Chevy 1996 zr2 s10 towing 4135 lb dry camper

I towed a 19' Trail lite TT with a scale weight of just under 4K ready to go with a Sonoma Crew Cab for two summers. Went over the Rockies and back twice. The 4.3 makes torque at a relatively low RPM and does well on fairly level roads but struggles on the long grades. Need a good trans cooler and guage and keep engine in good shape because you will be operating at times at high RPMs. I'd be a bit concerned about the lenght of your TT especially in a cross wind but you seem to be set up correctly. Good luck.

gmw photos wrote:

lawrosa wrote:
Heard sway bars do nil.....

I think whoever told you that is incorrect. Most who have used them will say that properly adjusted they are effective.

Complete fallacy. They absolutely do something. They take the wiggle out of the TV and the trailer during normal operation and help keep you in control when things are not normal.

Otherwise it looks like you are good to go.

Thanks and good luck.

Jeremiah

lawrosa wrote:
Heard sway bars do nil.....

I think whoever told you that is incorrect. Most who have used them will say that properly adjusted they are effective.

Heard sway bars do nil.....

I added a second sway bar to mine, its friction and it made the pull from passing cars go away.

Didn't see your hitch set up so I am not sure if you can add another.

Rig looks great just stay safe.:)

Well, first of all, something odd I guess between my point here and the server at RV Net, because your scale ticket post was not showing when I made those comments earlier.

I guess that happens on this site...;)

Second, great to hear that you took the time to go and get weights at the scale.

Its my family I am dealing with...yeah. I have a small truck but I wanted exact weights before I tow them around...

As for your setup, only you, as the driver, can tell if this is a good towing setup. Impossible for me, sitting here at a keyboard to have any idea how it really feels driving down the road.

Rides great IMO... Cars pass on the highway I get a little pull from the wind/vortex but that it. Nothing I am not used to...

Having said that, at just 420 pounds of tongue weight, you are at 10.4%. My opinion ( and that is ALL it is....OPINION ) is that is a lower percentage than I prefer. I have my camper set up with closer to 14% tongue weight....but I will admit that I "like" a lot of TW. In my experience ( within reason ) more tongue weight makes for a more stable towing trailer, less prone to sway. But I will admit, that you will have others who will jump in here and say they have always set up with 10% to 11%, and have had good experience with it. So take my comment on that with a huge grain of salt.

Well yes thank you. I was concerned with 420 TW. This I though was low myself. Although the truck and camper are empty. I am not loading much in the camper as the chairs are in there as well as 6 glns water at the axle. All I need to put in is clothes and food. Food will be behind axle. Clothes for 4 the weekend will be min and in front of axle...

I would certainly want to use a well functioning sway control device in the setup.

Yes I am not sure I experienced that unless it was the slight pull when cars passed. Doing 60 mph on highway double axle trailer seemed stable....

Overall, I think you are right that if you can keep your other loading ( stuff in the bed of the truck, etc ) reasonable, then you should be able to stay under ( or close to ) the stated limits from GM.

Well I see it this way. I have a grill and 3 crates to put in the bed of truck. Thats water house, sewer hose, jack stands for trailer...etc. I figure about 250 lbs max. That weight when added will add to toungue, but some will get sent forward and aft because of the WD...

When you stated in your earliest posts that this trailer had a dry weight of 4135, I will admit I was assuming you were talking about a "brochure" weight of 4135.

Yes that was the broshure weight. But you see empty that the TT weighs 4400 lbs. All I have in it is 4 chairs and two full propane tanks. Thats 265 lb difference. Where is the weight coming from? I think the sticker is off slightly.

In the real world, what I have seen is the difference between the RV advertised dry weight and what it actually weighs when we are ready to roll is typically around 1000 pounds in this class and size of trailer.

No way... There is not enough room in this trailer to put 1000 lbs of anything. Trust me... No storage at all....

So, good on you that you actually have a trailer that is a reasonable weight for this class of truck.

The S10's of that era were some really nice little trucks, and from the looks of it, you have a nice one there. Sounds like you are good to go. Have fun with it.

