newbie and confused

[rubsal70]

Merry Christmas,
I am new to this forum and looking to Buy a TT and I have done some research. I have a Chevy Silverado 1500 4.8 with 3.23. Max trailer weight is 4700 and gcwr is 10000. Well if I change my gears to 3.73 that would raise my Max trailer weight 6700 and 12000 gcwr. Well that's my truck.

The TT that I am looking at is a jayco Jay swift 264bh. The yellow stickers on the TT range from 4500-4600lbs. My question is, is this safe? With the gear change or not? Please advice
Thanks in advance

[rubsal70]

I just want to say thank you for all your help. I keep getting emails saying that Someone is replying but I don't see anything.

[gmw_photos]

kgg402 wrote:
You should look at suspension options . load distribution hitch maybe air bags sway control. Tire ratings. Trailer brakes a must. Your pulling power is not going to be your issue . control is going to be major issue. A half ton truck without suspension modification. You will be looking at the stars and swaying all over the place.

"looking at the stars and swaying all over the place" ????

uuuum....probably not. Considering the weight of trailer the OP is talking about, it is entirely possible to set this rig up for safe, comfortable towing. The important issues of remaining within payload, axle, and receiver limits have already been covered in this thread.

[wmoses]

kgg402 wrote:
A half ton truck without suspension modification. You will be looking at the stars and swaying all over the place.

Doesn't happen with any rig I own.

[rubsal70]

Well I do plan on using a weight distribution with sway control. a lot of people have said that is enough. But I will look into that as well
Thanks

[kgg402]

You should look at suspension options . load distribution hitch maybe air bags sway control. Tire ratings. Trailer brakes a must. Your pulling power is not going to be your issue . control is going to be major issue. A half ton truck without suspension modification. You will be looking at the stars and swaying all over the place.

[kgg402]

jerem0621 wrote:

rubsal70 wrote:
Guys Merry Christmas again. Thank you all for the info that y'all have given me. As of right now it looks like I'll be changing to 3.73 gears. I also will be adding a transmission cooler to it. What else would I need. The way we camp with the family is we just take clothes, cooler and some gear. It never totals 500 lbs of cargo. Besides the cooler what else do y'all recommend. My truck is not a 4x4 so only rear axle change would be needed. I do plan on getting a WD with sway control and obviously brake control for the trailer. Do I need to upgrade brakes to my truck also? I appreciate the info. I'm a little confused but to me it makes sense that changing gears will add max tow as per manual and like others have confirmed. To the person who posted the video to me and like someone said it doesn't look stressed. Any one else have any more advice please let me know. I will try to make a decision in the next week or two
Thanks

Here is a thought... Instead of 3.73 why not go to a 4.10 now. The cost is the same and you should not notice much difference between the two in daily driving. However, towing will be much nicer with the 4.10.

Thanks

[rubsal70]

Yeah I don't plan driving any faster than 65 anyways. I live in Texas and we really don't have mountains. I plan to go to the coast n other state parks. Not really big mountains or even hills.
Thanks

[CavemanCharlie]

You know my last truck was a 95 F-150 with a 5.0 (302) engine and a 3 speed with OD automatic transmission (4 speed) I use to pull my 20 foot 4580 pound (loaded) TT around with it and had no problem. But, I will admit I live in flat country and never went up any mountains. I also didn't tow over 60 mph. It would start running out of steam around 65.

[rubsal70]

Like I said before I will be towing maybe like once a month so its not a lot. Hopefully in 5 years I can buy a bigger truck but this has to do for right now.
Thanks guys

[wmoses]

rubsal70 wrote:
Wmoses actually I have a 4speed.it's a 4.8 v8 truck. Is that going to be a problem?

Not a problem, as such. Just not as good a spread of gears especially for a smaller engine.

[rubsal70]

Wmoses actually I have a 4speed.it's a 4.8 v8 truck. Is that going to be a problem?

[wmoses]

l believe that it was a Canadian truck based on the transmission temp. being in Celsius. That would mean that the speed was 100km/h which is just over 60 mph.

[Godfather2u]

OpenRangePullen_Ford wrote:
4.8 V-8 with a 4-Speed(?), Thats a lot of work on the engine and Trans, think above the new rear end and consider a new tow vehicle. Here's a video I found on YouTube with a 1500 4.8 pulling a 4700 pound TT, Seams stressed out even with 4700 pounds 2011 sierra 4.8 towing 23 Foot RV
Good Luck you'll need it :S

Maybe it's my eyes, but was he pulling at 100mph???????!

[wmoses]

gmw photos wrote:
So bottom line is, it sounds like you are pretty happy with your set up ?

'My friend' is very pleased with the upgrade. 🙂 Said that it was well worth the money spent given that the truck is a daily driver AND changing the truck was not an option. At the time of the swap the sales associate / enthusiast at 4 Wheel Parts asked why stop at 3.42? Why not go to 3.73 or even 4.10? The reason given was that (a) it was a daily driver so fuel economy while not towing was very important , (b) keeping to rms low when driving (towing or not) is less irritating and tiring, and (c) going up to the higher ratios does not result in the same percentage gain as going from 3.08 to 3.42.

Real world result is that the truck does a fine job of pulling the trailer which is nominally 7000#. Pulling is done @ 60 mph, cruise control, and tow haul mode - set it and forget it. Occasionally speed up to 75 mph to pass something slower but because the rig is tire speed limited to 65 mph the rig is slowed back down to the comfort speed of 60. Mileage has not changed much when towing - still around 10 mpg - despite the trailer jumping from 3800# to 7000#. Engine revs while towing did not change either - mostly less than 3000 rpm, and often around 2700 rpm. Shifting down causes revs to jump to 3500 rpm or so, max. When not towing revs are about 200 rpm higher @ 65 mph and fuel economy has dropped almost 1 mpg.

As for the OP's truck - hopefully it is a 6-speed since the lower gears are needed to pull off from a standstill. I think that he will be fine with a 1-Step change in the rear gear.