Silverado 1500 Towing

Can you ask the dealer for the stickers from the doorjamb? One will show the GVWR and the other will show the maximum cargo capacity.

From those numbers, you can start to get a feel for what you can actually carry:
What Can I Tow?

Why not post a chart for the GM 1500 with the 6.2 and a 3.73 instead of the Ford. Both have similar torque and identical gears.....It is definitely better than the 5.3 with 3.42

BenK wrote:

A 3.42 diff is not a good choice for towing heavy (for the vehicle
class and you have gone down to the lowest class full sized pickup)
Worse if you put on over sized tires. The ratio from the OEM tire
dia to whatever you end up with will the the same ratio applied to
the diff ratio (reduction in towing capacity)

With the 5.3L and the 3.42, definitely going to be slow on the flats
and even slower on inclines and altitude.

That is simply not true with the 6-spd trans. The 5.3L/6-spd/3.42 will allow for 4 or 5 usable towing gears. First gear is like the old 4-spds with 4.56 axle, shorter gear spacing.



Are there better ones now? Sure. Compare to the F-150 Ecoboost 3.73:

genekiwi wrote:
Okay, I get the point. More power more towing. AND I want to say thanks for ALL of the input.

Numbers I got:

Trailer towing weight: 9600

trailer dry weight 5695, max weight 8600 I took 7000 as a mid range weight.

I think the combined max weight is 15000.

Hitch weight is 572

Payload weight is about 1700

I don't have the truck to get definite numbers off of.

I liked the truck because it has a built in sway control and engine braking downhill. Better gas mileage is also a plus over the 2500 since not all of my driving is done towing.

I have owned the 2500HD for 6 years and time to retire it.

Besides, at my stage of maturity, this may well be my last truck that I will buy. ;)

Seriously, I know what you are talking about. I had an 02 1500 with the 4.8 and 4 speed. I towed a Jayco Kiwi 23B and yes, it was slow on the hills and I hit 35 mph at the top of one pass.

The Heartland I own is not quite 11 feet and has the rounded or slopped front which I hope will help. The Jayco I had was 11 plus and a flat front.



Neither the dw or I tow faster than 65 and usually in the 60 range.

Besides, I am retired and not in any hurry.

Again, your comments were and are appreciated.

Let me guess you have a NT 26LRSS? Those are the same numbers I have.
Ours came in at 6189lbs shipping. Weighs 72-7300lbs loaded. TW 900+/-,
We towed it with an F150 5.4 (sim to 5.3) but had 3.73 and the 6sp. It did fine on the flats an okay in the mtns. Never really had all that much trouble climbing passes. On the Ford, the culprut was the non seletable 6sp tranny. Went in whatever gear it wanted when it wanted. I'm pretty sure your Chevy has the select mode. Handlings was fine in the mtns/hills as the truck was not trying to keep the TT straight with all the cornering. Out in the wide open flat freeways is when things weren't as solid. I used a 1200lb Equal I zer hitch. I now have a 2500 and it's a lot nicer to tow. Any TT movement was felt in the F150, hardley at all in the 2500. 7-7500lbs is borderline for most F150's IMO, sure the tow ratings are there but it's still a 1/2 ton and more susceptible to trailer imput. FWIW 8.5 mpg.

IF you can find one, and they are hard to find as most dealers won't stock one, the 1500 with the 6.2L 3.73 max tow package is an awesome towing machine for the weight you are talking. We routinely tow 10K with ours here in the mountainous west and have NO problems. The difference between our old 5.3L 3.42 towing package and the new one is night and day. You do not need a ¾t truck, if you have a properly equipped 1500.

First, suggest you read page 346 of the manual Ron posted (GREAT that
you can find this stuff).

Here it is:


Take note of the upper right paragraph and it means that they used
the base model, curb model, which is the stripper model with NOTHING
other than the towing option, a 150lb driver, fluids (depends too
as some only use half a tank, etc) and the hitch.

NOTHING

else and as it says, every thing else loaded
onto/into the TV will subtract, pound for pound, from the MTWR (they
call it TWR, which is more correct).

genekiwi wrote:
Okay, I get the point. More power more towing. AND I want to say thanks for ALL of the input.

