2002 3/4 Ton Heavy Duty Diesel Chevy 2500

[Nathanbates114]

Hey everyone,
My wife and I bought our first travel trailer 2 years ago and we have been living in it full time and love it. We just had our first baby boy and the trailer we have now is starting to get cramped and we're looking to upgrade to a fifth wheel or larger travel trailer. My father in law said we can borrow his truck to tow and says it's a "2002 3/4 Ton Heavy Duty Diesel 4x4 Chevy (pretty sure it's a 2500) He says it can tow around 16,000-18,000 pounds but I'm having a hard time finding the towing capacity online. Can someone help me find the towing capacity?Or if you have the same truck, I would really appreciate it if you could give me the specs for this truck. Thanks in advance!
-Nate

[valhalla360]

rhagfo wrote:

Tvov wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Check the payload sticker on the door jamb. You have access to the actual truck unlike the guy buying new.

Payload is typically the limiting number with 5ers due to pin weight counting against Payload. I would be shocked if you have enough Payload to tow a 16k trailer.

A travel trailer is probably better suited since the hitch weight tends to be much lower.

Or you can listen to the guys who know more the manufacturer.

Yes, and you could post a picture of the payload sticker.

There was no "Payload Sticker" in 2002, didn't really start until 2006. It will have a VIN sticker with GVWR and GAWRs.
Payload stickers are only valid as the truck leaves the factory, anything added by dealer or owner will reduce that number. The only way to know for sure is to take the truck to the scales ready to tow.

Since he has the truck easy to swing by the cat scales and get real numbers and not hard to back calculate available payload. I'm betting he doesn't have 3500++++ of payload available for the pin weight...and don't forget the weight of the hitch.

[Thermoguy]

Are you just looking to tow the trailer from where you buy it to your permanent spot or are you looking to travel around using that truck? It seems from the post you live in a stationary trailer on a lot somewhere. If you are looking to haul one time that is different from worrying about lots of travel. One option if you find a 5th wheel larger than the 2500 can tow, just pay someone to deliver it. I would stay in the 12-14K range if it is a 1 time tow to your lot. Don't want to have problems if you are borrowing a truck.

Also, do you have a 5th wheel hitch? A lot of people just think they can use a gooseneck hitch, so be careful of that. You don't want to bend a frame just getting something home.

[4x4ord]

Click

The 2002 4x4 2500 shortbox crew cab with the Duramax had a max 5th wheel towing capacity of 15.300 lbs.

[MFL]

Quote: "I would stick with a 12k-13k gvwr (9000 lb dry weight) 5th wheel trailer as a max size."

This is a good example, for the truck OP is asking about.

Nope...no tire loading placard (payload sticker) on this older truck. Don't need one anyway! This HD truck is designed to carry the full RAWR, when towing a FW.

Good to weigh the truck, most important, a separate rear axle weight. A lot depends on condition of a 20 YO truck, as to putting money into improving capability. Jim's recommendation, that I quoted, is a safe size load for that truck, as is, which is the manufacturer's axle rating.

Jerry

[rhagfo]

Tvov wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Check the payload sticker on the door jamb. You have access to the actual truck unlike the guy buying new.

Payload is typically the limiting number with 5ers due to pin weight counting against Payload. I would be shocked if you have enough Payload to tow a 16k trailer.

A travel trailer is probably better suited since the hitch weight tends to be much lower.

Or you can listen to the guys who know more the manufacturer.

Yes, and you could post a picture of the payload sticker.

There was no "Payload Sticker" in 2002, didn't really start until 2006. It will have a VIN sticker with GVWR and GAWRs.
Payload stickers are only valid as the truck leaves the factory, anything added by dealer or owner will reduce that number. The only way to know for sure is to take the truck to the scales ready to tow.

[Tvov]

valhalla360 wrote:
Check the payload sticker on the door jamb. You have access to the actual truck unlike the guy buying new.

Payload is typically the limiting number with 5ers due to pin weight counting against Payload. I would be shocked if you have enough Payload to tow a 16k trailer.

A travel trailer is probably better suited since the hitch weight tends to be much lower.

Or you can listen to the guys who know more the manufacturer.

Yes, and you could post a picture of the payload sticker.

[valhalla360]

Check the payload sticker on the door jamb. You have access to the actual truck unlike the guy buying new.

Payload is typically the limiting number with 5ers due to pin weight counting against Payload. I would be shocked if you have enough Payload to tow a 16k trailer.

A travel trailer is probably better suited since the hitch weight tends to be much lower.

Or you can listen to the guys who know more the manufacturer.

[deltabravo]

I had a 2002 2500HD with the 6.0L. The GVWR was 9200lbs.
2001-2010 2500HD GM trucks (GMT 800 & 900 body style) had the same 9200lb GVWR.

[Grit_dog]

^ Good info Marty, thanks. Hence the lack of differentiation between the 2 lol.

Regardless, the truck the OP is referencing IS rated tow 5ver tow the delta between its curb weight and 22k gcvw. Which is 15-16k +lbs.

And the 6084 srw rawr is silly low, “properly equipped”. Fwiw.
Basically ditch the pizza cutter 16s, skip the hard to find 17s, throw a set of nice inexpensive newer 18 or 20” takeoffs and the rawr jumps immediately to 7200ish.

