Enough Truck for Grey Wolf 27BHKS

Bull543 · 02-05-2013, 08:42 PM

I am getting ready to buy first tt and was looking at a Grey Wolf 27BHKS. Dealer stated my Chevy Silverado 1500 would have no problem towing it. However, after reading some forums i am concerned maybe I don't have enough truck. My 1500 is an 2008 with a 5.3 engine and a 3.73 gear ratio. Its is rated at 7500lbs towing capacity. The Grey Wolf has a dry weight kusted at 5800lbs and max weight at 7800!

Has anybody had any experience towing these with similiar vehicle?

Twisty · 02-05-2013, 08:59 PM

The maximum payload rating for the truck is on the drivers door. What is it?
The driver, all passengers, all cargo in or on the truck and the loaded tongue weight of the trailer have to be subtracted from that number.
12% (average or recommended tongue weight) of 7800 is 936. Add everything to that and you'll get an approximate payload.
When hitched up ready for travel my payload (the amount of weight I'm carrying on the truck) is about 1300 pounds.
Just trying to help. Some 1500's or 1/2 tons have very little payload available.

Rrickim63 · 02-05-2013, 09:22 PM

Sounds too close for comfort. I wouldn't recommend it, regardless of how the math turns out.

Bull543 · 02-05-2013, 09:25 PM

I know this is astupid question...I have a GVWR rating of 7000lbs and GAWR of 3950lbs...which is payload...I am guessing its the 3950?

**ependydad** · 02-05-2013, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bull543

I know this is astupid question...I have a GVWR rating of 7000lbs and GAWR of 3950lbs...which is payload...I am guessing its the 3950?

Your payload is the the GVWR minus the weight of the truck and anything in it. For instance, say your truck weighs an even 5,000 pounds with a full tank of fuel. That leaves you with 2,000 pounds. But now you have to take off the weight of all of the passengers, the stuff they carry and anything else you carry in the bed. For ease of numbers, let's say that's 1,000 pounds. You now have 1,000 pounds remaining for the tongue weight of the camper.

Make sense?

MtnGuy · 02-06-2013, 10:48 AM

Bull, that trailer is a bunkhouse, so I presume there are kids. Load up the entire family (including Fido) in the truck, throw in whatever camping gear (generator, firewood, tool boxes) you expect to carry in the bed, and head to the nearest quarry, landfill, grain storage facility, etc., and see if they will weigh your truck for you. Subtract that weight from your GVWR of 7000 lbs. If you have at least 1000 lbs. of additional payload, then that should handle the tongue weight of the trailer.

You also need to consider whether the receiver hitch is up to the task. There should be a sticker on the hitch stating the maximum weights....both with a weight carrying and a weight distribution figure. That trailer is gonna have around a 1000 lb. tongue weight, so make sure the hitch is rated for that. Many times, when a truck is rated for 7500 lbs., the weight distibuting tongue weight is barely over 10% of the total maximum weight....in that case 750 lbs.

Also, that trailer is around 32'. You did not mention what cab/bed configuration you have, but a long wheelbased truck would be best.......145' minimum, 157" better.

Call your dealer with your VIN to make sure your truck is rated at 7500 lbs. If so, you would need to keep the total weight of the trailer below 7500 lbs.

The big problem with 1/2 tons are the payloads. Load up the family and camping gear, hang a trailer on the bumper, and many times the GVWR is exceeded.

**ependydad** · 02-06-2013, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtnguy

Bull, that trailer is a bunkhouse, so I presume there are kids. Load up the entire family (including Fido) in the truck, throw in whatever camping gear (generator, firewood, tool boxes) you expect to carry in the bed, and head to the nearest quarry, landfill, grain storage facility, etc., and see if they will weigh your truck for you.

Bull, you could also hit a truck stop and go to a CAT Scale to get weighed. Your wife and kids will think you're nuts

, but it'll be worth it to be safe!

MtnGuy · 02-06-2013, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ependydad

Bull, you could also hit a truck stop and go to a CAT Scale to get weighed.

CAT scales are great, but I didn't mention them because many times the scales listed are closer.

Cat scales are better than the other scales listed once you have a trailer hooked up, to get a tongue weight and axle weights.

**ependydad** · 02-06-2013, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtnguy

CAT scales are great, but I didn't mention them because many times the scales listed are closer.

Cat scales are better than the other scales listed once you have a trailer hooked up, to get a tongue weight and axle weights.

Makes sense... I think that depends on where you live. Living in the suburbs of Baltimore and DC, I'm possibly the oddity that (I think) the CAT scales are closest. Looking at the OP's profile says Richmond- I wasn't sure what they had around them.

Appreciate your point, though!

chof16 · 02-06-2013, 01:30 PM

I tow with basically the same truck in GMC form. We have a 2011 Surveyor SP260 with a trailer sticker dry weight of about 4600 lbs and a max weight of 7600 lbs. I likely tow at about 5500 lbs but have a fair amount of weight in the truck with wife, 3 small kids, and a dog. In general it tows quite well. We live in NC and tow both to the beach and in the mountains. Power is fine in the mountains and brakes are OK but they can get a little warm. When I load up the truck bed (bikes) the truck does squat some. I am planning a trip to a scale to get the specific numbers this spring so I can have some better confidence in how much to load the truck and if I can adjust the weight distribution to help some. When I first bought this setup I thought I had plenty of truck for the trailer but have learned that I wouldn't want much less.

jeeplj8 · 02-06-2013, 02:39 PM

as stated by MTNGUY you need a little bit more information. I will say that virtually everyone who has posted a similar question has found they were over the payload rating of their 1500 truck. not all have decided to upgrade.

