How much weight can a Class 4 hitch tow?

A Class 4 receiver is rated for 10,000 lb of gross trailer weight and 1,000 lb of tongue weight, weight-carrying, or 14,000 lb GTW / 1,400 lb tongue with a weight-distribution hitch. The receiver is one of four limits: the vehicle's tow rating, GCWR, and payload still apply, and the smallest of the four wins.

Class 4 hitch: 10,000 lb bare — and why that's the catch

The half-ton default. Bare it carries 10,000 lb — which sounds like plenty until you notice how many trucks are factory-rated above it.

Edited by Kirill Dvoryashin · Updated July 2026

Max trailer (GTW)

10,000 lb

Max tongue

1,000 lb

Receiver

With WDH

14,000 lb

Weight-carrying ratings (industry convention published by CURT, Draw-Tite, Reese and others; receivers are tested to the SAE J684 standard). With a properly set up weight-distribution hitch, Class 4 receivers typically carry 14,000 lb GTW / 1,400 lb tongue. In the class ladder, Class 4 covers loaded trailers of 8,001–10,000 lb — below that, Class 3 already does the job.

What a Class 4 hitch is for

Class 4 is what full-size trucks bolt on at the factory: large trailers, full-size trucks, larger travel trailers. Same 2" opening as Class 3, heavier steel behind it — bare ratings rise to 10,000 lb GTW / 1,000 lb tongue, and the with-WDH pair rises to 14,000 lb / 1,400 lb.

The catch is that modern half-tons have outgrown the bare number. As the data below shows, a large share of the configurations in our OEM dataset are factory-rated above 10,000 lb — on those trucks a bare Class 4 receiver, not the engine or the frame, is the working limit until a weight-distribution hitch unlocks the second rating on the label.

Real vehicles in this range

Reference tables stop at the hardware. Ours can go one step further: of the 159 US vehicle configurations in our OEM-sourced dataset, 27 carry a published tow rating inside the Class 4 band (8,001–10,000 lb) — meaning Class 4 is the smallest receiver whose weight-carrying rating covers what these vehicles are rated to pull at their maximum. Every number links to the model's config-level page with its OEM source.

Ram 1500 8,100–9,920 lb · 5 configs in this class

3.0L Hurricane I6 Twin Turbo High Output (2025) 8,380–9,920 lb
3.0L EcoDiesel V6 (2020–2023) 9,480 lb
3.6L Pentastar V6 eTorque (2025) 8,110 lb
6.2L Supercharged HEMI V8 (2021–2024) 8,100 lb

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 8,800–9,900 lb · 6 configs in this class

5.3L V8 with DFM (L84) (2019) 9,900 lb
2.7L TurboMax I4 (2022–2026) 9,500 lb
3.0L Duramax Turbo Diesel I6 (LM2) (2020–2021) 9,300–9,500 lb
2.7L Turbo I4 (L3B) (2021) 9,300 lb
6.2L EcoTec3 V8 (2023–2026) 8,800 lb

Toyota Tundra 8,300–9,900 lb · 4 configs in this class

5.7L V8 (2015–2021) 9,800–9,900 lb
3.4L i-FORCE TT V6 (348 hp) (2022–2025) 8,300 lb

GMC Sierra 1500 8,900–9,400 lb · 6 configs in this class

5.3L V8 (2022–2024) 9,400 lb
3.0L Duramax Turbo Diesel I6 (2020–2021) 9,100–9,300 lb
2.7L Turbo I4 (2021) 9,200 lb
2.7L Turbo High-Output I4 (TurboMax) (2022–2024) 9,100 lb
6.2L V8 (2022–2024) 8,900 lb

Ford F-150 8,100–8,700 lb · 6 configs in this class

5.2L Supercharged V8 (2023–2026) 8,700 lb
2.7L EcoBoost V6 (2021–2026) 8,100–8,600 lb
3.3L V6 (2021–2023) 8,200 lb
3.5L EcoBoost V6 High-Output (2021–2026) 8,200 lb

Ratings as published in OEM towing guides for properly equipped vehicles; the model pages list every configuration with its source. A vehicle's factory receiver can be a class below its rating — the door-jamb area and the receiver label tell you what's actually installed.

44% of the dataset out-rates a bare Class 4 receiver

70 of the 159 configurations we track (44%) carry a factory tow rating above 10,000 lb — more than a bare Class 4 receiver is rated to carry. On every one of them, hanging the trailer straight on the ball caps the rig at 10,000 lb no matter what the brochure says; the 14,000 lb with-WDH rating is what lets the receiver keep up with the truck.

Setting one up: WDH guide · do you need a WDH?

What a factory Class 4 receiver is really rated for

The nominal 10,000 lb cap is the class convention, not necessarily your receiver's number — some OEMs publish the actual hardware rating, and it can sit above the class. The one case in our dataset where the OEM prints it: on 16 2021–2023 Ford F-150 configurations, Ford lists the factory Class IV receiver at 11,600 lb weight-carrying — above the nominal class cap (source: 2021 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide (official PDF, archived), p.19; identical in 2022 guide p.20 and 2023 guide p.22 ; every config carrying it is listed on the Ford F-150 page).

The takeaway cuts both ways: a published factory rating above the nominal cap is real and usable, but only the number printed on your receiver or in your towing guide counts. When the OEM publishes nothing, the nominal 10,000 lb is the honest ceiling.

Class 4 vs Class 5

Class 4 caps at 10,000 lb trailer / 1,000 lb tongue bare, or 14,000 lb with a weight-distribution hitch. Class 5 doubles the bare rating to 20,000 lb with a 2,700 lb tongue cap, moves to a 2" or 2-1/2" opening, and is heavy-duty-truck hardware. Between them sits a real trap: many half-ton trucks are factory-rated above 10,000 lb, so a bare Class 4 receiver — not the truck — becomes the limit. Full Class 5 breakdown →

The class is a hardware ceiling, not permission

Everything on this page rates the receiver. Your vehicle brings three more limits — its tow rating, GCWR, and payload — and the working limit of the rig is the smallest number anywhere in the chain, ball mount and ball included. A Class 4 receiver on a vehicle rated below 10,000 lb doesn't add an ounce of capacity; a vehicle rated above it turns the receiver into the binding limit. When two numbers disagree, the smaller one is the truth you tow by.

Not sure this is your class? The hitch class selector picks the smallest class that clears your trailer and tongue weight — then the tow-match calculator checks all four limits together.