I have been looking at buying a new truck and after reading a lot of the fine print in the trailer towing sections I wonder just how many people are using a weight distributing hitch and sway bar controls.

For instance I am looking at a Chevy 2500 HD or 3500 Ball hitch trailering. and it says the following:

Weight-carrying hitch limit: 7,500-lb. Trailer with 1,000-lb. tongue weight. Weight-distributing hitch and sway control required over 7,500-lb. trailer weight. The vehicle owner is responsible for obtaining the hitch ball, a hitch of the proper size, type and capacity, and other appropriate equipment required to safely tow both the trailer and the load that will be towed. Ask your Chevy dealer for advice about the proper trailering equipment for your new vehicle.

I know that my boat and trailer weigh over 7500 lbs and I know that a lot of yours have to also. I can't recall ever seeing someone with sway control bars on their boat trailer.

If your towing with a 1500 or regular 2500 the number drops down to 5000 lbs. This would cover just about every boat and trailer on this site.

Weight-carrying hitch limit: 5,000-lb. trailer with 600-lb. tongue weight. Weight-distributing hitch and sway control required over 5,000-lb. trailer weight. The vehicle owner is responsible for obtaining the hitch ball, a hitch of the proper size, type and capacity, and other appropriate equipment required to safely tow both the trailer and the load that will be towed. Ask your Chevy dealer for advice about the proper trailering equipment for your new vehicle.

So when you buy what you think is a truck with a factory installed trailer hitch and tow package you would think it would be capable of towing what they have posted as the Maximum Trailer Tow weights in the charts. But looking at what was in the fine print you need to obtain "other appropriate equipment".

Cordell

"obtain other equipment"... is legalese saying.... "We won't cover **** if you tow something bigger"....

There was a good thread on this about 3-4 wks ago

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...ighlight=hitch

ummmmm

Stock is not enough....you gotta upgrade!

The insurance co told Crazyhorse that he needs a 550 to pull his 38 Cig or its not covered......come on!

I don't know how many F-350's I've seen at the dealer with a class III factory hitch even though the truck is rated to pull much, much more.

Yep

1. By adding a class 5 hitch, does that raise the towing capacity of your truck?

2. Will adding HP/Torque add to the tow capacity rating of your boat?

3. Will adding suspension upgrades add to the rating as well?


If been thinking about this alot in the last few weeks. My boat weighs 8700 lbs. (Cigarette Bullet) and the shipping weight on my 2001 Manning was 1800 lbs. That's 10,500 without "extras".

My truck is a 1998 2500 Suburban with a 454. Gale Banks Power Pack headers/exhaust has been added which is supposed to add 72HP and 80 ft/lbs of torque. I've also added an Airlift 1000 airbag system to the back with dual valves and a 16,000 lb. hitch.

In the owner's manual, it says that the truck is rated for 10,500 WD. Would I be covered if I was involved in an accident?????