Creating LTZ Z71 to tow Max trailer weight

brclark82 · July 20, 2017

How far are your towing this 11k pound trailer? I know it seems crazy to get a 3/4 for just 4-5 times a year but that's a big ass trailer for a half ton regardless what the specs say.

I have owned an 1500 NHT w/ 6.2L and now a 2500HD and although I tow much more frequently than you, it's never more than around 9k pounds (closer to 6-7 on average) and the upgrade was worth it for me

If you are talking 50 miles or less each way and less than 5 times a year go for it, but if those 5 times are for hundreds of miles I would get the 2500.

Waaazooo · July 20, 2017

Truck looks like it has braces

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Silver16 · July 20, 2017

First comments I get are all about the bling baby...........

That one on the left...I would murder that one out. Badass. What's under the hood?

Krusty · July 20, 2017

First comments I get are all about the bling baby...........

That one on the left...I would murder that one out. Badass. What's under the hood?

472ci (7.7L) Cadillac from a 1970 Coupe de Ville - Well it's under the floor (1953 Chevy, cab over engine)......

Rowxrace · July 21, 2017

I'm not sure if I want the stiffness of a 2500 anymore, and not sure I want the 6.0 engine.

Im liking the style of the 1500. The tires are going to be changed to 33's E rated, it will have better suspension, might possibley get the upgradded brakes chevrolet offers. And it will have a weight dist. Hitch with the sway brake control.

Im looking at the LTZ with a slightly bigger rear axal. I just don't like the front end of the LTZ.

calgator73 · July 21, 2017

What tongue weight R U dealing with? - Do U use an equalizer hitch even on a 2500?

1250lbs...yes on the hitch but mainly for anti sway (optional per the manual) Same exact height and number of washers.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

calgator73 · July 21, 2017

How far are your towing this 11k pound trailer? I know it seems crazy to get a 3/4 for just 4-5 times a year but that's a big ass trailer for a half ton regardless what the specs say.

I have owned an 1500 NHT w/ 6.2L and now a 2500HD and although I tow much more frequently than you, it's never more than around 9k pounds (closer to 6-7 on average) and the upgrade was worth it for me

If you are talking 50 miles or less each way and less than 5 times a year go for it, but if those 5 times are for hundreds of miles I would get the 2500.

I would always end up white knuckling with the nht.... good amount of porpoising

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

powerhaulic · July 21, 2017

If porpoising is experienced, you need more weight on the front of the truck. Either snug up the bars one more link, or use heavier weight bars. You also must balance the weight in the trailer, where are the water tanks and how much water do you carry?

calgator73 · July 21, 2017

If porpoising is experienced, you need more weight on the front of the truck. Either snug up the bars one more link, or use heavier weight bars. You also must balance the weight in the trailer, where are the water tanks and how much water do you carry?

I had already added as much as possible to the bars and it was full load restoration plus about 300 lbs. Water tank is on top of the axles. The diesel added enough weight to the nose to really make it worthwhile.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

powerhaulic · July 22, 2017

I had already added as much as possible to the bars and it was full load restoration plus about 300 lbs. Water tank is on top of the axles. The diesel added enough weight to the nose to really make it worthwhile.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Our rig has 750# bars currently and it works very well, but am at the max for the bars. Seriously considering a set of 1000# bars that I can run looser. Once tires come to temperature/pressure it tows straight and true.

I am going to try nitrogen before our next trip, to keep tire pressure consistent.

calgator73 · July 22, 2017

Our rig has 750# bars currently and it works very well, but am at the max for the bars. Seriously considering a set of 1000# bars that I can run looser. Once tires come to temperature/pressure it tows straight and true.

I am going to try nitrogen before our next trip, to keep tire pressure consistent.

What's the max gross weight of your trailer?

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

calgator73 · July 22, 2017

I'm not sure if I want the stiffness of a 2500 anymore, and not sure I want the 6.0 engine.

Im liking the style of the 1500. The tires are going to be changed to 33's E rated, it will have better suspension, might possibley get the upgradded brakes chevrolet offers. And it will have a weight dist. Hitch with the sway brake control.

Im looking at the LTZ with a slightly bigger rear axal. I just don't like the front end of the LTZ.

A lot of people add Bilstein 5100s and very stiff tires to the 1500 in an attempt to firm up the ride. When I did that it ended up making the truck shudder over the smallest imperfections and it didn't ride nice anymore. In my opinion the three quarter ton diesel rides like the half-ton should especially when you take the tire pressure down to around 55 front and rear when unloaded.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

EG1 · July 23, 2017

I tow a 31' TT with a dry weight of 5300 and tongue weight of @580. I use 1k bars and a friction sway setup. My only complaint would be the shocks, the dampening on the ranchos is terrible. I plan on trying the 5100's but I'll stick with the stock wheel/tire combo so I'll know what difference just the shocks make. If I went to a 7K+ dry TT I'd have bought a 3/4 ton, but the truck pulls my current setup very well.

RP53 · August 6, 2017

i tow a 4500 lb travel trailer with my 1500 Z71, tongue weight is right at 500 lb, it didn't tow very well with the ranchos got rid of them for 5100 tows much better now. The thing i don't understand is why some folks want to tow right at or over the max tow weight. I am at about half of the truck's towing capacity and it feels great. if i were to get a larger travel trailer i would up to a 2500. I think (correct me if i am wrong) that towing at max weight or more is not healthy for the truck.

