RVing message boards > Towing and towables

What are the tow capacities for my vehicles?

(1/1)

mag-sdg:
Hey Everyone,  I'm trying to find out the tow capacities for my three vehicles.  I have just purchased a 1997 Coachmen Catallina and I need to know if my (1) 1997 Mercury Mountaineer with a 5.0 liter engine will pull it. (2) My 1997 Ford F350 crew cab, full bed truck with a 5.8 liter engine will pull it. (3) could my 1973 Plymouth Fury with a 400 Cu In engine could pull it?  Thanks for the help! Mark

Carl L:
The first thing you are going to need is the weight of the trailer.  Tho a scaled weight of the trailer as loaded for travel is best, I suspect in your present situation the trailer's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating would have to do.   You can find that number on the trailer's DOT plate which is usually on the left hand wall toward the front.
 
Normally, I would recommend that you dig up the truck tow ratings out of Trailer Life's tow rating tables at:  http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-towing-guides/ .  However, they only go back to the 1999 model year.   That leaves your owners manuals or maybe a mfr's website.   I would discount any rating you find by 10%  --  20% in the far west.

Gary RV Roamer:
Assuming it is the same as a 99 Mountaineer (a somewhat tenuous assumption), the ratings are:

Mountaineer 5.0: 6700 lbs
Mountaineer 5.0 w/AWD: 6460 lb
These ratings require the factory towing package and a weight-distributing hitch

A Ford or Mercury dealer ought to be able to give you the original specs, if you can find one willing to use his resources to look it up via their factory computer links.

Scribe1952:
For what it's worth one thing I was advised to check by an RV dealer was the gear ratio on the vehicle. He said people come in with new trucks and by a big camper and wonder why the truck won't pull it at highway speed. He stated that a higher rear end ratio,(i.e. 4:11), would be better than a real low ratio.(I'm not much of a mechanic so I'm just relaying his thoughts). Low ratio's are great for pulling heavy loads but no so great for towing on the highway.   :)

Navigation

[0] Message Index