How much can i tow ??

[austinc]

Hi peoples,

I am in need of some expert advice. I am currently looking at several different campers to purchase butI have questioned myself on how much of a camper my truck will tow. Asking around i have been told "Its all about the weight" and "well depends on how long the trailer is" and both. Needless to sayIam newat camping and with the preciouse cargo of my wife and 2 little girlsI really want to make sure im safe. I have a 2000 Chev Silverado 1500 which includes the following: 5.3 ltr Vortec, 4X4, extended cab, 6 foot bed, Z71 package with under the bumper hitch. I'm told the rear end gear ratio in also important but i have looked everywhere and i cant seem to find that info, even the manual is not precise with the info. The hitch says "Weight Carrying 12,000" (that seems high to me), the door jam says 6,400 (and that seems a little low). A camper mechanic told me "not to worry about the weight as long as the camper is not over 26ft long and the wheels of the camper should be as far back as possible, or at least not in the center of the camper". I hope now you can see why I am a little confused here and i desperatly need this advice.



Thanks bunches for the help ! !



Austin

[delqcc]

Austin, first I would check with Trailer Life. com or GM archives and get your vehicle specifics (ie. GVWC and combined GVWC) The GVWC minus your truck weight (including gas, passengers, etc) will tell you how much you can put in the bed of the truck. The combined weight capacity minus your truck(with all the above) will tell you how heavy the trailer can be total (trailer, water, sewage, linens, dishes, stored items). Just keep in mind that if you are at maximum capacity it will wear on you and your truck.

[cowboy_71]

Trailer Life.com is the answer...

[drcook]

You also have to keep in mind:



1. brakes 2. tranny and/or oil cooler(s) 3. springs 4. condition of shocks, etc etc, the truck should be in half-way decent shape in order to be able to safely control having a trailer behind it

additionally, does that model year have the old oem square hitch or the oem round hitch or an aftermarket hitch ? gm had issues with the round hitches like was (WAS) on my 2004. they had issues with cracking welds for one thing. the hitch on my truck had cracked welds,

you might need to replace the hitch.



just because some guy gets a blue shirt with his name on it doesn't mean he knows a lot about towing, as evidenced by what you were told. weight of the trailer does matter, as does tongue weight as does length.toy hauler type trailershave their pivot point shifted so that when stuff like 4-wheelers are loaded, that the trailer is balanced out. as a consequence, they havevery heavy tongue weights. if you have too long a trailer and not long enough tow vehicle, the trailer can wag the tow vehicle. ever see people trying to pull too big a boat with a smaller suv and the suv is wagging down the road ? this especially comes into play with a side wind or a pressure wave from a semi blasting past you. if you don't have enough tv and too much trailer the pressure wave forces the front of the trailer away and causes the tv to turn into the semi



also, you need to take into account whether you will be going through mountains, out on the highways etc etc etc



as stated above, you need todo your homework

[dalemac377]

Try going to a Chevy dealer with the vin number. They should be able to tell you how the truck is configured, i.e., rearend ratio, tow package, etc. Look under the hood in front of the radiator for evidence of a transmission cooler and/or engine oil cooler. This will tell you a lot about the trucks capability.

[beeman]

Make sure to use a wd hitch. I tow 26ft zinger with my 2009 gmc 1/2 ton ext.cab. tow package.5.4 Have a had good luck. The hitch is very important to spread the wgt out.

[nrausa]

Hi Austin,

There's a card in your glove box that has all the RPO's that your truck is equiped with. Go to the GM site or google to find what they mean. In there you will find your axle ratio, and if you have a tow package, ect. Then you can find a trailer to fit your equipment.



Stan

[ewbldavis]

Originally Posted by austinc

Hi peoples,

I am in need of some expert advice. I am currently looking at several different campers to purchase butI have questioned myself on how much of a camper my truck will tow. Asking around i have been told "Its all about the weight" and "well depends on how long the trailer is" and both. Needless to sayIam newat camping and with the preciouse cargo of my wife and 2 little girlsI really want to make sure im safe. I have a 2000 Chev Silverado 1500 which includes the following: 5.3 ltr Vortec, 4X4, extended cab, 6 foot bed, Z71 package with under the bumper hitch. I'm told the rear end gear ratio in also important but i have looked everywhere and i cant seem to find that info, even the manual is not precise with the info. The hitch says "Weight Carrying 12,000" (that seems high to me), the door jam says 6,400 (and that seems a little low). A camper mechanic told me "not to worry about the weight as long as the camper is not over 26ft long and the wheels of the camper should be as far back as possible, or at least not in the center of the camper". I hope now you can see why I am a little confused here and i desperatly need this advice.



Thanks bunches for the help ! !



