Towing Capacity War, Ford vs. Ram

6962 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Panther Dash, Jul 29, 2014

Diesel Washington

Discussion Starter · Jul 24, 2014

Ram and Ford are are in the midst of a towing capacity war. Ford recently announced that its commercials will claim a best-in-class towing capacity of 31,200 lbs. That's better than the 30,000 lbs towing capacity of the Ram 3500 heavy-duty. Ram was going to take this lying down though.

The same day Ford made its announcement Ram issued a press release saying that it is the first maker that has an entire pickup lineup that has towing capacity ratings developed under an industry standard established by SAE.

Ram continued by pointing out that the towing capacity for its 3500 4x4 heavy duty is the best in its class. The Ford F-450 is in a different class, and therefore shouldn't be compared. The Ford F-350, which is in the same class as the Ram 3500, has a towing capacity of 26,700 lbs.

Ford says that the Ram 3500 and the Ford F-450 belong in the same class because they have identical gross vehicle weight ratings. Ford's truck marketing manager Doug Scott added that the carmaker will comply with the SAE J2807 industry towing standard when it launches all-new versions of its pickups starting with the 2015 F-150 that will be rolled out this year.

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Diesel Washington

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 28, 2014

A new chapter -> bring out the lawyers

Ford claimed earlier in the month that the best-in-class 30,000 lb tow rating of the Ram 3500 with the 6.7-liter Cummins diesel is beat out by Ford's 2015 F-450 which can tow 31.200 lbs based on SAE's J2807 testing protocols.

Ram retorted that the F-450 Super Duty is a Class 4 pickup, the only truck of its kind in the US, while the Ram 3500 is in the Class 3 category. That means the Ram 3500 competes against the Ford F-350 and GMC Sierra HD.

That coveted "best-in-class" label is important when it comes to selling your truck in the U.S. Most buyers of heavy-duty pickups do haul on a regular basis, thus towing capacity is an important aspect when spending some $50k on an all-new pickup truck. Stateside, this category represents over 20 percent of the overall pickup market, therefore many dollars are at stake here. Unfortunately for the Blue Oval, they're not right on this tug-of-war battle because the two models are in different classes.

I don't see how Ford is going to win this one, but i'm sure they have some pretty smart lawyers working on it. I'm sure this isn't the last we've heard of it.

Ford Wages Legal War Against Ram Truck's Best-in-Class Towing Claims

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