About to pull the trigger on this combo. Thoughts?

[TheDave]

I thought I would update everyone. I picked this up on Friday from RV R US in Ohio. What a great place. Absolutely love this setup as I have it below. Weighed the setup after filling up with gas and an empty camper. Here is the weights I received. Steer Axle 3100 lb, Drive Axle 3780, trailer axle 4980, Gross Weight of 11,860. The yellow sticker on the door of the camper stated 5820 lb. Here it is all hitched up.



Back in this post I talked about looking for a travel trailer. Well I think I am about to end up with the following and would appreciate any advice or criticism on this configuration. Especially the weight distribution piece. I have the truck and love it and can not wait to be towing with it.

2014 Silverado 1500
Trailering & Payload 6.2L EcoTec3 V8 engine 4WD
Curb Weight 5370 lbs
Max Payload 1805 lbs
Max GVWR 7200 lbs
Max Conventional Trailering, 3.73 Rear Axle 11800 lbs
GCWR, 3.73 Rear Axle 17700 lbs
Spring Axle Capacity
Front Gross Axle Weight Rating 3950 lbs
Rear Gross Axle Weight Rating with 3.73 Rear Axle 4100 lbs

Grey Wolf 26DBH
Dry Hitch Weight 740 lbs.
Unloaded Vehicle Weight 5,750 lbs.
GVWR 7,740 lbs.
Cargo Carrying Capacity 1,952 lbs.
Exterior Length 31' 7"
Exterior Height 10' 5"
Exterior Width 97"
Fresh Water Capacity 50 gal.
Gray Water Capacity 41 gal.
Black Water Capacity 31 gal.
Awning Size 15 ft

EQUAL-I-ZER 90-00-1000 10,000/1000.

Thanks for taking your time to read this and provide me with your advice.

Regards,
David

[TheDave]

Ok so thanks for all the excellent responses. The dealer is offering up this weight distribution hitch but it looks like I should go with something a little different and at least 1000 LB bars. The truck specs are from the door plate and looks like I had an extra number in the Front weights (fixed now). What is nice is that I am not expecting to carry much if anything in the truck bed. In the truck it will be me, my wife, and 2 daughters along with a tablet or too and a few stuffed animals that must ride with the kids.

I will need to locate a weight distribution hitch between now and Saturday morning between IL and OH. I would love suggestions on what and where to get something in that area of travel.

Regards,
David

[wmoses]

TheDave wrote:
Back in this post I talked about looking for a travel trailer. Well I think I am about to end up with the following and would appreciate any advice or criticism on this configuration. Especially the weight distribution piece. I have the truck and love it and can not wait to be towing with it.

2014 Silverado 1500
...

Grey Wolf 26DBH
...

Eaz-Lift 48057 Elite Weight Distributing Hitch Kit - 800 lbs Capacity

I am not sure on the bars should I get the 800 LB or 1000 LB bars. I am not in the mind set that more is always better. ...

Dave,

This is a great truck-RV match. You have some payload capacity to spare and more than enough truck. Look at what I pull and it weighs 7200# ready for camping. You can even go a little bigger / heavier if you wanted - maybe 1200# / 9000#, tongue / trailer, provided you stay below payload and axle ratings.

I don't recommend the WDH / sway bar combo, however. There are superior products out there and the Equalizer is a good balance between value and function.

As for the spring bar capacity - 15% of the trailer GVWR is just about 1200# and that is what I recommend getting for that trailer. That is what I have and it works well. Many times more is better but when it comes to WDH spring bars you can get bars that are too stiff and cause problems. Incidentally, the 1200# bars would also be good for the larger trailer weights I mentioned 2 paragraphs above.

Good luck and happy RVing.

[OH48Lt]

Looks like a good combo. As mentioned before, make sure you get the LT tires. P rated tires have lightweight flexy sidewalls.

That must be one heck of a front axle. 39650 pounds, almost 20 tons. 😉

[Dtaylor]

What would be the difference in using 1000lb bars verses 800 on your hitch. The reason I ask is I have weights very close to you but have 1000lb bars on the hitch

[Sandia_Man]

As with most half-ton trucks, available payload gets maxed out or exceeded rather easily, take care not to carry too much in your truck. Tongue weight will require more than 800# bars, and with a nearly 32' TT, a better WD hitch with integrated sway control would be on my list. Have many wonderful trips in your new Grey Wolf TT!!!

[GaryWT]

As stated, as long as you are careful what you put in the truck you should be good. At close to 32 feet you should use all the sway control you can. You will be over 800 pound tongue weight so go with the 1000 pound bars. Set up seems kind of cheap but I do not know about that brand. I know I spent more like $700-900 for a good hitch set up. Good luck and happy camping.

[westend]

Might be a good combo but I'm not a Chevy guy so know nothing about the goodness of the 6.2.

If you want to see the advantage of an equalizing hitch, load 900 lbs on the tail end of the box and go for a drive. It's a pretty good deal to get some of that tongue weight back onto the steer axles.
I have a 3//4 ton and haul a 5000 lb (and growing) trailer. Last year, I bought an Equalizer brand hitch. I have towed the trailer without a WDH and it tracks kike a dream. but I can still feel the difference on the front end.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Is the max payload from the sales brochure, or from the sticker in the drivers door jamb? If from the sticker, should be a pretty good match as long as you don't load the truck bed full of stuff (firewood, coolers, etc) as payload would be your limiting factor (including truck cap on the bed if you have one). Also don't overload the trailer.

As for the hitch, you will probably be close to 1k lbs tongue weight (tw) once loaded up!

Also look into a hitch system with an integrated sway control. Equal-I-Zer 4 way or Reese Dual Cam (DC). I don't think I would rely on the trucks integrated sway control system, as that is more of a "reactive" compared to a proactive system like the Reese DC.

Other thing to keep in mind is LT tires compared to P rated tires! The soft sidewall can flex when towing, giving what I call a "wiggle feeling almost like a kid who can't stand still because he/she needs to use the restroom!"

Good luck!

[TucsonJim]

It sounds to me like you're in the safe zone. If you load the TT to the max (7,740#), and have 15% hitch weight, you'll be at 1,161#. That leaves the remaining payload for the Chevy at 644#. As long as you are careful to not put more than 644# in the truck (passengers, cargo, etc), you should be okay.

Of course, you may likely not hit the GVWR on the TT, and you're hitch weight may be less than 15%, so you likely have some buffer.

[coolbreeze01]

Nothing I would buy, but the main thing is you are happy. Enjoy.