Among other reasons such as having a beer budget and champagne taste, I have not purchased a LIGHTNING. I have seen that the tow ratings on the LIGHTNINGS are only 5000#, which I assume is due to the suspension. Unfortunately, I occasionallay pull a travel trailer that is 6000-6500# loaded. What are the heaviest things you have towed and did you damage anything doing it?

 

The heaviest thing I have pulled is my 3000# boat. The L pulls and stops it with no problem, but if you are going to be towing over 6000#, you should probably forget the L and get a superduty diesel... just my .02.

 

I used to pull my 3000lb boat with mine. It did just fine. The rear would squat a little but nothing major.

 

Welcome

Here are 2 Links you will find useful and Lightning

Doug

 

I just towed my son's 89 LX convertable 2,800 miles from Pennsylvania to San Diego. I rented one of those heavy u-haul auto transporters and made it in two and a half days.
The Bolt easily towed that load through 100+ degree heat, 8,000 foot passes and 90 octane premium. The only hold up came when I first filled up with 91 in Oklahoma. It started pinging so I pulled over, popped the chip and continued on my way.
Aveage speed was 70+, often cruising at 85.
My truck is lowered in the rear, 2", and I have loadmasters which also help with wheel hop.
Can the Lightning tow?

 

I have a 18 Foot full deck car trailer (24ft total) that weighs 1900lbs. The heavest thing I had on there was a 94 Z28 with a Blower and Cage that weighed in at 3800lbs plus tools, tires and other assorted stuff. It was probably 6000+lbs. It was heavy but it pulled just fine. I had the cruise on 75mph. Just make sure you have trailer brakes when pulling a bunch of wieght.

 

Thanks for the info, guys.

 

Do like me and get a L and a f350 superduty diesel to pull everything.

 

The 03s are rated to tow 7500 lbs up from 5000. I tow my 20' Bayliner Capri with no problems with my 2000 L.

 

Where did you find that? I haven't seen that anywhere about the 03s.

 

In my '00 F-350 that I traded in for my new '03 F-150, I replaced the rear stock bump stops with Timbren rubber helper springs. They can be purchased for about $150 at Michigan Truck Spring and come with a lifetime warranty. The install is easy, there is zero maintenance and they prevent the rear end of the truck from squatting and swaying when you have a large load in the bed or are hauling a trailer. They really helped my F-350 since the factory put weak springs on it. Just thought I'd let ya'll know since a lot of folks tend to lean towards air bags and other forms of "overload" springs.

 

I have towed my 4x4 rig a few times with no problems.

It is a Suzuki Samurai, that is built up a bit.

I had a trailer with brakes, and towed with it from Phoenix to Moab, Utah and back with no problems at all!

Ocassionally, I had to kick it out of O/D up hills, but that was about it.
Even got about 12MPG on that trip!

Figure it was about 2800#'s for the Sammi, and 1500# for the trailer...

So about 4200#'s without issue...

The two things I would comment on for this setup would be, leave the suspension stock if you plan to tow, and get a trailer with brakes...

If you plan to tow a lot, or more than 5000# often...
Get an F-250...!

If I towed more often, I would have gone for the Superduty...

Just can't resist the S/C whine on the Lightning though!

 

This is the last thing I towed. 8x16 trailer, kind of old and it weighs at 7k empty . I had my bike and tools, etc for maybe another 1k lbs. I also had a weight distributing hitch from Reese that helped a little. I could defenitely see that the rear was squatted down. I only went from Atlanta to Birgminham thoug, I would not tow it more than that.
Yes, it will tow but I wouldn't do it for long distances nor all the time.

 

I've towed everything from a car trailer with my mustang on it , to a skid loader and trailer. I would not reccomend that again But im sure they can exceed there 5000 limit with no problems. As long as the front wheels stay on the ground your good

 

Hey latemodelRacer2, that's great. Throw some money my way because I can only afford one at best. Is anybody able to back up the info on the tow rating being upped to 7500# on the '03? I know that would be with a weight distributing hitch. Those of you who said the rear squatted down, did you have a weight distributing hitch?