Trailer Towing

02GMSierra · January 29, 2003

Hello everyone i have a question regarding a trailer, My truck is a 2002 GMC Sierra Reg cab Short Box Stepside 4by4 Auto 5.3l 4.10 gears. The trailer I am looking at is a 7by 16 foot enclosed trailer dual axle with breaks. Will this be too much of a trailer for my truck?? I think the trailer weighs about 3000LBS Thank you

THE BIGPUNN · January 29, 2003

your okay, i think your tow rating is around 8100-8300 lbs. be mindfull of what you pull in it and its weight. my camper that i tow weighs 5300lbs dry. you will need a break controller and maybe wieght distribution and sway control.

siskiyou · January 29, 2003

I tow a 5500lb. Travel Trailer. Mine is rated to tow 7800 lbs. That is overrated due to the suspension. There is enough power to pull it but the suspension is lacking. Look at the rear springs and you will see only 2 leaves and 1 overload. The only other trucks you see that are that light duty are 6 cyl. or small trucks. You should be ok pulling only 3000lbs. but if you have problems do what I did and add a third leaf. I took it to the spring shop and they disassembled the springs and installed another leaf in between the two existing ones. They also removed the 2" lift blocks that come from the factory so it would sit at the original height. The truck seems to be more stable on the road and does not ride harshly.

HillHound · January 29, 2003

Hello everyone i have a question regarding a trailer, My truck is a 2002 GMC Sierra Reg cab Short Box Stepside 4by4 Auto 5.3l 4.10 gears. The trailer I am looking at is a 7by 16 foot enclosed trailer dual axle with breaks. Will this be too much of a trailer for my truck?? I think the trailer weighs about 3000LBS Thank you

I wouldn't think twice about towing it. You got the 4.10 axle and that will make all the difference in the world. I towed a little over 4000lbs with my 01 1500 5.3L with 4.10 axle several times and it handles it just fine. Like Bigpunn said though just make sure you have some kind of brakes on it-either electric or surge brakes. The 5.3L is a good towing motor for 1/2 ton trucks. It revs high but it really does make some good power at lower rpms as well.

I think GM states you're not supposed to tow over 2500lbs without some type of trailer brakes. I never had any brakes and the truck stopped but not very well.

Shaners · January 29, 2003

Other than the brake issue you will tow that trailer just fine!!!

02GMSierra · January 29, 2003

Thank-you for the replys

SilveradoWV · January 30, 2003

I tow a 5500lb. Travel Trailer. Mine is rated to tow 7800 lbs. That is overrated due to the suspension.

Why do you say this?? To tow more than 5000lbs you must have Z85, Z71 (which I see you have) or the other one that is the adjustable I think. Did your truck sag really bad? Was it loaded properly? Did you have the weight distribution bars maxed? Not trying to start a big argument or anything, just wondering why you think the suspension is underrated and why you couldnt pull 5500lbs?

To get back to the original post, 3000lbs shouldnt be a problem at all, except for the brakes, and then its not a real problem just a safety issue. I have a Z85 and usually tow around 3500lbs quite often during the summer. I have the weight dist. setup but dont need it with just 3500lbs, it barely lowers the rear.

BDBWTE · January 30, 2003

I wouldn't worry about pulling that weight at all. I have a 1500 and I pull our 18' tandem with a 763 bobcat. It don't like it but it does it. Total weight with bucket, counter weights and trailer is right around 10,000lbs. Yeah it's a half ton. But my new truck is a 2500HD and it pulls it a little better and the suspension don't mind it at all. Of course I pull a 34' Tri-axle Fleetworks gooseneck with the HD that has a tare weight of 6,000lbs. I know I've towed total weight, with trailer, of well over 15,000 with the truck. And this is why my clutch will go out early and my rear-end will go and my motor will cash in under 100K... Oh well I'll just fix it until I can buy a diesel.

