Chevy 1996 zr2 s10 towing 4135 lb dry camper

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.