that meets your needs AND fits your truck.

Regardless of your budget, if you buy an unsuitable truck for the trailer … it stays unsuitable.

[ShotenStar]

I have never found such a chart, particularly one that covers older model trucks.

So I made my own. All the data is out there in many forms and locations … RV sites and BBs, truck restoration sites, dealer sites, etc. I collected the info I needed and put it into a spreadsheet for easier reference and comparison. I included weight ratings, engine sizes, bed lengths, curbside weights, wheel bases, etc. It helped me identify those things I Had To Have, those that were Nice to Have, and those which were deal killers.

star

[Sandy_M]

Good luck in that price range -it’s going to have high mileage. I bought a 2003 Silverado HD last year (3/4 ton). It had only 53K on it and cost around 11K. You might want to go slightly higher. When I was looking there were quite a few 1/2 ton with under 100K, but they were going in the 7K to 9K range. My old Chevy 2500 made it to 248K before it died, but I was doing a lot of work on it after 175K, so you tend to have the trade off of lower price/higher maintenance cost.

[enjoytheride]

Yeah, I’m aware of the higher mileage. It isn’t going to be used often, and with two mechanics in the family most repairs are the cost of parts and some beer.

My current daily driver has 238,000 and runs great.

[GaitedGloryRider]

Even if you find a chart like that it won’t really help you much especially looking at older used trucks. A big thing people seem to overlook when buying older/high mileage tow vehicles is the overall condition of the whole truck, how much wear and tear it’s been through. An old truck won’t tow like it did when it was new, and if it’s been through the ringer there can be a pretty big difference between what you could safely pull with it when it came from the factory vs. what it can pull in current condition. For example, my old Ford Powerstroke pulled big heavy trailers like a dream when I bought it; over a decade of hard use, a few fender-benders and a few hundred thousand miles later it really was only safe for a two horse trailer. It isn’t just the engine you have to worry about, it’s the frame, the leaf springs, the transmission, clutch (if it’s a manual) etc. A good many old tow vehicles out there for sale have seen some pretty hard use. When I shopped on a budget the biggest problem I came up against was finding that everything in my price range either needed big $$$$ repairs to be safe for towing, or was past the point of being worth sinking the money into to make it safe to haul with again. I ended up just biting the bullet and spending a lot more than I initially planned on to get something safe that wouldn’t leave me stranded on the side of the highway or cost me an arm and a leg to keep on the road.

[Sandy_M]

What Gaitedglory said: As the mileage and wear climbed, the towing capacity declined. My old truck, well, I had to avoid certain routes, because climbing a steep hill with a loaded trailer got to be problematic. I didn’t realize how much until I got the “new” one and found hauling much easier. The old truck ran fine, but it was not t h e same truck at 200K as it was at 60K.

[enjoytheride]

If I know where to start, I can weed out anything that is below a certain tow rating and then with the trucks that are left look at them for wear and tear. Vehicles talk to my mechanic stepfather and he will be able to tell me what has been through the ringer.

[clanter]

If you are going to use a bumper pull trailer also look at the Suburban …and don’t forget the GMC trucks are the Chevy with a different badge

You might want to check insurance costs…at least around here a GMC is the cheapest to insure while the Chevy is the most expensive of all brands …same truck different badge, different thief potential

The cooling system should be of primary importance or high on the check list… old system most likely would need to be replaced as if it cannot adequately cool the transmission the possibility of early failure increases

[Classicgal]

There is some kind of a chart. When we bought our trailer the dealer looked up our truck and what it could safely pull. Altho as others said there are other factors.

[Guilherme]

[QUOTE=hosspuller;8233874]
This is one area where the cart comes before the horse. Figure which trailer you want THEN get the truck to pull it … It is far easier to get the correct truck for the trailer than getting a trailer that meets your needs AND fits your truck.

Regardless of your budget, if you buy an unsuitable truck for the trailer … it stays unsuitable.[/QUOTE]

This. Some the Best Advice, Ever!!!

You can find a chart like you want if you go to the Trailer Life website. They have them for several years (or at least they used to). They are used by RV buyers to decide what their truck can pull.

The problem is these charts are NOT the legal weight you can tow nor are they the safe amount you can two. They are what the Marketing Dept. wants you to think you can tow. They are for “dead weight” (like boats or RVs) not “live weight” (like animals, liquids, etc.). They are for “ideal” conditions on a company test track, not the real world of interstates from the flats of the Great Plains to the mountains of Colorado or West Virginia.

In short they are about as useless as teats on a boar hog.

Find your trailer then find the truck that can safely and legally tow said trailer. It will cost you time but save you money.

Good luck in your search.

G.