BlackBoost

Sorry, guess I skipped the part on how in "increases" tongue weight... The max weight without a WDH is because of how much weight is behind the rear axle. Too much weight causes weight to be taken off of the front wheels. Enough weight will actually lift the front wheels right off the ground. This is dangerous for many reasons.

The WDH forces some of the weight to spread to the front wheels using leverage, which I explained in my other post, my straightening the line between the truck hitch and trailer tongue. This allows for more weight to be on the tongue.

So really, the weight limit is for the reasons above. The hitch itself can physically withstand much more weight than what's rated without breaking or bending. The issue and the reason for the 2 ratings is on how that weight is distributed.

This is also the reason why goosenecks and 5th-wheel hitches can carry more weight; It's not because those hitches can structurally support more weight, rather it's because the weight in ON or FORWARD of the rear axle, which allows the front wheels to carry some of the load.

Hope that clears it up.

acdii

What in the world are you talking about? I'm talking about the total weight the hitch is rated at when there is ZERO weight on the ball. If you aren't using a WDH, it is 5000 pounds, but if a WDH is used, it's 10,000 pounds. I get that its the distribution part, but what if you are pulling a light tongue weight trailer that weighs 10,000 pounds, how does having a WDH make it magically support twice the weight when there is nothing to distribute?

IOW, the hitch really should have a flat tow rating as well, or at least something on it that states max pulling weight, because at that point, if there is only a few hundred pounds on it, it isn't carrying weight, but pulling it.

Tow a 8000 pound boat, with a trailer that has a 450 pound TW, where no WDH is used, or needed, and the sticker on the hitch says it can only handle 5000 pounds with this setup. See now what I am saying? According to that sticker, the weight is exceeded by 3000 pounds.

BlackBoost

Well, if you're talking about a timber/agricultural/farm/hay trailer with wheels on either end like a little red wagon, then this trailer weight doesn't really apply, but you probably won't be driving it on the highway either. The only concern would still be pulling too much weight and lifting the front wheel off of the ground (popping a wheelie).


As for conventional trailers, the tongue weight is usually proportional to the total weight of the trailer, which means if your trailer is over 5000 lbs, you will almost certainly need a WDH to keep the truck stable. This is really what the rating is for. Again, it doesn't really apply to a trailer with no tongue weight, those are kind of a special case.


Out of curiosity, what's the concern for? What kind of trailer and weight are you trying to pull? Be aware that the ratings you see advertised are for WDH only. Without that you're restricted to 5000 lbs with a half-ton.

atwowheelguy

My take on it is that the hitch is rated to support 1,100 lbs. and tow 11,000 lbs. maximum.

If the hitch has more than 500 lbs. on it, the line in the sand has been crossed where the front of the truck has been lifted to the point of being unsafe to turn and brake.

The Ford engineers have to assume that we are too dumb or too lazy to actually take the rig to the scales and WEIGH the tongue force and WEIGH how much has been lifted from the steer axle. So they assume the only thing we can do is to read the DRY WEIGHT sticker on the trailer. They then have to assume that the tongue weight is at least 10% of the trailer weight. Therefore a 500 pound tongue weight limit leads to the assumption of a 5,000 lb. trailer. So if the dry weight sticker says 5,000 lbs., which SOME of us can read, it MUST have at least 500 lbs. on the tongue which is where the front of the truck is dangerously light.

acdii

Well it's not brand specific. As I stated, why isn't there a weight rating for those trailers like a boat, that has a light tongue weight, but is over the 5000 pound mark.

OK, let me put it another way, Hook a car dolly up and tow an F250 that weighs in at 6500 pounds. Tongue weight is almost nothing, so no WDH is needed, and we know that the receiver can handle pulling 11K pounds, so why is there no label for these kinds of loads?

It's just a thinking discussion, nothing more. It's one of those things that makes you sit back and say, hmmm.

atwowheelguy

The hitch receiver is only about 2-1/2" wide. I have heard of engraving the Lord's Prayer on the head of a needle, but a microscope is needed to read it. The three point font on your mulit-case label showing every tongue weight percentage ratio for every weight trailer would require at least a magnifying glass to read.

BlackBoost

Yes, I can only assume they post limits for common trailers (bumper pull, gooseneck, 5th wheel) since there are many special cases out there when it comes to specialty towing. I'd imagine that if you're buying a truck to flat-tow something, or do a special job, you'll want to discuss this with the salesman at the time of purchase. If he doesn't know the answer, he needs to get it. I'm sure that info is somewhere.

BlackBoost

So since I'm AT the dealership now, I asked their pickup truck wiseman about it. The max you can tow with no tongue weight is the max rated tow spec WITH a WDH. Doesn't matter if it's a car dolly or timber trailer etc. Now you don't have to have a WDH attached when there's no tongue weight, but that's the max tow period. This is based on the engine and truck weight.
So there's your answer.

acdii

I guess what I'm getting at is to the common person, the 500/5000 rating is misleading. They see that and think, I can only tow a boat or car dolly(or other light TW trailers) if they are 5000 pounds or less. The label leads you to believe that to tow anything over 5000 pounds you must use a WDH hitch, even if there is hardly any weight on the tongue.

Unicorn and Pixie dust.

BlackBoost

True. It's not worded very well. I guess they could add in "must use a WDH unless the tongue weight is under 500 lbs.". But like someone else mentioned, most people don't know tongue weights anyways. This is probably Ford playing it safe from a legal liability point of view. This way they can't be blamed for making it unclear or too complicated to understand.