Am I Calculating This Correctly?? Silverado 1500

[scardillo59]

First post so please be gentle...

I have a 2016 Silverado 1500 with a 5.3L V8 and the 3.42 gear box. Full crew cab, short bed and 2WD. The dealership I bought it from said the following:

Vehicle Weight: 4,700 lbs
Towing Capacity: 9,400 lbs
GCWR: 12,000 lbs
Tongue Weight: 1,200

We are in the process of purchasing a travel trailer that weighs 6,192 without any camping supplies or other stuff in it. If I am calculating it based on towing I come up with the following:

9,400 lbs-6,912 lbs(trailer),-550lbs (family weight),-1,000 lbs (supplies-we won't fill the tanks), -619 lbs (tongue weight) =319 to spare.

If I am using the GCWR of 12,000 lbs then I subtract all that and the truck and I am in the negative. Is that correct? I was going to use a WDH (Equalizer) as well.

Are the above numbers correct? If so, then game over on that trailer.

Thanks!

Steve

[beermanjoe]

I have a 2015 Silverado 1500 CC 4X4 and pull a 2015 Keystone Passport 2810. Dry weight is 5135.I`m sure I`m close to 6000lbs all loaded. Pulls fine,I did put 10 ply tires on it.

[flylipsdaddy]

1500 will work,but not like you would like it to.It Won't due in any big hills or mountain areas at all.You will end up burnin it up.Get a bigger truck or a smaller trailer.Changing the gear ratio won't work either,1500 in a diesel would do,the only way to make it up the hills.

[APT]

Confirm your truck's equipment by looking at the RPO sticker in the glove box. You'll want to look for GU6, Z82, and KNP. With those, you should have plenty of truck for 6k dry TT.

[badsix]

yillb wrote:
your numbers are semi correct. GVWR is 12000lbs, then subtract the curb weight of the truck, which is 4700, this gives you 7300 pounds for max towing, even without getting into the payload, you're already going to be right at max towing when you start putting stuff in. It won't seem like you can't get 1k worth of **** into the camper.. but you will, even if you try not to. That aside though, lets look at the more important numbers. You did not list your GVWR ( which is the most important number ), so lets look at that, I believe yours is 7200 pounds, to get payload you subtract actual weight from GVWR in your case, 7200 - 4700 == 2500 , that seems awefully high, either the curb weight is wrong ( 4700 ), or GVWR is wrong ( the one I found on my own ), go get this number from the doorjam inside your truck. IF all these numbers are correct, that means you will be well within your limits of the truck on payload / carrying capacity, but will be right at the actual towing capacity. I've done this long enough to know though, the payload seems way to high IMO. That said, get the GVWR and let us know and we can tell you for sure.

The 5.3 Is an OLD outdated motor, that makes pretty horrible power either way, that putting 7k behind it in the hills will make you want to bite your nails off.

5.3 IS AN OUTDATED MOTOR WERE DID YOU GET THAT FROM! I pull a 6500 trailer with a GMC 4x4 cc with the 5.3 and have plenty of hp and GM is still selling thousands of them.
Jay D.

[SoundGuy]

IdaD wrote:
The notion that OP needs to stick to a popup with that truck is just silly.

SoundGuy wrote:
Who said that? :h

IdaD wrote:
Back on page 2, unless I misinterpreted.

Obviously the debate here is about how heavy a travel trailer the OP could tow with his truck, my own view being he'd be best to stick with one no more than ~ 6000 lbs fully loaded as that in turn would generate a gross tongue weight of ~ 800 lbs, leaving perhaps 600 - 700 lbs of remaining payload capacity to account for the weight of everyone and everything else in the truck at the time he's towing. However, for anyone to suggest he can only tow a popup is not just silly, it's absurd. :S

[IdaD]

SoundGuy wrote:

IdaD wrote:
The notion that OP needs to stick to a popup with that truck is just silly.

Who said that? :h

Back on page 2, unless I misinterpreted.

[drsteve]

Grit dog wrote:

Artum Snowbird wrote:
I would consider you able to haul a nice double ended tent trailer. You get a full bed at either end, lots of room inside, and it tows well behind your crew cab. Sometimes we just have to limit ourselves and accept we can't have it all.

Lol, can only haul a popup with a new half ton now? One in every crowd...

That's what I thought on first read, but I'm pretty sure he's actually referring to a hybrid.

[SoundGuy]

IdaD wrote:
The notion that OP needs to stick to a popup with that truck is just silly.

