Will my truck pull this TT safely?

Doug33 wrote:

jmtandem wrote:
Unless, of course, you have the mighty half ton Toyota Tundra, then you can pull your 173,000 pound space shuttle around the neighborhood impressing all your neighbors.

LOL - stupidest commercial I have ever seen.

Have you seen the new Tundra commercials, when the baseball diamond is being constructed in the backyard the Tundra yanks out a boulder and sends it flying like it was a pebble. I have no doubt the truck can pull the boulder.... but yank it out like it weighs nothing :(

jmtandem wrote:
Unless, of course, you have the mighty half ton Toyota Tundra, then you can pull your 173,000 pound space shuttle around the neighborhood impressing all your neighbors.

LOL - stupidest commercial I have ever seen.

jmtamden wrote:
Unless, of course, you have the mighty half ton Toyota Tundra, then you can pull your 173,000 pound space shuttle around the neighborhood impressing all your neighbors.

Or a 3 Litre Pickup with a 2,400lb payload for a Dualcab here :)

Yes it will pull it safely.

Should be one more sticker like this on the driver's door. 7300 GVWR means NHT package with that 6.2L. With an extended cab 4WD, you probably have close to 2000 pounds of payload.



7k dry means about 8000-8500 loaded and 11000-1200 pounds of TW. That is probably right at your limits, but I think it's a good match.

Get a quality weight distributing hitch with integrated sway control like Equal-i-zer or Reese Strait Line with 1200 pound rating.

love2rvcamp wrote:
First thing you need to do is look at the yellow sticker on your drivers door. These are specific ratings for your truck. There will be a number that shows you the max cargo capacity of your truck. This number is how much cargo your truck can handle. This number includes a tank of gas (26 gallons) and the driver weight. Any other weight you add will have to be deducted from this weight. So that is weight in the bed of the truck, other passengers and the hitch weight of the trailer and the weight of any WDH you will add. There will also be weights for front and rear axle. You will find you will run out of cargo weight way before you run out of trailer weight on some of the 1/2 tons. You can figure the hitch of the trailer will be any where from 13 - 15% of the GVWR

+1

That is what I keep saying LOL

First thing you need to do is look at the yellow sticker on your drivers door. These are specific ratings for your truck. There will be a number that shows you the max cargo capacity of your truck. This number is how much cargo your truck can handle. This number includes a tank of gas (26 gallons) and the driver weight. Any other weight you add will have to be deducted from this weight. So that is weight in the bed of the truck, other passengers and the hitch weight of the trailer and the weight of any WDH you will add. There will also be weights for front and rear axle. You will find you will run out of cargo weight way before you run out of trailer weight on some of the 1/2 tons. You can figure the hitch of the trailer will be any where from 13 - 15% of the GVWR

frankhuggins wrote:
Here are the numbers off my door sticker:

GVWR 7300 lbs
GAWR 3950 lbs
GAWR RR 4200 lbs

I don't see any figures for payload. It is a 4X4 Extended Cab 1/2 ton.

To find your payload, you need to subtract the actual weight of the truck (approximately 5300 lbs) from the GVWR of 7300 lbs. That would appear to be 2000 lbs payload but I believe you're actually limited to 1700 with that truck. I will check my door sticker to see what it states, I'm not sure of the wording on the sticker but I know it is on the door.

legolas wrote:

frankhuggins wrote:
I have a 2012 6.2 Chevy Silverado with a GCWR of 16,000 lbs., according to the owners manual. The maximum trailer weight is 10,400 lbs.

The trailer I am considering is 29' in length with a GVWR of 9,680 lbs and a UVW of 6,966.

Will my truck safely pull this trailer, assuming I have it rigged correctly with anti-sway bars, brakes, etc?

Thanks in advance for your help! These weight and towing calculations are really confusing to me.

I have no idea if you have a 1500 or a 2500 HD....so. I have an 08 2500 HD with approx. the same GCWR. My TT checks in at 5700 empty and 6500 loaded for camping. I live in the mountains of North Carolina the Great Smoky Mountains....everywhere I pull I am going up a mountain. I camp in GA often and just this August was in Helen. I have the 6.0 motor w/ 6 spd tranny. I have pulled my TT from NC through Denver to Utah to Bryce and Zion then into Arizona for the Grand Canyon and Sedona.

So to answer your question succinctly MAYBE, but not for me. Your TT is 7000 lbs empty if you really do any camping you will not be able to keep the weight of your added stuff below 600 lbs. If you have kids and bikes and etc you will more likely approach 1000 lbs. I personally like to maintain a margin of capacity for my TV in the event I have an issue. Usually when I am pulling up a good size grade I will be in 3rd @ 3500 rpm. There have been times that I have had to drop into 2nd @ 3500 to maintain speeds of 35 -40. I would not be comfortable pulling TT that weighed another 1000 lbs over my current setup.

So can you pull it safely? My feeling would be that it would be marginal if you approach the 9000 lb weight on the TT. If you are going to be pulling in any sort of mountainous areas I will bet that you won't be sanguine about the experience. You will certainly need to be scrupulously accurate (dead bang on) with all your gear setups. That of course assumes that you saty within the limits of your TV GAWR, GCWR, max tounge weight etc, etc. If it were me I would look for a different TT. You should be able to find a unit that fits your needs which weighs in less.

Good luck in your search.

You could have used a 1/2 ton with the 5.3 and still been fine with your weight. The 6.0 L engine you have does not even make peak torque until 4400 rpm and peak horsepower until 5400 rpm. You can easily let that engine speed up and be much happier with the power delivered. You are really pushing that engine to pull up those hills at such low engine speeds. Give it some more throttle!

The 5.3 engine in a 1/2 ton is more then capable of pulling the trailer as described, but I highly doubt that the hitch is rated for that much tongue weight and I suspect that he will exceed his max payload rating.

I think your too close for comfort.

Although some would say I leave too much safety margin, and that's OK (everyone has the right to their own opinion of course), My rule of thumb is to use the trailer's GVWR versus the vehicle's tow rating and try to go no more than 80% of the trailer GVWR versus the vehicle's tow rating.

Using this non-scientific formula, with a 10,400 lb tow rating, you should be no more than 8,320 with your trailer GVWR. Again, different opinions for different folks. This is just what has worked for me over the years.

A good example is my current set up. My 00 Expy has a 6950 tow rating and my Layton has a 6K GVWR, so to stay within my rule, I should have a trailer with a GVWR no more than 5560lbs. With my Layton I'm at around 86%. I've been towing trailers and TT's for many years and fully loaded, ready to camp the combo of trailer weight and gear and occupats in my Expy it does feel heavy, and at or near limits.

In my opinion, the trailer you propose is too much for your 1/2 ton pickup.

Good luck in your decision.

-Greg