Towing Capacity VS Payload: What You Can Bring in Your Truck
April 12th, 2018 by Sara
With the warm summer weather you can bring out the trailers, boats, and all of your gear. To get your gear to a campsite, boat launch, or wherever your adventure takes you, you are going to need something that can handle the weight. It is always important to properly load your vehicle for safety purposes, but it is especially important if you are travelling anywhere with strictly enforced guidelines about towing. Before you buy a vehicle you intend to tow with, here is what you need to know:
Towing
The towing number tells you how much the vehicle can pull behind it.
Keep in mind that many trailers display their weight as dry weight (how much it weighs without anything in it). Because you will be putting things into your trailer, you will need a towing number that can accommodate both your trailer and what you put in it.
Payload
Is how much weight you can put in the vehicle. In the case of trucks, this includes the bed. When assessing how much payload you will need, include the tongue weight of your trailer (tongue weight is the amount of the trailer's weight that is being supported by the trailer hitch). In addition to the weight of your things, don't forget to account for passenger weight, and the weight of the fuel.
Here are a couple of questions to consider before you start looking for the right vehicle for your towing needs.
- How much weight will you be
- Putting in the bed/cargo area
- Towing
- Approximately how much your passengers weigh
- How many passengers you need room for
Keep in mind that you do not want to be at the very maximum of your weight ratings.
In the Ford lineup, an Escape and larger vehicles have the ability to tow. Depending on what you are doing you may be able to use an Escape, or you may need an F-350.
If you're not sure what you need, we are more than happy to help you find the right vehicle to tow with here at Island Ford