Towing 233S

[sgreats]

I will be towing a Roo 233s with a 2017 Chevy Silverado 1500 crew cab, 5.5 box, 4x4, 4.3L motor (6 cylinder/285 HP) and a Husky Centerline WD hitch. The tow rating is 7000lb and the payload capacity of my Silverado 1715lb. I realize there many, many posts on this subject; I am a little confused so I thought I would start a new thread based on my specific conversation.

Feedback (good or bad) would be appreciated.

[pojp58]

You gave information but what is your question?

[sgreats]

Good point!!! My question is will my current TV tow the Roo 233s without any issues. I should probably note the dry weight is 4,900 lb. and the loaded weight limit is 6,600. The actual weight we will tow will be around 5,900 lb.

[MiCamper6]

Looks like you should be OK in towing capacity specs-wise. What you may have to pay attention to is payload capacity of the vehicle. Subtract other occupants, half tank of gas (typically), hitch, and about 700 lbs tongue weight and the remainder is how much weight you have to play with in your pick-up.

[youroo]

Sgreats,what rear end gear ratio is in your 1500 CC with that 4.3 engine? Youroo!!

[mpotapa]

I’m in a similar situation with my Roo. My max payload is 1520. Is it better to store my gear in the camper instead of the pickup truck? Items like coolers, clothing, etc?

[MiCamper6]

Originally Posted by mpotapa

I’m in a similar situation with my Roo. My max payload is 1520. Is it better to store my gear in the camper instead of the pickup truck? Items like coolers, clothing, etc?

Guess it depends on your towing capacity, tongue weight and the amount of weight in the camper, but probably....

[sgreats]

Originally Posted by youroo

Sgreats,what rear end gear ratio is in your 1500 CC with that 4.3 engine? Youroo!!

3.43

[67L48]

Remember that the dry weight includes almost nothing. Ignore trailer dry weights. Forget you ever saw them. Propane tanks, batteries, air conditioners, and any other factory/dealer options are all very heavy and not included in the dry weight. People often forget about these things ... they only think about the items they add to the trailer (clothes, pot/pans, food, etc.).

Always start at the GVWR of the trailer of interest. You'll be much closer to that. So, if your trailer is GVWR 6,600 lbs, then you need to ask if you can tow that figure.

With few exceptions, most 1/2 tons can tow 6,500 lbs without worrying about violating weight ratings. This is especially true of the newer trucks, which you have. Depending on the options on the truck, it may be effortless or it may struggle, but you almost certainly won't violate the safety ratings.

If you want to know more, then start with GCWR of the truck. I rarely see this discussed, but it's probably the most important rating.

Good luck.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by 67L48

Always start at the GVWR of the trailer of interest. You'll be much closer to that.

ALWAYS is a generalization. Many trailers have very large CCC numbers, like my trailer.

My trailer has a factory yellow sticker weight of just under 5,000lbs.
It's CCC is over half of that, at 2544lbs.

Since there is no way the two of us could EVER load that much weight, ALWAYS doesn't work for our trailer.

I agree that using the GVWR for the majority of trailers would be a good rule.

But not ALWAYS.

[rsdata]

Is it better to store my gear in the camper instead of the pickup truck? Items like coolers, clothing, etc?

Tongue weight is everything, and should be about 12-15% ( give or take a %) of the actual trailer weight. Most of the heavy items are stored near the tongue... battery, propane, fresh water storage tanks, and misc forward storage compartments that get filled up. Loading these forward areas will usually get you toward the higher end of of the weight percentage if not over 15%. While a higher tongue weight is rarely bad, and will not give you an unsafe drive, a high tongue weights subtract from you truck payload weight capability and possibly unloads weight from the steering wheels, (depending on how your WDH is setup) resulting in a floating feeling while steering and white knuckles.

Get an actual weight of the loaded trailer and start at 12% for tongue weight calculated. Weigh your tongue weight (see weighing below). You can subtract from tongue weight or add to tongue weight by moving items that you store in the camper from in front of the trailer axles to over the axles to behind the axles. This leverages weight to or off the tongue increasing and decreasing tongue weight.

They sell tongue weight scales, or there are youtube videos on how to weigh the tongue using a bathroom scale. https://youtu.be/nMoLA44lcgU