Towing Harley and trailer

[mikeandbrenda]

I have a 2012 Silverado Duramax Diesel Crew Cab 4WD 2500 HD Pulling a 6700LB Dry weight Travel Trailer loaded to around maybe 8000LB Loaded. I have a 14000LB Equillizer distribution hitch, the biggest they make, which was installed when I bought the trailer new, which they recommended. The truck has a towing weight of around 15000LB. It is all set up correctly now. Now I want to haul a Harley full touring motorcycle with auto ramp, motorcycle weighing 950LB and ramp weighing 300LB for a total of 1250 in bed of truck. The harley wouldn't be in back every time we camp, maybe once a year. Could I use airbags witch hitch to compensate for the occasional hauling of the harley?

[Grit_dog]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
I started the weight cop barrage....sorry.
Fwiw, your truck is more than capable of hauling and towing what’s in that picture!
Happy trails!

I agree but NOT a 18,000# 5er.

Not capable or not rated in the owners bible? 2 different things.

[Cummins12V98]

Grit dog wrote:
I started the weight cop barrage....sorry.
Fwiw, your truck is more than capable of hauling and towing what’s in that picture!
Happy trails!

I agree but NOT a 18,000# 5er.

[Jarlaxle]

mikeandbrenda wrote:
Thanks everybody for all of your input and advice.
The Max payload for the truck is 4000LB in bed of truck. The max towing capacity is 15300LB for trailer or 18000LB for 5th wheel.
I bought the extension from E-trailer which is a good source and in the specs it says to reduce max tongue weight about 1/3 which would make now make max tongue weight around 1340LB which would be no problem being that my trailer tongue weight is around 900-1000LB. This pic was August 2019 from Vegas to Williams, AZ. About 600 miles round trip with no problems but I want to raise the bed to get it level.

With everything loaded and a full fuel tank, EXACTLY how much weight is on the truck's rear axle?

[Grit_dog]

I started the weight cop barrage....sorry.
Fwiw, your truck is more than capable of hauling and towing what’s in that picture!
Happy trails!

[ktmrfs]

mikeandbrenda wrote:
Thanks everybody for all of your input and advice.
The Max payload for the truck is 4000LB in bed of truck. The max towing capacity is 15300LB for trailer or 18000LB for 5th wheel.
I bought the extension from E-trailer which is a good source and in the specs it says to reduce max tongue weight about 1/3 which would make now make max tongue weight around 1340LB which would be no problem being that my trailer tongue weight is around 900-1000LB. This pic was August 2019 from Vegas to Williams, AZ. About 600 miles round trip with no problems but I want to raise the bed to get it level.

having owned 2 duramax 2500 CC 4x4 trucks, I have a hard time seeing a 4000lb payload capacity. both of mine are around 2600-2800 payload capacity. empty empty weight from the factory is 7200-7400 lbs and GVWR is 10,000

to get 4000 payload you would need an empty weight of 6,000 lbs. I don't think any GM cc duramax 2500 has a 4,000lb payload capacity. A 2wd std cab short box gas base model may have a payload near 4,000.

take the truck with the harley in the bed and trailer hooked up and see what the truck total weight is. If you don't have much else in the truck your probably close to the 10,000.

On my duramax CC I have 1400lbs on the tongue, and with my KTM bike in the back along with all the rest of my gear etc. and a couple of people in the truck I'm under 10,000 but not by much.

Now at least partly because the 10,000lb is a weight limit due to truck classification, going over it by some is IMHO not likely to be an issue.

Now the new 2500's with a 11,300 GVWR another story

[Cummins12V98]

mikeandbrenda wrote:
Thanks everybody for all of your input and advice.
The Max payload for the truck is 4000LB in bed of truck. The max towing capacity is 15300LB for trailer or 18000LB for 5th wheel.
I bought the extension from E-trailer which is a good source and in the specs it says to reduce max tongue weight about 1/3 which would make now make max tongue weight around 1340LB which would be no problem being that my trailer tongue weight is around 900-1000LB.

PLEASE show me where it says "The max towing capacity is 18000LB for 5th wheel." using your "2012 Silverado Duramax Diesel Crew Cab 4WD 2500 HD".

Waiting........

[Grit_dog]

^While I have no issue hauling 4000lbs in the bed of a 3/4 ton pickup, you are likely mistaken on the payload rating. Based on the gvwr of a 2012 GM 2500 series truck.
Regarding a hitch extension, I've used them alot, in weight carrying scenarios. Unsure the effects of the extra length when it comes to a WDH though.

[mikeandbrenda]

Thanks everybody for all of your input and advice.
The Max payload for the truck is 4000LB in bed of truck. The max towing capacity is 15300LB for trailer or 18000LB for 5th wheel.
I bought the extension from E-trailer which is a good source and in the specs it says to reduce max tongue weight about 1/3 which would make now make max tongue weight around 1340LB which would be no problem being that my trailer tongue weight is around 900-1000LB. This pic was August 2019 from Vegas to Williams, AZ. About 600 miles round trip with no problems but I want to raise the bed to get it level.

[Grit_dog]

mikeandbrenda wrote:
Could I use airbags witch hitch to compensate for the occasional hauling of the harley?

Absolutely, if they're even needed at all. If you're pulling much tongue weight off with the wdh, it may ride just fine with no additional help for the springs.

[Grit_dog]

2oldman wrote:

QCMan wrote:
Might help if you listed loaded trailer tongue weight and loaded truck weight and payload capacity for your truck.

Or post in a more suitable forum.

How much more suitable could the "Towing" forum possibly be to ask a question about.........towing?

[Cummins12V98]

"If it were me, I would add the bags, inflate to level the truck and leave the WD bars where they are."

Words of wiscom from our esteemed Moderator!!!

[BarneyS]

If it were me, I would add the bags, inflate to level the truck and leave the WD bars where they are.

Just like a 5th wheel, the bags are used to help raise the truck. The purpose of the WD remains the same - to put the weight lost from the front axle back where it belongs. There should be no change in your weight distribution if you simply raise the rear of the truck back to where it was normally when towing.

I wouldn't crank up too much on the 1400lb bars unless your trailer tongue is at least 6 or 8 inches tall on the frame members. Even 6 inches is a bit of a stretch for possible frame bending when the 1400lb bars are drawn up tight. If you use the bags to level your truck before hitching up, then you shouldn't have to change the bars much if at all.
Barney

[valhalla360]

An 8000lb (loaded) trailer should be up around 1000lb hitch weight. An extension on the truck hitch isn't explicitly called out for most calculators but it does affect it negatively. (640lb would be too low)

Add in 1250 for the bike and ramps.
Add in say 300lb for passengers

That's around 2550lb if you put nothing else in the truck with the vast majority going on the rear axle. What's the payload available on the truck?

Since you own the truck and the bike, best bet would be to load up and go to a CAT scale and find out ground truth rather than go off best guestimate ratings.

Airbags can level the load but they don't add payload capacity.

[mikeandbrenda]

I've had it loaded before but after loading the bike the rear of the truck sagged a little. It all works but I want to know if I can use air bags to readjust the rear end or to set distribution for both loads. It's just a hassle to readjust the hitch for bike and no bike.
The truck can handle a tongue weight of 2000LB. I've extended the the hitch 4" for ramp clearance which reduces the tongue 1/3rd for a tongue weight to approx. 1320LB.I don't have a scale for trailer tongue weight. I would estimate from 8% to 13% of weight of trailer, 640LB to 1040LBs. Airbags would have a 5000LB rating. I'm still researching rear axle rating.