Towing with 2015 Chevrolet 1500 4x4

[MickeyD]

Towing overloaded really takes the fun out of trips. I have a LaCrosse 329 (a little bigger than what you are looking at) and started out towing it with a 14 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 4x4 CC and it was too much for it. A big case of the tail wagging the dog. I could have upgraded the tires to heavy duty LT tires and added airbags to control the sag in the back, but I traded it in for a Ram 2500 (that thing tows like a beast). Either get a smaller trailer or a bigger truck and life will be wonderful.

[howie70]

Originally Posted by Steveinthehills

I find this topic very interesting. I tow my 4,000 pound TT with a chevy 1500 with a 5.3 motor and a 4:11 rear end. I tow 90% in the hills and mountains and find that I"m always thinking about how to neigotiate the next hill and what RPM would be best to get up the hilll. I find it interesting that people with much larger travel trailers pulling with a half ton pick up. Alfer all a half ton has weaker springs, transmissions, brakes and rear ends than say a 3/4 ton. Just because truck manufactures give a certain towing rates it doesn't necessarily mean that it is safe to tow a larger TT; also onsider after 50k on your tow vehicle your tranmission, rear end or turbo charger blows up. I think trucks need to be bigger than the trailers they pull, instead of the "Tail pulling the dog". That's just my opinion.

I agree! I am pulling a 4000 pound TT also with a Dodge Ram 1500 with a 5.7 engine and 3.92 rear. I would not want to go much (if any) heavier than what I currently have.

[esloser]

Originally Posted by MickeyD

Towing overloaded really takes the fun out of trips. I have a LaCrosse 329 (a little bigger than what you are looking at) and started out towing it with a 14 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 4x4 CC and it was too much for it. A big case of the tail wagging the dog. I could have upgraded the tires to heavy duty LT tires and added airbags to control the sag in the back, but I traded it in for a Ram 2500 (that thing tows like a beast). Either get a smaller trailer or a bigger truck and life will be wonderful.

Your GMC was pretty much exactly what I have. I've also been looking at a Surveyor 294QBLE which comes in considerably lighter at 5,564 lbs. with a GVWR of 7,678 lbs.

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by esloser

That was my point in the original post though - doesn't weight distribution remove some of that weight from the tongue and push it back onto the trailer axle and some forward onto the truck's front axle thus freeing up some of the payload capacity for people and cargo? The numbers I saw were 25% / 50% / 25%.

Even though technically you do move some of the weight to the trailer axles, thus removing some weight from the truck, the weight redistributed to the front axles is still weight on the truck, and would be figured in with the payload.

Originally Posted by esloser

That's the only way I can see the 9,200 lbs. working. I can't imagine that Chevrolet would build a truck and tout its towing capacity at 9,200 lbs and 1. not be able to do it at all and 2. not be able to do it safely. They are opening themselves up to a huge lawsuit if someone were to load their truck up with a 9,200 lbs trailer and wreck it. My guess is the 9,200 lbs would be on the light side of the capabilities so that there's a built in margin of error. Especially, in today's litigious society.

Towing 9200 lbs. is 9200 lbs regardless of whether a WDH is used or not.

Chevrolet and all truck manufacturers include a GCWR rating to limit the total weight going down the road. Even though Chevy lists 9200 lbs as the tow capacity, the GCWR will limit the actual tow capacity. With an empty truck @ ~5800 lbs with a 15,000 lb GCWR, the tow capacity "should" be 9200 lbs. But as you load the truck with passengers and cargo, the tow capacity comes down so the GCWR is not exceeded.

My suggestion would be for the OP to gas up the truck, load up the missus, kids, and pets, put some expected travel items in the bed, and get the truck weighed, including separate weights with the axles. What is left if the tongue weight that can be added to the truck, as well as the trailer weight figured on the GCWR.

[sail2liv]

I did not see you post GCWR....you should look into that number.....

