New (used) owner; some rookie questions

[Scottly]

Most of those bolt-on receivers are rated at 2500lb. Me personally, I wouldn't hang anything over 1k on it, simply because that's what most bumpers are rated for when you put a ball on them. Hitches like that are really designed for use with bicycle racks, not boats.

 

[Christopher 1977]

Understood. My only need right now is to trailer my car, which is pretty light weight (2800lbs + 1300 lb trailer). I'm just going to take everyone's advise here and not take any chances with it until I get the Class IV.

Appreciate everyone's help.

 

[Harley Harrold]

 

[DA67Goatman]

Not advice, but I just ignore the numbers and tow what I need to tow. Actual experience trumps all the internet keyboard warriors

 

[Bandit1859]

Hi all! Picked up my slightly-used '18 1500 quad cab a few months ago. Having difficulty with the following:

1. TOWING: my build sheet shows "DELETE CLASS IV RECEIVER HITCH" but I see someone installed a bolt-on receiver to the bumper. The receiver says to consult the owner's manual for towing capacities and info. The owner's manual says to consult ramtrucks.com/en/towing_guide for towing capacities. That specific webpage doesn't exist anymore, but ramtrucks.com has a towing cheat sheet which just ends up saying "final towing capabilities will depend on your vehicle's configuration". Am I just going around in circles?

((edit: I did find the Trailer Life 2018 guide here: https://webcontent.goodsam.com/trailerlife.com/digital_editions/TrailerLifeTowGuide2018.pdf, and referencing my engine, trans and axle ratio came up with 8190 lbs towing. I just don't trust that number since the hitch I have is bolted to the bumper.))

2. CURB WEIGHT: Curb weight of the vehicle is part of the calculation for payload and towing capacity. Despite the power of the internet, I haven't been able to nail down my truck's curb weight. Do I just have to take it to a weight station or is there an easier way?

I would not pull with the bumper. Always use a receiver hitch

 

[Daw14]

You are good to pull with that , no problem. That is the factory hitch. It is identical to mine which came with the tow package.

 

[Marshall]

I have to admit it's pretty wild to me that a bolt-on hitch can't be trusted to tow even a tiny trailer that, you know, a Civic could tow. One would think that if our bumpers were so fragile, folks wouldn't install a bumper hitch for them?

I did try looking in the manual and online for the tow rating of the bumper but have come up empty handed (except some forum posts here that say our bumpers are rated to 5000#).

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If that’s your truck you have the picture of, that’s the factory hitch, it’s not bolted to the bumper
Looks like D beat me to it