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Eastham · 12-20-2017, 08:09 PM

Hi I have a 28ft tt.towing with a express van 2500 HD.van gvwr 8900lbs empty wt 5450lb.total wt of loaded van would be 7000lb.trailer gvwr. is 7700lbs.pay load of van is 3040.lbs.combination wt 14600lbs young wt 760lb the van is a heavy duty pkg with he towing pkg.i know people don't like towing with vans .with these numbers why would it not be a good tow vechicle?also trailer would not be fully loaded.

BFlinn181 · 12-21-2017, 08:58 PM

Your van and the trailer would both be sensitive to side wind gusts. You didn't mention the class of your receiver on the van.

tuffr2 · 12-21-2017, 10:04 PM

Chevy put their 4.8 litre little V8 engine in a 2500 Chevy Van? Are you sure it is not a 6.0 litre engine?

The 4.8 litre engine did not produce much forward motion power.

Arch Hoagland · 12-21-2017, 10:08 PM

I pulled a 27 foot travel trailer with a 1500 that had the 5.3 chevy V8. For about a month that is. I live in California and tried to go over Donner summit with it.

Went back home and bought a GMC 2500 HD truck with the 8.1 engine.

If you are on flat land it will work.

Eastham · 12-22-2017, 02:59 AM

Yes it's a 4.8 engine it also has tow haul mode.and a class 5 receiver from the factory.I won't be doing any real big hills towing with it.i towed from the cape .no big issues with it .Chevy also went to a smaller 4.3 in the 2500 van for 2018 with a slightly lower tow rating.
I mostly. Use it for work 95 percent of the time .When I bought.it there were no 3500 with the barn doors on the side that had the factory tow package. All had sliding doors.no tow pkg.if I start doing a lot of towing I will trade for the 3500 with the big eight.the small diesel they have in 2018 also has a lower tow rating.

mrgrayaz · 12-23-2017, 09:49 PM

Plan for the trailer to be at GVWR for all of your calculations. None of this foolish "it wont be fully loaded" business...because it eventually will be, even if its not today.

So here is what I have
Tow Vehicle Calculations:
S(teer) AWR:?
SAW: ?
RAWR: ?
RAW: ?
GVWR: 8900lbs
GCWR: ?
Curb: 5450Lbs
CCC: 3450lbs
est Loaded with...family?: 7000lbs
est remaining CCC: 1900lbs

Trailer:

GVWR: 7700lbs
Est Tongue weight: ~1100lbs. (14% of GVWR)

This all look potentially good, but you really don't have enough information to tell.
You need to do two things:
Get the GCWR, and GAWR capacities of the van for that year, configuration, and engine choice. Axles can be found in the capacities sticker on the B pillar, but the GCWR will need to be found in a towing guide for the year of your Van (you didnt say what year).
Then:
Weight it at a CAT scale ready to camp without the trailer
Weight at a CAT scale ready to camp with the trailer.
Verify axle ratings, and van GVWR are within spec when loaded with the trailer.

We can't tell you one way or another until you do all that. My guess is axles will be fine...my concern is the GM GCWR with that engine choice - its not a ton of power.

Eastham · 12-24-2017, 06:42 AM

None of this foolishness I agree 100 percent with you The trailer could be loaded to the max 7700lbs the van has a 8600 gvwr. Pay load 3040lb.ft axe 4100 lb rear axel 5360 lb. Combination wt 14600lb as i have said i can control what goes in the van.with s 3040 pay load minus 1000lb hitch wt that should leave 1200. lbs that can go in the van And not exceed any of the wt ratings
WT of van loaded. 7000 gvwr 8600LB
WT OF TRAILER 7700 GVWT 7700
Empty wt of van 5500.

COMBINATION 1ST 14600LB I COULD BE WRONG BUT I FEEL I HAVE1500 lbs of room in the van for goods and tounge wt. before going over combination wt of 14600. If I loaded the van to the max and also loaded the trailer to max I would be way over the combination wt that is why the wt of the van would be limited to 7000. lbs max
But with out cat scale wts.who knows for sure.

Canarado · 12-25-2017, 11:40 PM

What's your rear axle capacity? That little 4.8 is going to really struggle and your fuel mileage will disappear fast when your foot constantly to the floor

SmokeyWren · 12-26-2017, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eastham

The trailer could be loaded to the max 7700lbs the van has a 8600 gvwr. Pay load 3040lb.ft axe 4100 lb rear axel 5360 lb. Combination wt 14600lb

Is that combination weight the GCWR of the van?

The GCWR can be found in the towing tables in your Owner's Guide. To find it in the table, you'd have to know engine, wheelbase, and rear axle ratio.

The GCWR tells you only the max weight of any trailer you can PULL without overheating anything in the drivetrain and without being the slowpoke holding up traffic on hills and mountain passes. GCWR ignores payload capacity, so in most tow vehicles GVWR and not GCWR is the limiter as to how heavy a trailer you can tow without being overloaded.

With 3,040 payload and about 1,100 pounds hitch weight (1,000 pounds tongue weight plus 100 pounds for a good WD hitch) when the trailer is loaded to 7,700 pounds max weight, that leaves 1940 pounds of payload capacity available for people and stuff in the van.

Eastham · 12-27-2017, 05:22 AM

Owners manual says for the 4.8 engine the combination wt is.14600 lb. my front axle 4100lb rear axle is5360lb the van is a 2017 the 2018 went to a 4.3 engine with less wt ratings.I towed it from cape cod to western ma.i had no problem on the mass pike .it wasn't as if I had to floor it to go up the hills in Charlton. Maybe a DRW Diesel is in order.although I did drive tractor trailers and a tanker on the ma.pike for a few yrs that same stretch of road you are in the slow lane with the big rigs.

Eastham · 12-27-2017, 06:38 AM

Hi Smokey
It is interesting to note that my 2003 express van had the 4.8 engine with 4 speed tranny.max tow was 6800lb new van has same engine with heavy duty electron six speed and max tow goes to 8900lb tow rating big jump from 4 sleep to six speed.