Towing This Week

az'03Silverado · May 3, 2004

Ok everybody, I'm towing my first trailer this week. My sister's getting married and I'll be renting a U-Haul 6x12 to haul her sh** to her new hubby's place. I have an '03 1500 Ext Cab Silverado with a 12,000 lb. hitch platform. (ok, I know, the truck can't really tow that much but I wanted a little overkill ) The lights all work and the trailers have surge brakes so I don't need to worry about that. Anything else I need to make sure of or be aware of. Any suggestions? (other than, 'don't get a hernia)

juicy · May 3, 2004

Ok everybody, I'm towing my first trailer this week. My sister's getting married and I'll be renting a U-Haul 6x12 to haul her sh** to her new hubby's place. I have an '03 1500 Ext Cab Silverado with a 12,000 lb. hitch platform. (ok, I know, the truck can't really tow that much but I wanted a little overkill ) The lights all work and the trailers have surge brakes so I don't need to worry about that. Anything else I need to make sure of or be aware of. Any suggestions? (other than, 'don't get a hernia)

learn to love your mirrors

SteveCZ · May 3, 2004

USE THAT TOW/HAUL Switch!!! Its your friend....

seadoons · May 3, 2004

Take wide turns so you don't nail curbs with the trailer, and when backing up just take your time.

tfbrown69 · May 3, 2004

Don`t forget to cross the safety chains...

Ben · May 3, 2004

Surge brakes only work going forward, or better stated designed for forward movement.

Backing up will have them initiated and have to lock them out. There is either a lever or pin you must throw.

Backing down a hill can be exciting, as there will be no TT brakes plus the added TT weight.

Keep the TT's total weight below 5,000 lbs, as any GM 1500 has weak tranny and diff for anything higher. WD hitch if the rear end drops more than an inch or so. Then make sure the truck drops evenly front/rear, else the steering geometry will be off (sway).

Make sure you either have a tow package or put in the components to make up a tow package.

If over sized tires, diff ratio will be lesser by same percentage difference in tire dia from OEM (30 inch).

Ben · May 3, 2004

Forgot...

Flush all 12 quarts on the auto tranny, if yours is auto tranny.

Flush diff fluid.

You have P rated tires, so note that they must be DE-RATED min 9% when used to haul/tow. Here's some links in case you don't believe "me"...

Best tire info/HOW2 & note the 9% de-rate

Michelin LTX Pilot...has P de-rate

Toyo 9% de-rate

FourWheeler 9% de-rate

Firestone/Bridgestone 9% de-rate

So you must de-rate the weight carrying capacity by 9% while keeping aired up to max listed.

Shaners · May 3, 2004

Properly load the trailer!!! It is extremely important to have weight on the tounge. If you figure the trailer weighs 5000 lbs loaded you'll want 10-15% of that weight on the ball of the truck (500-750 lbs). A trailer that isn't loaded properly will be difficult to pull. It will sway and wag it's tail all the time!!!

Also, like was mentioned before, air up the tires on your truck.

I've towed the U-Haul 6x12 box trailers several times before, and they actually tow very nice. The only problem I had was a flat tire once in downtown Pittsburgh. It took U-Haul 2 hours to get there and change the tire for me...

tleed · May 5, 2004

Easy way to figure out how to back with a trailer: put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. The back of the trailer will go the same direction as your hand.

And what is this about completely flushing a whole tranny on an '03 truck just for a weekends' worth of towing? Huh? Just exactly how feeble are these trucks anyway? Of course it's important to have good fluid in an auto tranny, but that seems like way overkill to me.

Thomas

Ben · May 5, 2004

...snip....
And what is this about completely flushing a whole tranny on an '03 truck just for a weekends' worth of towing? Huh? Just exactly how feeble are these trucks anyway? Of course it's important to have good fluid in an auto tranny, but that seems like way overkill to me.

Thomas

Any GM 1500 truck has undersized auto tranny and diff.

Don't know how much that trailer will end up weighing.

Cost of a rebuilt auto tranny is in the $2K-$3.5K range, installed. Plus the down time, plus the "stuck in the boonies", plus the "higher price because out in the boonies", etc.

Cost of 12 quarts dino ATF is about $40 bucks, tops. Double that if use synthetic. Plus about 1-2 hours work if DIY, $78 bucks at any of the corner lub shops, but risk damage from min wage newbie wrenchs.

Diff rebuild is in the $800-$1.2K range in my area. Dependent on local labor and rental rates. Ditto down time & "stuck in boonines" stuff.

Cost of 3 quarts dino diff fluid is about $15 bucks. Gasket is under $10 bucks. 1 hour labor.

Now note that it only takes a few minutes in over load to burn up a good tranny. One that has questionable fluid maintenance would have me flush. Easy decision for me.

[edit]....plus not wasted, as it's new fluid and just moves up that service schedule. Preventative maintenance a good thing, IMHO

az'03Silverado · May 18, 2004

Well, we got her moved in. Couldn't get a U-haul. Couldn't find one enclosed trailer in the entire Phoenix Metro area. One U-haul guy told me they don't rent enclosed trailers for in-town moves. Oh well, I borrowed a friend's 14 foot flat-bed trailer and off we went. (saved $50.00 too) Only problem was that I had to tie everything down. Truck pulled it just fine and the tow-haul mode worked like a champ. Thanks for all of the advice. Oh, the wedding was nice too! (but I was more excited about finally being able to tow a trailer)