Would a rational and responsible person pull a trailer that exceeded the load rating of the tow vehicle on a public road? Does it really make sense to unneccessarily risk your life, and the lives of others sharing the road with you?
Well, in a word, yes. There is nothing magical "tow rating numbers" of vehicles - they are made up by marketing people and are not guided by firm and fast engineering rules.
I would much rather share the road with a prudent driver at 10% over "rating" than a nut case at 50% of the truck's rated two capacity for example.
The actions of the driver have much more impact on safety than the so-called 'tow rating"
While I appreciate the sentiment, the tow rating numbers are based on engineering guidelines and are not made up by marketting people. I don't care how 'prudent' a driver is, if the towed unit is 80% over the rated capacity (ie a 2,000 lb rating pulling a loaded Mac) something will eventually happen. Maybe car just breaks down, boat wags into an incoming lane, can't stop when they really need to.
I for one would not even consider towing with less than a 3,500 rated unit and if going any distances on high speed and busy roads 5,000 lbs would be the minimum. Don't forget ANYTHING in tow unit other than the driver (ie, another passenger) lowers the tow rating capacity.
While I appreciate the sentiment, and agree with much of your assessment trout I have to disagree on the trailering capacity standardization.
there are no national standards for calculating design towing capacity. The mechanical modeling is different between vendors, their is no standardized testing, and it is a general feelgood number, mostly based on previous models.
So many elements are part of the stopping and control of the multitude of truck and trailer combinations......it is an approximation at best. LEts face it ......with sufficient tire contact area, tractor trailer rigs easily haul twice their truck weights with a stopping distacne 2 to 3 times a private vehicle.
the trick is not to drive it like a nontowing private vehicle.
Hey, no fair!! You turned my 10% over into an 80% over rating...
These rating numbers are trumped up, so they are not the basis for deciding what is 'safe' and what is not. Towing a 4000-5000# boat with a 2000# rated hitch is idiotic, agreed.
But again, if someone were towing a lightly loaded 4000# boat on a 3500 hitch two miles to a local boat ramp, and tongue loaded it correctly, it could easily be more stable and safer than someone who has a 5000# rated vehicle and overloads the rear and is skating all over the highway.
Another point to consider would be the legal ramifications if you were to exceed the tow rating then be involved in an accident. Despite your own opinion about what can or can't be towed safely by your vehicle, if you were in an accident (even one caused by someone else) you would likely be hung out to dry in court. I always worry about things like this.
I am an engineer practicing in the field and dealing with blood sucking attorneys and insurance companies far too frequently.
If an accident happens, I will be called in, I will analyze all of the data and every structural joint, material thickness, tire type, weight wear, alignment, corrosion and 100 other aspects at least of what happened.
The The capacity of each weld will be analized, tongue torque etc.
We will observe document and measure all of the details.
and we will find
Someone designs a better system
a more expensive system
a cheaper system
stronger materials
and many other findings. What we will also find many times is that the ultimate capacity and safety factors for many of the components are excessive and those components will probably not fail. We will also find material incompatibilities that decrease the strength of some members.
and ultimately, we find that the stresses on the bigger vehicle are less.
I have 2 half ton rated pickups and 3/4 ton pickup. I personally have found 2 manufactures 3500 lb hitch systems to be 80 % stronger and 50 % stiffer than another major manufacturers 5000 lb hitch system.
People can and do say almost anything.....(--> points to himself<--)
"Legal ramifications" are such that some manufacturers use a 5to1 safety factor for components, others use 4 to 1, some use 10 to 1.
What I tryig to convey is that you cannot absolutely compare one manufacturers 3500 against anothers 5000. You are right...... a 5000 system is probably better, but that statement is generally only true against the same manufacturers 3500 system. The 5000 lb auxillary system on the back of the tow truck is a totally different beast than the 5000 lb system on the back of your F250. beam, arch, cantilever, and other configurations all affect ultimate strength
This is especially a problem for the EPA and DOT when they certify economy and crash data for vehicles. The govt barely standardizes the passenger weight loading for different classes of vehicles. Like many have noted here, I get underneath and look at the various pieces of equipment and how they are loaded, the sizes, the finishes.......then I buy the system for the load. But I will just add here........ a mac rides against a forward vertical column which has a huge amount of the load when the vehicle stops fast. IT bends, and it ultimately cannot take 5000 lbs of force for any realistic interval. IT really doesnt matter how strong your hitch is. IF your boat is on a mac trailer, and it gets a good bounce while severe braking downhill, your picnic is only protected by that small post.....(which scares me significantly more than the single axle configuration)
Enjoy and safe driving. I have had one flat on the mac trailer at 65, it is not too terrifying in an F50 1/2 ton, I would not have wanted to do that in my Mazda 1/2 ton.
