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Lou Summerall

By Lou Summerall
in Engines & Drivetrain

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Lou Summerall Enthusiast

Lou Summerall

Posted
Posted

I have a 2014 Silverado 1500 5.3L 3.42 rear and towing a 8600#travel trailer. After hitting the scales yesterday I found out I am way over weight. I know I should have bought a 2500 but it is to late for that. I was wondering if anyone had had there truck upgraded max tow package and how much. Can't afford a new truck plus wife loves this one. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My current towing capacity is 9600#. I am 1000# over on GCVW.

truckguy82 Senior Enthusiast

truckguy82

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Lou Summerall said:

I have a 2014 Silverado 1500 5.3L 3.42 rear and towing a 8600#travel trailer. After hitting the scales yesterday I found out I am way over weight. I know I should have bought a 2500 but it is to late for that. I was wondering if anyone had had there truck upgraded max tow package and how much. Can't afford a new truck plus wife loves this one. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My current towing capacity is 9600#. I am 1000# over on GCVW.

My friend tows a lot of weight with a 2011 1500 avalanche. He had to upgrade the trans cooler but you likely don’t need to do that unless your trans temps are hitting like 220 plus.

 

He did trans cooler, airbags, and a nice brake controller. He tows up to 15k lbs short distances and says it handles the weight fine.

 

airbags > whatever suspension the max tow has

rkj__ Enthusiast

rkj__

Posted
Posted

1,000 lb over?  Is the 8,600 lb weight figure for the trailer loaded, or unloaded?  How many people in the vehicle?

 

I'm just curious where all the weight is coming from.

aseibel Senior Enthusiast

aseibel

Posted
Posted

You already have a decent gear ratio, so that's not really a problem.

 

You can upgrade suspension & add air bags to make it feel more stable.

You can put on tires with a higher load rating.

 

The biggest thing that is limiting your ability to control a heavy load is the brakes, definitely make sure the trailer brakes and controller are set-up and working properly. But you could try to upgrade the truck's brakes as well.

 

But, jeeze, please be careful pulling that heavy thing around. I hope I don't encounter you on the road.

Lou Summerall Enthusiast

Lou Summerall

Posted
  • Author
Posted
45 minutes ago, rkj__ said:

1,000 lb over?  Is the 8,600 lb weight figure for the trailer loaded, or unloaded?  How many people in the vehicle?

 

I'm just curious where all the weight is coming from.

Trailer loaded weight. We were not able to weigh prior to leaving.

wforrest08 Senior Enthusiast

wforrest08

Posted
Posted

The problem is no matter what you do to “beef up” the truck to handle the weight you can’t change the factory tow rating numbers. Even if the dealer was to install all the “max tow” equipment they can’t change the sticker in the door. Can the truck be made to handle more weight of course but it won’t change the fact that your illegally exceeding the limitations of the truck and if heaven forbid your in any kind accident whether it’s your fault or not or if you get pulled over and weighted by a DOT officer. IMO the problem isn’t the weight it’s the liability risk your placing on yourself and your family you have to consider. It would be quite the burden to have a insurance claim totally denied or be told to leave your trailer on the side of the road a 1000 miles from home if you want to continue on your trip...

swathdiver Senior Enthusiast

swathdiver

Posted
Posted

Truck ain't lawful to tow that much no matter what you do.  Can you beef up the truck to handle it?  Easily.  Can it be re-certified for the additional capacity the mods add?  IDK!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

rkj__ Enthusiast

rkj__

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, wforrest08 said:

The problem is no matter what you do to “beef up” the truck to handle the weight you can’t change the factory tow rating numbers. Even if the dealer was to install all the “max tow” equipment they can’t change the sticker in the door. Can the truck be made to handle more weight of course but it won’t change the fact that your illegally exceeding the limitations of the truck and if heaven forbid your in any kind accident whether it’s your fault or not or if you get pulled over and weighted by a DOT officer. IMO the problem isn’t the weight it’s the liability risk your placing on yourself and your family you have to consider. It would be quite the burden to have a insurance claim totally denied or be told to leave your trailer on the side of the road a 1000 miles from home if you want to continue on your trip...

 

At what point after this accident do they determine if you were, or where not over your weight ratings?

 

00003561106967.jpg

xax Enthusiast

xax

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, rkj__ said:

 

At what point after this accident do they determine if you were, or where not over your weight ratings?

They'd figure it out during the cops accident report lol

rkj__ Enthusiast

rkj__

Posted
Posted
Just now, xax said:

They'd figure it out during the cops accident report lol

How?  It's easy to check the stickers on the trailer and tow vehicle, but short of putting everything (and everybody) on a scale, there's no way to know the weight of the contents.

Lou Summerall Enthusiast

Lou Summerall

Posted
  • Author
Posted
23 hours ago, aseibel said:

You already have a decent gear ratio, so that's not really a problem.

 

You can upgrade suspension & add air bags to make it feel more stable.

You can put on tires with a higher load rating.

 

The biggest thing that is limiting your ability to control a heavy load is the brakes, definitely make sure the trailer brakes and controller are set-up and working properly. But you could try to upgrade the truck's brakes as well.

 

But, jeeze, please be careful pulling that heavy thing around. I hope I don't encounter you on the road.

According to the ownser manual if I swap the rear gear to 373 I would be 1000 # under.

Lou Summerall Enthusiast

Lou Summerall

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  23 hours ago, aseibel said:

You already have a decent gear ratio, so that's not really a problem.

 

You can upgrade suspension & add air bags to make it feel more stable.

You can put on tires with a higher load rating.

 

The biggest thing that is limiting your ability to control a heavy load is the brakes, definitely make sure the trailer brakes and controller are set-up and working properly. But you could try to upgrade the truck's brakes as well.

 

But, jeeze, please be careful pulling that heavy thing around. I hope I don't encounter you on the road.

According to the ownser manual if I swap the rear gear to 373 I would be 1000 # under.

DONWT15 Enthusiast

DONWT15

Posted
Posted

A mess like that is loaded in a truck for disposal. The truck is weighed so they know how much to charge to dispose of it.

Really quite easy.

DONWT15 Enthusiast

DONWT15

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Lou Summerall said:

According to the ownser manual if I swap the rear gear to 373 I would be 1000 # under.

Yes, but that doesn't change the certified limits of the truck. If you look up your vin # you can find the info from the build that GM used to certify the vehicle.

You need to find where the extra weight is, the trailer or the truck. Are you running with full water tanks or things like that?

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