tow weight opinions for a possible upgrade

[FireLieutenant7]

Have the 09 silverado in my signature. we are looking into moving to a viewfinder 28bhss. dry weight or little under 6000. we do not ever tow with loaded fresh grey or black tanks. use linx levelers so no wood to add weight. buy most firewood at campgrounds due to regulations where we are. just typical pots, pans, use plastic plates ans things, so really not at on of extra weight. its me my wife and 2 small kids. approx 400 lbs in all of us. Guess what im getting at is that we dont load our camper all the heavily. Looking through here and around campgrounds tons of folks pull larger trailers with half tons, just looking for insight from the pros here. I use equilizer wdh with 1000/10000 set up. just looking for opinions or anyone who pulls this type setup with similar vehicle. thanks again

[APT]

500 pounds of water or wood doesn't make much difference to the truck. Going from 6000 pound empty truck to 14000 pounds towing a high walled RV does. 13,500 vs. 14,000 won't affect much.

6k dry is a good limit for the most capable half tons. The 4-spd trans will not be pleasant for up-hill freeway on-ramps, but the 5.3L likes to rev. Use 3rd gear and tow/haul mode.

[FireLieutenant7]

Yea, It tows my htt just fine. This new one will be heavier, maybe close to limits, but a well set up equalizer should do ok. There is a cat public scale between dealership and home. so I plan on getting the set up weighed on way home. see where i am. that will tell me more..If it is horrible over time, I can always look into another tv later on. I am not a big believer like some on here that ya need a 3/4 ton or about to tow anything though. half tons are very capable tv's, especially late model ones from the big three. They are doing much better with this.

[TecheMan]

You will probably close to your all your limits for you TV. I would stay close to home for the first couple trips and judge how it tows. Make sure you the TT brakes are working properly and don't get in a rush. Allow for extra time and travel slower. I think you will be ok because of all the things you listed I feel you already know your pushing it some.
TecheMan

[ktosv]

How does your truck tow the current trailer? What part of Ohio are in you in? The flat northwest corner or the hilly east side?

We towed a similar sized hybrid with an 05 Suburban with the 5.3L but we had a 3.42 axle. It towed great. Three years ago we moved up to the Passport. It has a loaded axle weight of about 6200# (published at 5400#) and tongue weight of about 820#. With the six of us and two dogs I was over my rear axle weight rating by 200# and exceeded my GCWR by almost 1000#. With four of you at 400#, you will be near your axle weights and just under your GCWR with the 3.73 axle.

The Suburban actually did fine from a power stand point. It definetly didn't get up and move like it did our hybrid, but I was okay with the performance. I had a tranny temp gauge installed and never saw anything concerning, even towing a 4th of July weekend with outside temps pushing 100F.

Where it lacked was the suspension. It was stable, but you really knew the trailer was back there. Later that summer we moved up to an 04 3/4 ton Suburban. The ride difference was night and day. We now tow with a 1 ton Express. Probably the most frustrating thing of towing with the 1/2 ton was due to pushing the limits of the suspension, every single time I hooked up I had to adjust my Dual Cam sway control. The little variation in weight from a start of a trip to the end, the cams were no longer in place. One of the wonderful things of the Express so far is that I set the hitch up the first time last year, and haven't touched it since.

Good luck with your decision.

[Two_cats]

Anyone buying a viewfinder by cruiser rv you need to keep an eye on the front end for color fading I have a 2012 viewfinder 27rbss that is grey in color after 1 year the color has bleached white. It has been cleaned a number of times been waxed no less than three times. Cruiser will not fix it or help with repair. We like the trailer I will not replace with this brand again. Any co. That will not call to task the co. That is producing there front caps is not much of a co. No matter who they are.

[mastercraft1995]

You'll be fine with that set up.

[blt2ski]

Reality is, you will probably do fine. My 25 yr old son has a reg cab with a 4.8, 3.42 gears abd the 4l60 trans, he's pulled upwardsof 7K with it, and has no complaints. Does as well or better than my older 6.5td, then again, he has 120 more HP than that motor had, but less torque.

It will pull fine, alibi probably a bit slower and or more revs. I would fine a gear, rpm that the motor is not pushing itself and go up the hills. For my diesels, that has been 2500 rpm or so. For my vortec 350, about 3500-4000. Your 5.3 will probably turn a few more r's than the 350, so 4000-4500, If you need to shift down a gear, but you can go 5500 or so r's, slow to that 4000-4500, and enjoy the ride to the top.

