Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing.

[Gary Fowler]

A few years ago (1998) a co-worker was looking for something to pull a 40 foot camper trailer with. Some interesting stats from then was that a 1500 series could pull more than a 2500 series (comparably equipped)as the GCVW was the same but by taking off the weight of the truck you ended up with a few hundred pounds less capacity on the 3/4 ton because it weighed a bit more. Just something to look at when comparing. BTW, he found that a 1 ton dually didn't meet the strict requirements for legally pulling his 14,500 trailer so he went with a $150K International custom job with sleeper, diesel 8L? 850 pound feet of torque, air ride suspension, hydraulic adjustable towing hitch, in other words all you can think of to put on a towing rig. His big concern was liability in case of an accident and loosing his life savings (over $1MM) due to towing outside the capacity of the vehicle

 

[TomSeller]

I always would want to tow with something that could stop the load adequately if the trailer brakes were to fail. I have rented trailers before with poor, if any, brakes and you don't really know until you are under load and need to stop.

 

[Nooodles]

I always would want to tow with something that could stop the load adequately if the trailer brakes were to fail. I have rented trailers before with poor, if any, brakes and you don't really know until you are under load and need to stop.

I asked my dad about this. He said you should never pull big loads with anything less than a 2500 series truck

 

[Diamondpilot]

Have they upped the brakes in the F150 line as well? I have not studied them or the Eco Boost 3.5. Is the Eco 3.5 built as heavy duty as it should for truck use? I sure am hearing lots of good things about these. I like the looks of the Atlas concept I see on their website, I hope they build it.

http://social.ford.com/our-articles/trucks/f-150/atlas-concept-should-ford-build-this-truck/?fmccmp=pro-truck-atlas-rvl

All F150's have great brakes, 4 wheel vented disc standard. You can also gey a factory brake controller that applies anti lock technology to the trailer for under $200

Chris

 

[tractchores]

The worst overload situations I have seen on the road were a Bronco II towing a Bobcat, a 4Runner towing a Bobcat on a tandem axle snowmobile trailer and an early 90s Grand Caravan towing a Bobcat 763 on a homemade trailer.
If people had some common sense, these rental rules wouldn't be needed.

The 4runner may have been ok (minus the trailer of course which is nuts). I can tow my tractor and a mini ex with my 4runner (7300 lb tow limit). The guy at the rental place gave me grief until i showed him the rating in the manual. Plus i tow a 7,000 lb boat regularly and am not a towing newbie. I just hate it when blanket policies get made for the lowest common denominator and make life more difficult for people who have a clue. Strangely enough now the rental places down here won't rent trailers due to liability.

 

[jejeosborne]

All F150's have great brakes, 4 wheel vented disc standard. You can also gey a factory brake controller that applies anti lock technology to the trailer for under $200

Chris

The diameter of the rotors are larger on the F150 front and back compared to the super duty. That said, the super duty rotors weigh more so they are thicker.

 

[ultrarunner]

The 4runner may have been ok (minus the trailer of course which is nuts). I can tow my tractor and a mini ex with my 4runner (7300 lb tow limit). The guy at the rental place gave me grief until i showed him the rating in the manual. Plus i tow a 7,000 lb boat regularly and am not a towing newbie. I just hate it when blanket policies get made for the lowest common denominator and make life more difficult for people who have a clue. Strangely enough now the rental places down here won't rent trailers due to liability.

I guess this is my gripe... a blanket ban against using a tow vehicle that exceeds the load of the ditch witch and trailer by at least a factor of 3 if not 4...

I understand it is their equipment and they make the rules...

When a big storm came through I contacted Bandit Industries to rent a mid size chipper... they reserved on for me and I went to get it... contract was already made out... only thing they needed was a copy of my California Contractor License... I never said I had one and they never asked. After some back and forth... they decided they couldn't rent it to someone for personal use...

Anyone remember the Lucy Movie the Long Long Trailer... were they vacation with a huge travel trailer towed by a convertible?

So many with horses and race cars used everyday vehicles as tow vehicles... in the 60's my uncle's race career was sponsored by Oldsmobile... he took an AC ACE and put an Olds 215 ci aluminum V8 in it and called the mongoose... it was featured in many write-ups back then and I have the Hot Rod magazine feature article... the name was mongoose because mongoose ate cobras...

Anyway, the point is his official race tow vehicle was an Oldsmobile Convertible and later a Vista Cruiser Wagon... no one ever talked about tow ratings for individual vehicles.

 

[strum456]

Why would any rental business feel then need to create and enforce more strict towing regulations than that of the state in which they reside?

In the state of PA, most all F-150s are registered as a 3/4 ton (weight class 2). I don't know how much that ditch witch weighs, but I would be pretty aggravated if they wouldn't allow me to rent something that is within the manufacture's limits of my truck and state law.

 

[ultrarunner]

Why would any rental business feel then need to create and enforce more strict towing regulations than that of the state in which they reside?

In the state of PA, most all F-150s are registered as a 3/4 ton (weight class 2). I don't know how much that ditch witch weighs, but I would be pretty aggravated if they wouldn't allow me to rent something that is within the manufacture's limits of my truck and state law.

Ditchwitch is about 1500 lbs plus the weight of a single axle trailer... maybe 2400 lbs max?

 

[strum456]

Ditchwitch is about 1500 lbs plus the weight of a single axle trailer... maybe 2400 lbs max?

WOW. That is barely even loaded for an f-150. Next time you need something, I would walk in with a copy of the state and manufacturer specifications for your truck and trailer. If it was a close call, that would be different, but they will look pretty stupid if they try telling you that you can't tow something 5x less than the limit for your truck.