WEFs99 · January 30, 2003

You won't know it's there at 3000# especially with the 4.10's. We pulled my Son's 3/4 ton Silverado on my flatbed open trailer (7800# approx.) from NJ to Southern Maryland with no real problems but it was at it's limit. If I had 4.10's instead of 3.73's it would have been a breeze. It also got 15 mpg. The truck often pulls a '90 Dodge Caravan on a tow dolly (maybe 4000# no aux. brakes) It has had to make several emergency stops with that load and did well. All of this with tow/haul mode. Your 4.10's give you a big advantage.

siskiyou · January 30, 2003

To answer SilveradoWV's question, yes I did have weight distribution bars. I tightened and loosened them, I even had a reputable RV repair shop set it up and test it. They found the same problem and noted how light the suspension was. I talked to Chevrolet and they contacted the dealer and they checked it. The service manager said he thought they were too light to tow this load also. He recommended a sway bar on the truck and an extra leaf spring which I did and it became quite stable. As far as loading goes I had nothing in the bed on some of the trips and when I checked the tongue weight I was right between 10 and 15%. I pulled this trailer with two other 1/2 ton trucks with no sway and very good cornering. This truck was all over the road regardless of road conditions or wind and cornering was very unstable. Chevrolet changes the tow rating on this truck from 5000 to 7800 lbs. by changing the shocks when you add the Z-71 package. That doesn't seem like much of an addition especially considering that it only comes with two leaves in the rear springs.

k1500chevy97 · January 30, 2003

Hello everyone i have a question regarding a trailer, My truck is a 2002 GMC Sierra Reg cab Short Box Stepside 4by4 Auto 5.3l 4.10 gears. The trailer I am looking at is a 7by 16 foot enclosed trailer dual axle with breaks. Will this be too much of a trailer for my truck?? I think the trailer weighs about 3000LBS Thank you

That should be fine more than enough power out of your truck and this trailer has brakes which should save some distance and your trucks brakes

SilveradoWV · January 31, 2003

To answer SilveradoWV's question, yes I did have weight distribution bars. I tightened and loosened them, I even had a reputable RV repair shop set it up and test it. They found the same problem and noted how light the suspension was. I talked to Chevrolet and they contacted the dealer and they checked it. The service manager said he thought they were too light to tow this load also. He recommended a sway bar on the truck and an extra leaf spring which I did and it became quite stable. As far as loading goes I had nothing in the bed on some of the trips and when I checked the tongue weight I was right between 10 and 15%. I pulled this trailer with two other 1/2 ton trucks with no sway and very good cornering. This truck was all over the road regardless of road conditions or wind and cornering was very unstable. Chevrolet changes the tow rating on this truck from 5000 to 7800 lbs. by changing the shocks when you add the Z-71 package. That doesn't seem like much of an addition especially considering that it only comes with two leaves in the rear springs.

Hmmm? Are your tires P rated? Not doubting you at all, just that this is the first time I have heard of the problem being this bad with 5500lbs. Oh Well!

siskiyou · February 1, 2003

When I bought the truck it had P rated tires Firestone 265/75 R16. I switched to Toyo 8 ply LT tires. The problem didn't go away but I was still convinced that it was tires so I switched tires again. This time I found that the largest tire size you could get on a 3/4 ton were 245's so I switched to LT245/75 R16 10 ply tires of the same type on my last truck and the problem was still there. I run between 50 and 60lbs. air pressure while towing. That is when I added the springs and sway bar. The good part about this is with these tires I have more power and I really improved the handling with the combination of tires, springs and sway bars. Take a look at a '98 or earlier 1/2 ton Chevy trucks and you will find 3 or 4 leafs in the rear springs and on the new ones you will only find 2. This is fine for a small truck but not a full size truck that is rated to tow nearly 8000 pounds.

alpha42 · February 8, 2003

Lets face it the manufacturers (GM and the others) tow ratings are way too much in the real world. A 5500 lb flat trailer that catches no headwind or crosswind will be easier to tow than a 27 ft travel trailer. Same goes for hills and engine drag (Aircond defroster etc). Yes these 1500 chassis trucks will move it,but how confident will the operater be with changing road conditions,hills, braking,and the dreaded trailer sway. I have pulled a 3500 lb trailer with my 1500 5.3 and I knew it was there,not abhorent but you feel it. I now tow a 5500 lb 27 ft travel trailer with my 2500Hd 6.0 and I know thats there too. But it is much much better on braking and only about 25% suspension load as opposed to 65% on my 1500. Brakes are a world apart here-sorry 1500 guys. I would say no matter what you tow or tow with you have to sort of settle in to what your tow set up end up being. Of course the right equipment is necessary,but basically you have to just deal with the set up of your rig if everything is where is it should be. I have been through 3 trucks in 26 months (1 Ford too) and they had some tow issues.