[esloser]

Originally Posted by sail2liv

I did not see you post GCWR....you should look into that number.....

it's 15,000 lbs.

[lbrjet]

Your understanding of the WDH as it relates to TW is wrong. It does move weight off the rear axle to the front axle, but this is the same weight that is removed from the front axle when you drop the trailer on: it is not tongue weight. Figure 20% of the TW will be shifted to the trailer axles (80% on the truck) and you will be in the ball park for your calculations. The weight of the WDH itself will also subtract from your payload.


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

[Loraura]

Originally Posted by esloser

Your GMC was pretty much exactly what I have. I've also been looking at a Surveyor 294QBLE which comes in considerably lighter at 5,564 lbs. with a GVWR of 7,678 lbs.

That's more in the ball park, but you still have to do the math on how much your wife and kids weigh, how much the hitch weighs, and any other stuff you've put in the truck to see how much ACTUAL payload you have left.

I can tell you that towing a 6104 dry 33 foot over all length TT (the 292BHDS) with my RAM 1500 is all within spec, but there is not a lot of wiggle room and I absolutely had to get a good sway prevention WDH (I went with Blue OX) because the friction sway systems were NOT enough for that 33 foot wind sail and my 1500 RAM. To give you some idea of the sway we observed with the cheaper friction system, two hands on the wheel, constant corrections, my dog was getting car sick! Upgraded to Blue Ox -- no more car sick dog! Driving one handed, no more white knuckles!

In order to be sure we stay under limits we put all camping gear, food, bikes, etc in the camper, not in the truck, and we only have the two of us + dog in the truck. If friends want to join us, they have to drive themselves and meet us there.

If I put 60 pounds of bikes, 50 pounds of ice/cooler, groceries, and luggage in the truck with us, I'll go over my payload. You have a little more payload to work with than I do, but you also have a much bigger family. Do the math. Keep your family safe.

[prestonj12]

Heck, I used to pull with a 3/4 ton Vortec and had the same hill anxiety. Now I have. 3/4 ton Duramax and don't worry about hills anymore. And I'm towing 3,000 lbs more now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rovinglion]

Having read through most of the comments there's not much to add but this. The combined weight of the truck, tailer, and payload is the key. Load up the truck with kids, gen, top off tanks, whatever, and hit the scales. Find out what your GCVWR is, subtract the weight of your TV and viola, that's what you can tow. How you distribute it is a minor consideration campared to how you will stop it. Even if you never see a mountain, there are idiots out there who will think that the extra space you're leaving between you and the car in front of you for extra braking room is really being saved just for them. I know you're tryng to balance economics with capabilitiesof the TV, but when crunch time comes physics trump economics, and you will need to stop all that weight in a hurry.

[prestonj12]

That's the one I love. Rolling at 18000 lbs and that mini van has to jump into that braking space you leave in front of you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Computer Nerd]

Originally Posted by TURBS

X2

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded
2011 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "24 nights"

X3


Computer Nerd
2014 Chevy Silverado 3500 HD Duramax
2016 Sandpiper 35ROK

[elchilero53]

Interesting discussion but you are asking for trouble. Take your tow capacity and multiply by 0.85. That is the max TT wet weight you should stay with until you can get a more appropriate vehicle. Dose of reality: I bought a used 1990 F-150 with 72,000 original miles and discovered after 30,000 miles that the truck had been overloaded with a goose-neck livestock trailer. It cost me a new tranny, transfer case and a total rebuild of the rear end. Lesson learned. Get a TT with bunks for the kids that is below 5000 dry and move on until you can get a new TV. I tow a SolAire 20RBS (4408 dry weight) with a 2014 Tahoe Z71 with the tow package. I have no problems on hills though on an 8% grade it is slow from a standing start though half way up I was accelerating. I have plenty of power for the little towing that I do. If we went full time, I would have a 3500 Chevy and a 5R with weight appropriate to the limits of the TV. I would continue shopping.