page_title: Towing
section_title: Towing capacity
hierarchical_section_title: Towing / Towing capacity
caption_attribution_description: Description:Sheerlegs mounted on M32 ARV (HVSS variant) in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel. 2005. Source: Photo by me, User:Bukvoed.
context_page_description: Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. These may be joined by a chain, rope, bar, hitch, three-point, fifth wheel, coupling, drawbar, integrated platform, or other means of keeping the objects together while in motion.
  Towing may be as simple as a tractor pulling a tree stump. The most familiar form is the transport of disabled or otherwise indisposed vehicles by a tow truck or "wrecker." Other familiar forms are the tractor-trailer combination, and cargo or leisure vehicles coupled via ball or pintle and gudgeon trailer hitches to smaller trucks and cars. In the opposite extreme are extremely heavy duty tank recovery vehicles, and enormous ballast tractors involved in heavy hauling towing loads stretching into the millions of pounds.
  Necessarily, government and industry standards have been developed for carriers, lighting, and coupling to ensure safety and interoperability of towing equipment.
context_section_description: Towing capacity is a measure describing the upper limit to the weight of a trailer a vehicle can tow and may be expressed in pounds or kilograms. Some countries require that signs indicating the maximum trailer weight (and in some cases, length) be posted on trucks and buses close to the coupling device. Towing capacity may be lower as declared due to limitation imposed by the cooling system.
  For cars and light trucks, towing is accomplished via a trailer hitch. In addition to the vehicle limits, the hitch assembly may have its own set of limits, including tongue weight (the amount of weight that presses downward on the hitch) and trailer weight (the full weight of the trailer, including contents). When the hitch is a factory option, the hitch capacity is usually stated in the vehicle documentation as a towing specification, and not otherwise marked on the vehicle.
  Towing capacity may either refer to braked or unbraked towing capacity.
  See also:
  See also
  Gross combined weight rating
  Gross trailer weight rating
  Gross vehicle weight rating
  Towing capacity may either refer to braked or unbraked towing capacity.
caption: Tank recovery vehicles are designed to pull very heavy loads in all conditions, including battle
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