julesmarly wrote:
If it is a 5300 (is that what 5.3L means?) with a 3.73 axle ratio, then my owners manual says I can tow 7700 lbs max trailer weight with 13,000lbs GCWR. So is that not what that means? My family of 6 weighs in at less than 800lbs.
Hi Jules,
You mentioned you were trailer shopping. Is that a pop up, a hybrid trailer or a travel trailer?
They are 3 different kinds of campers and have 3 different kinds of issues to overcome.
There are 2 basic areas you have to deal with. Being able to pull it and then being able to have the truck hold it up. (this also means control it)
I use to be a GM towing guy and had 3 of them, the Tahoes and the 2500 Suburban and the vehicles range from 1998 to 2003. My campers outgrew them and GM did not offer a 1 ton short bed crew cab, so I hung up by bow tie for a blue oval... The SUV is a good tow vehicle but only within the limits of the truck and how you use it.
I can tell you quickly, if your passenger load is in the 800# area, you picked that number, so I'm assuming it is in the 700 to 800# range. To the truck that is payload and that much will use up a lot of the available Rear axle rating, (GAWR-RR) and the truck max gross weight rating (GVWR). What is left after the passengers is what the truck can hold up in tongue weight on the back of the truck. And this is with "0" extra room to have traveling gear for your family in the truck. No cooler of pop, extra beach chairs, etc.
You are going to head right into the rear axle and GVWR ratings real quick if you have medium loaded tongue weight camper.
If you are talking about a pop up camper, you have a lot of options. They can sleep a lot of people, have lower tongue weights and do not have a lot of weight to pull. This means the truck is not loaded too heavy trying to hold up the heavy "loaded" trailer tongue weight.
The hyrid camper, hard sides but expandable canvas ends, is the mid level camper. This trailer has higher loaded tongue weights than the pop up (PU), has different conveniences inside the camper compared to the pop up (like bath rooms, bigger sinks, stove areas fridge). It however is a lot wider and taller than the PU and weighs more. Pending which one you are looking at, it may be beyond your truck or not.
The travel trailer, now this takes a lot of consideration and understanding compared to the truck. Pending what camper you get to be able to sleep the 800# of passengers, you can very quickly exceed the trucks ability to hold up the loaded tongue weight and get into pulling problems. Even light weight declared travel trailers can get you into issues. These 8 feet wide, 10 feet tall "bricks" we haul need a truck rated to handle them, both from a loaded tongue weight and ability to pull it and overcome the large wind resistance of a travel trailer.
Some have commented on your engine and rear axle in a pickup. A 1500 series pickup truck will out pull and out hold up a 1,500# SUV in the GM line most every day of the week. The Pickup is a lighter truck in most cases, has heavier springs in the back. ( have to watch out about crew cab, long bed filled with 5 people) The PU can hold up more tongue weight (assuming the bed is not piled high with gear) and have the ability to pull more trailer. Again up to a limit.
Here is a word of advice, do not think you can tow a 7,700# travel trailer with your family all loaded up ready to go camping. The infamous "Tow Rating" has gotten more new camper folks into trouble than any other advertized rating. That rating is a bare stripped model truck, (no luxury options) one passenger (the driver) that weighs 150#, has a loaded TW of approx 700# and the frontal area of the trailer generally does not exceed 60 sq feet. Travel trailers 8 feet wide 10 feet tall with heavy loaded tongue weights and a family of 5 in the truck can exceed the 1500 SUV truck a lot quicker.
GM has gotten better in their towing guides to help explain things then they did in 2004 when your truck was made.
See here, while this is about a new truck, they explain it better. You need to insert your 2004 ratings into this
See this GM site.
http://www.gmc.com/trailering-towing.htmlA friendly heads up before buy this camper, if you really want to do this right, you need to research how to properly size your truck and your family situation to what you can comfortably tow.
The best place to start is, put all family members in the truck, fill that monster gas tank, put the absolute must have things in the truck when traveling and go spend less that $10 at a truck stop and get a front and rear axle weight. Then come back and figure out and learn what you can tow in a "camper". Do "not" rely on the camper salesmen or even your GM dealer to tell you what camper you can tow. Once you bought it, it is yours and you are the driver responsible to tow it. And the day you left the camper dealer "empty trailer" you might have actually be OK. Then come loading the camper and all the trouble starts.
There is no one or 2 liner statement we can tell you not knowing your family situation that can tell you if that camper will work well for your situation.
Also if you have the 3rd row seat and are not going to use it to haul the camper, take that 70# beast out of the truck before weighing.
Glad to help more, online or off.
Hope this helps and good luck on your search for a new camper. They are a nice part of family time. Do the homework now and figure out the towing.
John
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10 RA, 21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR, upgraded 2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver. Hitched with a 1,700# Reese HP WD, HP Dual Cam to a 2004 Sunline Solaris T310R travel trailer.
