13' Silverado CC LTZ & Travel Trailer

[ChevyKevy]

Hey all,

Thank you for the add on this forum. I've been reading until my face has turned blue on the GVWR etc for my specific truck. My fiance and I are in the market to purchase our first camper ever and I want to make sure we have our bases covered.

Vehicle: 2013 Silverado 1500 crew cab, 5.3 v8, LTZ w/ z71 and trailoring package, 3.42 gear with 53k miles. I'm showing a towing capacity of 9,500#-11,500#. Not sure which is accurate just yet.

I'll first start off by saying this isn't an every day vehicle for me. It's purely a secondary vehicle (toy) for hauling our (2) dirtbikes in the mountains of Colorado and basic utility duties. We are now looking at capitalizing on the beautiful terrain and state of Colorado by looking at travel trailers.

I'm trying to fully understand the weight and load ratings of the truck and travel trailers we are looking at. We are pretty set on the Outdoors RV 21DBS (5,675lb dry) or 23DBS (6,350lb dry). I want to be 100% sure I have enough head room for towing something like this. Or if this is something we should steer away from altogether. We have no problem limiting our search to something smaller (without a bunk) if that is all our truck will tow safely.

I'll also note that I am upgrading the brakes to the Power Stop heavy duty pad and rotor combo. And I will also be adding a brake controller, and definitely will be using a WD hitch along with it.

Can anyone speak from experience if I will 'safely' be able to tow something like this with good control and stability...provided everything is set up properly? I'm guessing the loaded weight of the travel trailer will be anywhere from 7,000-7,500lb (figuring around 1,000lb added to the dry weight).

Am I looking at this properly? That would still leave me with a decent amount of head room with my trucks capacity?

Input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[dayle1]

It has been 15 yrs since I towed with a Chevy 1500 and trucks have come a long way. With my 5.3L and 3.73 axle I towed 6600 lbs, can't recall but was probably a 4 spd auto. Anyway, I would say you won't have a problem towing 7500 lbs. with a '13 model.


But understand these two issues for safety. 1) Use the best sway control hitch, not just WD like the ProPride3 or Hensley Arrow. 2) Truck brakes do not stop the trailer, if they are then the trailer is pushing the truck and risks loss of control/jack-knifing. So use a good brake controller, the truck's IBC if it has one, otherwise the Prodigy P2 or P3. And make sure everything is set up right. When you apply the brakes, you should feel the trailer acting as a drag on the truck.

[tuffr2]

I would say 7,500lbs is too much to tow at those elevations with a Chevy 5.3litre engine with a 3:42 gear ratio. But that is me.

I want to tow a similar weighted trailer so I picked a 3/4 ton truck with 3:73 gearing to tow from Sea Level to 2,500'.

Back to your Chevy. The 5.3 is a natural aspirated engine which will loose approx. 3% of it power per 1,000' of elevation. Plus the 5.3 is not noted as being overly powerful. It is not like the Ford 3.5 Eco-Boost which is powerful and less affected by elevation, nor is it as powerful as the Ram 5.7 hemi.

I would try to stay with a trailer that weighs 5,500 - 6,000lbs.

[ChevyKevy]

Thanks for the input.

What an interesting topic with such mixed opinions. My dealer feels 100% confident that my truck would be more than capable. I know that's a little bit of him wanting to sell a camper but he is also taking full responsibility in making sure I'm safe (so he says).

We are in a holding pattern on a purchase until we feel better about all this. We really want the 21dbs but from what everyone says on here, they make it sound like the 1500 5.3 can't tow a travel trailer safely at all. Chevrolet saying 9,500lbs so I'm all over the place on this.

[tuffr2]

What does the driver side door say for occupant / cargo capacity?

That is a number you need to stay under for the people and stuff in the truck plus the weight of the trailer tongue and WD hitch.

The truck can pull a 9,500lb hay wagon out of a farmer field but not a 9,500lb trailer on the highway at 70mph safely.

[dayle1]

That 21DBS has a dry weight just a few hundred lbs heavier than the 27 ft trailer I towed 15 yrs ago with a 2000 model year Chevy. My towing included up to 9000 ft altitude in NM and Co and I had a 40 gal aux fuel tank in the bed. GM has certainly made enough progress by 2013 to produce a truck capable of handling a 7500 lb loaded trailer.

[ASTMedic]

Originally Posted by ChevyKevy

Thanks for the input.

What an interesting topic with such mixed opinions. My dealer feels 100% confident that my truck would be more than capable. I know that's a little bit of him wanting to sell a camper but he is also taking full responsibility in making sure I'm safe (so he says).

