1500 Towing Capapcities

rahtreelimbs · June 17, 2005

My 1500 manual says that I can tow 7800 lb. with my Silverado. Is this true? I live in Pa. where steep hills are all around, I have towed roughly 400 lb. with this truck and can't envision towing a properly setup 7800 lb. Any light shedding???

496 CUBIC INCHES · June 17, 2005

IMO the tow ratings are a little optimistic for the 1500s. I had a 98 Z-71 with the old 5.7 and 3.73s. IIRC the tow rating was 7200lbs. My trailer weighs about 5K empty and thats about how I usually towed it to keep the weight down. IMO the 5Klbs was about all I'd ever want to tow on a regular basis.

The biggest problem you'll face is the GVWR and GCWR. My Z-71 had a GVWR of 6200lbs. The truck empty weighed about 5800. That left me with 400lbs of payload before I was overloaded. Once I dropped the tongue of the trailer on the hitch,I was over by about 200lbs. Anything else I added to the trailer or truck just made it worse.

The biggest reason I went with the 2500HD was to get the added payload. Now I can load all I want in the trailer, and if I wanted to, take a cord of firewood camping with us and still be OK.

JRW68 · June 17, 2005

And I'de do it again... I towed that in PA from the burgh to erie on 79... for more details see this thread...

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42574

if I had to pull that 2 times a month on the same trip every month... I would and probably wouldn't regret getting a 1500... and thats without torsion bars or a sway bar. Get both of those and Ide pull that anywhere... Take note to the 3.42 gears

Hecktorx · June 17, 2005

IMO the tow ratings are a little optimistic for the 1500s.

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I definately agree with that. My truck is rated for 9100lbs of properly distributed trailer. That's almost twice what the truck weighs.

Stefan · June 17, 2005

Don't look at the tow rating. Look at the GCVWR then fill your truck up with fuel and weigh it. Add weight of any passangers that will travel with you. And subtract this amount from the GCVW #. Plus obviously your gear ration 3.73 or the even better 4.10. Sounds like you have 3.73

I think you will find your number is much lower than the 7800# you mention.

Secondly is that these 'tow ratings' are based on only 1 person in vehicle weighing 150 lbs. If you weigh 250 you just lost 100 lbs ot towing cap. If all passangers ( wife and kids) add up to 200 lbs...poof.... there goes another 200.

Thirdly any cargo in the bed, that weight must come off....... Weight of your hitch etc, must come off!

Lastly, it is highly recommended on all RV sites that you play within 85% or so of your max tow rating. So once you get a true number factoring in the above, take 85% of it and that is you true capabilities....

I have read too many stories of people burning up trannys and/or not having the braking power to stop because they are towing to much...

az'03Silverado · June 20, 2005

Ok, try this. I just got back from Salt Lake City where I drove up there from Phoenix to help my aunt move. I have a 1500 4x2 Ext. cab with the 4.8L and 3.73 gears. I pulled my 6x12 tandem axle trailer behind up and back. It weighs about 2000lbs empty and I had about 700lbs of equipment (tools n stuff) inside. Most of the way it was in 3rd gear at about 3000 rpm (70mph) and pulled just fine. However, some of the hills and the high altitude made the truck a real dog. I can't imaging pulling much more than what I had.

I have a question, every so often I'd have to downshift and the rpm shot up to 4500 for a few seconds. Did this hurt anything?

Wingnut · June 20, 2005

Ok, try this. I just got back from Salt Lake City where I drove up there from Phoenix to help my aunt move. I have a 1500 4x2 Ext. cab with the 4.8L and 3.73 gears. I pulled my 6x12 tandem axle trailer behind up and back. It weighs about 2000lbs empty and I had about 700lbs of equipment (tools n stuff) inside. Most of the way it was in 3rd gear at about 3000 rpm (70mph) and pulled just fine. However, some of the hills and the high altitude made the truck a real dog. I can't imaging pulling much more than what I had.
I have a question, every so often I'd have to downshift and the rpm shot up to 4500 for a few seconds. Did this hurt anything?

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3k lbs? I seriously doubt it hurt a thing.

Just keep up on your tranny fluid changes.

The truck would probably have turned into a dog at high altitudes anyway. When I lived in Denver, my Blazer would suck wind when I went up to go snowboarding. Nothing but snowboarding gear in the back and one passenger.

Stefan · June 20, 2005

These engines are designed to operate fine in the 4 - 4.5 (000) rpm range, you will not hurt a thing. In fact the optimum perf level is at around 4 - 4200 RPM

Only thing to watch is Tranny temp. Rpm's are fine but sustained temps over 200 degress or smell of burnt fluid will shorten the tranny life and get that fluid changed ASAP

mcreyaufmiller · June 20, 2005

I have the 5.0 with 373's. I have pulled 30' boats (properly balanced), other trucks (properly balanced), and enclosed trailers. Other than the lack of get up and go when pulling, I have never had a problem. It was all in the balancing of the trailer.

sparky0484 · June 21, 2005

Towing isn't as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. You can hook just about anything behind these things. I had a 94 2 door Grand Am with the V6 in it and I used to tow two snowmobiles and a trailer about 300 miles north of home. It was bottomed out in the back the whole way, but I just left it in third and had a big tranny cooler on it and never blew the motor or transmission, that fluid stayed pink as can be. (we did this multiple times) I wasn't stupid about it, I didn't come off lights real fast, and I left tons of room to stop and never quit paying attention, and looking waaay down the road. But I can't say I had any close calls. I only had one time where something broke. The porcelin part of the spark plug seperated from the metal part, I didn't know what it was until I got home, just thought it was exhaust b/c it was so loud. So that day I went about 150-200 miles on 5 cylinders, and it still did okay. There was one hill that I started at 85 and eneded up at about 55, but I never floored it. It stayed at about 3500-3800 rpms on that hill. Normal rpms were about 2700-3000 cruising. There were some fairly large hills around Cadillac, MI as well. I just needed a very big run. Those were good memories though....

d-dog · June 22, 2005

I agree the factory is a little optomistic on towing, but then it depends on what your expectations are. My 97 Z71 (5.7 w/3:73) routinely tows my boat that weighs in on the trailer at about 4500 lbs. The acceleration isn't there, but it handles it fine. I will say some air bags and the add-a-leaf on the rear have really helped though. When I've got that load back there, the bags keep the a$$ end up which helps the handling, as does making sure your tires are aired up. Just don't expect the truck to have any acceleration, and be prepared to do some manual shifting to keep the RPM in a good range.

Dog