Community Forums

MickeyM · 06-02-2013, 10:22 AM

We have a 2005 Chevy 2500HD 6.0. 4.10. We are wanting to buy a 5th wheel. What is the Max dry weight 5th wheel we can pull safely? We don't have to be the first to arrive so speed is not an issue. Just want to be safe. Anyone have the same truck ? If so, what are you towing? Feed back please.

beenthere · 06-02-2013, 10:29 AM

I didn't look up the towing capacity but just go to chevys site and they will have the towing capacitys of different engine and rear end ratios for you...

Skip426 · 06-02-2013, 10:45 AM

DRY WEIGHT, means nothing you have to work with GVWR, GCWR , and your , axle weight capacities.
Dry weights are often wrong, due to the addition of options by the manufacturer.
Many , many post on weights and calculating towing capacities .
Welcome to iRV2. and I'm sorry to pick on you right off the bat , but you have to loose the; buy a trailer based on dry weight; idea right away.

Skip426 · 06-02-2013, 11:06 AM

Read through the posts,
Tow Vehicle Sizing & Weight Calculators &
Weights & Capacities-Clarifications
Also many other posts on the lack of accurate weights, supplied by the manufacturers. Hitch and pin weights off by 400 lbs, and more, dry weight 1000lbs. off.
Here in the forums , we'll try and get you the best info to make your towing safe and enjoyable. Some of the info required has to come from you, so load your truck up ready for travel, wife pets anything else ( tools ) a full tank of fuel and get your truck weighed, both axels and whole truck . Those weights , compared to your truck GVWR,GCWR, FAWR & RAWR. are used to calculate , available payload , axle loading and MAX trailer GVWR, and are very important to every decision from this point forward.

SmokeyWren · 06-02-2013, 11:45 AM

Hi and

What Skip said. Ignore dry trailer weight and use the GVWR of the trailer as the probable wet and loaded weight of the trailer if you don't want to be overloaded after a few camping trips.

One online source showed "6.0-liter V8's 3,073-lb. payload capacity and 10,200-lb. towing capacity".

But GM's weight capacity numbers are misleading.

Your GVWR is 9,200 pounds, so in order to have a 3,073 payload capacity your wet and loaded Chevy would have to weigh only 6,128 pounds before you tied onto the trailer. It's going to weigh a lot more than that.

Your GCWR is 16,000 pounds, so in order to tow a 10,200 pound trailer without being overloaded over the GCWR, your wet and loaded truck would have to weigh only 5,800 pounds before you tied onto the trailer. It's going to weigh a lot more than that.

And Chevy says you should NEVER exceed either the GVWR or GCWR of your Chevy.

So to get decent numbers, you need to weigh the wet and loaded truck - without the trailer but with the trailer hitch. Load the truck with all the people, tools, pets, 5er hitch and other stuff that will be in the truck when towing. Go to a truck stop that has a CAT scale or other truck scale, fill up with gas, and weigh the wet and loaded truck.

Your truck with a tandem-axle trailer will probably exceed the GVWR of the truck before it gets to the GCWR. So subtract the weight of the wet and loaded truck from the GVWR of the truck and the answer is the max hitch weight you can have without being overloaded.

5ers of the weight that will not overload your truck will have a hitch weight of about 17% to 20% of gross trailer weight. So to be realistic, divide the maximum hitch weight you can have by 0.20 and the answer is the maximum GVWR of any 5er you want to consider.

Example 1:
Your wet and loaded truck with 5er hitch weighs 7,500 pounds. 9200 minus 7500 = 1700 pounds max hitch weight. 1700 divided by 0.20 = 8,500 pounds. So you should not consider buying a 5er with GVWR more than 8,500 pounds.

Example 2:
You travel light, so your wet and loaded truck including 5er hitch weighs only 7,000 pounds. 9,200 minus 7,000 = 2,200 max hitch weight. 2,200 divided by 0.20 = 11,000 pounds. But 11000 pound trailer plus 7,000 pound truck = more than your 16K GCWR. So in this example, GVWR is not your limiter. GCWR is your limiter. 16,000 GCWR minus 7,000 truck weight = 9,000 max trailer GVWR.

So you can tow a slightly heavier trailer without being overloaded if you don't haul much weight in the truck.

TXiceman · 06-02-2013, 11:53 AM

Another...dry weight is meaning less. Once youa dd the options to the trailer and your cargo, you can easily exceed the dry weights by 1000 to 1500#. Use the trailer GVWR as your limit when selecting.