We are in a holding pattern on a purchase until we feel better about all this. We really want the 21dbs but from what everyone says on here, they make it sound like the 1500 5.3 can't tow a travel trailer safely at all. Chevrolet saying 9,500lbs so I'm all over the place on this.

You have to remember that the 9500lbs is what the truck can drag down the road rolling but there is also the downward weight sitting on the tires and axles. There is the tongue weight that will be close to 900lbs (10-13% the weight of the trailer) with that trailer if set up correctly. Add the driver weight, any passengers weight, any gear you put in the truck bed and the weight of the hitch itself is about 100lbs give or take and you're getting up there in weight.

I bought a 30ft Jayco a few months back that is 5800lbs on the sticker from the factory. I was using a Nissan Titan to tow initially. I could tow (rolling) 9500lbs off the hitch. Total between the trailer and truck I could tow a total of 15200lbs and with the trailer I was at 13100lbs so I was ok there. The truck rolled down the road fine but hills were some work yet doable. Before our first trip I hit the CAT scales to check how my hitch was distributing the weight. My total weight on the trucks axles DRY was 7560lbs. My truck was rated max at 7100lbs (its weighed 6060lbs with just me in it) so I was clearly over weight and I didn't even have water in my tanks. That's 1500lbs of "cargo" (hitch, tongue weight, me, the wife, kids, dogs) in a truck that was good for about 1100lbs.

The weight adds up really quick and the dealer will tell you you're fine as long as you're under the 9500lbs. 6000lb trailer, 9500lb "towing capacity" the math seems simple and it did to me. But the weight of everything sitting in the truck is what will get you and it's what gets most people when we buy a trailer. It got me and that's why we traded in the Titan for an F250. Now we have a truck that can hold 2700lbs and a total of 9900lbs including the weight of the truck on the axles. So my 1500lbs of cargo will be fine in the new truck.

Open your drivers door and look for the yellow sticker. That will tell you what extra weight you can add to your truck as cargo.

[shane_the_ee]

I’ll just add that I’m a little surprised tongue weight hasn’t been mentioned yet. A lot folks are shocked, after they buy, at the loaded tongue weights of the smaller ORV models with big fresh water tanks in the front of the box (18DB, 21DBS, 23DBS). Plan on a 1100-1200lb tongue weight with either of those.

[ASTMedic]

Originally Posted by shane_the_ee

I’ll just add that I’m a little surprised tongue weight hasn’t been mentioned yet.

Originally Posted by ASTMedic

There is the tongue weight that will be close to 900lbs (10-13% the weight of the trailer) with that trailer if set up correctly.

I did............ Second sentence in my post right above yours.

[ChevyKevy]

Thanks all!

Going diesel shopping today .

[ASTMedic]

Originally Posted by ChevyKevy

Thanks all!

Going diesel shopping today .

Well that escalated quickly!!

You don't have to go all the way up to a diesel if you don't want. A 3/4 or 1 ton gasser will give you the needed weight capacity. I went with gas since I just don't tow all that frequently and I didn't want to be dealing with DEF fluid and the potential cost of repairs on a diesel.

[RedRocket]

Adding DEF is really a non-issue, don't understand why some people have such an aversion to it.

OP, looking at diesel is really what you are going to want out here when traversing the Rockies. What wasn't entirely clear is there is no mention of if you'll be bed loading your two dirt bikes and simultaneously towing your TT? If so, go diesel for those trailers you are looking at.

I'm bed loading my 850lbs wet ATV and towing my 9000lbs loaded for camping TT. I need the payload so tow with a 1-ton modern diesel when heading out to somewhere like Taylor Park for the week dry camping. I would not want anything less towing the passes out here. I'm not saying you need a 1-ton for that extra payload but I would do exactly as you've stated where you've indicated you'll be looking at diesel. So be looking in the 3/4-ton or 1-ton territory, skip the diesel 1/2 tons. Once towing, you'll be very happy with a diesel at elevation for larger loads.

EDIT: BTW, Outdoors RV trailers look to be pretty nice and will most likely be the brand I go with when I am replacing my current TT.

[dayle1]

Originally Posted by ChevyKevy

Thanks all!

Going diesel shopping today .

Then might just as well give some thought to a toyhauler so you can take the bikes. A fifth wheel TH will be the most stable.

[Dropthejacks]

Just pulled up into the NC mountains yesterday for the week. As I was pulling uphill on I-40 at 55-60MPH with that Cummins just purring along at 2K rpms, I couldn't help but smile as I rolled past several other RVs stuck in the truck lane with engines screaming at 35 mph. Its times like that when you're glad you went diesel.