Thank you... Its all I got. I am victim of the housing crisis and this is all I got. Trying to take my family on vacation. I got laid off in 2010 and we have not been anywhere on vacation until I bought this.

Disney land = 10k plus...... Camper ...priceless......The gift that keeps on giving.


We went once local and my 5 yr old asks when we going camping again.... You cant buy that...

Sorry for the long post.

You are not even close to being at the minimum 10 percent TW. It should be closer to 13 percent and when I said 700 I was assuming you had it loaded and at the proper 13 percent.

Good Luck

lawrosa wrote:

I suspect this is going to be a case of whether you can accept the idea of going over the truck's stated limits. After you do a couple of passes over the scales, one with WD hooked up, and one more pass with the WD bars dis-engaged. Easiest to do this on a three platform scale like a CAT scale. With those numbers and what you already know about the weight of the truck by itself, you can figure everything you need.
I predict you are going to be over..
There a number of folks on this and other forums who are rigged in ways that are over the stated limits, and yet they still feel they have a good towing, and safe combination. Ultimately the decision is yours.

What do you mean? Did you see my weights? I am not over in any aspect, truck GVW or axle ratings.

You did read my post with the weights right?

I am as perfect as can be. Restored front axle to original, 420 ilb tongue...etc?

I dont see any problem. If you see something I dont let me know.

Well, first of all, something odd I guess between my point here and the server at RV Net, because your scale ticket post was not showing when I made those comments earlier.
Second, great to hear that you took the time to go and get weights at the scale.

As for your setup, only you, as the driver, can tell if this is a good towing setup. Impossible for me, sitting here at a keyboard to have any idea how it really feels driving down the road.
Having said that, at just 420 pounds of tongue weight, you are at 10.4%. My opinion ( and that is ALL it is....OPINION ) is that is a lower percentage than I prefer. I have my camper set up with closer to 14% tongue weight....but I will admit that I "like" a lot of TW. In my experience ( within reason ) more tongue weight makes for a more stable towing trailer, less prone to sway. But I will admit, that you will have others who will jump in here and say they have always set up with 10% to 11%, and have had good experience with it. So take my comment on that with a huge grain of salt. I would certainly want to use a well functioning sway control device in the setup.

Overall, I think you are right that if you can keep your other loading ( stuff in the bed of the truck, etc ) reasonable, then you should be able to stay under ( or close to ) the stated limits from GM.

When you stated in your earliest posts that this trailer had a dry weight of 4135, I will admit I was assuming you were talking about a "brochure" weight of 4135. In the real world, what I have seen is the difference between the RV advertised dry weight and what it actually weighs when we are ready to roll is typically around 1000 pounds in this class and size of trailer. So, good on you that you actually have a trailer that is a reasonable weight for this class of truck.

The S10's of that era were some really nice little trucks, and from the looks of it, you have a nice one there. Sounds like you are good to go. Have fun with it.

I suspect this is going to be a case of whether you can accept the idea of going over the truck's stated limits. After you do a couple of passes over the scales, one with WD hooked up, and one more pass with the WD bars dis-engaged. Easiest to do this on a three platform scale like a CAT scale. With those numbers and what you already know about the weight of the truck by itself, you can figure everything you need.
I predict you are going to be over..
There a number of folks on this and other forums who are rigged in ways that are over the stated limits, and yet they still feel they have a good towing, and safe combination. Ultimately the decision is yours.

What do you mean? Did you see my weights? I am not over in any aspect, truck GVW or axle ratings.

You did read my post with the weights right?

I am as perfect as can be. Restored front axle to original, 420 ilb tongue...etc?

I dont see any problem. If you see something I dont let me know.

I suspect this is going to be a case of whether you can accept the idea of going over the truck's stated limits. After you do a couple of passes over the scales, one with WD hooked up, and one more pass with the WD bars dis-engaged. Easiest to do this on a three platform scale like a CAT scale. With those numbers and what you already know about the weight of the truck by itself, you can figure everything you need.
I predict you are going to be over..
There a number of folks on this and other forums who are rigged in ways that are over the stated limits, and yet they still feel they have a good towing, and safe combination. Ultimately the decision is yours.