Towing 9000lbs not a problem

MichLakes · May 27, 2020

I was very impressed. My boat on its tri-axle trailer is a bit over 9000 lbs. My truck is rated for 9500. Hitched up, the rear fender was 38" and the front was 38.5". I'm not sure what the tongue weight is exactly but I'd guess 750-800lbs.

The truck towed it extremely well and stopped great too. This is just a few miles on flat land twice a year. I may add Sumosprings just to help out bouncing on washboard roads.

oldmann · May 27, 2020

Great to hear. What motor and trans?

MichLakes · May 27, 2020

9 minutes ago, oldmann said:

Great to hear. What motor and trans?

5.3L with the 6 Speed. Trailer package but not the Max. If my hitch was an inch higher my trailer would have been perfectly level. The 2" drop hitch is about as close as it can get without it the trailer tilting uphill. With the factory rake, it really evens out the truck.

AlaskaErik · May 28, 2020

If your trailer is 9000 lbs then your hitch weight is closer to 1000 to 1100 lbs or even more. Which means you're exceeding the tongue weight limit of 950 lbs. If your tongue weight was 750 to 800 lbs you'd have the ass end swaying all over the place once you got over 60 mph. American trailers are designed to have at least 10 percent of their weight on the tongue, but 12 to 14 percent is more typical. As for that 9500 max tow limit, that's a fairytale number for bragging rights only. Max tow rating is the most useless, meaningless and irrelevant number in the towing business. You will exceed other limitations long before you get anywhere close to that 9500 lbs. Especially if you have the family, the dog and all kinds of other gear in the truck. Your truck has a trailering information sticker on the driver's B pillar. Check it out. There's a good chance you're exceeding GCWR and payload capacity also.

MichLakes · May 28, 2020

4 hours ago, AlaskaErik said:

If your trailer is 9000 lbs then your hitch weight is closer to 1000 to 1100 lbs or even more. Which means you're exceeding the tongue weight limit of 950 lbs. If your tongue weight was 750 to 800 lbs you'd have the ass end swaying all over the place once you got over 60 mph. American trailers are designed to have at least 10 percent of their weight on the tongue, but 12 to 14 percent is more typical. As for that 9500 max tow limit, that's a fairytale number for bragging rights only. Max tow rating is the most useless, meaningless and irrelevant number in the towing business. You will exceed other limitations long before you get anywhere close to that 9500 lbs. Especially if you have the family, the dog and all kinds of other gear in the truck. Your truck has a trailering information sticker on the driver's B pillar. Check it out. There's a good chance you're exceeding GCWR and payload capacity also.

Large tri-axle boat trailers are not like typical utility trailers. They have 5-7% of the weight on the tongue per all manufacturer specs. (Smaller trailers would be closer to 10%) The reason is the engine and drive gear all sit behind the rear axle of the trailer. The fuel tank sits directly over the axles. My truck was unloaded and I reviewed the sticker in detail before I even purchased the truck. The tow rating is actually conservative for my geographic area. The manufacturer has to limit it to account for a wide variety of terrain. Towing 9k on flat straight Michigan roads does not compare to towing over hills and curves, but there is a Youtube video of a group doing just that, comparing the 5.3 to the 6.2 in that crazy environment. I would definitely not feel as confident in that terrain, but here, it was solid.

tlaw91 · May 28, 2020

That’s a nice truck! I like the color/wheel option with the blacked out emblems

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MichLakes · May 28, 2020

1 hour ago, tlaw91 said:

That’s a nice truck! I like the color/wheel option with the blacked out emblems

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you! All colors were available to us with many that looked very nice, but this one just attracted us the most.

the wanderer · May 28, 2020

8 hours ago, AlaskaErik said:

If your trailer is 9000 lbs then your hitch weight is closer to 1000 to 1100 lbs or even more. Which means you're exceeding the tongue weight limit of 950 lbs. If your tongue weight was 750 to 800 lbs you'd have the ass end swaying all over the place once you got over 60 mph. American trailers are designed to have at least 10 percent of their weight on the tongue, but 12 to 14 percent is more typical. As for that 9500 max tow limit, that's a fairytale number for bragging rights only. Max tow rating is the most useless, meaningless and irrelevant number in the towing business. You will exceed other limitations long before you get anywhere close to that 9500 lbs. Especially if you have the family, the dog and all kinds of other gear in the truck. Your truck has a trailering information sticker on the driver's B pillar. Check it out. There's a good chance you're exceeding GCWR and payload capacity also.

That's a relatively lightweight "custom" truck. Why do you think the payload is so low? It should easily be able to handle 1700+ pounds of payload.

I agree with what you're saying (you exceed payload far quicker than the "max tow" on your truck says you can pull), but don't think you're giving enough credit to available payload.

Maybe OP can post his sticker in the doorjamb.

BlancoSilverado · May 28, 2020

42 minutes ago, the wanderer said:

That's a relatively lightweight "custom" truck. Why do you think the payload is so low? It should easily be able to handle 1700+ pounds of payload.

I agree with what you're saying (you exceed payload far quicker than the "max tow" on your truck says you can pull), but don't think you're giving enough credit to available payload.

Maybe OP can post his sticker in the doorjamb.

Payload is different then tongue weight.

AlaskaErik · May 28, 2020

1 hour ago, the wanderer said:

That's a relatively lightweight "custom" truck. Why do you think the payload is so low? It should easily be able to handle 1700+ pounds of payload.

I agree with what you're saying (you exceed payload far quicker than the "max tow" on your truck says you can pull), but don't think you're giving enough credit to available payload.

Maybe OP can post his sticker in the doorjamb.

I never said anything about payload being low. What I said is that the tongue weight limit is 950 lbs. I have no idea what his payload capacity is.

the wanderer · May 28, 2020

9 minutes ago, AlaskaErik said:

I never said anything about payload being low. What I said is that the tongue weight limit is 950 lbs. I have no idea what his payload capacity is.

My bad, misread your post.

Wintersun · May 30, 2020

I looked at Sumosprings for my 2500HD truck but then found that they only have a 2-year warranty. I went with SuperSprings instead that will outlast the truck.

Best way I have found to improve the ride with an empty bed is to add a rear sway bar. After I added a Big Wig to my truck the wheel hop was reduced by more than 90% and this used to be a big deal when hitting a dip or bump while making a turn. The negative attribute of a sway bar where it transfers shocks from one wheel to the opposite one is a positive when one wheel on a solid axle vehicle hits a bump.

madconcept · May 31, 2020

That’s impressive for a 1/2 ton truck, especially without Max Trailering package.

I’ll be pulling our 4600 lb empty, 24’ travel trailer next week for the first time with this truck, looking forward to seeing how it handles compared to my old one. Old truck was worn out, trailer pushed it around quite a bit!

2019 Sierra with Max Trailering package, 5.3 8 speed.