5th wheel Towing capacity of 1993 gmc Sierra 3500 dually 6.5

Tankcar wrote:
Hi. You may want to look in the driver side door frame for a plate / sticker.

Tow capacity is not on the door sticker. It's in the owner's manual in the towing section, based on engine/transmission/cab/bed/gear ratio.

What's on the door sticker is the truck's GVWR, and axle weight ratings. On a truck this old there isn't even payload information IIRC.

Since the truck is well out of warranty, the tow rating is pretty much meaningless. IMHO, "safety" has little to do with factory tow ratings; they are determined mostly by bean counters who don't want to cover warranty work caused by people abusing their trucks, and don't want to get too many angry customers returning their trucks due to poor towing performance.

Your truck is well out of warranty, so basically it can tow whatever you feel safe and comfortable with. There is no way you can go back on GM if you break something, get in an accident, or are not happy with the performance at this stage of the game.

IIRC, the GVWR on a DRW from that era is 10,000lbs. The truck itself weighs around 6500lbs empty, leaving you with a good 3500lbs of payload, though it can carry at least 4000lbs and not even break a sweat or push the tire ratings anywhere near their limits.

The truck itself should easily be able to keep a 12,000-15,000lb fifth wheel off the ground and under control...

BUUUUUUUUUT...

You will not be happy with how it performs. Maybe with 4.56 gears, but you will be redlining the engine at highway speeds.

That, and this is a 20+ year old truck. It's no spring chicken. Might want to go a bit easy on the old girl. No sense thrashing it like a government mule unless you have short term plans to upgrade trucks.

After that intolerably long winded response, I will say that I agree with previous respondents who are saying that 10,000lbs is about all you really want to tow with it.