2014 Silverado 1500 4.3 v6 - towing questions

rjxj wrote:
"If I listened to the people on this site that belive you need a one ton dually to tow anything, then they would say I will never tow my new trailer ( waiting on delivery) of 4800 lbs dry and 7000 wet, without blowing up into a ball of fire.....LOL"

No, it's because the op started out talking about a dry weight of 5500 so loaded it would probably be 7000 or overloaded which is very common plus all the gear in the truck. I have usually owned 1/2 ton trucks and know many others who have towed with them and gone to 3/4 tons. My son pulled 2 different TT with his 5.3 2011 Chevy and said the typical thing that people say which was that it worked but he got tired of it. He then went to a 3/4 ctd pulling about a 6xxx TT and loves it. He then thought about getting a small FW which he would also be able to pull but seems to have now changed to thinking about a 34 ft TT which is in the 8,200 to 9000 range. When a person asks about a trucks abilities and the potential to change trucks and doesn't even own a rig yet I would just about always recommend a 3/4 ton for a TT and a one ton for a FW.

If they went and bought the TT first and said it only weighs 3400 dry and probably 5000 wet I would agree that 1/2 tons are fine. Since the op is still shopping and mama may just fall in love with that bigger TT that they just happened to walk into, a 3/4 may be the right truck to have sitting there. There is also a big difference in how far the rig is towed. It's a lot different to tow for 2 hours to hit local parks or heading out to Yellowstone when you have 7000 plus gear with a 1/2 ton. Again, it can be done but do you want to and there is a difference in how you feel at the end of the day.

Exactly, 100% correct. Good post.

OP - thanks for the clarification. I appreciate that. Your V6 has about 40 more lbs of payload than my 15 Silverado did, so your good there.

Yes, if the trailer your looking at is 5500 lbs gvwr, you should be good to go. I don't agree with the comment that it'll fling it around, but it'll do the job.

Using my 80% rule your just outside of the range, but only by a few hundred lbs.

80% of 6700 is 5360. I try to stay no more than 80% of the tow vehicles tow rating with the trailer GVWR so i have some margin. So that would be just over, but not by much. This is just what I do personally. Others don't mind being closer to the limits and that's ok, that's their choice. Exceeding the ratings i would disagree with.

Have fun with the camper. Looks like a good match to me.