Forum Discussion

DragonSpirit39's avatar
DragonSpirit39
Explorer II
May 08, 2025

2005 Chevy Silverado 1500, 4.8 liter V8

I only have a bumper with a ball, not a frame mounted hitch. I have no choice in this matter I'm basically being kicked out of my rental home by the end of the month and switching to RV life full time. 

I have purchased a Jayco Jayfeather LGT 29Y and my truck will haul at least 7,700lbs and 600lbs bumper pull from everything I've seen. The bumper pull weight on this trailer fully loaded is 645lbs is that 45lbs going to rip my bumper off or is there anything I can do to just lighten it up in front or support the bumper with straps attached to my securement hooks in the bed for some upward pressure? 

Again this is a must move situation and I'm likely not moving this trailer any further than 45 minutes to an hour away at 55mph max speed.

 

 

12 Replies

  • I've pulled upwards of 5000-6000 with a ball on a bumper. Not a big deal, then again, it was a 2500, not a 1500. I've pulled 1500 lbs with a ball/bumper on a 76 toyota pickup. Not a big deal. As is noted in many of the posts here, and the silveradosierra.com link, the ball is many times too high, so you are hitch high, which makes for poor towing conditions. I can see this issue in your case.

    You do not mention if you truck is a rwd or 4wd, or I am blind, not seeing it etc. A rwd is easier to bumper pull than a 4x. If you lifted like my 14 1500 2-3" makes it harder, or if like my sons 06 with a 4.8 V8, 4" lift and 2-3" larger diam tires, His bumper is way up there, along with the 3.42 gears are more like 3.08 or taller gears. He's pulling easier now that he has put 4.10's in the pumpkins.

    Another option if feasable, is rent a U-Haul 1500 reg cab truck. Drive the trailer to where it goes, bring the truck back and get your truck. Bigger, better motor, 10 gears vs 4, rated to 10K lbs. If it has a hitch and controller, you're on the way. 

    Who's to say it may take two trips anyhow! One for the trailer with a few items, and one with just the truck, as you may end up way overloaded no matter how ones slice's the cake.

    But, if you have some friends willing to help you get a controller, hitch etc, you will be way better off this way. As far as breaking things......We in the towing field have no idea what the ratings truly mean per say. You bumper may say a 6000/600 lb trailer, hitch weight. That is the working load it is rated for. Breaking load may be 2-3 times this amount! I can point out other types of items with both of these ratings being shown! You then know the true where it will break, and where it will not break for many years etc. Like the Challenger space shuttle many years ago. It blew up due to a 2 bit rubber O-Ring, that engineers knew it would fail in temps under x degrees. It was -5 below that day. It should never have taken off, but due to a teacher on board etc etc, they took off. We know what happened 30-40 seconds into the flight. Thy push things to 100%. Most of us in the towing world do not push but to 30-40% of breaking. 

    I'm not going to say you will be fine! nor will I say you will crash and burn with what you have. Loaded correctly etc, you'll be fine, loaded incorrectly, even with a Hensley hitch, you may very well crash and burn! Due to improper loading, conditions etc. 

    I am sorry about your issues, I like many others, hope you will succeed without having too many other issues.

    Marty 

     

    • DragonSpirit39's avatar
      DragonSpirit39
      Explorer II

      It's a lower to the ground pickup truck a little higher than a car but not super high up. Plus the RV I got has a battery and an electric jack that lifts up to 3500lbs I can get it way up there if I need to. I don't think it'll be an issue.

  • I do have good news potentially, a church I know may be trying to raise the funds and get me a frame mounted hitch and wiring harness for my truck so I can pull it all in all about $240. And bringing us some food so we have groceries.

  • Sorry to hear that. 
    Personally the travel trailer idea is a poor idea based on your previous posts. But yes your truck will haul that camper on the bumper if you take it really easy. 

    Is it advisable? Nope

    is it safe?  Not really but people have done dumber stuff. 


    Will it break the truck? Not likely unless it’s already ready to blow up or fall apart. 


    Will the bumper hold? That’s a solid maybe. Depends on what you encounter.  

    I’ve towed 10s of 1000s of miles and hundreds of different trailers. 
    couple weeks ago was the first time I’ve ripped a trailer tongue off the stinger. Hit a bad bump the wrong way on a forest road doing about 6mph and bam. 
    But the strength of the bumper is only half your problem. Since you have no idea how heavy the tongue weight is and I have no idea how clapped out your truck suspension is, it may just bury your suspension on the bump stops. Which is a host of other concerns. 
    Back to the task at hand, go very slow and say a prayer and there’s a 69% chance it’ll be fine. Once anyway. 
    But based on what you’ve divulged so far, being motorhomless requires moving frequently. So take your lessons learned from the first move and apply them forward. 

    And no, there’s no straps or things of the like that will help the bumper. 

  • That is a 30-foot trailer that has an empty weight of about 5100 lbs. Fully stocked with all your household goods it will likely weigh approximately 6500 lbs. That means the tongue weight will be closer to 750 lbs. (I assume you’re not towing the trailer with absolutely nothing in it). Add the fact that without a WD hitch the front tires of your truck will be unloaded by a couple hundred pounds. Now consider the likelihood of best case vs. worst case scenario. You willing to risk it?

    • DragonSpirit39's avatar
      DragonSpirit39
      Explorer II

      Can I potentially counter balance the trailer and load my things in the back of the trailer in the bunk room while moving thereby taking pressure off the hitch?

      • valhalla360's avatar
        valhalla360
        Navigator

        Don't try to underload the hitch...too little hitch weight can make a trailer unstable going down the road. 

    • DragonSpirit39's avatar
      DragonSpirit39
      Explorer II

      I don't have much of a choice here, no money for a frame mounted hitch. Have to be out by the 28th. If I don't move it my landlord will and he'll drop it wherever one time and that'll be it. If I have to move it again I'm screwed.

      • Grit_dog's avatar
        Grit_dog
        Navigator

        Welp then I’d take er for a ride now and see how it works so you know whether to invoke the landlord haul option (weird) or at a minimum you know what you’re up against in real life not advice from folks who know it’s significantly overloading your truck and frankly some of which are paranoid by-the-book towing anyways. 
        You know it’s a sketchy idea. You knew that before or wouldn’t have asked. Go see how it works. And sell a video game system for a trailer hitch. 
        way too many variables in your scenario.