Who said that? :h

[Grit_dog]

Scardillo, all the last 4 pages of advice needs to be sorted through forsure, but my reccomendation would be if you keep the total trailer weight around 6000lbs plus whatever else is loaded in the truck (within reason), you will have a very capable tow rig.
This weight thing gets blown out of proportion. Duty cycle and driver ability are just as important of factors. If you're not horsewhipping the truck up 8000' mtn passes daily and have reasonable skill/aptitude for driving/towing and a wdh setup and good trailer brakes, this is a reasonable weight that can be pulled safely.
There are folks here who literally would have a heart attack if they ever came to realize or acknowledged the things that MANY people pull safely every day. Take one look around farming or construction and you won't worry about a little ole 3 ton trailer for long.

JMO

[IdaD]

I don't think that truck would struggle too much even with that trailer loaded up to the full 6800 GVWR. You could overload the payload rating if you load a bunch of gear into the bed of the truck but keep it reasonable and it should be fine. The notion that OP needs to stick to a popup with that truck is just silly.

[Grit_dog]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
I would consider you able to haul a nice double ended tent trailer. You get a full bed at either end, lots of room inside, and it tows well behind your crew cab. Sometimes we just have to limit ourselves and accept we can't have it all.

Lol, can only haul a popup with a new half ton now? One in every crowd...

[JIMNLIN]

Not getting a bigger truck. Not in the cards. I've decided against the original travel trailer and am now trying to find a 26 ft trailer that weighs 4700 lbs or less to suit my needs.

Your truck with your family in it won't have any issues towing that size trailer.
As I mentioned in my reply above my wife has a '16 1500 crew cab chevy 5.3 4x4 short bed 3.42 gears.
Front axle weight is 3120 lbs.
Rear axle weight is 2320 lbs
Her truck has a 4000 RAWR which leaves it with 1680 lb payload in the bed. The yellow tire placard gvwr based payload sticker says 1640 lbs. Your truck will have similar rear axle weights.

Depending on tranny gear selected the 6L80E tranny/3.42 axle/17" tires is the same as a 3.9/4.10 gears in her truck.
I tow mostly with my 2500 Dodge/Cummins or a 3500 DRW chev 4x4 454 engine.
The ET3 5.3 has very impressive low rpm torque and mid range power Her old '06 1500 same truck with a 5.3 4L60E tranny and 3.73 gears Simply doesn't compare.

[1oldtruck]

Your truck will be fine with a 4700 pound trailer. We towed our 31' TT weighing slightly more than you are looking at. We towed it with a 2005 and 2015 Half ton Silverado. The 2015 is night and day difference in towing ability with the 5.3, 6spd and 3.42 gear compared to the 2005 with the 6.0, 4spd and 4.10. Fuel economy is improved as well.. I run 60-65 mph and let everyone else fly by doing 80 plus. A properly set up WDH will have a significant impact on your towing experience. Good luck with your search.

[owenssailor]

You will be fine. I know this from my real world experience with and older version of your truck. This is not based on guess work and opinions with no relevant experience with the truck and weights you are looking at.

Our truck was a 2012 Silverado crew cab 4x4 5.3 6 spd 3:42 axle.

Trailer is 5400 lb from factory as per sticker and 1660 loaded.

We travel for 5 months every winter. This combination has made round trips from Ontario Canada to the Canadian East coast, to Florida and 3 to the US southwest including 2 over the mountains to San Diego. We average about 10 000 mile towing per season.

The truck has towed that trailer with no problems. Going up 6% slopes we maintain 50 MPH. The engine is revving but that is fine. They are built to do that. 4000 rpm will not hurt anything. My 2012 had 315 HP. The 2016/17s have 355.

You do have to be careful about what you put in the box of the truck. You cannot load it up with firewood but that is irresponsible anyway since that can transmit tree diseases. Most state and provincial parks do not want firewood hauled in.

You will need a good weight distribution hitch. Don't skimp on that. The ones with the separate anti sway bar are not a good choice. We use an equal-i-Zer brand hitch which has worked very well.

Whenever I am towing I use the tow'haul function. It keeps the tranny from hunting and also does provide engine braking on downhill runs. The tranny will actually shift down. I have used manual a few times such as going into and out of a canyon campground we like. The slope is 11%.

The 5.3 with the 6 spd and 3:42 is a better combination than the old 4 spd with 3:73 rear ends. There are charts around that show this.

If you have any direct questions feel free to PM me.

We have sold the 2012 with 100000 miles on it and now have a shiny new 2017 in the driveway with the 8 spd tranny. Can't wait to try it.

Good luck.