I'd still be concerned about defending the Lincoln Towncar and its 2000 (not 3500 or 5000) lb. rated tow capacity in court. I'm fighting a nasty landscape contractor to fix his shoddy work right now, and unfortunately logic and clear thinking don't seem to have much to do with legal matters. Not to belabor an admittedly hypothetical situation, but it is probably an aspect worth considering.
MRS, I agree with you, legal and logical are rarely compared together.
And I also agree with you about the new town car........ looks big and powerful....... but there have been so many optimaiztions on the car for good fuel economy (last one I rented attained almost 25 mpg) that its usefulness as a tow vehicle of anything other than an aluminum skiff or kayaks is questionable.
Good luck on the contractor....Rarely is consumer satisfaction a timely thing with outstanding work issues.
My old Mercedes is rated to tow exactly ZERO pounds by MB USA. In Europe the identical car is rated at 1900kg (4188 lbs)
It's heavy and rear wheel drive. It also has over-designed brakes (gigantic 4 piston fixed calipers up front, 2 pot fixed in the rear)
The best possible towing advice I can give is never, EVER tow in Overdrive. Even on the highway. And stick with 55.
A buddy of mine bought a brand new V8 Exploder and tows a 22' fishing boat like it isn't there. By that I mean he pulls out in front of cars and flies up hills like he isn't pulling a trailer. I tow like I'm riding a bike. Gain speed down hills, get as far up the next one as I can without really working, then gently maintain a prudent speed to the crest. I actually get slightly better fuel economy towing, I suspect it's because of this ultra conservative driving style and never exceeding speed limits except when getting a run at a hill. My buddy will probably need a transmission before I will.
Despite an open differential and rear wheel drive I've never had trouble on a ramp. (although I do know where my front tow hook is, and I keep a spare strap around in case I need "rescued" )
I do get funny looks though. Usually from the guys pulling 12' aluminum skiffs out of the water with a F350 dually crew cab diesel with 38" tires and diesel stacks poking up out of the bed.
The discussion was about a Town Car pulling a trailer... A sturdy, RWD vehicle. You mentioned Livery service? Find one with the livery package straight from Ford. The proverbial "cop brakes, cop shocks" and a stock transmission cooler. Limos come with it too. Not sure if the "black car" package does. If any of your cabs are ex-cop cars they've got all those goodies. Probably bolt right up to you Lincoln as well. The Town Car's basic underpinnings go back to the days when Carter was in office and people *somehow* managed to tow trailers without gigantic SUVs.
You'll be okay. Drive sensibly, maintain your car, and relax. I'd rather have a heavy V8 Lincoln than a short wheelbase compact pickup truck. Do a bit of Googling. Maybe your car is only rated at 2000 lbs because of American lawyers. See what it can tow in Canada or Europe or the Middle East.
Got a Nissan X-Trail Diesel last October. It weighs a bit more than the Mac, so that's a plus. It is rated at 2 tonne, so ticks that box as well. They have a Renault turbo diesel of 2 litres, which sounds small, but with the Manual transmission, it puts out 127kw. It has an auto 4x4 option which is selected when towing. Also comes with stability control.
As far as performance is concerned, it managed to hold 110 kmh from Melbourne to Albury on the freeway all the way in sixth gear on cruise control. That was impressive. I've also taken it up Clyde mountain between Batemen's Bay (NSW) and Canberra. The engine pulled as fast as I could get round the turns. Average consumption on a trip with the Mac is an astounding 9.5 L/100klms.
am yet to find a fault with it for towint. It feels solid, has very good swerve and stop with the boat on, and pulls like a truck. good enough for me.
Not to belabor an admittedly hypothetical situation, but it is probably an aspect worth considering.