Numbers I got:

Trailer towing weight: 9600

So, unless you have that 'curb' (aka stripper) model, this does NOT
apply to your TV. It will be less by the stuff loaded into/onto the TV

trailer dry weight 5695, max weight 8600 I took 7000 as a mid range weight.

That 'dry' is the curb or stripper model. It will weigh more after
the propane (some times even the empty bottles are not included), etc
are added

Assume that 8.6K is the trailer GVWR

I think the combined max weight is 15000.

Hitch weight is 572

Payload weight is about 1700

Again, this is based on the curb vehicle. Some OEMs are getting better
and have that yellow label, which uses the shipping weight vs GVWR

I don't have the truck to get definite numbers off of.

I liked the truck because it has a built in sway control and engine braking downhill. Better gas mileage is also a plus over the 2500 since not all of my driving is done towing.

I have owned the 2500HD for 6 years and time to retire it.

Hope you understand that you are going from a +9K GVWR down to a +7K GVWR
truck. Huge difference.

Besides, at my stage of maturity, this may well be my last truck that I will buy. ;)

Seriously, I know what you are talking about. I had an 02 1500 with the 4.8 and 4 speed. I towed a Jayco Kiwi 23B and yes, it was slow on the hills and I hit 35 mph at the top of one pass.

The Heartland I own is not quite 11 feet and has the rounded or slopped front which I hope will help. The Jayco I had was 11 plus and a flat front.



Neither the dw or I tow faster than 65 and usually in the 60 range.

Besides, I am retired and not in any hurry.

Again, your comments were and are appreciated.

Don't know what trailer other than your 8.6K GVWR. Most will weigh
much more than their listed 'dry' weight and depending on how you
load, many find that they end up very close to their trailer GVWR

A 3.42 diff is not a good choice for towing heavy (for the vehicle
class and you have gone down to the lowest class full sized pickup)
Worse if you put on over sized tires. The ratio from the OEM tire
dia to whatever you end up with will the the same ratio applied to
the diff ratio (reduction in towing capacity)

With the 5.3L and the 3.42, definitely going to be slow on the flats
and even slower on inclines and altitude.

Sounds like a good combo. I still recommend the 6.2L. :) Or, if you only use the truck for towing, keep your old 2500 and get a new daily driver that is more comfortable and gets better fuel economy.

The built in sway control and engine grade braking are not very important for RVing IMHO. The sway control hopefully never be activated as that would be a pucker moment.

Okay, I get the point. More power more towing. AND I want to say thanks for ALL of the input.

Numbers I got:

Trailer towing weight: 9600

trailer dry weight 5695, max weight 8600 I took 7000 as a mid range weight.

I think the combined max weight is 15000.

Hitch weight is 572

Payload weight is about 1700

I don't have the truck to get definite numbers off of.

I liked the truck because it has a built in sway control and engine braking downhill. Better gas mileage is also a plus over the 2500 since not all of my driving is done towing.

I have owned the 2500HD for 6 years and time to retire it.

Besides, at my stage of maturity, this may well be my last truck that I will buy. ;)

Seriously, I know what you are talking about. I had an 02 1500 with the 4.8 and 4 speed. I towed a Jayco Kiwi 23B and yes, it was slow on the hills and I hit 35 mph at the top of one pass.

The Heartland I own is not quite 11 feet and has the rounded or slopped front which I hope will help. The Jayco I had was 11 plus and a flat front.



Neither the dw or I tow faster than 65 and usually in the 60 range.

Besides, I am retired and not in any hurry.

Again, your comments were and are appreciated.

Lesson # 1

Don't listen to a car salesman. His only interest is selling you a vehicle to earn his commission.

Lesson # 2

Do you homework via the internet. There is plenty of information available to help you make a decision on the right tow vehicle.

According to my 2012 owners manual a 1500 2wd Crew Cab 5.3 3.42 can tow 9600lbs.
A 1500 4wd Crew Cab 5.3 3.42 can tow 9500lbs. This is out of secton 9 Driving and Towing of my 2012 owners manual. I quoted both the 4wd 2wd since it wasn't specified which one you were interested in.