Both GM and Ram have devised easy ways for truck owners to lookup the specific tow rating on their vehicle.
While it might sound simple, finding the tow rating for your specific vehicle configuration can sometimes be confusing, especially if you’re not the original owner. Different trim levels don’t all weigh the same, and yet that’s not always factored into tow ratings when looking at a towing chart. There’s also the issue of wheel and tire size, with all trucks these days offering a large array of choices. This can factor into the tow rating, even though the tow charts don’t always account for these differences.
To help consumers find their specific tow rating, both GM and Ram now have their own solution to the problem.
GM’s solution is brand new and is being implemented on all 2019 trucks, and it’s the most straightforward. A new sticker is being included on the door jam, listing all of the pertinent stats for that specific build.
The sticker looks like this:
The only thing missing outright is the actual tow rating, but there is an easy way to figure it out. The max tongue weight will always be listed at 10 percent of the total trailer weight, so if tongue weight is rated at 930 lbs, that means the tow rating for this truck is 9300 lbs.
To do it another way, you can take the Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) of 15,000 lbs and subtract the truck’s weight, which is 5531 lbs. That leaves us with room to carry a 9,469 lb trailer. The small discrepancy is because GM has to add in the assumed weight of the driver, which is about 200 pounds.
Over at Ram, the solution is a digital search that allows owners or potential buyers to plug the VIN into a search bar, and the website will then automatically spit out whatever the exact towing and payload ratings are for that specific truck. This will work with any truck that is 2009 and newer.
Those Ram owners interested in trying it out can visit the website here.
Update: We also reached out to the other major truck manufacturers to find out the easiest way to find the tow rating in their rigs.
Toyota says: Inside the door you can easily see the GCWR, GVWR, GAWR and katashiki number of your vehicle. If you turn to the section “towing” in your owner’s manual you can match your katashiki number to the TWR in the table. It does take two steps, but the nice part about opening the owner’s manual is it really helps define everything that should be considered for safe towing and what all those numbers mean.
Ford says: The easiest way for an owner to find their towing rating is to reference their owner’s manual, or the Trailer Tow Guide on the Ford website.
Nissan says: The tire placard in the door jamb of every vehicle shows the max payload of occupants and cargo. This is standard for all products and all OEMs. There is also the FMVSS label with outlines the GVWR and GAWR for the specific vehicle. For towing rating, those are listed in the owner’s manual by configuration. We also have the “Nissan Towing Guide” which is published online with helpful information about towing/hauling, but does not have the specific vehicle by vehicle ratings.
