Towing research

We keep a config-level dataset of US tow ratings — 157 engine × driveline × cab × axle × package combinations read out of the manufacturers' own towing guides. These are the questions the dataset can answer that a single spec sheet cannot. Charts, full method, and the raw CSV on every page.

• Binding-limit study What actually limits what your truck can tow Every tow rating is published for a truck with one 150 lb driver in it. Across 58 pickup configurations, the tow rating is the binding limit on 98% of them empty — and on 26% once a family and a hitch are aboard.
• Configuration spread The advertised tow rating belongs to one truck Only 13 of 125 published pickup configurations carry their model's headline number. The median configuration reaches 83% of it — and on crossovers the pattern inverts.

Raw data

Free to reuse with attribution. Every figure we publish is reproducible from these files — a number you cannot check is a number nobody should quote.

• oem-configs.csv All 157 configurations — tow rating, payload, GCWR, GVWR, curb weight, SAE grade and the OEM source citation for every row.
• binding-mix.csv The binding-limit study, one row per 10 lb of cab load: which limit binds on how many configurations, plus the median honest max trailer.

How the data is graded and sourced: methodology and data sources. To run one configuration instead of all of them, use the tow-match calculator.