2016 Chevy Silverado 1500 Towing Capacity

BashBrosInc. · May 11, 2020

Been searching for a better answer from somewhere as I have been told to many things. I have a 2016 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 Crew Cab 4wd with the 3.08 gear ratio with the 5.3L V-8 6 speed transmission, trailering package, and trying to find out my towing capacity before we buy a travel trailer toy hauler. I was first told by the dealership that I bought the truck from that the max towing for the truck was 9200 pounds. Then called back a few days later after we found a camper to just double check, I talked to a different guy and was told 7200 pounds (mind you will never be doing business there again.) I then called a rival dealership without telling them the issues i have had and he told me 6200. If I look in my manual, it shows 6100 for the set up above, but I couldn't find anything online showing 6,100 pounds being their max.

Figured I would reach out and see what opinions are out there and to see what limits I should push. The toy hauler will get pulled 1 time a year to Colorado mountains, and rest of the time will get pulled for short trips inside Missouri. Trying to see what toy hauler dry weight i should consider and what my max tow i should consider before spending 20k on something that causes me to spend another 50k on a truck lol

CamGTP · May 11, 2020

6,100lbs should be right on a crew cab truck.

That leaves you with very few options for travel trailers.

You could pay to swap your gearing to 3.42's or 3.73's to up your tow rating. Paying for that and a calibration change is cheaper than buying a new truck.

lordathey · May 11, 2020

When I bought my truck i didn't realize it had 3.08 gears and everything you read says you can't tow with them. I don't tow all the time with my 2014 silverado that has 3.08 gears, but I do take trips with an enclosed trailer. I took it up to the black hills last year with 4 dirt bikes and I thought it would have struggled because the trailer is pretty heavy ( I think 5000 pounds). As long as I kept it from shifting into 6 gear it did great in my opinion.

BashBrosInc. · May 11, 2020

i was Hoping to be around 7200 max tow I found a toy hauler we liked at 4900 dry weight but with 6100 leaves little room for toys and what not. 6100 is not very much

if I go over the 6100 how rough is it on the transmission and truck ?

CamGTP · May 12, 2020

It's not really an issue for the truck as they rate the same truck with different gears and towing package well past 10,000lbs.

The amount of shifting and possible wear on the transmission and torque converter is much higher if you tow heavy loads. It will be a bigger strain getting off the line and maintaining speed with the 3.08 gears.

BashBrosInc. · May 12, 2020

What else would be needed besides upgrading the gear to the 3.42 or 3.73? I think besides buying a new truck this option is more realistic lol

JimCost2014 · May 12, 2020

2 hours ago, BashBrosInc. said:

i was Hoping to be around 7200 max tow I found a toy hauler we liked at 4900 dry weight but with 6100 leaves little room for toys and what not. 6100 is not very much

if I go over the 6100 how rough is it on the transmission and truck ?

Straight from the 2016 OM, your 3.08 rear kills the capabilities:

1500 Series 4WD Crew Cab Short Box (b) 4.3LV6 3.42 3175kg (7,000lb) 5806kg (12,800lb) 5.3LV8 3.08 2767kg (6,100lb) 5443kg (12,000lb) 5.3LV8 3.42 4128kg (9,100lb) 6804kg (15,000lb) 5.3LV8; 8-speed automatic transmission with Enhanced Towing Package 3.42 4899kg (10,800lb) 7575kg (16,700lb)

1500/2500/3500 Series Pickups – SAE J2807 Compliant
Vehicle Axle Ratio
Maximum Trailer Weight (c) GCWR (a) 5.3LV8 3.73 4899kg (10,800lb) 7575kg (16,700lb) 6.2LV8 3.23 4128kg (9,100lb) 6804kg (15,000lb) 6.2LV8 3.42 5307kg (11,700lb) 8029kg (17,700lb)

Edited May 12, 2020 by JimCost2014

lordathey · May 12, 2020

I have thought about swapping gears, but I'm going to wait. When I get around to doing it I'm going to 4.10. When I tow on the interstate with a heavy load and there is a lot of hills I just keep it in manual 5, so it doesn't keep up shifting and down shifting.

BashBrosInc. · May 12, 2020

thanks for the info! Much appreciated - I feel like the 2016 silverado 1500 can handle / tow a lot when the gears are right so i am going to do the same. I think after all the responses, i will get a toy hauler that dry weight is 4800 and when we purchase a UTV in a couple years that brings the total to 7200, I will have the gears swapped and get that extra power.

With a toy hauler dry at 4800 and roughly 1,000 in extra weight, still below the 6100 so should be okay...ish lol

SierraShorty · May 12, 2020

I just bought a 2016 with 5.3 4WD regular cab short bed and 3.42 gears. The truck I bought had 31K miles but I was also looking at a 2018 regular cab short bed 4WD that had the 5.3 with 3.08 gears and only 12K miles. Here's what I discovered:

2016 5.3V8, 3.42, 4x4, Reg cab, short bed = 8600#

2016 4.3V6, 3.42, 4x4, Reg cab, short bed = 7600#

2016 5.3V8, 3.08, 4x4, Reg cab, short bed = 6600#

Yours is 6100#

https://www.johnsoncars.com/2016brochures/traileringguide/16USTraileringGuide.pdf

BashBrosInc. · May 12, 2020

if I up the gears to 3.42 or 3.73 i know my tow capacity climbs ALOT but does my GCVWR stay the same? If so, upping the gears won't really allow me to pull more if I will immediately go over the trucks GCVWR.

With upgraded gear ratio and upgraded towing capacity, i will blow through the GCVWR, is that bad ? I see the same trucks just with different gears have a GCVWR of 15k where mine at the 3.08 is 12

truckguy82 · May 12, 2020

On 5/11/2020 at 4:10 PM, BashBrosInc. said:

Been searching for a better answer from somewhere as I have been told to many things. I have a 2016 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 Crew Cab 4wd with the 3.08 gear ratio with the 5.3L V-8 6 speed transmission, trailering package, and trying to find out my towing capacity before we buy a travel trailer toy hauler. I was first told by the dealership that I bought the truck from that the max towing for the truck was 9200 pounds. Then called back a few days later after we found a camper to just double check, I talked to a different guy and was told 7200 pounds (mind you will never be doing business there again.) I then called a rival dealership without telling them the issues i have had and he told me 6200. If I look in my manual, it shows 6100 for the set up above, but I couldn't find anything online showing 6,100 pounds being their max.

Figured I would reach out and see what opinions are out there and to see what limits I should push. The toy hauler will get pulled 1 time a year to Colorado mountains, and rest of the time will get pulled for short trips inside Missouri. Trying to see what toy hauler dry weight i should consider and what my max tow i should consider before spending 20k on something that causes me to spend another 50k on a truck lol

My buddies tow vehicle blew a transmission, he was in rough times and couldn’t afford to fix it or buy a new vehicle. So he outfitted his avalanche to tow his trailer.

every single day his used his 2011 avalanche, with 3.08 gears, 5.3, and a 6 speed to tow 11k-14k lbs all over south jersey

His mods are..... aftermarket trans cooler and airbags. He’s said numerous occassions he’s amazed at how well it does and how well it’s holding up. 3.08 is no problem.

Moral of the story is, dont worry about 6k lbs

I literally had well over 3k lbs of top soil in my bed the other day, truck didn’t care at all. I did the math after I got home and it said I had 3500lbs.

Edited May 12, 2020 by truckguy82