As long as you are not overloaded in axel capacity, have brakes that work on the trailer, enjoy the trip with your kids. When you get over the actual wt capacities of your current truck, look at a new truck. in the mean time, enjoy the time with the kids, they grow up quick!

Another that will allow smaller motors to work better, find a trailer that is more aerodynamic, ie rounded in the front, and has smooth solid walls. The corrogated aluminum trailer do weigh less, but are actually harder to pull, and use more fuel due to worst aerodynamics. SOmething MANY folks do not take into consideration.

Marty

[FireLieutenant7]

yea I understand as family grows, needs will change. As they get bigger tow vehicle will age itself out of the loop also. At that time I of course would look back at how it towed versus what a 2500 series would. I was just asking for a baseline of opinion or of people who have towed similar with a similar tow vehicle. It is 2009 ext cab 1500 silverado std bed, z71 with 5.3 has factory z82 hd towing and tranny oil cooler on it. Was just looking to from some people who have experienced similar rigs. We live in ohio, most mountain we would encounter is smokies on 75 southbound. I know alot of people on here are die hard 3/4 ton or better to tow a small lawn trailer, but That isnt always an option for everyone when it is your daily driver also. GM states 7500 to 8000 lbs with up to 1100 tongue weight with wdh. and the trailer will be within that, but like i said, just wanted to hear from folks on here with similar experience. Thanks so much for all of your help.

[blt2ski]

HOw long will the four of you be at 400 lbs? Heck my ex and I are 400 lbs....now add in our 4 kids, I think the minimum we were was around 600 or so, now try 1300-1400 when the kids were adult sized teens! I'd have the op's truck at gvwr before adding the hitch wt of a trailer! so my tow capacity would be zilch, nada, nothing! or what happens when those two tots say, can we bring a friend ea? now you are in my wt catagory!

Reality is, at some point in time......if you go to a bigger trailer, you will need a bigger truck, because if nothing else, you may/will run out of payload, before running out of power with todays trucks. At one time, if a half ton had over 200 ponies with a mid 300 CI sb8, you had a power house. Now adays with V8's having 300hp, you will not run out of HP! yeah at 10K elevation in the rocies you will be down some 90hp, or about 200, try going from 200 down to 140 or so! talk about slow!

So you have to decide if you need a bigger truck, and the why! I needed a 25 series truck to tow a tent trailer, just because as noted above, the wt of my family had a typical 5 or 6 lug 15 series truck at gvwr!

Marty

[EcoBullet]

If you are only going on fairly short trips in normal terrain, you'll probably be fine. I had the same truck, only a year older with the 4 speed tranny. I pulled the trailer in my signature (5250 dry 7500 loaded) around our area (SE OK, NE TX, West Arkansas) just fine, but last summer's adventure to Colorado made an impression on me! Climbing passes at 4500 rpm for several miles and engine temps rising to 235 is not what I like.

[Terryallan]

Just from the TV. Looks like you will be fine, and IF it is a 2 wheel drive truck, You will be better. No reason a 5.3, 3.73 rear, Can't tow a 7000lb TT. And by what you say. It prolly won't be that heavy. I personally can believe the 400 lb statement. As we only add 600 to our's. And we carry alot more than we need.

[Desert_Captain]

Sounds like you would be pushing the envelope, depends on what the Payload of your truck is. That trailer has a GVWR of 7,660# and you can expect to be near 7,000# fully loaded which generates over 900# of Tongue weight. Add that plus 400# for your family and another 100# for the WDH and you are at 1400#. Many half ton trucks don't have much if any more than that to start with which would leave you able to take nothing in the truck without overloading the TV. The issue with half tons inevitably comes down to payload.... or the lack thereof. Good luck! :C

[Goldstalker]

I think you will be just fine with that set up.

[NC_Hauler]

dry/empty weights are a joke...no matter what you load up to or do or don't carry, your best bet is to use the trailers GVW and go from there.....Don't load with water, thats fine, nothing in any tanks, but you WILL carry something....best bet is give us an idea of what the GVW of the trailer you're going to tow is and go from there. Do you tow in the mountains? How many in the family? It's amazing how much one can load into an rv before you realize it.

.....oh, just because TONS of people tow bigger trailers with 1/2 tons doesn't make it right or safe....If the GVW of the trailer can be handled by your truck, then you're good to go. What is the recommendations for your vehicle for towing a TT?

ON EDIT: Looks like "towing capacity" of the TT you're looking at is 7660# or somewhere there abouts...I would think your truck should be able to handle that...again, what does your owners manual tell you about how much you can tow with your truck when it comes to a TT?