Here is a recent thread that has some good scaled weights with a car hauler and what to expect
https://www.f150forum.com/f82/thanks...ppened-505075/

 

uHaul has two auto transports, an orange 3500lb capacity, and a galvanized 5100lb capacity. The orange ones were purchased up into the 90's, and are being replaced with the newer galvanized trailers as they age out.

Here's my tow loaded up, the truck was leveled 1.75" in the front at the time, and had about 300lb of gear in the bed, plus the 2x12's on the rack and more boards in the bed to get the C3 on the trailer:

 

I wouldn’t back the car on it, think the tongue weight would be to light. $6k for a trailer? A year and half ago I would have said you are being robbed. Like other things prices have gone up and finding a good used one has always been hard, these days used or new is tough to find. 12 years ago I bought my 7000 pound rated car hauler with brakes on one axle for about $2200. Not today.

 

Thanks for the info guys. Thanks for the pics Flamingtaco, that doesn't look too bad. My mustang is lowered, so I think I'll have to put some 2x12's in front of the trailer to lift the front slightly.

Dodgeman, thanks, I don't plan to load the car backwards, I'd rather have a heavy tongue than have sway issues while driving.

Thanks Spencer, that helped a bit with the weight.

Uhaul's site says my truck with their car hauler and my Mustang on it is okay. But as it's mentioned on here, my hitch is a class III rated at 5000lbs. How does Ford say I'm good to tow more than that with my set up. Furthermore, why does Uhaul approve that?

Do you MaxTow guys have a class IV hitch? Even then, they're rated at 10k, which is still lower than the 13K advertised max tow capability. I'm going to tow a motorcycle using a uhaul 5x9 motorcycle trailer as well, so I'm going to talk to the Uhaul folks to make sure I can tow my car. I dont want any last minute "NO" that would mess up my move. If I do get a no, then I'll have to purchase a trailer and sell it later. Cant find one under $5k anymore.

 

I suspect you have a class IV hitch if your truck has a factory tow package. Class V hitches a the heavy duty ones that come on most 250 and 350 trucks.

 

The sticker on it says max 500lbs tongue and 5000lb trailer. I have all of the items for the tow package, but does the 2.7 even have the tow "package" as an option? I have the 36 gal tank, the electronic locking 3.55's, the easy reverse steering ****, factory trailer brake, and factory 20" wheels. I have not checked to see if I have a tranny cooler though.
Either way, I'm still limited tp 5K per the label. Doesn't make sense.

 

I think you’ll find those limits are without a WDH. With acWDH you can go higher.

 

To me a WD hitch makes no sense for overall weight. I get it can help with sway and all, but if the hitch is limited to 500lbs of tongue load, then 1000lbs with WD...that weight is still on the receiver. You're still exceeding 500lbs of tongue weight so it's still putting more weight hanging off of the hitch. The hitch has no idea if you're using WD or not, it still has the weight hanging on it regardless.

How does the Ford commercial mention the max 13K+ tow rating on certain models but they all have the same hitch that says 5K gross trailer weight? That commercial shows a huge boat being towed which I'm sure has a heavy tongue exceeding 500lbs as well as the gross trailer weight exceeding 5K. A WD hitch still puts a lot of weight on the hitch, and still puts that 13K load pulling on that hitch.

I'm guessing those ratings limit the truck and suspension, not the hitch. Especially when you guys similarly equipped to me are towing more than 5K on the same hitch.

 

A Max Tow model will have a hitch rated for, if memory serves correct, 1320# tongue weight/13200# trailer weight max with a WDH along for the ride.

A WDH puts weight in the front wheels and balances things out nicely when adjusted properly. Your 5000# limit you mention is receiver hitch limit and nothing else.

 

A hitch does not know if a WDH is being used or not, but it does feel a difference in rotational force placed upon it by the draw bar. This is where the weight carrying Vs weight distributing ratings come into play. When you are weight carrying, all the weight of the tongue is placing a force on the receiver tube that tries to rotate it around the crossbar it's welded to in a clockwise direction (from a driver side perspective). When you engage WDH arms, the trailer frame is pulling upward on them, providing force in a counter-clockwise direction.

Through rotational action, weight is traded for force, pushing it to the front axle of the vehicle and the trailer wheels. The tongue still weighs what it weighs, but some of that weight no longer pushes down on the hitch, it's been traded off via leverage and is being transmitted through the frames of the vehicle and trailer as a rotational force rather than dead weight.

So, your hitch has been spec'd to handle 500lb trying to twist it in one direction. The reason you can have more weight when weight distributing is because having a WDH keeps that twisting force to 500lb or less by providing a counter force. Ex. If you put a 500lb trailer tongue on a vehicle and counter it with 200lb pulling up on WDH arms (total), there is only a 300lb of rotational force on the hitch.

Our hitches have two class ratings, III for weight carrying, IV for weight distributing.