Towing Question

stocksilverado · July 23, 2009

Hi I'm new. I have a question and I hope it does not seem stupid. I have a 2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 regular cab 2 wheel drive 4.8 V8. Ive not had it long. And I was wondering if I could tow a another stock Silverado 1500 with mine? I would use a trailer like the U-haul ones. Thanks. Again I hope this doesn't seem stupid!

pwall · July 23, 2009

Welcome!

No question is stupid, but perhaps the answers could be. ;)

Your truck will most likely tow between 4600lbs - 6000lbs depending on the gear ratio.

However, assuming that this tow will be a one-time thing, you most likely will be ok. I certainly would ensure though that the u-haul trailer has working brakes.

Outbacker · July 24, 2009

I do not think this will be a problem, however there is one easy way to find out. Check and see what your tow rating is, then see what the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is of the truck you want to tow. Just ensure that the tow rating is higher then the load you want to tow. Here is a link to tow ratings, and now all you gotta do is find how heavy the other truck is. And there is no such thing as a stupid question. This is how we learn.

Stevens03 · July 24, 2009

Yeah, but whats the biggest tire I can run?

Sorry j/k

tramz · July 24, 2009

Welcome to the asylum. Is your trailer a car dolly type (two wheels, single axle) or two axle? For reference, I had a '97 5.0L reg. cab, short bed (not equipped with a trailer towing package, other than the class II hitch I installed) and pulled a 1500 lb two axle trailer with a 3300 lb Buick Skylark GS on it over 300 interstate miles. I installed a temp gauge for the tranny so I could monitor. The temp ran between 190 and 200 F. Had the fluid and filter changed the following weekend and kept it serviced regularly for 197,000 miles and never had an issue or I was just lucky.

I think you should be ok doing what you're needing.

pm26 · July 24, 2009

If he uses a U Haul tandem axle car trailer, then trailer brakes are not an issues. These trailers use surge hydraulic brakes, so no electric brake controller is needed.

The questions to ask: Does the tow vehicle have a towing package with the frame hitch and auto transmission cooler? If not, what is the bumper rated towing capacity? It should be about 5,000 lbs, 500 lbs tongue weight for full size trucks if I remember correctly. make sure you use at least 6,000 lb rated hitch ball if towing by the bumper, and make sure the bumper is structurally sound.

The U haul trailer plus another pickup would weigh 6,000 -8.500 lbs, depending on what the towed pickup is.

ss502gmc · July 24, 2009

If he uses a U Haul tandem axle car trailer, then trailer brakes are not an issues. These trailers use surge hydraulic brakes, so no electric brake controller is needed.

The questions to ask: Does the tow vehicle have a towing package with the frame hitch and auto transmission cooler? If not, what is the bumper rated towing capacity? It should be about 5,000 lbs, 500 lbs tongue weight for full size trucks if I remember correctly. make sure you use at least 6,000 lb rated hitch ball if towing by the bumper, and make sure the bumper is structurally sound.

The U haul trailer plus another pickup would weigh 6,000 -8.500 lbs, depending on what the towed pickup is.

I have rented uhaul trailers about a dozen times over the years and they wont even let you hook up the trailer to a ball on the bumper but as long as your hitch is rated for 6000 lbs or so you should be fine besides uhaul checks through there system to make sure the tow vehicle is compatible with there trailer and what your hauling even tho i saw a jeep grand cherokee barely hauling a tahoe! im not sure how they let that one go but it was hilarious following it up the highway as it was struggling along. Anyway think if its a one time thing you should be fine.

sc4808 · July 24, 2009

Your truck will handle it fine.

If you are towing with a dolly, and the truck you are towing is 2wd then you will have to remove the drive shaft if you do front wheels up, if you do rear wheels up you will be fine.

Car trailer hauling will be fine, the only issue is that if you rent a trailer from U-Haul, they do not allow you to put a full size truck on thier trailer, only smaller vehicles. Now you can lie and tell them that you will be hauling a Honda Civic and then when you get home, put the full size truck on it, but keep in mind that if something were to happen, you will be buying the trailer from U-Haul.

But as far as your truck doing the towing, you should have no issue.

BurroWDMS · July 24, 2009

Car trailer hauling will be fine, the only issue is that if you rent a trailer from U-Haul, they do not allow you to put a full size truck on thier trailer, only smaller vehicles. Now you can lie and tell them that you will be hauling a Honda Civic and then when you get home, put the full size truck on it, but keep in mind that if something were to happen, you will be buying the trailer from U-Haul.

A full-size truck *may* not even fit on the U-haul trailers. They're pretty dang small (and narrow).