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I wondering what would be the lightest vehicle still capable to tow the highest weight trailer while staying under 10,001 USDOT commercial motor vehicle requirements. Assume a weight distributing hitch (not gooseneck).
Weight of tow vehicle minus 10k would be the trailer weight.
Example - a Frontier 4x4 6spd weights 4400 pounds and has tow rating of 6700# but you'd only pull about 5600# to get to 10,000 pound non-USDOT requirement limit (10k minus curb weight of 4400 pounds). I bet that would tow decently.
An old 2005-2006 Liberty diesel weighs a bit less maybe 4200# and can probably pull the 5800# difference better than the Frontier (more torque) with better mileage but the Frontier is probably more stout. Maybe a Tacoma would be similar to Frontier but it's got less torque.
Late model ranger was a bit lighter, say 3500 pounds, but I think would struggle towing 6500 pounds.
You should look to the late model Early to Mid 00's V-10 Gassers on the doge and the Ford as they are cheaper to buy and maintain if want to avoid Diesels and go with the 8.1L Vortec V-8 Gasser in the GMC/Chevy trucks OP
you need at least a 3/4 ton truck, F250, ram 2500, etc. especially if you are going to tow that amount of weight consistently.
Yeah agreed the Op could also look at the Suburban 2500 with the 8.1 Voetec with HD tow/haul pkg
Heck to save some $$$ and if the OP can find a used Mid 00's commercial Ford Econoline/E-Series E350/E450 or GMC Savana 3500/Chevrolet Express 3500 he might be able to make that work as well for their needs.
rbohm, GTOlover, I think you misread the OP's question (or I have). He doesn't want to tow a 10K trailer, he wants to tow a lightweight trailer so both the tow vehicle AND the trailer together weigh 10K pounds max. He certainly wouldn't need or want a 3/4-ton tow vehicle, as that wouldn't leave much for trailer weight max.
I can't answer the question without a bunch of Googling.
OP, is that 10K pound limit the GCWR of the two or the actual weight of the two? I suspect it might be GCWR.
rbohm, GTOlover, I think you misread the OP's question (or I have). He doesn't want to tow a 10K trailer, he wants to tow a lightweight trailer so both the tow vehicle AND the trailer together weigh 10K pounds max. He certainly wouldn't need or want a 3/4-ton tow vehicle, as that wouldn't leave much for trailer weight max.
I can't answer the question without a bunch of Googling.
OP, is that 10K pound limit the GCWR of the two or the actual weight of the two? I suspect it might be GCWR.
The 10k pound limit is the GCWR as determined by the GVWR of truck plus GVWR of trailer, but the trailer GVWR can easily be customized by the manufacturer so total is exactly 10,000.
OP meant Combined Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, not whether a tow vehicle can tow 10,000 lbs or not.
This is a tricky question because CGWVR would include occupants and payload. I'd delve into the question further, but that will be for some other time.
I think a late model Rangers 4x4 auto had a empty weight of 3800 and GVWR of 5000 which means it would do more in theory, with towing 6200 pounds. I just don't think the engine will do it. But it's 600 pounds less heavy than the Tacoma/Frontiers.
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