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towing capacity confusion

softail250

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softail250 Enthusiast

softail250

Posted
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Hello all, I'm hoping somebody can help me out here. I have a 2010 Silverado 4x4 extended cab reg. bed. I am almost positive my truck has the 3.42 rear gear ratio. According to my manual on pg. 5-56 my truck should be able to tow 9600 lbs (providing it does have the 3.42s) OR 6800 lbs if it has the HD cooling package, OR 6100 lbs. if it has none of those options, and just a 5.3 l v8. Here's the part I'm concerned ( and confused) about. If I crawl under the back of my truck and look at the factory installed 2" receiver hitch, there is a sticker on there from GM saying " maximum trailer weight 5000 lbs " or 10,500 with weight distributing hitch. This is a far cry away from any of the weights listed in the manual. The only thing that seems to match between the manual and the label on the hitch is the 600 maximum tongue weight. Can somebody please explain to me what may be going on here. I've owned the vehicle since new, and have probably towed very close to 5k with it on several occasions, but I'm going to be towing close to 6200 lbs. with it ( probably tomorrow ) , and want to make sure I'm not more than a thousand pounds over the limit of the hitch. BTW.....my wife's Tahoe says the exact same thing on that hitch.

Supreme Pizza Senior Enthusiast

Supreme Pizza

Posted
Posted

Hi, 

 

   Each part of the vehicle has a towing and weight limit. Transmission, tires, tow hitch, brakes, etc. You should not exceed any of the limits. Your towing capacity is determined by the lowest number. If your tow hitch has the lowest number of say - 5k, then thats your limit. If your vehicle says 4k, then thats your limit. Dont overload anything. 

 

   That being said, your tow limits are set very low. A chain has a maximum weight rating of 50% of its breaking weight. You can overload the hell out of things, and generally - it will be fine. I have WAY overloaded towing capacities, with no problems - but I was very careful driving, never went very fast, left PLENTY of braking distance, etc. 

 

   If you choose to exceed your towing capacities of ANY part of your vehicle, you could be "more" liable for the consequences.  If you crash, there may be an investigation, and you could be held criminally liable for things like "gross negligence" or "reckless endangerment" and could even effect the ruling of things like involuntary manslaughter. Lets say you cant stop fast enough when some drunk guy stumbled out into the road, and you run them over. If you WAY overloaded your rig, and it effected the braking distance - would you liable? Lets say that your vehicle would have been able to stop in time, from the time you started braking, if it was not over loaded - who is at fault? 

 

    What ever you do - be careful. Consider it from all angles. 

greatmizzou Enthusiast

greatmizzou

Posted
Posted

dont look at the hitch rating as a barometer for your tow rating.  you could put a class IV reciever on and it would have a sticker saying 15,000lbs but you can only tow 6,000.   You sure dont want a receiver underated though!

 

Your tow rating should be listed in the glovebox right?   Thats also where your RPO codes are so you can know for sure your tow rating.

 

Worst case scenario, call your parts guy at your local GM service center and Im sure they will give u official info

softail250 Enthusiast

softail250

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  • Author
Posted

I really don't want to exceed the maximum tow rating, hence my confusion. I'm guessing that there's a LOT of people out there driving these trucks with tow packages that don't even realize that the hitch that GM bolted under their truck has a sticker on it saying you can't exceed 5,000 lbs. It actually seems pretty lousy for GM to do something like that.

softail250 Enthusiast

softail250

Posted
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Posted

OK....so this has me a little angry....and concerned. I just went out and dug out my original window sticker/ price disclosure. My truck has the power pack plus package, which includes, among other things the "trailering package" , and "heavy duty cooling". I also have the "off road suspension package" , which among other things, lists "rear axle 3.42 ratio". If I would look at all this information, then look in my owners manual, the manual states that my truck can safely tow 9600 lbs. with that combination of options. If I never would have crawled under my truck and looked for the pretty well hidden sticker on my hitch that says max. trailer weight 5000 lbs, I never would have known any different.

