capacity for towing

[station71]

Hi everyone

New to the site and may I say its a great site. I have a 2002 ford escape V6 4X4. Just wondering if anyone else has the same vehicle and what is the towing capacity. Which brings me to my next question. When a vehicle states 2800lbs towing capacity. Does that mean the weight of the item I'm towing or does that include the weight of the people in the tow vehicle

Cheers

Alastair
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

[djhoosier]

Hi everyone

New to the site and may I say its a great site. I have a 2002 ford escape V6 4X4. Just wondering if anyone else has the same vehicle and what is the towing capacity. Which brings me to my next question. When a vehicle states 2800lbs towing capacity. Does that mean the weight of the item I'm towing or does that include the weight of the people in the tow vehicle

Cheers

Alastair
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Alastair....in simplest terms, towing capacity means the amount of weight pulled behind the Escape, excluding passengers (unless they're in the trailer...lol). In your owner's manual it should have the amount of the total weight (weight of escape, passengers, trailer) everything that the Escape is capable of handling.  Dig out your owner's manual...it'll give alot of good info.

DJ

[tlhdoc]

A 2002 Escape with the V6 engine and tow package is rated to tow 3500 pounds.  Without the tow package it is rated to tow 2200 pounds.  As a rule of thumb you should only tow 75% or the vehicles capacity.

[mike4947]

To add, that's gross or total trailer weight. Not dry weight or empty weight. Also anything you put in the Escape other than the driver's weight comes off the top of the "fantasy tow rating"

[SpeakEasy]

Also anything you put in the Escape other than the driver's weight comes off the top of the "fantasy tow rating"

With all due respect, this is not correct.

The owner's manual will give a trailer weight. This is the maximum amount the fully-loaded trailer (with gear) can weigh. That's the 2200 pounds or 3500 pounds depending on whether or not it has the towing package.

Separate from that, the owner's manual will list some other figures, including the "gross combination weight." This figure would be the weight of the trailer (plus gear) plus the weight of the tow vehicle itself, plus the weight of the people in the tow vehicle, plus the weight of any gear. In other words, every single pound that you are moving down the highway. In the case of my Highlander, this figure is 7985 pounds.

You will probably also see a figure called the GVWR. That is the capacity of the tow vehicle plus its passengers and luggage, but it does not include the trailer. Keep in mind, however, that when you attach the trailer it has tongue weight which has to be considered as part of that GVWR that you are asking your tow vehicle to carry. In most cases this weight is 10% to 15% of the trailer weight.

[Steve-o-bud]

With all due respect, this is not correct.
 
The owner's manual will give a trailer weight. This is the maximum amount the fully-loaded trailer (with gear) can weigh. That's the 2200 pounds or 3500 pounds depending on whether or not it has the towing package.
 
Separate from that, the owner's manual will list some other figures, including the "gross combination weight." This figure would be the weight of the trailer (plus gear) plus the weight of the tow vehicle itself, plus the weight of the people in the tow vehicle, plus the weight of any gear. In other words, every single pound that you are moving down the highway. In the case of my Highlander, this figure is 7985 pounds.
 
You will probably also see a figure called the GVWR. That is the capacity of the tow vehicle plus its passengers and luggage, but it does not include the trailer. Keep in mind, however, that when you attach the trailer it has tongue weight which has to be considered as part of that GVWR that you are asking your tow vehicle to carry. In most cases this weight is 10% to 15% of the trailer weight.

This is correct. The GVWR is the weight carrying capacity of the vehicle, which includes the weight of of the vehicle itself, passengers, cargo, and trailer tongue weight. It is a sum of the individual front and rear axle weight ratings. A large component of the axle ratings is actually the tire load capacity, which you never want to exceed. Also included in this rating are the load capacity of the wheels (for instance, generally, 6 lug 16 inch wheels have a higher load capacity than a 5 lug 15 inch wheel), and the axle itself. Higher GVWR vehicles have heavier duty brakes, axles, driveshafts, transmission, tires, cooling systems, etc. Remember, 90% or so of the weight of the trailer is carried by the trailer itself, with the remaing 10% carried on the tongue. (This is why latter model Coleman trailers are heavier, the tire and axle ratings remained the same, but the tongure weight increased. They simply shifted the extra weight to the tongue)
 
There is also a specification "GCWR", Gross Combined Weight Rating, which indicates the total weight allowed for vehicle and trailer. My suspicion is that this rating is mostly determined by the brakeing capability of the vehicle.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that all these weight ratings indicate the weights that can be safely accomidated. It is not necessarily an indication of how well the vehicle can pull up a hill with trailer attached. For instance, my SLX (aka Trooper) is rated for 5,000 lbs towing capacity, but it is pretty much a slug going up hills, with or without a trailer.
 
I like the rule of thumb of not exceeding 70% of the towing rating. I actually would like to up that to 50%, my wife points out that I will not be happy until I CAN tow our trailer up the Grapevine at 105 miles per hour on a summer day with A/C on, even though I actually would not do it.

[mike4947]

Speakeasy, while your Highlander does indeed give a loaded trailer and loaded TV tow rating. Ford and most American manufacturers do not. For the Escape the GCWR is simply the BASE vehicle weight without options, an apx 150 pound allowance for the driver, and the listed "fantasy tow rating".
So passengers, cargo in the van, in some cases fuel, and even optional equipment must be deducted from the tow rating.

[station71]

Thanks everyone

Sounds a bit confusing but I'll dig out the manual and have a look. I'm shooting for a trailer that is about 2500 to 2800lbs which should hopefully be safe for towing

Cheers

Alastair