Pacfanweb · August 6, 2017

Why? If Chevrolet states that It can tow 12,000 lb, why isn't it safe?

Because math.

No truck can actually tow the rated amount. It's figured on a base model, with 1/4 tank of gas, no gear, no passengers and about a 150lb driver.

Every single thing you add to that truck takes away from how much it can tow. Want a sunroof and/or sliding rear glass? Adds weight, reduces tow and hauling capacity. Fill up the tank? Take that weight away. Couple coolers and some gear in the bed? Takes away from the tow capacity.

Couple buddies with you? Better weigh them. And on and on. How much tongue weight is allowed? Good luck staying under that with a max capacity trailer...and oh, wait: The tongue weight also counts against the truck's hauling capacity. Tongue weight and 2 big friends, and you're probably close to or over the max that truck's supposed to carry on its own springs.

You need to do what almost nobody does....look at the ratings. ALL the ratings. It's not as simple as just looking at the tow capacity and hooking it up.

Tow capacity

Tongue weight

Truck's cargo/hauling capacity

Combined vehicle tow rating

There's about no way you can be under all of those and pull anywhere near the max capacity. Max tow rating is advertising, pure and simple. General rule of thumb is the stay at about 75-80% of the rated capacity as a max.

Another way to think of this: What has changed over the last 10-20 years to make these tow ratings go up so much? 1/2 ton trucks in 2001 sure as hell weren't rated to tow 12k lbs. Why are they now? Are the somehow "heavier duty"? Sure, they have more HP, but that's irrelevant to tow ratings. Doesn't matter at all. 1 ton trucks in the mid-90's had a lot less HP than my 15 Sierra, but they were still rated to tow more because the TRUCK ITSELF was heavier-duty.

Are the new 1/2 ton trucks now equivalent to the 3/4 tons of 15 years ago? We all know darn well they are not, not even close. And especially not with P tires and not LT's. It's all an advertising gimmick, plain and simple.

The manufacturers know that if you actually do the math, these trucks cannot get close to what they're rated, and they also know nobody is going to buy a base model and leave the tank almost empty with absolutely nothing in the truck so they can tow the max.

No 1/2 ton should even think of towing 12k lbs. Do the math. Go weigh your truck. Actually weigh the trailer. Then do the math. You might be shocked if you think I'm not telling the truth.

Here's how to do it, for those interested:

Look at the fine print. I have a 15 Sierra SLT 4x4, short box crew. GM's chart says in the fine print "Before you buy a vehicle or use it for trailering, carefully review the Trailering section of the Owners Manual. The weight of passengers, cargo and options or accessories may reduce the amount you can tow"

There you go. That pretty much tells you no actual truck that anyone would buy can hit that max rating under real world conditions.

But, here's how you see what you CAN tow:

Find YOUR particular vehicle's tow rating.

My Sierra, with 5.3, 4x4 and 3.08 gears is 6,100 lbs. (I've seen it listed as 6,200 also)

Then find your hauling or cargo (Payload) capacity. Look at the door jamb sticker.

Mine says "The combined weight of cargo and occupants should not exceed 1,532 lbs"

But "the chart" from GM says max payload is 1,820 lbs. Guess mine has almost 300 lbs of options that reduce it. They add up.

BTW, that "cargo and occupants" also means you have to account for the weight of gas.

Then your tongue weight. I don't have that on hand at the moment, but I've typically seen 500 lbs.

So some quick math:

Me and the family together weigh about 750lbs. Fuel capacity is 26 gallons, so let's say 20 gallons since the capacity is figured usually with 1/4 tank. That's another 120 lbs. That's 870lbs of payload already, and we don't have anything with us.

Let's say I can hit exactly 500 lbs of tongue weight. That's 1,370 lbs of the 1,532 lb payload capacity of my truck, and we don't have the first piece of actual cargo on it, yet.

I can now carry 152 lbs of cargo, and if we're going to the lake, we have that EASILY. So my truck is loaded to the gills without even looking like it, and we still have an extra seat nobody's sitting in. Can't take anyone with us, whether we're towing a trailer at capacity or not.

But here's where they've fooled you:

So I'm at the max payload of my truck, right? What IS that total weight? You need your curb weight, then the weight of your passengers/cargo to know.

Why do you need to know before you know how much you can pull?

This: Gross Combined Weight Rating. That's how much BOTH truck and trailer are allowed to weigh, combined.

Now I don't have my window sticker handy at the moment, but I believe your average curb weight of a truck like mine is in the 5,500 lb range, correct? And I have loaded my truck with the max of 1,532 lbs, so my total truck weight would be about 7,032 lbs, give or take.

My GCWR is 12,000 lbs. That means I have less than 5,000 lbs left for my trailer to weigh, fully loaded. Remove some weight from the truck, trailer weight can go up.

And that doesn't mean I can buy a trailer that weighs that much, then load it up. That's all it can weigh, fully-loaded and ready to go. So if you are going to pull a camper, remember that you're going to load that with EASILY 1,000 lbs. It's got to be under 4k lbs empty. Same for a boat.

That's about the most you can tow with my particular truck, roughly.

Do the math.