Towing with Silverado

[polishdon]

I'm looking at purchasing a Stryker 2812. The dry weight of the hauler is 6925 lbs, GVWR is 9999 lbs.

My tow vehicle is a 2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab, short box with the 3.42 axle ratio and 5.3 liter V8. Per the specs of my vehicle I can tow up to 9500 lbs, but I'm worried about how it's going to handle pulling such a large trailer.

Any thoughts or advice?

[jareddustin]

when the GVWR of a trailer is listed as 9999 i always wonder how true that is. i know in CA any trailer with a GVWR over 10,000 you need a special license to pull it (non commercial class A) so do they put that sticker at 9999 as a selling point, no additional licence needed? just an odd number to have as a GVWR. based on the sticker on my TH my dry is a few hundred pounds less but the GVWR is 11,000lbs. i have not weighted my mine but most people say the sticker numbers are never right. We knew we wanted a bigger trailer so i sold my 1500 drove a little car for about 6 months while i looked for the right 2500 diesel. i would not want to two my trailer now with a 1500 especially full with supplies, water, gas, and some toys.

[lawrosa]

polishdon wrote:

lawrosa wrote:

polishdon wrote:
I took my vehicle, filled it with gas and had it weighed. With me in it I'm at 5,760 lbs. Round that up to 6,000 for my wife and kid and I can see how you get close to that 7,000 GVWR real quick pulling a 6,500+ trailer.

You can go up to your axle weights. That 7000 gvw is not your max..

You need individual axle weights and compare that to your door tag as I stated...

Doors say 3950 for each axle

Slip from the scale says front 3320, rear 2440

That means you have 1510 lbs of payload left on the rear. For TW and other people

Now what do your tires say on the side wall?

Max psi and max weight???

[polishdon]

lawrosa wrote:

polishdon wrote:
I took my vehicle, filled it with gas and had it weighed. With me in it I'm at 5,760 lbs. Round that up to 6,000 for my wife and kid and I can see how you get close to that 7,000 GVWR real quick pulling a 6,500+ trailer.

You can go up to your axle weights. That 7000 gvw is not your max..

You need individual axle weights and compare that to your door tag as I stated...

Doors say 3950 for each axle

Slip from the scale says front 3320, rear 2440

[lawrosa]

polishdon wrote:
I took my vehicle, filled it with gas and had it weighed. With me in it I'm at 5,760 lbs. Round that up to 6,000 for my wife and kid and I can see how you get close to that 7,000 GVWR real quick pulling a 6,500+ trailer.

You can go up to your axle weights. That 7000 gvw is not your max..

You need individual axle weights and compare that to your door tag as I stated...

[nayther]

N-Trouble wrote:
Your doing everything right as I can see. Get the facts BEFORE buying. Unfortunately many buy first then find out the reality of what they just purchased.

EXACTLY what I did wrong the first time! "Don't be this dumb Donn, do your research", spoken like the TV commercial.

[N-Trouble]

Your doing everything right as I can see. Get the facts BEFORE buying. Unfortunately many buy first then find out the reality of what they just purchased.

[polishdon]

I took my vehicle, filled it with gas and had it weighed. With me in it I'm at 5,760 lbs. Round that up to 6,000 for my wife and kid and I can see how you get close to that 7,000 GVWR real quick pulling a 6,500+ trailer.

[tomkaren13]

Based on our experience the TT is to heavy for a 1500 truck. We pull a 5500 dry weight and it is okay. Would not want much more weight.

[fly-boy]

Look at much lighter trailers or get a bigger truck.

[jlud]

Had a 13 Ford F-150 super crew ecoboost....1970 pounds of payload with an xlt and max towing package. There is also a max payload package and the newer models with aluminum have even more capacity. Might be an option if you want to stay with a "half ton"

[nayther]

I had an older 1500 with the same motor but 2WD and 3.73 axle. You will NOT be happy pulling close to your GVWR with that truck. IF you decide to buy a toy hauler get a smaller one and put a GOOD transmission cooler on the truck. I went through two transmissions before the shop showed me the little tiny "tow package" trans cooler, what a joke; I installed a "real" cooler and the trans lived but I sold the truck and bought a Duramax before the trans failed again. Besides towing when it was windy or big trucks passed was a bit white knuckling, I'll never do that again. I was pulling a Wanderer 2417, about 26' long overall.

[fla-gypsy]

I don't think it is a good idea but that's just my opinion.

[Dirtclods]

(4WD is a good thing...it does reduce payload somewhat) 2nd that it's true!! I looked into that as well. I'd suggest find a friend with a trailer similar to the one you want to buy and tow it around uphills and down hills and so on. Then you'll know for sure. You'll need airbags as well along with Weight-Distributing Hitch, 800 lbs. And a sway bar.

[N-Trouble]

The problem with toyhaulers is you may not expect to fill it with much today, but you soon find your buying toys to fill it, or offering to haul friends toys. Thus why many recommend focus on trailer GVWR when figuring a proper tow vehicle. Dry weights don't mean a lot when it comes to THs

[polishdon]

CKNSLS wrote:
From a Silverado owner who tows a 5,500 pound trailer.

You bought too much trailer.

Luckily I haven't purchased anything yet, glad I asked first!

Guess I gotta start workin on the wife to allow me to update the truck too. This won't go well. lol