Supreme Pizza Senior Enthusiast

Supreme Pizza

Posted
Posted

I understand why people would be angry about this tow hitch thing, but to play devils advocate:

 

 

The maximum weight rating for a highway is based on the maximum weight rating of the weakest bridge. 

    Should they use cheap thin pavement on the entire road to match the bridge strength, so they wont piss people off? 

 

Many high performance cars have warning stickers that say: This vehicle is capable of very high speeds, but may not be equipped to do so. 

    Should they put $30K worth of 200 MPH+ rated tires on a car that will never exceed 70 mph, just to appease 8 people?

 

Not every link in the chain will be equally strong. If you want to go 200 MPH in your car, you may need to make some upgrades for safety reasons. If you want to tow the MAXIMUM possible weight for your vehicle, you may need to make some upgrades. Maybe you will need 10 ply tires to tow the maximum wight, but 10 ply tires ride really rough and most people don't tow maximum weight, so they put 4 play tires on in the factory - which lowers the retail price and improves the ride comfort. You may need to swap the 4 ply tires out for 10 ply for towing, but most people don't need that. If your vehicle is capable of towing a dual axle trailer, but doesn't come with an electronic trailer brake controller, is the manufacturer at fault? 

 

   Just playing devils advocate here. Personally, I agree with you - but its not about what I think.  

 

 

 

intheburbs Enthusiast

intheburbs

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, softail250 said:

OK....so this has me a little angry....and concerned. I just went out and dug out my original window sticker/ price disclosure. My truck has the power pack plus package, which includes, among other things the "trailering package" , and "heavy duty cooling". I also have the "off road suspension package" , which among other things, lists "rear axle 3.42 ratio". If I would look at all this information, then look in my owners manual, the manual states that my truck can safely tow 9600 lbs. with that combination of options. If I never would have crawled under my truck and looked for the pretty well hidden sticker on my hitch that says max. trailer weight 5000 lbs, I never would have known any different.

I don't understand what you're angry about.  Your owners manual says 9600 lbs, and the sticker on the receiver says 10,000 lbs with a weight-distributing hitch.  I don't know how much experience you have towing large/heavy trailers, but you'll definitely want to use a weight-distributing hitch with any type of large/heavy trailer, so the 5,000-lb limit doesn't really factor into the equation.  GM is telling you that your truck, from the factory, has everything it needs to pull that kind of weight.  Sure, upgrading to LT tires might improve things, but it's not necessary.

 

That being said, I really wouldn't go much higher than 7,000-8,000 lbs with a half-ton truck.  I tow an 8600-lb trailer with my 2500 Suburban, and that has me maxed out on my ratings.

 

Lastly, the ideal amount of tongue weight for a properly balanced/loaded trailer is 13%.  Your receiver is rated to a maximum tongue weight of 1000 lbs, so doing the math yields a max trailer weight of 7692.  A 9600-lb trailer with only 1000 lbs of tongue weight, especially if it's a large/long travel trailer, would be unstable prone to a lot of sway.  The only way I'd even consider a trailer that big with a half ton would be using an anti-sway hitch like the Hensley Arrow.

swathdiver Senior Enthusiast

swathdiver

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, softail250 said:

...truck has a sticker on it saying you can't exceed 5,000 lbs. It actually seems pretty lousy for GM to do something like that.

 

2 hours ago, softail250 said:

OK....so this has me a little angry.   ...If I never would have crawled under my truck and looked for the pretty well hidden sticker on my hitch that says max. trailer weight 5000 lbs, I never would have known any different.

 

Take the time to read everything and understand the meaning of the terms and what they apply to.

greatmizzou Enthusiast

greatmizzou

Posted
Posted

fun fact for you that will reduce your anger, even modern heavy duty trucks have a pretty weak dead weight hitch rating. 

 

Almost all trucks are recommended to use a weight dist hitch with sway control. On another note, make sure your trailer axles can take the extra weight with the weight distributed.  Those single axle trailers that support 3,500lbs of a 3,000 dry weight trailer come dangerously close to being overloaded

 

 

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