Towing a 32 ft. camper with Z71

Roofer · March 1, 2003

My sis just bought a 32' bumper hitch camper trailer and bought a '00 GMC Z71 to pull it. It has the 5.3 and 3.73 gears. The camper place and the dealership told her this truck would pull it. They are getting air bags to help with the slouch in the rear suspension. I am real leary about this, because I think it is a bit heavy for the truck. What do you guys think? I wish she would've asked me before she bought.

Robinhood · March 1, 2003

That's a large camper for her truck not to mention the added weight added to the camper in supplies and water.

She needs your truck. Show her a little brotherly love. lol...

HillHound · March 1, 2003

Roofer, do you know what it's dry weight is? Sounds like it would even be pushing the practical limits for some 3/4 ton trucks.

bassdog · March 1, 2003

according to chevy's website (2003 figures anyway) it should tow ~7800 lbs. max for an extended cab 4x4.

Not sure if this helps.

AirForceAngler · March 1, 2003

That is a lot of camper for a bumper tag and a half ton truck. I have a friend that had a 30' he was towing with a half ton. Both are now in the wrecking yard after flipping on the highway.

Your sis may be alright if they use a weight distribution hitch with sway control and keep their speed down to less than 60 MPH. Don't tow on windy days either.

SilveradoWV · March 1, 2003

I have a 2000 Chevrolet book thing that is in the showroom that tells about the trucks of that year. A 2000 reg cab, 5.3 Z71 with 3.73's is rated to tow 8500lbs it has a note that trailer ratings will be reduced for Ext cab models. 4.10's would bump it up to 9500lbs, which seems like alot but if its what GM recommends I would say it would do it. You need to find out the weight of the camper and see how far off it is from these out of the book. If its just a little more it would probably have to be one of those just try it around the house real slow test drives and just see how it feels. If its alot more I dont think its worth it, for safety and for the strain that would be on the truck!

tps0424 · March 1, 2003

I towed my 29' Sunline with my old 1998 K1500 Z-71 that was Extended cab and had a 5.7 with the 3.73's. I upgraded the exhaust to a Banks Power Pack, got LT tires (BFG AT) and changed the shocks to Bilstein HD.

There was no question that the power was there to pull my 6500# loaded weight trailer. The problem was the truck itself was too light. Cross breezes had an effect, the brakes worked too hard, cooling worked too hard, the transmission worked too hard, the driver worked too hard.

I finally gave up modding the old truck and got my 2500HD crew cab. What a difference!

In short, for the 32' trailer, sway is going to be it's biggest enemy and a 1/2 ton will be marginal due to the fact it's got a light frame and is a light truck. It won't be able to fight back if the tail starts wagging the dog. she should look into a bigger truck.

Shaners · March 1, 2003

Some of the newer travel trailers aren't very heavy. She needs to look at what the empty and loaded weight of the camper will be.

The air bags will help alot, and a weight distributing hitch and sway bar is a must.

Also, I wouldn't even consider pulling something that large with the stock "P" rated Firestones. I would want nothing less than a "D" rated "LT" tire with about 50 PSI in them. I definatly wouldn't go with any sort of lift kit on the truck or oversize tires.

Obviously the trailer will have electric brakes, but if they were to fail (Which is unlikely), she would have a handful trying to get it to stop.

BDBWTE · March 1, 2003

That's what I'm talking about. Another Chev guy pushing their vehicle to it's limit whoo hoo!!!

Seriously, that's a lot of trailer for a pickup especially and half ton.

Kisses of death for this situation:

1) No dual rear wheels

2) Regular Reciever hitch

3) Trailer out weights the truck

4) Trailer is longer than the truck

5) Depending on the brakes on the trailer under braked to stop

6) A 5.3L pulling a lot of weight is not a good idea, trust me , add hills and that truck would be done.

