I was Wondering how much can the Bumper tow? I have a ball on the bumper and all i want to tow is a small 5 by 8 or so trailer with wood in it for camping. Would the bumber be ok with that kinda load? BTW i have a V-6 unfortunatly.

 

Most factory bumpers are rated at 500# tongue weight.
This means that loaded correctly you should be able to tow 2500#'s

With the height not being adjustable you may not be able to load your trailer correctly...level and weight distributed...so your payload will be less.

If you plan to tow more than once...invest in a reciever as it will also give you a little more clearance when turning to prevent jack-knifing and denting your bumper.

Recievers ratings:
Class I
200# tongue weight---2000# total trailer weight
small reciever 3/4" ball shank
Class II
350# tongue weight---3500# total trailer weight
small reciever 3/4" ball shank
Class III
500# tongue weight---5000# total trailer weight
2" square tube reciever 1" ball shank
Class IV
900# tongue weight---10,000# total trailer weight
2" square tube reciever with re-enforcement ring 1" or 1.25" ball shank
Class IV with a V endorcement
1200# tongue weight---12,000# total trailer weight
2.5" square tube with re-enforcement ring 1.25" ball shank
Class V
1500# tongue weight---15,000# total trailer weight
2.5" square tube with 1.25" ball shank or Pintle

 

If you don't want to spend $100-$150 for a frame hitch there is another option for small trailers. It's called a box hitch and is around $35.

It does not increase your weight towing ability.
It does allow you to level out those little trailers.

That is the biggest problem towing from the bumper, small trailers have their tongue up in the air and it makes them wag down the road.

A box hitch mounts under your bumper and allows you to use a drop drawbar just as if you had a real hitch.

PROs
cheap
levels little trailers

CONs
you are still towing from the bumper

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_43576_43576

 

The weight is fine for a bumper. almost any sinagle axle trailer will be fine on the bumper. The height is usually the problem for most trailers, especially small ones. For that, the hitch box or receiver is the better way to go.

 

My 97' reg cab with 4.6L has a bumper tow rating of 5,000lbs with a max tongue weight of 500lbs. Those numbers are stamped on the bumper aswell as in my owners manuel. I use to tow with ball mounted to bumper but as has been stated while turning tightly I got a few small dents from the trailer hitting. Using a receiver hitch stopped that.

 

Ever see those sad sacks going down the highway with their bumper all twisted up? Me thinks they should have not used that bumper tow ball.

 

It's a freaking 5x8 trailer. You'll break the trailer or blow out the tires from the too much firewood before you mess up your bumper. Heck all the pickups my dad had when I was growing up all had ***** on the bumper. He towed 6500lbs of cattle plus the weight of the trailer with them and never broke a thing. Granted the bumper wasn't one of these fllimsy factor bumpers.

 

Didn't see the first trailer for about a half an hour. Tiger. 5x8-footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the tongue to the tailight. What we didn't know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, trailers come cruisin', so we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named "The Battle of Waterloo" and the idea was: trailer comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the trailer go away... but sometimes it wouldn't go away. Sometimes that trailer it looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a trailer... it's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When it comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until it bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don't know how many trailers, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us... he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened... waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again.

 

i bought my hitch off of ebay it cost me like 50 bux maybe all together for it that was including shipping from florida to here in ohio you can check that first it will save your bumper

 

here is one for cheap it's off of a 97 but in florida i don't know where you live at or what year your truck is but he said he could ship... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-Fo...87155621QQrdZ1

 

'97 supercab has same bumper capacity. Something else to consider is when backing up with the ball on the bumper it's easy to hit the tongue of a small trailer before you see it because it is so close to the back of the truck. I managed to bend the tongue of my lightweight 4x8 while backing. The bumper, however, is just fine. :o Now I keep a triple ball mount (12500# rated) in the truck under the back seat to use with the receiver.
Yes, it is worth getting the receiver & ball mount.