How To Outsmart Towing Company
How to Determine Your Car's Towing Capacity
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Hitching up a trailer to the back of the car can be great for road trips and outdoor adventures. However, many drivers don't know how to safely to hitch a trailer to the average vehicle. Since hitching a load that is too heavy to a car can permanently damage the vehicle, you should always determine your car's towing capacity before taking this job on. This guide will help you determine towing capacity without wrecking your car.
Understanding the Terminology
Before you can find your car's towing capacity, you need to understand the terminology involved. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) defines how much your car can carry in it, including passengers and baggage. Loading the vehicle past the recommended GVWR can blow out a vehicle's engine or transmission. Similarly, the Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) defines how much each axle can bear and includes the weight of a potential tow.
Finding Your Baseline Towing Capacity
The manual provided by your car's manufacturer is the best way to determine your car's GVWR and GAWR. If you have misplaced this literature, you can find digital copies online at car manufacturer websites. You can also run a search for used copies of a car's manual to replace lost ones, and if that fails, there are online databases at websites such as GMC.com that list the baseline towing capacity of vehicles. It is important to remember that these numbers are baseline numbers and typically factor in only two passengers with a weight of 175 pounds each. If your car has excess trim or a large passenger load, you need to account for this additional weight and assume that your towing capacity is lower than the baseline offered by the manufacturer.
Gross Trailer Weight vs Tongue Weight
Once you have the baseline numbers for your car's towing capacity, you must consider both the gross trailer weight (GTW) and the tongue weight of what you want to tow. The GTW includes the trailer itself and everything it will carry. You can find the weight specs for your trailer on its VIN plate, including the GAWR and GVWR. Your best bet, however, is to weigh the trailer when it is fully loaded at a vehicle scale. Many roadside weigh stations offer scales for recreational drivers.
Determining Tongue Weight
The tongue weight is the amount pushing down on the rear of your vehicle where the tongue hitches to the car. In order to operate a tow safely, this weight should not exceed 10 to 15 percent of the GTW. A quick way to determine tongue weight is to first weigh your vehicle at a weigh station. Next, weigh your vehicle with the tow hitched on but the trailer wheels off the scale. Then, subtract the first number from the second.
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How To Outsmart Towing Company
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