Austin

A quick lookup on Trailer Life (as mentioned, reliable source) states 8500# if equipped with tow package and 3.73 rear end. Most 5.3L trucks have the 3.73, and there should be a code in the glove box or on door sticker"GT4". If you have a "GT5", then you have a 4.10 rear end. Google it and you should be able to find the rear end/codes if different than these 2.

For example - you have GT5 and truck is rated for 8500#. You need to check GCWR rating nextand allow for payload (gear, people, etc). Do some research - especially at Trailer Life.com - so you can learn the lingo and what thenumbers really mean. You need to crunch numbers and be safe about it. Don't listen to BS about "weight doesn't matter" or a dealer that says "sure, you can pull that". It can get overwhelming at first, but you will be glad you are within limits of truck and safely cruising down the road.

[Dayle1]

My last truck was almost identical to yours, 2000 Silverado EC SB, but just 2wd. It did have the 5.3L and 3.73 axle ratio. I also had a 40 gal. in bed aux. tank for a total of 65 gal. GCWR (total weight of truck and trailer) was 13000 lbs and I was within a few hundred lbs of that number. My trailer was a 27 ft. fifth wheel with a dry wt. of 5000 lbs and a max. weight of 6550 lbs. This combo did very well, I averaged 11 mpg towing and could use OD much of the time, but head winds, running the A/C and grades would quickly knock me out of OD. While I mostly avoided steep grades at altitude, secondary mountain roads were not a problem and I maintained legal speed limits up to 9000 ft altitude.



My recommendation is don't put an 8500 lb trailer behind a truck that weighs 5000 lbs empty and maybe 6000 lbs loaded. Specifically, don't let the trailer weight exceed the loaded truck weight with a 1500 series truck.

[anaro]

Not sure about your truck but like others have said, GM shoud be able to answer that for you, or even check carfax and see if it shows up there. As for the trailer, when shopping ignore the UVW aka dry weight and shop looking at the GVWR of the trailer. pay attention to the tongue weight that your truck can handle and the tongue weight of the trailers you are looking at. For example, the trailer I bought has a gvwr that is about 85% of my truck towing capacity but the tongue weight is at capacity because I didn't know to pay attention to this. Also make sure you are buying a trailer with a GVWR that is about 80-85% of the trucks capacity. This will help you on hilly terrain and will help you to have more control over your trailer. You will need to get a good weight distribution hitch and sway control set up. Do a lot of research before buying. You are asking some good questions, keep them coming. THis is a another forum that is rich in info for newbies. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm They have a tow vehicle section and you might be able to get some more answers there. Good luck and have fun shopping. Edited by: anaro

[austinc]

This is some awsome information, and i have used this to find the max pulling weght,,,,thank you to all !



One more queston, what is the max length i should look at pulling and the safest length? I am told that i dont need to go more that 26 to 28ft. If weight matters in the length i am looking now at not going over 6,000pounds, this will give me a little breathing room and again i must thank all of you for supplying me the info to make that decision. I have researched all this info and it appears my truck will tow up to 8,000 pounds but i want to go less than that but now im just curious about the safestlength to pull.



Thanks so much, again for your help !

[dalemac377]

As others have said, get a good weight-distribution hitch. My advice is to stay away from the friction sway control setups and go for one of the straight line hitches. I used a Reese dual cam hitch on a 29 foot Sprinter TT and it work really well to control sway and buffeting by passing semi's.

[hhh]

Length and weight do not go hand and hand. Depending on construction one 28' rig can weight 1000s more then another. You will have to go by the GVWR or gross vehicle weight rating of the trailer. That is the maximum that trailer should weigh when fully loaded. You can not go by published "dry" weights as they are not accurate of the true weight of the trailer. Some manufacturers weigh each rig (Crossroads does) as it comes off the assembly line and will have a sticker on that trailer giving that weight.... those are normally withing a a couple 100 lbs. of the actual weight of the empty trailer as you have to add the weight of the propane, batteries and any dealer installed options to that weight.

As an example, a Cherokee 26L (30' long) has a GVWR of 7600 lbs. A Crossrroads CF27RLX (29' 5" long) has a GVWR of 11700 lbs. Both are ~30' long rear living room models but the Crossroads is 50% heavier.






Edited by: hhh

[cwit]

I don't know if it is heavier but it can cary more. My Zinger is 6450 dry but a gvwr of 11,400.

[dalemac377]

I agree that some trailers have much higher cargo carrying capacity than others. When I towed the 29 foot Sprinter that I mentioned earlier, I towed it with a 2001 GMC 1500 extended cab shortbed. Had the 5.3 engine, auto xmission, 3.73 rearend and the factory tow package. Never had any problems. Gas mileage was typical for a gasser, about 9.0 mpg. Truck handled trailer well.