Forum Discussion

DaveTC's avatar
DaveTC
Explorer
Jul 01, 2018

Will my truck safely tow a fifth wheel trailer

I have a 2008 Chevy Silverado 2500 4wh drive crew cab with a 6.6 Duramax Diesel and an Allison 6 sp auto trans. In the info book provided with the vehicle, it states that the maximum trailer weight is 13,600 lbs. and the GCWR is 22,000 lbs. The fifth wheel I'm looking at is a Montana 3120RL and it states that the weight is 11,935 lbs. I believe I have read when they give you the fifth wheel trailer weight, the weight of the water is included in the weight. If I have calculated properly, by putting about 20% of the weight of the fifth wheel onto the fifth wheel hitch and adding the weight of two people, three dogs and the new fifth wheel hitch, which would total about 700 lbs, this would leave me with only about 165 lbs for additional cargo. I could reduce that by about 500 lbs by removing most of the water but it looks to me like it's too close for comfort. I'm sure we would carry more cargo than 665lbs, probably closer to a ton. Am I calculating this properly? Do I need to go to a lighter weight fifth wheel or a bigger truck? Any input will be appreciated.

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Tow Vehicles
  • ppine's avatar
    ppine
    Explorer II
    Jul 01, 2018
    The short answer is that your 5er is too heavy or you need a different truck.
  • 12th_Man_Fan's avatar
    12th_Man_Fan
    Explorer
    Jul 01, 2018
    In most of the GM towing brochures I have seen they show a trailer tow weight and a 5th wheel towing weight which is usually a little more. Make sure you are using the correct weight for the application you have.

    You need to stay within or very close to your weight ratings. the total weight you are putting on the truck is the most important in my opinion. It can be up to 25% of the trailer GVWR.

    Happy camping.
  • kerrlakeRoo's avatar
    kerrlakeRoo
    Explorer
    Jul 01, 2018
    As Donn just mentioned, the weight your using is the empty weight, I believe from last years model. The current 3120RL shows a shipping weight of 12,050 and has a carry capacity of an additional 3950, for a total weight of 16,000.
    Even if you keep the weight down to 15k or so, the 20% mark is going to have you hovering around 3000 lbs.
    Even at 14,000 your still looking at 2800, so plan your loading accordingly. Many on the roads are a little over, since your looking at a 10 year old truck, no matter how well its been maintained, it would be a good time to recheck your brakes, and consider a tranny cooler.
    Happy motorin.

    Edit add, that shipping weight doesnt include any water, it doesnt even include propane or tanks, nor does it include batteries.
  • donn0128's avatar
    donn0128
    Explorer II
    Jul 01, 2018
    That 11,9 your quoting is likely a brochures dry weight, which is useless. To understand weights you need to search past posts here. There are hundreds of pages worth of reading.
    But to answer your question you need to know
    A, weight of your truck loaded ready to travel,
    B, pin weight of the proposed trailer based on its GVWR.
    C, available payload of your truck which is GVWR minus A.
    Since you will never ever tow a trailer dry, use the trailers GVWR. This while giving you worse case, as long as you base stuff on that you will know your safe. Dont forget to add 150 pounds for a standard hitch or 250 pounds if you go with a slider hitch to your teucks scaled weight.
    Your going to get lots of people telling you to forget GVWR and go by your trucks rear axle weight, but that is only giving you one aspect of your truck. Others will claim 2500 and 3500s are the same. Others will claim other stuff. Ultimately it is up to you to decide what is safe for your family, who to believe, the trucks mfg or anominous pundunts from an internet forum.
  • MarkTwain's avatar
    MarkTwain
    Explorer
    Jul 01, 2018
    DaveTC wrote:
    I have a 2008 Chevy Silverado 2500 4wh drive crew cab with a 6.6 Duramax Diesel and an Allison 6 sp auto trans. In the info book provided with the vehicle, it states that the maximum trailer weight is 13,600 lbs. and the GCWR is 22,000 lbs. The fifth wheel I'm looking at is a Montana 3120RL and it states that the weight is 11,935 lbs. I believe I have read when they give you the fifth wheel trailer weight, the weight of the water is included in the weight. If I have calculated properly, by putting about 20% of the weight of the fifth wheel onto the fifth wheel hitch and adding the weight of two people, three dogs and the new fifth wheel hitch, which would total about 700 lbs, this would leave me with only about 165 lbs for additional cargo. I could reduce that by about 500 lbs by removing most of the water but it looks to me like it's too close for comfort. I'm sure we would carry more cargo than 665lbs, probably closer to a ton. Am I calculating this properly? Do I need to go to a lighter weight fifth wheel or a bigger truck? Any input will be appreciated.


    If it helps, I only fill the water tank 1/4 full and/or just carry about 3 plastic 1 gal. containers to use for the bathroom use.

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