I pulled the family 34' Terry down to Gatlinburg once and it was all the HD wanted. At 34' with a dry weight of 11,000lbs and loaded closer to 13,000lbs the HD was taxed pulling it up Jhellico Mountain (note we went up the hill at 45-50mph, getting 4-5mpg. Won't do that again that's for sure. I'll back the ole DMAX up to it and let it rock. Out of subject to to show the relative power of the DMAX versus my 6.0 with the same trailer with more stuff in it and more human cargo and a combo weight of 23,000lbs the DMAX will take that same mountain at 70 no sweat.

The jist of it. I wouldn't pull that trailer for long distances behind a 1500. No way. Sure it "WOULD" do ii but it makes in harder on the truck and the driver will be stressed out the whole way. But that's my opinion

BDBWTE

KMT15 · March 1, 2003

I thought a GM 1500 EXT cab 4x4 could tow 9000#? I remember reading that on chevrolet.com

-KMT15

AirForceAngler · March 1, 2003

I'm about to find out how an ext cab Z-71 pulls. I just put a deposit down on a 27" travel trailer, dry weight of about 4600 lbs. Probably around 5000 lbs by the time I get all my stuff in it. Don't usually fill the water until I get where I need to be. I'm having them install weight distribution hitch and sway control also. Now I need to wire up my brake controller. Saved if off of my Tahoe. This will certainly be different than towing my old pop-up!

Roofer · March 2, 2003

The owners manual for the truck says max trailer weight is 7500 lbs. for an ext cab Z71, 5.3 and 3.73 gears. She thinks the trailer weighed between 8000-8500lbs. She is getting an anti-sway bar, and I'll have to check what tires are on it. I'm guessing they are stock.

Thanks for the replies.

I personally think it is WAY too much trailer for the truck.

tps0424 · March 2, 2003

It is. The way to figure out what the towing capacity of that truck is to fill it with gas and all the stuff she will take camping and all of the people who will be going camping and then weight the truck.

Then subtract that amount from the CGVWR and that's what she can tow.

Also, the tongue weight should be, I think, 12% of the trailer's loaded weight. 8500*.12=1020. The weight of the truck (as weighed above, ready to go) plus the roughly 1000# should not exceed the truck's GVWR.

Below are my best guesses for weigh based on memory:

CGVWR=13000

GVWR=6600

Trailer=8500 (loaded or not?)

Empty weight of my old K1500EC,SB 5650

Truck plus tongue of trailer = 6670 - over weight by 70#

Truck/trailer = 14170 - overweight by 1170#

No matter what kind of tires, sway control or weight distribution you might put on this truck, it's still over weight. If there was ever an accident, the insurance wouldn't cover this combination because it is overweight in every way.

That being said, if she is still going to try to tow it, please make sure to get her a Prodigy or Jordan brake controller AND at least a Reese dual cam sway control if not a Hensley Arrow or Pullrite hitch which both eliminate sway rather than control it as the Reese dual cam does.

Wow, I've learned a lot from boards like this since I bought my trailer 2 years ago!!!!

siskiyou · March 2, 2003

TahoeMike: Let us know how it tows once you load it up. I tow a 22' that weighs 5500 loaded and the engine had lots of power but the suspension with its Toyota like 2 leaf spring rear suspension was not up to it. If it is unstable when cornering (oversteer) and becomes very hard to handle when hitting bumps take it to a reputable spring shop and have them add an extra leaf between the two existing ones. This solved my problem and made towing much more enjoyable.

Stepside Z · March 2, 2003

The owners manual for the truck says max trailer weight is 7500 lbs. for an ext cab Z71, 5.3 and 3.73 gears. She thinks the trailer weighed between 8000-8500lbs. She is getting an anti-sway bar, and I'll have to check what tires are on it. I'm guessing they are stock.
Thanks for the replies.

I personally think it is WAY too much trailer for the truck.

I am thinking you you are correct. I would hate to hear your sister became a victim of a bad towing accident. I know the big three are in towing wars, but I do not feel comfortable towing more then 5K with a half ton truck.