I like CAT scales, and the kids think it is cool when we pull onto one.

I know that FR sells that trailer as 1/2 ton towable, but some numbers don't work their way.

MtnGuy · 02-06-2013, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ependydad

Makes sense... I think that depends on where you live. Living in the suburbs of Baltimore and DC, I'm possibly the oddity that (I think) the CAT scales are closest. Looking at the OP's profile says Richmond- I wasn't sure what they had around them.

Appreciate your point, though!

Well, I got lazy and didn't look at Bull's location. There are 5 Cat scales in the Richmond area......circling like a wagon train.

CAT Scale Locator | CAT Scale

The CAT scales might be a better bet than trying to find 1 of the truck scales that I mentioned. I bet ependydad's suggestion will be much more practical than mine.

The local quarry about 2 miles away has been great with weighing my truck.....I just gotta wait for a lull in the dump truck parade.

But it takes a bunch of weigh-ins.....the truck front axle, the truck 2 axles, the truck and trailer on the scales, then just the trailer axles on the scales. The I undo the WDH and do it all over again. Then I take the trailer home, and come back with just the truck and weight each of those axles again.

The last couple of times, I have been using a CAT scale about 20 miles from me. With the WDH, without the WDH, and then without the trailer....I just drop it in the truck parking lot.

jeeplj8 · 02-06-2013, 03:20 PM

I used CAT when setting mine up because each re-weigh in 24 hours is free.

garbonz · 02-06-2013, 04:07 PM

There appears to be a CAT scale nearby me. How do you use them and what do they cost???

I'll drive by the truck stop it is at and take a look on my way to work and maybe haul over there (it's like only a mile or so) this weekend.

jeeplj8 · 02-06-2013, 04:11 PM

CAT scales are all over the place. The fee is 10.00 to weigh, then any re-weighs in 24 hours a free.

Check out youtube for the official how to weigh video, the hardest part with a pick-up is reaching up to hit the call button.

I took mine out and weighed it all hooked up as the dealer sent me home, which gave the steer axle, drive axle and trailer axle weights. I then re-weighed it with the WD bars unhooked, and a third time with the trailer unhooked and sitting on the trailer pad alone.

That gave me a lot of information, I was truly surprised at my tongue weight and decided to upgrade my hitch.

MtnGuy · 02-06-2013, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

CAT scales are all over the place. The fee is 10.00 to weigh, then any re-weighs in 24 hours a free.

Hmmm....my local CAT Scale charge $1 per reweigh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

Check out youtube for the official how to weigh video, the hardest part with a pick-up is reaching up to hit the call button.

Yeah, you need to take a broom stick or something to reach the call button.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

I took mine out and weighed it all hooked up as the dealer sent me home, which gave the steer axle, drive axle and trailer axle weights. I then re-weighed it with the WD bars unhooked, and a third time with the trailer unhooked and sitting on the trailer pad alone.

Do you mean you left the trailer on the scales ?? If so, the same thing can be accomplished by dropping the trailer in the lot, and weighing the truck alone. The total weights of the trailer and truck minus just the truck equals the trailer weight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

That gave me a lot of information, I was truly surprised at my tongue weight and decided to upgrade my hitch.

jeeplj8 · 02-06-2013, 04:59 PM

I thought it was free, but maybe it was $1. I have done it more than once, and seem to recall that time they did not charge me. I think the girl behind the counter was bored.

I unhooked the trailer and pulled the truck forward onto the pads for the truck; then hooked back up. That seemed easier than leaving my trailer in the lot unhooked.

Bull543 · 02-06-2013, 05:15 PM

Thanks guys for the feedback... I pick the trailer this weekend and will take it up to nearby truckstop to weighand see what it comes in at. One question....I have the weight distrubtion bar coming with the tt....doesn't that cut the tongue weight in 1/2?

jeeplj8 · 02-06-2013, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bull543

Thanks guys for the feedback... I pick the trailer this weekend and will take it up to nearby truckstop to weighand see what it comes in at. One question....I have the weight distrubtion bar coming with the tt....doesn't that cut the tongue weight in 1/2?

errr, no.

A WD hitch will move a certain amount of weight from the drive axle of the truck to the steer axle of the truck. In some cases it may also move some weight to the trailer axle(s).

It will not (and SHOULD not) cut the tongue weight in half.

HowStuffWorks "How Towing Weight Distribution Systems Work"

**ependydad** · 02-06-2013, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

I thought it was free, but maybe it was $1. I have done it more than once, and seem to recall that time they did not charge me. I think the girl behind the counter was bored.

I think the CAT website/video claims reweighs are free. Who knows, a dollar, free - it's all way less than the first-weigh charge!

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