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Towing capacity and improvements to suspension


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I just stepped out of my '08 F350 and into an '11 Denali. Have a few questions about towing. I have a 26' boat I tow. It weighs in a 6,077lbs dry. My aluminum trailer is prolly weighing in at 1,500 lbs. I picked up the F350 when I purchased the boat because I was towing regularly. I have since put the boat in a slip so I will tow 2 - 4 times a year now (about 15 mile one way). I decided to move to comfort over massive towing capacity for that reason.

 

I know the Denali is rated to pull 9,600 but the OEM hitch is for crap. I just ordered a class V hitch and some of those rubber bumpers to assist in suspension sag. The rubbers are supposed to be rated at 6,000 lb but... Just hoping to help out with the weight on the receiver or I guess its really payload weight but I really don't know how to calc. what that is.

 

I know I am very near the end of my rated capacity and towing limit. Just wanted some feed back from you guys on my plans with it all. Oh - last note, the trailer has surge brakes (new disc set up)

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I used to haul trailers around 6k to 8k lbs with my 1500 Silverado all the time. All I did to it enhancement wise was add airbags, but if the trailer's balanced right there shouldn't be too much issue with tongue weight.

 

I would haul 7280lbs about 30 miles every month, and once hauled that much weight from ME to upstate NY. 200+ miles through 3 different mountain ranges, and never has a single issue. I once even hauls an 18k lbs loaded dump trailer… Granted it was only 3 miles or so, but it did it!

 

15-30 miles 2 to 4 times a year is a cake walk for that truck, even should be fine on OEM equipment.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm not quite sure why the OEM hitch is crap. Granted OP-I have not towed as heavy as you...but I towed my 5,000 pounds-29 foot travel trailer 8,000 miles last year around the country. The truck was COMPLETELY STOCK (2011-Crew Cab w/5.3-2WD) and I had absolutely ZERO ISSUES during the trip. Not even a flat tire. I towed using an Equalizer WD hitch which puts a lot of "downward" pressure on the hitch and it did fine.

 

As far as I am concerned your good to go without much in the way of mods based on my REAL WORLD experience.

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Stock hitch will be fine if you keep tongue weight within the normal 10-15% of trailer weight range.

 

Rating for standard hitch is 800lb, with weight distributing it goes to 1200lb tongue weight.

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Neither air helper springs nor a heavier-duty hitch increase towing capacity. That's a limitation permanently set by the factory. I'd suggest using a W-D hitch, one designed for towing larger boats, with the GM receiver. Doing so will keep you within the manufacturer's towing guidelines of being "properly equipped." It also makes towing much smoother and easier.

 

Three articles on the towing topic are here:

http://www.trucktestdigest.com/TTDfeatureTrailerTowingIllegally.htm

http://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/tow-ratings-and-liability/

http://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/2015-pickup-tow-ratings-solving-the-mystery-part-1/

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I know the Denali is rated to pull 9,600 but the OEM hitch is for crap.

 

 

 

I guess I'm confused...Denali means little to me, 1500 or 2500? The 2500HDs are rated for 9600# towing with 3.73s, the 1500s are rated slightly higher because the overall truck is lighter.

 

I'm GUESSING that he actually bought a 2500HD Denali, he is well within his limits even completely stock at 7577#s of trailer. That leaves right about 2000#s for passengers and gear, assuming my math is correct. The hitch on my 2012 2500HD is already a 2.5" class V rated at 17,000# pull and 1800# tongue (and should be the same thing on a 2011 2500HD), so I don't understand the whole hitch argument thing either.

 

If I didn't know better, I'd say troll stirring the pot...especially since he never came back.

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Sorry - should have noted that it was a 1500. I actually didn't even know they made the Denali on the HD series! I may have looked for one had known. I just wanted to get the diesel expense off my back and into a gasser that could pull the boat.

 

Anyway, I pulled the OEM hitch off. I know if I went the route of a weight distributing set up I could have been within the ratings but I have surge brakes on the trailer. I know some guys do it but I opted to just put a Reese set up on it that can handle the static weight. I also went the route of Timbren suspension helpers to keep the sag to a minimum (works better than I thought).

 

She pulls the boat just fine, very nice to do so with all the luxuries the model adds. I DO notice a substantial difference in stopping. I'll look into alternative set ups, perhaps electric over hydraulic on the trailer or just keep my distance since I am not towing that often.

 

Thanks for the links Bassboats - lots of good stuff there!

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  • 1 month later...

I guess I am late to this posting... I have a 2500 denali hd with the duramax and here is what my manual says. I also have the CCSB 4x4 model. The catch is note number 1 which limits it to 13,000 pounds with a conventional hitch.

 

 

 

Towing1_zps7449a90e.jpg

 

Towing2_zps73c792ec.jpg

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AGAIN-you need to look at PAYLOAD CAPACITY and not towing capacity. It's a yellow and white sticker located in your driver's door jam and it say something as follows-"The passengers and cargo for this vehicle shall not exceed XXX". Then once ALL FACTORS are considered one can determine what you can tow. Why this is not mentioned in the owners manual is beyond belief.

 

That is where you start.

 

If someone hits me over their payload capacity I am going to sue them and buy a new truck!

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AGAIN-you need to look at PAYLOAD CAPACITY and not towing capacity. It's a yellow and white sticker located in your driver's door jam and it say something as follows-"The passengers and cargo for this vehicle shall not exceed XXX". Then once ALL FACTORS are considered one can determine what you can tow. Why this is not mentioned in the owners manual is beyond belief.

 

That is where you start.

 

If someone hits me over their payload capacity I am going to sue them and buy a new truck!

You need to look at BOTH numbers. I haven't read the entire manual for the new 2014's but it is mentioned in my generation truck's manual. It says specifically that you must subtract the weight of what's being carried, to include tongue weight, from the total weight of towing capacity. In my case, the manual says I can tow 7400lbs, but the sticker in the door says my payload cannot exceed 1600lbs, so my actual towing capacity is 5800lbs if my truck is fully loaded up with people & gear. However, towing capacity is still something that need to be looked at regardless.

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06 Sierra-

That was my point (maybe I wasn't clear). You can't begin to look at how much you can tow until you look at your payload first, and then factor in the tongue weight (ready to camp) on the POTENTIAL trailer you want to purchase.

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  • 1 month later...

With a 2500HD there is not a need for a weight distributing hitch and it is not recommended by GM. I would not expect that to hold true for the 1500 trucks and this would be first step to improving the tow handling of the truck. If the tongue weight causes the rear of the truck to sag then the simplest option is to add a set of Supersprings to the rear of the truck. Be sure also that the rear tires are rated to support the full load on the rear of the truck.

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