People With a 2500HD 8.1L/Allison. What are You Pulling?

GM says max towing on that truck is 10,500 lb.

drsteve wrote:
GM says max towing on that truck is 10,500 lb.

Now that we got that out of the way (even though it’s not accurate), what are you guys with 8.1L’s pulling?

According to the 2002 GMC Towing Guides the OP's truck with 4.10 gears is rated for 12,000# conventional towing and 15,500# fifth/goosneck towing.

KJ

Pulled two different TTs 6500 and 8,000 lbs 20k miles up down the east coast over ten years. 06 Silverado ECLB w/4.10s

I used my '01 3500 with 8.1L to pull a 6,000 pound Bobcat on a 4,000 pound trailer. I also had about 2,000 pounds of tool body and tools mounted on the truck. It was no problem at all. I'd go heavier than that without question if I needed to.

I am pulling an Evergreen Amped 28FS. It is a little under 10000lbs empty with a max weight of 12900. I am probably at about 12000 most of the time. My truck also has the 4.10 gears like yours. mine is lifted with 35" tires so it is more like the equivalent of 3.73. I can tell that the trailer is there, but it will accelerate up the mountain passes in Washington and maintain the speed limit if I want. If I remember correctly the 5th wheel rating is 13500. In a trailer as heavy as you are thinking the tongue weight would be higher than the factory receiver is rated for. My tongue weight is typically about 1700lbs, but I am using a Torklift receiver.

msmith1.wa wrote:
I am pulling an Evergreen Amped 28FS. It is a little under 10000lbs empty with a max weight of 12900. I am probably at about 12000 most of the time. My truck also has the 4.10 gears like yours. mine is lifted with 35" tires so it is more like the equivalent of 3.73. I can tell that the trailer is there, but it will accelerate up the mountain passes in Washington and maintain the speed limit if I want. If I remember correctly the 5th wheel rating is 13500. In a trailer as heavy as you are thinking the tongue weight would be higher than the factory receiver is rated for. My tongue weight is typically about 1700lbs, but I am using a Torklift receiver.

Yea, I’m running a fifth wheel with a pin weight around 2,300lbs currently. The proposed trailer would have a pin around 2,500lbs if I did my weight distribution math correctly. The rear axle of my truck has a 6,000lb limit which 3,000lb of that can be used for the pin.

ugeesta wrote:

Yea, I’m running a fifth wheel with a pin weight around 2,300lbs currently. The proposed trailer would have a pin around 2,500lbs if I did my weight distribution math correctly. The rear axle of my truck has a 6,000lb limit which 3,000lb of that can be used for the pin.

Actually, the axle itself from AAM is rated for 10,000 lbs. Your rated capacity is 6,084 lbs and that is a tire limitation. The LT 275-75-16 tires on your truck are rated for 3,042 lbs each.