Chevy Silverado 1500 Max Tow (NHT)

[manley]

We're at Topsail Hill State Park, and a couple here in the campground are towing a Crusader 5th Wheel with the TV in the subject line. According to Primetime's web site, their lightest 5th wheel has a published dry weight of 8,444 pounds, and a tongue weight of 1,200 pounds. The things you see sometimes... (shaking my head).

[blt2ski]

blind guy,

I would have told the guy to estimate me, then SHOW ME the actual law (RCW in wa st) I was breaking if I was over a manufactures wt limit. If he tried to tell me I was, he would have had an earfull with the REAL RCW saying what my actual state limits were, along with the FEDERAL wt limits! Which the fed and st limits are generally speaking the same. Have been on the books for roads and other paths, etc since the early to mid 1800's. Being as cars were not around at that time, with manufacture limits, the locals went by lbs per inch width of tire or equal that "vehicles" had in those days. The wt laws are enforced the same today as they were before the civil war etc. He would not have gotten very far with me. As the wt laws are there to protect the road bed themselves, NOT us as drivers of vehicles, passengers, etc.

Marty

[BlindGuynAR]

BlindGuynAR wrote:
Instead of shaking your head maybe you should turn around and watch your campfire. It's dying out and far more important to worry about then what the other campers around you drive.

Just my .02

I guess some background on this should have been provided. Not that I'm a fan of WP, but one recently was pretty Intrusive.

We were at a CG two weeks ago and watched a camper go from site to site talking to each camper.

At first we thought he was just making rounds meeting folks.

Then we noticed him carrying a logbook, calculator, looking in cargo bins, and looking at weight tags for the truck and trailers.

When he came to our site and I greeted him and offered a beverage. He began to explain the process. He was going site to site explaining trailer weights, truck towing, and what he thought weight laws were being broken. He would, free of charge, estimate our cargo weight, hitch weight, and give us a quick lesson in weight safety.

i told him unless he had a CAT scale with him, since that was the only true way to calculate weights, not to bother.

He said after years of doing this people had compared his numbers to scale numbers and they were only normally off by 2%-5%. i again declined his offer and said 5% on 15k trailer was 750lbs and that alone could mean over/under a rating so why bother?

He said everyone else lets him and was I afraid to know my weights? i said great there are other campers down the row he could visit to satisfy his need to educate and Intrude on mankind. (Pretty rude on my part, but honestly I'm not sure I could've opened the truck door or cargo doors due to the before mentioned beverages and he was a real buzz kill)

Before all the WP weigh in with were you afraid? No I wasn't. It was the idea that he automatically assumed everyone was dumb on the subject and I felt no need to embellish his ego. I know my weights, axle ratings, tow ratings, and cargo limits thank you very much to this forum.

I thought about it later and if I were an HD truck salesman I would employ his method to scare someone into a bigger TV.

Anyway long story short version is I was rubbed the wrong way by the WP recently and I'm sure I read more into OP than I should have. I guess the OP's comment about the things you see sometimes holds true.

[mooky_stinks]

I already had them from my previous truck that I towed a Fifth wheel with. They're Airlift brand and they're now about 5 years old and they've been great. I use about 20lbs in them and it seems to help on dips in the road. I've tried different poundages but haven't seen too much difference. The exhaust speaks for itself! lol

[The_Texan]

mooky stinks wrote:
You can get the 6.2 without the NHT and then you can get the 3.42 gear. The NHT only comes with the 3.73. My truck came with only the 6.2 option. It includes the 9.5 rear end with rear disc brakes, HD cooling which includes an engine oil cooler, and 3.5" exhaust which exits straight out the back.

I love the deep rumble from the 6.2L factory exhaust......which airbags did you install and why did you install them? How do they affect the ride and load capacity? PM me if you want.

[mooky_stinks]

You can get the 6.2 without the NHT and then you can get the 3.42 gear. The NHT only comes with the 3.73. My truck came with only the 6.2 option. It includes the 9.5 rear end with rear disc brakes, HD cooling which includes an engine oil cooler, and 3.5" exhaust which exits straight out the back.

[APT]

I did not think the 3.42 axle came with the NHT package and 7300 pound GVWR. An extended cab 4WD NHT could have over 2000 pounds of payload.

Still, that's more than I recommend for any half ton but the HD payload F150.

[jerem0621]

Saw a sweet vintage 98 F150 pull a large fiver into the campground the other day. Looks safe and then I realized that I was looking not at a F150 but a F250 LD ...

Looks can be deceiving.

[blt2ski]

It's only wrong if it is against the law. From what little I know about weight laws, at least here in Wa st. there is NOTHING illegal about that setup, UNLESS< the truck is over about 10K per axel, doubt it! or the trailer has more than around 18K lbs on the tires. I also doubt that. Now the truck may not have enought paid for wt tags.....which if pulled over by one of our finest SP LEO's that does wt check.....they would get a 10 day up their paid for gvwr, and sent on there way! Don't ask me how I know this!LOLOLOL

marty

[The_Texan]

manley wrote:
It's rated to tow 10,400.
My nearly identical truth has 1,770 pounds payload capacity.

(Edited because I shouldn't have been a horse's a$$.)

Your 10 is old school....NOT up to 13 standards.....check the numbers for a 13, or even a 12....Also, the payload has increased from what yours was, as even mine is well above yours.......from the GM website

"The maximum trailering package combines a heavy-duty 9.5-inch rear axle, locking differential, heavy-duty cooling system and other enhanced features to enable a maximum towing capacity of 10,700 pounds (4,853 kg) on extended cab models."

[gmcsmoke]

manley wrote:

BlindGuynAR wrote:
Instead of shaking your head maybe you should turn around and watch your campfire. It's dying out and far more important to worry about then what the other campers around you drive.

Just my .02

Her's my $.02:
KMA!

[manley]

It's rated to tow 10,400.
My nearly identical truth has 1,770 pounds payload capacity.

(Edited because I shouldn't have been a horse's a$$.)

[Goldstalker]

Isn't that truck rated for like 11,500lbs???

[BlindGuynAR]

Instead of shaking your head maybe you should turn around and watch your campfire. It's dying out and far more important to worry about then what the other campers around you drive.

Just my .02

[The_Texan]

Have you bothered to look up the numbers for the truck...:? sure doesn't sound like it. The truck has a load number of close to 2000±#. It is rated to tow 10,700# for a 5th wheel, has 420+# torque. It has larger 4 wheel disc brakes, the larger ¾t 3.73 rear end. some folks think you need a semi to safely and legally tow a fiver and that is NOT the case today.