Jalopnik: This Is Why You Need A Big Truck To Tow Big Things In America

Marceline

Since the topic occasionally comes up in the forum, here's an interesting examination of the question of why towing capacities for the same vehicle can vary so much between the US and Europe.

This Is Why You Need A Big Truck To Tow Big Things In America

Luckyj

Ok, so that means that the US already take into accounts a safety margin.  So no problems being close to the us tow limit.

but again, all this is in respect of taking into account that you are towing a load and not acting like you have nothing behind, no mater what you are towing with.  

Just something to think about.

DougH

But the myth that you need a three quarter ton dually, or the fear of litigation in the states even applies to picking up a brand new T@B.   We use a diesel station wagon rated to tow two tons, that has 280 ft lbs torque, and gets fantastic mileage on the highway.  Even though we'd been towing other trailers with it, when we got our T@B a couple years ago our RV dealer in Austin said we had to do our initial pickup with a larger SUV or truck, and couldn't use our car.