The towing wars of a decade ago are hotter than ever, especially now that manufacturers are trying to live up to the SAE J2807 towing spec standards. This mandate of standardized curricula to determine trailer weight ratings (TWA) created by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) was proposed years ago and finally accepted by the Big 3, and was supposed to level the playing field to provide consumers with apples-to-apples numbers that could provide real comparisons.

Each gooseneck trailer carried four pallets of cement bricks.

However, the result has been highly publicized (at least in the automotive media) attempts to cut corners in order to gain a few extra pounds of rating here and there, such as using trucks with deleted bumpers as yard sticks during manufacturer testing. As of yet, there really is no independent source measuring tow ratings–except for some in the automotive media landscape. Here in the video above from The Fast Lane Truck is one such attempt at testing two trucks and coming up with comparable results.

The subjects of this head-to-head test are the updated 2015 Ford F-450 Super Duty Lariat (rated at 31,200 pounds maximum towing capacity) and the 2014 Ram 3500 HD Laramie (rated at maximum of 30,060 pounds maximum towing capacity). The 6.7L Power Stroke V8 in the 2015 Ford F-450 is rated at 440 hp and 860 lb-ft of torque. The 6.7L Cummins straight-six in the 2014 Ram is rated at 385 hp and 850 lb-ft of torque.

Ram’s 3500 HD Laramie has the highest tow rating in the Ram HD lineup, even greater than the 4500 and 5500. The Ram 4500 Crew Cab Laramie comes in at 24,650 pounds, and the Ram 5500 is rated at 29,600 pounds.

The 2015 Ford F-450 offers a maximum payload of 7,080 pounds, still substantial, but the Ram 3500 is the closest competitor to the F-450 is terms of trailer towing capability, so that’s why these two were matched up. To see just how the two faired against each other in The Fast Lane Truck’s shoot-out, sit back, relax, and watch the entire video of these two brutes going at it.