Ken

elkhornsun · 06-02-2013, 06:07 PM

"And Chevy says you should NEVER exceed either the GVWR or GCWR of your Chevy."

That is not actually true. The GCWR is a hard and fast number which is calculated based on the engine, drivetrain, frame, suspension, brakes, tires, and other factors. The GVWR is the maximum total load on the front and rear axles and this is calculated only on the basis of the suspension and the tires as the truck is configured when it leaves the factory.

Many people safely increase the load capacity by upgrading the springs, adding better shocks, changing out the tires. Whether a truck has a 2,000 lb or 4,000 lb payload it is not going to come anywhere near the GCWR of the truck. So the engine and drive train and frame and suspension and brakes can handle the weight, but not likely the stock tires.

The maximum trailer weight with a 5th wheel depends upon whether your truck as a diesel engine and if it has a gas engine the gears installed. With a gas engine and 4.10 gears Chevy rates the towing capacity 25% higher than with a gas engine and 3.73 gears.

A friend has a Chevy 2005 2500HD with the diesel engine and he has towed a 13,500 lb (wet) 5th wheel all over the western USA for many years and the only problem he has encountered has been with the tires on the trailer failing - no problems with the truck.

RustyJC · 06-02-2013, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elkhornsun

The GVWR is the maximum total load on the front and rear axles and this is calculated only on the basis of the suspension and the tires as the truck is configured when it leaves the factory.

For that to be true, GVWR would have to be equal to GAWR(front) plus GAWR(rear). I don't believe that's the case with the subject truck; it typically isn't with pickups where GVWR is LESS THAN the sum of the GAWRs.

Rusty

Zogg · 06-03-2013, 07:05 AM

I had an 06 chevy like yours with an 8200 dry weight 5th wheel. Loaded it was probably 9000 pounds or a little more....towed ok. A little sluggish on hills, and 9-11 mph, but adequate..

I would not want to go much heavier without a diesel....

Kingw2001 · 06-22-2013, 05:12 PM

Mickeym. I have an 05 Chevy 2500 2 wd 6.0 crew cab 4.10 limited slip rear end. I recently purchased a 36' crossroads cruiser patriot 355bl it was 10600 and change from factory (yes it was weighed). I'm estimating 12000 lbs now that its loaded with all of our stuff and all of my tools for work as I'm a traveling construction superintendent and my family full times with me. I just pulled it almost 900 miles from Grand Rapids Michigan to eastern Long Island ny where I will be until September and it pulled great breaking was absolutely no issue although I just put new pads and rotors on but if trailer breaks are working properly you should have very little extra work on the truck breaks anyways. The truck never came close to overheating nor did the tranny. It would be nice to have the extra power of the diesel but not necessary. If I was going through Colorado I would be singing a different tune. I am in one place anywhere from 8-14 weeks so I'm not pulling all time if I was pulling more 20000 miles a year I would go with a 1 ton diesel

elkhornsun · 06-24-2013, 02:41 PM

Check your truck's manual. It will have a GCWR which is total of truck, passengers, trailer that the truck is designed to handle. Then check the max towing for a conventional trailer with weight distributing hitch or for a 5th wheel tow. Take these weights and subtract 1500 lbs. and you will have a maximum dry trailer weight to tow. I would go down another 1000 lbs. as then you don't have to worry about the published trailer weights versus the actual trailer weights and whether to have the holding tanks empty when towing or whether to take your fat nephew along on a trip.

There is a tendency to get the largest trailer that a vehicle can tow which means more fuel costs and larger trailers means fewer campgrounds where they will fit and more expensive campgrounds as well. Consider for a moment looking at a 20' trailer and seeing how much more space you really need to go on your travels?

In my stays at campgrounds I see entire families with small trailers or tents and somehow they manage to have a great time and do not see it as a great hardship. Sometimes less is truly more.

jimcumminsw · 06-25-2013, 12:01 PM

The only problem I had was trying to get by a gas station with my Chevy 6.0L gas motor.
Jim W.

fishinjim · 06-25-2013, 03:23 PM

What you need is a bigger tank. I have a 38gal tank and i can get by a few stations before i have to stop and say hi.

Kingw2001 · 06-25-2013, 04:48 PM

Jimcummins. I absolutely agree with that. The absolute max I can get is 200 miles on a tank which is about 8mpg but I get nervous once I hit 180 miles. So I keep a 5 gallon gas can in the bed just in case. And to add to that its harder to find a gas station you can pull into and get out of easily. Where there is usually a lot more room at most stations that carry diesel