Pulling A Trailer

[Man In Black]

I am looking at buying a new 2008 Chevy 4x4 short bed regular cab pickup and will be pulling a 10,000 Gross car hauler trailer. I would prefer a standard trans. for fuel economy but it looks like nobody offers them anymore. I need to know what is the smallest engine that will pull this trailer. I am not looking for a lot of speed but I also don't want to be lugging the engine to the point of abusing the truck. Are the V6's big enough or should I go with a small V8 ? What are some of you using ? Thanks for any opinions.

[Alljackedup408]

My recommendaton is that you get a 2500 with the 6.0 and 6 speed tranny. If you really dont want a 2500.. then a 1500 with the 6.0 vortec MAX would be my second choice. check that link out.. and it gives you an idea on what u want.

 

http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/specifications/

[stlavsa]

My recommendaton is that you get a 2500 with the 6.0 and 6 speed tranny. If you really dont want a 2500.. then a 1500 with the 6.0 vortec MAX would be my second choice. check that link out.. and it gives you an idea on what u want.

 

http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/specifications/

 

v-6 and the smaller v-8's are a no go. you are gonna want minumum 2500 w. the 6.0 as stated.

Where do you live???? is it totally flat there??

 

im guessing the diesel is out of the question?

[nbscanuck]

I have a 5.3L with 4.10 gears on a 5000lb travel trailer and its enough, I wouldn't want the 4.8l. If you're 10000lbs your gonna NEED a 2500 and would definitely suggest the 6.0L.

[BigJayDogg3]

Two things, one you cannot get a 2500 in a RC/SB configuration, but can get it in a RC/LB. Two, if you do get a Vortec MAX package truck, it has to be at least an EC/RB truck IIRC.

[ZZ327]

if you want a reg cab truck that will pull that much weight, Itll have to be a Reg Cab long box 2500HD 6.0 liter. I would get 3.73 Gears and They have a 6sp trans now so that should both help MPG

[svensk]

Yeah, I'd go 2500. Of course a 5.3 could pull that weight around, but what were concerned about is the transmission. the 1500's just don't come with a tough enough tranny yet to be pulling that kind of load on a consistent basis.

[peteking]

My recommendaton is that you get a 2500 with the 6.0 and 6 speed tranny. If you really dont want a 2500.. then a 1500 with the 6.0 vortec MAX would be my second choice. check that link out.. and it gives you an idea on what u want.

 

http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/specifications/

 

This, basically, would be my reply. I have a 5.3L LM7, and it performs wonderfully for mid-weight trailors and my boat. But 5 tons...I'd want a 6.0L for that. As stated many times by other members...a smaller engine would spend much of its time switching gears as you accelerated and traversed up/down grades. That's rough on the tranny in the long term. A 2500HD truck is better equiped for this task, IMHO. Good luck!!

[C & A s Dad]

Besides the fact that 10K is far too much to be tuggin with any 1/2 ton truck, don't forget about wheelbase. A RCSB truck is not going to offer the stability of a longer WB truck.

 

Take notice of the full time camping crowd. The majority of them are in 4 dr trucks and even some with 4 dr LWB trucks. There is a reason for this other than the extra room, towing stability.

[slimjim2525]

You also can't get a 6.0l in a regular cab 1500.

[C6Racer]

Interesting, I didn't realize wheel base affected towing stability.

Anyway, I've towed 4 tons with my truck(see sig) and that's about as high as I would go with it but, only every once in a while as I could feel the 4L60-E workin pretty damn hard. Even in two/haul mode it I could feel it slip just a tiny bit. As somebody else said, 2.5-3 tons is about as heavy I would go for regular towing with this particular truck.

I would definitely choose something with the VortecMax option if you don't wanna go into the 2500 series. If you don't need it, I would also skip the 4-wheel drive as it only adds weight.