The gcwr is not on the door, it is in the owners manual. My F250 had a gcwr of 20,000lbs. Thats truck boat trailer and whatever else you put in it. My F450 is around 33,000 lbs but I only registered if at 26000 otherwise you need cdl and IFTA for fuel taxes, but only if you haul for money.

Dodge 3500 CTD.

I tow a 38sc (has to weigh more than the 42) with no issues whatsoever.
You can go the 450/550/650 route, but it will cost you upwards of $20K more to do so.

http://www.trailerlife.com/towrating...ngs_p20_33.pdf

toyota says there truck can tow 10k it probably would pull the 42 and your trailer brakes might stop you. but would you tow a 42 with #6s with a toyota! it is about ego and show go 450/550 /maybe 650 or sportchassis traffic stops when my 550 crew cab with a hauler bed and the cig are on the road thunbs up can make your day. just a lot to wash all the time. and heaven forbid i hat someone im safe and legal spend the money on the truck not the lawyer.

I am a neophyte at hauling heavy boats but it seems to me that you cannot have too much truck! I lost my E/H brakes twice this year due to a mechanic screwing up. My F-350 DRW kept everything under control. I don't think a Toyota would have had a prayer

One other point. In some states. I believe NY is one. The maximum width without a permit is 8' 0". So none of us are legal all the time.

I have a totally stock (no power adders) 08 F350 dually and it works just fine. I tow my 43 NOR-TECH everywhere, and I know it weighs about the same as the 47 Fountain. I ordered mine up with the suspension upgrades, and the F450 front end, which includes different springs and the super tight turning radius. The pic shows the difference on the front fender well between the 07 and 08. Drive one and you will really apprieciate how much better the turning radius is as well as better handling. Pulls excellent. I trade every year for the 35k write off, and have sold the last two to some oso'rs. I have an identicle 09 coming, so if interested pm me. You will save 10k off invoice/cost and it only has 14k miles. Drive them all, check out the features, back up camera, bumper sensors, stuff like that. Good Luck. Jeff

Looks like 15K # on the F350 and 16K # on the F450, which would put me right at or just over the legal limit, which is my primary concern. My F250 pulls the truck just fine, however if I was to get into accident and someone dies, I can be charged with manslaughter and most certainly sued regardless of fault.

I could not find the conventional tow rating or vehical weight on the F650 or Freightliner M2. Would the only limitation be the same 26,000 lb max GVWR with a standard license? If so, I would have to make sure the truck and payload is less than 10,000 lbs, which I am not sure of. Am I on track here? The only bad thing about the middle weight trucks is that they need to be registered and insured as commercial vehicals.

i insure my ford 550 with state farm as a commercial truck for personal use. and its not real expensive. i use to tow my cig with a chevy 1 ton and it did he job. but as you say hurt someone and you could go to jail and loose your house. keep the insurance down and store the truck in the off season my 550 comp only [storage]less than 100 for 6 months.p s the 550 is for sale I bought a sport chassis same insurance commercial truck/personal use 40+ years old no tickets less than a grand a year in storage 6 months makes it around 550 a year

A diesel F350.

But don't take any of our advice (we are an opinionated bunch), but go drive all three and see which one feels and drives the most solidly.
See ya in the Ford Superduty forums!

There is no GCWR for the M2 (cant speak of the F-650, no experience with it but i bet its the same way). However, the truck can be registered and insured as a regular truck since the GCWR is below 26,001 lbs. I suspect you'll be over 26K loaded. So the rig will be legal as far as weight, but illegal as far as length and illegal without a CDL. I went through all this John when I bought mine and consulted with the former head of DPS licensing and weights and from what I remember there is no way of making you completely legal without
1) getting a CDL and an overlength permit for every trip
or
2) putting a "cooking unit" (hot plates dont qualify, we tried), and sleeping quarters and calling the truck a motorhome (no licensing, length, or weight limits for those)
or
3) making sure there are no "load bearing surfaces" i.e. a cab and chassis which makes it a legal weight tractor trailer (still need the license, but not the overlength permits in every state)

sounds like the only viable solution is TOTERHOME...however with all this said, you saw that we didnt get pulled over at all on the way to Destin...kinda makes it like gambling at every state line, just hit the gas going past the weighstations and keep your fingers crossed