Tongue Weight

[Chester Taje]

Sorry Gina, but eventually I always read the manual, but then I LIKE reading the technical stuf and it gives me warm fuzzies!

But to keep things in perspective, it's rare that I read the instructions before I start...

[Donna D.]

It is useless to install a class 3 hitch on a vehicle that has a capacity of say 3000 lbs.

Other than the fact there are A LOT more accessories for the Class 3 hitch than for the one and two. All kinds of bike racks come to mind....

[Chester Taje]

Quote

(It is useless to install a class 3 hitch on a vehicle that has a capacity of say 3000 lbs.)

My 2004 Trillium is way under 3000lbs.The recommented hitch from Team Trillium is a class 3 hitch.

I guess if your tow vehicle can only tow 3000lbs and you buy a Trill,do you follow manufacters recommendation or not?

[Pete Dumbleton]

As Donna points out, lots of stuf is made for the larger receivers, and Trill may be concerned that the **hardware accessories** for the smaller receivers may also have less desirable capacity limitations.

I would be inclined to put on the larger hitch receiver because it is stronger, it's accessories are stronger and there are more of them. In fact, I did just that with my old D150 even though it had a tow capacity of only 2000 lbs.

[Roger H]

There are lots of reasons besides the vehicle's capacity to use a class III. I had 5,000 lb class IIIs on my Toyota compact trucks that had tow ratings of 3,500 lbs.

Roger

[Brian B-P]

The availability of accessories is a valid advantage of a hitch with a 2" receiver box (of any class). Ability to handle a WD system, which requires both a 2" box and the manufacturer's design and rating, is an advantage if you want WD... again, regardless of hitch class. Finally, a Class 3 hitch is necessarily stronger than a Class 1 or Class 2 hitch needs to be, so it's likely stronger and stiffer... but the Class 2 (with 1.25" box) OEM receiver on my Sienna is as substantially constructed as the available "Class 3" units (no hitch is appropriate for use over 3500 lb on this vehicle).

So Class 3 is pointless for a vehicle with 3000 lb of towing capacity, but some features typical of Class 3 hitches might be good to have.

On the other hand, if the big hitch hangs lower and causes ground clearance problems (a minivan issue due to the lower floor than an SUV), weighs more, interferes with spare tire mounting, or just looks ugly, then maybe it's not the hot setup for towing a Class 1 trailer.

With no offense intended to our valued members who manufacture trailers - factory recommendations (for any product) are often driven by something other than the ideal solution for your situation. If in doubt, recommend excessively large...

To directly answer Chester's question: I would buy the right hitch. For a RAV4, that's something with at least 3500 lb capacity which fits well and is well-constructed, and for which appropriate ball mounts are available... and whether that turns out to be rated Class 3 or just Class2, or whether it has a 2" or 1.25" box, are secondary to me.

[Neil W']

I agree with the answers to my posting on hitch clasifications especially Brian's. I only wanted to point out to anyone who's not sure that putting a 5000
lb hitch on your vehicle does not mean your vehicle can tow that much. Also if you buy a vehicle with a hitch already installed don't assume it is the right size for the vehicle.
As far as manufacturers recommendations in our lawsuit happy society most if not all manufacturers are sure to error on the side of caution and I really do not have a problem with that as long as the consumer has a good understanding of what they are doing.