New member- Silverado towing

[plasma800]

I would hazard a guess that your mileage would be similar.

[dexters]

Originally Posted by dexters

GVWR is 7495.
Actual 5299
Avail 2196

Tongue 900

Remaining 1296

In the specs it has hitch weight of 580 lbs. The GCWR of truck is 15,000. Actual weight of truck is 5299,

Originally Posted by kfields131

Which leaves 9701 for passengers, cargo, weight of tongue est. 580.

See above

[Skip426]

It is very easy to be within the GCWR of the tow vehicle and be over the rating on the rear axle and tires.

I too say that by weight and length of the trailer your in 3/4 ton territory.

I've towed with a truck at it's, axle weight limits and say, it's not the way to go. Sooner or later it will bite you.

EDIT: From your numbers, in the original post , the hitch weight is shown as less than 10% of the UVW . I would question that number , a well balanced trailer would put 12%+ on the hitch, a 5er , 15%+ . You can never assume that the factory numbers are completely accurate.

[BFlinn181]

What Skip said. The weights on paper might keep you within the limits, but real life can bite you on the butt. What about a couple of coats for the driver and passenger? A cooler of drinks? Road Atlas, maybe a laptop? Jumper cables and tool kit? The weights listed are pretty fictional except the maximums. Those should not be exceeded. I believe most manufacturers set weights based on a 150 lb driver, as I said, especially in the U.S., FICTIONAL.

It's just not safe to even contemplate tap-dancing near the maximum weights. It's unsafe for you and your family, and others on the road.

[stallsmi]

We tow a 32' trailer with the same truck. We had "helper springs" installed to keep the truck level. That helped a lot. I too would like a bigger truck, but it ain't happening anytime soon. So we use what we have and have safely travelled all over with the setup (Alabama to New York and elsewhere). The truck works hard, as others indicated, but it does work. I travel about 55-60 mph and get eight to ten mpg. I do avoid long, steep grades as they can be challenging to the 5.3 liter. If you can afford a 3/4 ton, I would opt for that rather than changing the trailer.

[CoachCJ]

Let me give you real world experience with the exact trailer and same truck except mine is the GMC version and 2WD. If you tow like I do right now, for vacations and long weekends (we still work), and aren't in serious mountains you will be fine. I just this past weekend made a 450 mile trip from central FL to west central GA. It was extremely hot, temps according to the truck thermometer in the way upper 90's to 101 while driving both ways. Trans temp never exceeded 198, mostly sat at 192. That includes 2 hours in constant hills and small towns getting to our destination and leaving it in GA. I tow at the speed limit with a cap of 65. I have a Blue Ox hitch setup with the same capacities as yours. I did put extra load tires on the truck because I know I am a little over payload 100 to 200 pounds depending on what I have in the bed of the truck, under rear axle weight and GCWR.


All that being said. If I were towing all the time I would get a bigger truck. But for the way I use it, I don't feel it is necessary. It is a very comfortable tow, it doesn't sway, it doesn't need helper springs or airbags. It works harder getting up hills, mostly if you plan ahead and manually downshift from 5th to 4th gear and give it a little gas before going up, let it settle down to cruise speed it will climb in 4th gear, at 65 that is 2800 rpm's. If you don't touch anything and let the cruise handle it you can get downshifts into 3rd gear as the speed drops and the cruise tries to catch it up, 3rd gear at 65 is 3800 rpms. I haven't had it go below 3rd gear in any situation, it will actually accelerate back up to 65 mph on a fairly steep grade in 3rd.

[CoachCJ]

Oh, and my real world trailer tongue weight is 960 pounds.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by CoachCJ

Oh, and my real world trailer tongue weight is 960 pounds.

I'm not sure where these published numbers come from...

[BFlinn181]

I fear that folks saying they tow with weights over limits and don't have an issue are not helpful. Yes, you might be fine - - - - until you aren't. Then it's a little difficult wrestling things back into control and stopping safely.

TV ads show half ton (that's 1,000 pounds) trucks pulling 747s, locomotives, all sorts of huge loads. Notice the terrain is flat, dry conditions, and no traffic. Try going down a grade, up a mountain, or on the open plains with a 45 mph side wind and see if they have an issue!

[CoachCJ]

Originally Posted by plasma800

I'm not sure where these published numbers come from...

That is loaded ready to camp, LP full, 7 or 8 gallons of fresh water and the hitch hanging in the tongue.

[RGene7001]

Imagine is a very nice trailer. It is a true ultralite, suitable for half-ton vehicles. In fact, I was cross shopping it against my second Passport, but decided not to push the envelope due to added length, weight and height, including hitch height which might not work well with my custom hitch head. But your Silverado with payload almost 2000 lb will be totally fine in terms of numbers, most previous posts are based on stretched assumptions, not facts about real world weight of a classic bunkhouse floorplan with reasonable load of water and stuff inside. The real issue is to have adequate sway control due to substantial length and relatively low weight of this trailer, but it can be easily accomplished by good setup, not necessarily by size of the truck. Unless you are OK with a dually as your daily driver.

[Oldelevatorman]

Weigh your truck with you and a full tank of gas and then subtract that from your truck's GVWR to get your payload. You'll be over your payload before any of those other numbers. I tend agree with others who've said you need a bigger truck!

[CoachCJ]

A couple of things that need corrected in this thread. The terms 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton and 1 ton are old school references to vehicles capabilities. My "1/2 ton" has a 1700 pound payload, that's more than 3/4 ton folks. I have managed a fleet of well over 100 GM brand pickups for many years now, and I can tell you for a fact that there is a huge difference in what these trucks bring to the table now vs. 10 or 15 years ago. I cant speak directly to other brands, but I suspect it's similar. The same goes for 2500 and 3500 series trucks. Someone above referenced a half ton and said that is 1000 pounds. That is true, a half ton is 1,000 pounds, but it has absolutely nothing to do with what todays 1500 / 150 series trucks are capable of today. Find me a modern 1/2 ton full size truck from 1 of the big 3 with a 1,000 pound payload, bet you cant.


Also, somebody said to subtract a full tank of gas from your payload numbers, the payload number on the sticker in the truck includes a full tank of gas and a 150 pound driver. So you don't have to subtract the gas, but if you are like me you do have to subtract a bit to get a real driver weight!


Also, forgot to mention before. I get 9 to 10 MPG pulling my trailer within the criteria that I mentioned above. Lowest average MPG was been 8.5 bucking a headwind all the way, best has been 10.5 (I assume I had a tailwind).

[Deny]

Your truck is very nice.

The trailer you are thinking about is at the top of the truck's potential.

Probably, in most instances, the truck would handle the load.

Driving a 3/4 Ton truck, without a load , is a pain....they don't drive anywhere near as smooth as the truck you own.

I had a 1/2 ton GMC...short box, 4.3,(6700lb tow cap) loved it. We got a trailer that was 3500 dry, and, the little truck struggled noticeably. I traded for a 16, 3.42/5.3..(9500 tow cap). The new truck tows & rides like a cadillac , at 70mph(paid Cadillac prices too). But, I miss the convenience & nimbleness of my little short box , around town.

PS...have you looked into 5th wheels? Lots of folks think they solve some of the bumper pull issues.....and I understand, they tow better than TT's