What is the max towing weight of my car?

You can find your truck's towing capacity in the owner's manual or calculate it on your own. To find your truck's towing capacity, subtract your truck's curb weight from its Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR). The GCVWR is the maximum weight of your loaded truck and the weight of its attached trailer.

What is my vehicle's towing capacity?

Towing capacity formula

Find out curb weight (on VIN sticker). Add the weight of passengers, fuel, and cargo to the curb weight. Subtract this number from your vehicle's GCWR ( you may have to look this up using your VIN if it's not on the door sticker). This is your max towing capacity.

Can I tow something heavier than my car?

The total weight of your trailer must not weigh more than the car's maximum towing capacity (MTC). Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to take the trailer's maximum authorised mass (MAM) into consideration – unless you passed your test after 1 January 1997 (more on this later).

What happens if you tow something too heavy for your car?

Exceeding what your vehicle is designed to tow can strain your engine and transmission, accelerate brake wear, damage your tires and even warp your chassis. This could in turn trigger catastrophic failure while driving and could lead to property damage or serious injury.

Can you tow over your towing capacity?

GTW can never exceed your vehicle's towing capacity. If you were to attempt to pull a trailer that weighs more than the manufacturer says your vehicle can tow, you might be able to get it moving. But you'd find it difficult to control and likely be unsafe on the road.

How Much Can I Tow? - Towing

What happens when you try to tow more than capacity?

When you ask your truck to pull more than it was meant to -- exceeding its towing capacity -- a number of things start to happen: The brakes begin to fade, the added weight contributes to tire failure, and the extra work required of your engine causes it to overheat, which, in turn, overloads the drivetrain and ...

What happens if you tow a trailer thats too heavy?

What happens when you pull a trailer that's too heavy for your vehicle? Engine damage from overheating, undue stress to the frame, damage to the suspension and braking systems, and transmission damage from overheating.

How do I calculate safe towing weight?

Towing Capacity: How Much Your Truck Can Pull

You can find your truck's towing capacity in the owner's manual or calculate it on your own. To find your truck's towing capacity, subtract your truck's curb weight from its Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR).

What does Max towing capacity mean?

Towing capacity is the maximum amount of weight your vehicle can tow when pulling a trailer. It is determined by the vehicle manufacturer and takes into account the GVWR, GAWR, GTW and more. What does towing capacity mean? Very simply, it is how heavy your trailer can be.

How much of Max towing capacity should you use?

Generally, most people who choose to tow something try to keep the total weight at around 80 percent of their vehicle's maximum towing capacity. This is the best way to make sure you don't cause damage to your vehicle, or increase the potential for accidents or difficulty hauling the trailer.

What is the 85 rule for towing?

For safe towing it is recommended by many towing experts that a novice should keep the fully laden weight of the caravan no heavier than 85% of the kerbweight of the tow car. This is known as the 85% rule. Bear in mind that it is a guide and not legally enforceable.

Can I tow a trailer that weighs more than my car?

So long as the following conditions are met, you can legally tow a van or trailer with a GTM or ATM that exceeds your vehicle's own towing capacity: Total trailer weight, including tow ball down weight, doesn't exceed the towing capacity of the vehicle, as specified by the manufacturer.

What is my car's KERB weight?

Kerbweight is the weight of the vehicle including a full tank of fuel and all standard equipment. It does not include the weight of any passengers, cargo, or optional equipment. Kerbweight is considered the closest weight to the actual weight of the vehicle.

How do I know if my car can tow a trailer?

Look for the “Vehicle Towing Capacity” in the manual. This is the manufacturer's specification of the weight the vehicle is designed to tow. Choosing a trailer that exceeds your vehicle's towing capacity will stress the vehicle's engine, transmission, and brakes beyond their design limits.

How do you find the GVWR of a car?

The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of a vehicle is shown on the vehicle's Safety Compliance Certification Label, located on the driver's side door lock facing or the door latch post pillar. GVWR is the maximum allowable weight of the fully-loaded vehicle (including passengers and cargo).

How much towing capacity do I need for a camper?

When matching a trailer to a tow vehicle, a good rule-of-thumb is to keep the trailer's GVWR at less than 75 percent of the tow vehicle's trailer towing capacity. So, if the tow vehicle is rated for a maximum of 6,000 pounds, the chosen trailer should have a GVWR of 4,500 pounds or less.

How do I calculate trailer tongue weight?

Position a pipe vertically under the trailer tongue, and lower the trailer jack until the coupler is fully resting on the pipe. Read the scale and multiple by 3. Take an initial reading from the scale bathroom scale, and multiple it by 3. This is the tongue weight.

Does towing capacity include weight inside vehicle?

A truck's payload capacity refers to the maximum amount of weight you can safely add to a truck's cargo area in addition to its empty weight (or curb weight). Towing capacity, on the other hand, refers to the maximum weight that a truck can tow after factoring in the weight of the truck and any cargo.

What is the difference between max payload and Max towing?

Roughly speaking, payload capacity is the amount of weight a vehicle can carry, and towing capacity is the amount of weight it can pull. Automakers often refer to carrying weight in the bed of a truck as hauling to distinguish it from carrying weight in a trailer or towing.

How do you calculate tow ball weight?

Place a length of pipe on each, and run the wooden plank across like a bridge. Now place the jockey wheel of your fully loaded caravan on this plank, at about 2/3^rd the length from the weighing scale. Record the reading on the scale, and multiply it by 3 to get your caravan's approximate ball weight.

What does 7000 GVWR mean on a trailer?

What Does 7000 GVWR Mean on a Trailer? So, let's take a look at a specific example to make GVWR easier to understand. If you have a 7000 gross vehicle weight rating, that means that you can't have more than 7000 pounds of weight in the vehicle.

Is hitch weight included in dry weight?

So, hitch weight IS included in the dry weight (and Gross Vehicle Weight, see below), and most experts agree that an acceptable hitch/tongue weight for any trailer is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of the trailer weight.

What percentage of max towing capacity is safe?

Subtracting the curb weight from the GCVWR gives you the vehicle's towing capacity. Manufacturers will stress that you should never exceed your vehicle's towing capacity. We would add that, for safety reasons, it's best to never come within 10% of that total.

How do I know if my trailer is too heavy?

Due to a bumper-tow or tag-along-style trailer's nature, you'll know when you're attempting to haul too much weight. The rear of the truck will appear hunkered down and the front end will feel light.

Is towing bad for a vehicle?

Towing causes additional strain on your vehicle, from the engine to your brakes. So, it will slowly wear on your engine over time, no matter your vehicle or trailer. However, some big things will lead to faster wear and more substantial damage.