towing hitch

my 7x18 enclosed trailer came in and i was really surprised to see that while dodge rates my '01.5 2500 cummins to pull nearly 13,000 pounds they put a hitch on it rated for only 5000 pounds. this makes no sense to me....is this a liability thing or is it _really_ only capable of pulling

5000 pounds on a standard (non-distributing) hitch?

also, please see

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and take a look at the adjustable hitch i bought. i was a bit reluctant because its made of aluminum but i was assured by the shop owner that although he sold more expensive hitches, that this was the strongest one he carried. anybody have any experience with these? my sticker from my '04.5 cummins says class IV hitch so im not concerned about that one. i just dont know why they would put such a light receiver on the '01.5.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier
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The receiver hitch on mine is rated at 5,000#, but also 10,000# with a weight distributing hitch. If you read the fine print in your owners manual, you may find the same thing.

Reply to
.boB

Reply to
azwiley1

The rating on the hitch is tongue weight. Example: loaded w/ my racecar, my car trailer weighs about 4500# but the tongue weight is only about 700#. Bryan

Reply to
Bryan

i understand how it all works. what i dont understand is why they would put such a weak hitch on a truck rated to more than 2 times that much.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

hi bob, now isnt that what i said in my original post? :-)

any idea if its really only capable of 5,000 pounds on a standard hitch like in the picture from the link in my original thread?

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

Nate.. "assuming" that the 5,000 pounds is tongue weight, (that sounds like a LOT of tongue weight), you're very safe... considering that average tongue weight is10 to 15% of the trailer weight...

Like the bumper of my old Mazda pickup said "do not exceed 200 pounds towing weight".. they sure didn't mean total trailer weight.. lol

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

its not. 500/5000 is the rating on a standard hitch.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

Heh... 5K of tongue weight would leave you staring at the sky while the truck wheelied down the road, digging a trench in the road from the hitch. It would certainly be impressive :)

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

I didn't see the part about the weight distributing hitch. I don't knnow if yours is the same as mine, but I suspect it is.

Generally speaking, your truck is capable of towing 13K#, but only when "properly equipped". I've never seen a simple recieiver hitch rated that high. Of course, I've never needed to tow more than 10K#, either. I believe you need a

5th wheel hitch to pull max load.
Reply to
.boB

10,000 would be the maximum since that is my trailer gvwr. i know i can tow this fine with my '04.5 cummins since it has a class IV hitch. again, i just dont see why they would put such a light receiver on a truck rated for much more.
Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

with the toung weight being 10% of the load... and the toung weight being

5,000 pounds.. that would mean its a 50,000 pound load?? That would be 25 tons right?
Reply to
Trey

Now would this be a "REDNECK" thing to do???

Reply to
Lorne

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