Conversion van - max towing capacity?

I briefly towed my 31' TT with a 00 Ford E350 conversion can with V10. IIRC it had a tow rating of 9-10K (depends gear ratio) but don't recall now but it had very good payload capacity and towed the trailer fairly well. Before then I had an Excursion with the V10 that ran out of payload if I loaded my family and hooked up the trailer but with the van it was about 2x that capacity. I sold it because I needed 4x4 capability but for interior space and leg room and payload capabilities it is hard to beat a 1 ton van.
Your payload capacity will increase if you remove rear seats but it does not change the GCVWR as far as I know.
I will guess the towing mileage will be 7-9mpg that is about what most gassers get. The only time I drove behind a 6.0L was a rented 31 MH that got about 7 mpg at 70 mph.

Conversion vans are usually built starting with a cargo van.

That 10,000 or 9700 is usually for a fully fueled van with "standard weight" driver, base trim, no options. If GCWR is the same, it is telling you the passenger van weighs about 6300 with fuel and driver. Since the cargo van is actually about 700-800 pounds lighter than a 12-seat 3500, the 10,000 this time is limited by something else, probably the hitch in Chevy's towing package.

How much of that 16,000 can go to what you tow depends on what goes into the conversion package, and that's hard to estimate. Minimal package of two captain's chairs, most of the added weight will depend on interior trim, weight of cap if you get one, air condtioning, floor, entertainment equipment. Then add the weight of whatever you are carrying.

Worst case, consider towing capacity to be GCWR-GVWR, which should still be at least 7000 pounds, assuming that your actual GVW before hooking up is still low enough to add on the tongue weight of a 7000 pound tow, which should be 1000-1300 pounds, could be more.

I started with a passenger van, first thing I did with it was take out 200+ pounds of rear seat and seat mounting brackets, which goes some ways toward freeing up a little more ot that GVWR for cargo and tongue weight.

The 16,000 GCWR on the Chevy express seems to be a cooling system constraint. Maybe other factors too but some of the motorhome guys have had cooling problems.

Class 5 hitches are available for the E350.

A 3500 van will have plenty of cargo capacity to hold up the trailer tongue, if you keep the "conversion" to a minimum.

If you go by GCVWR, it will likely only have an 8000lb to 9000lb tow capacity. That *CAN* be a limiting factor, but the importance/value of GCVWR has been hotly debated for a long time now. Some camps believe it is simply a performance metric, which makes sense because you can easily hit GCVWR and *STILL* be well under every other rating.

Your limiting factor will be receiver capacity. It is not a good idea to tow an 11,000lb trailer with a 10,000lb receiver, which is the best you can get for a 3500 van AFAIK.

You need to look for a conversion built on a 3500 chassis. The conversion adds a lot of weight and cuts into the towing capacity and hitch weight that it can carry.

Ken

My Express with seven of us, two dogs, two mountain bikes, a bunch of fire wood and a carry on bag for each kid weighs just over 7400#. That leaves me about 2200# of cargo. You will be limited by the 16k GCWR more so than the tow rating.

The vehicle in question is a Express 3500 short wheel base with a 6.0 V-8

A 1500 conversion van has very little payload due to the weight of the conversion. Poor choice for a tow vehicle.

The Chevy 3500 GCWR is only 16,000 pounds. A regular conversion package will drop the effective towing capacity to 8,000 pounds or less. And as mentioned, some conversion packages are heavy enough that payload could also be a concern.

The trailer you are considering likely won't weigh anywhere near 7,000 pounds. I'd guess probably 8k is closer to an actual as-delivered weight since "dry" doesn't include "mandatory options" or even batteries or propane.

If you went with a Ford E350 (V10/4.10), that would bump your GCWR to 18,500 pounds.

I doubt that any of them will tow a 7,000 dry trailer adequately. IIRC years back I looked at one that had a 10,000 lb. hitch and about 7,000 lbs. available to tow.
bumpy