[blt2ski]

grit,

in 02 a SW3500 did not exist. so the 1000 lbs less tow capacity is due to the extra wieght of the training wheels on a 3500. both had a 21000 gcw iirc. the 23500 gcw for duals came out a year or two later, as did the 9900 gvw sw3500 with 265-75-16 rubber, iirc a 6800 ra vs the lower amount for the 2500.
i believe from memory, the AAM 11.5 ra used is good itself to north of 11000 lbds or so.
vs the 10.5 version at 9-10k lbs.

marty

[Grit_dog]

^Yup, no argument there. Also doesn’t differentiate between BP and 5ver/GN.
Also the 12k is based on BP with WDH and tailored to the published limits of the factory hitch receiver.
And the 2002 GM trailering guide says 16klbs + (doesn’t say exact, it’s a bar chart) for 5ver towing, “when properly equipped”.
(another fun fact, it shows approx 1000lbs more 5ver rating for 2500s vs 3500s, for those that are living and dying by the “smart engineers who published these ratings”. Lol. Now be honest, does that actually make sense?)

And since all 2500HD 2002 Duramax pickups are “equipped” the same. IE same exact drivetrain, cooling, horsepower, axles, brakes, final gear ratio, etc, they are all reasonably “properly equipped”.

Now maybe the OP will be convinced that he’s getting bad intel from most of the crowd here….

Nevermind the fact that in the owners manual your quoting, GM curiously rated ALL 2500 and 3500 trucks srw or dual (also no differentiation) with a big block/4.10s or with a diesel, EXACTLY the same for max BP trailer weight and GCVW. (Btw, gcvw allows for more than 12k on the hook if you do the math, considering payload / gvw was not considered).

Apologies, that’s a lot of words to say you’re wrong, and I’m sure the peanut gallery will be offended. But my explanation was to help the OP (and others who aren’t self proclaimed arm chair pros) understand and not be steered in the wrong direction.

[mkirsch]

The owner's manual says 12,000lbs towing max.

K-2500 Regular Cab Short Box HD (4WD)*
Engine Axle Ratio Max. Trailer Wt. GCWR
6000 V8 4.10 10,200 lbs. (4 630 kg) 16,000 lbs. (7 264 kg)
8100 V8 3.73 12,000 lbs. (5 448 kg)** 20,000 lbs. (9 080 kg)
4.10 12,000 lbs. (5 448 kg)** 22,000 lbs. (9 988 kg)
6.6L V8 Diesel 3.73 12,000 lbs. (5 448 kg)** 22,000 lbs. (9 988 kg)

K-2500 Regular Cab Long Box HD (4WD)*
Engine Axle Ratio Max. Trailer Wt. GCWR
6000 V8 4.10 10,200 lbs. (4 630 kg) 16,000 lbs. (7 264 kg)
8100 V8 3.73 12,000 lbs. (5 448 kg)** 20, 000 lbs. (9 080 kg)
4.10 12,000 lbs. (5 448 kg)** 22,000 lbs. (9 988 kg)
6.6L V8 Diesel 3.73 12,000 lbs. (5 448 kg)** 22,000 lbs. (9 988 kg)

* Weight-distributing hitch tongue weight 10 percent to 15 percent of hitch weight 1,200 lb. (544 kg) maximum.
Fifth-wheel hitch tongue weight 15 percent to 25 percent of hitch weight 2,500 lb (1 134 kg) maximum.
** Fifth wheel hitch rating; weight distributing hitch rating is limited to 12,000 lbs. (5 443 kg).

[Grit_dog]

And the factory hitch is limiting if considering a big bumper pull trailer. Also easily upgraded, bolt on, and only a few hundo for a bomb proof hitch.

[Grit_dog]

OP, here’s the considerations you need to make (since you’re presumably considering buying dads old truck from him).
1. Miles and condition/maintenance of the truck. It’s over 20 years old and could be perfect or could be a heap.
2. Injectors. If it’s never had injectors replaced there’s a great chance it will need them tomorrow or next year. Min $3k for NEW , not reman, parts. And most shops will charge you at least half that much for install if you aren’t a decent diy guy.
3. Despite the weak 6klb rawr, the truck is capable of considerably more weight. OE rims and tire size are extremely limiting as are 3/4 ton springs. The axle and chassis are the same as a dually so suspension and the proper wheels, no problem exceeding 6k rear axle weight.
4. The rest of the truck is about as good as they get for overall reliability and durability depending on #1 above.
5. The LB7 is peppy, but it’s a turd by todays diesel standards. Decent programmers/tunes are readily available that make the engine very capable with no other supporting mods needed. (As long as you know how to drive to the capability of a stock Alli 1000. Which is easy, don’t giver more beans than she came with from the factory while in 5th gear. 1-4 will handle 60-90 hp tunes no problem if the trans is healthy).

6. I would absolutely own another LB7 Duramax. Great overall truck.

[Grit_dog]

Bucky, tvov and Jimlin, in a word, WRONG.
Unless your personal limitations and 20 year old recollections are somehow of greater accuracy than what GM said their trucks are rated for in 2002.
2500 Duramax is rated over 16k with a 5ver.
No speculation and fond reflections or whatever needed.

And what does the Dodge have to do with it? Lol