I bought a 2011 Chevrolet Crew Cab with the 5.3. Equipted with the trailer towing package. My wife and I both like the new Rockwood 8319SS. 31' with two slides. GVWR 8650, Base/Dry unit wt. 6831. Any suggestions to what is needed as in hitches, sway bars ect. Quality and safety. My truck is rated for 9500 trailer wt. I bought the truck trusting it will handle any trailer in the weight class. Any other Chevy owners tow similar TT's?
I know the newer trucks have higher ratings but you really have to figure this based on the max rear axle rating. You have to add up your fully loaded tongue weight, portion of passenger weight going to rear axle, items stored in bed and the weight of the weight distribution hitch itself. With ours loaded, including a sea eagle inflatable boat, 10hp motor, bicycles etc in the bed, we are right at the rear axle limit based on actual numbers from having it weighed. If we added two passengers in the backseat we would be over.
Bruce and Donna
2007 Forest River Wildwood 27RLSS
2003 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 towing package
Putnam XDR hitch
Equalizer WD with 1k bars
Tekonsha Prodigy brake control
The rear axle Capacity is 3,950. My only concern is the shorter truck. Crew cab with the short box. My guess is the trailer loaded should weigh around 8,300. My truck is rated for 9,600. Which technically should be okay. What type hitching system would you recommend?
In my opinion, if you buy that heavy trailer you will be wanting an 2500HD within a couple of years.
Or you will stop using the trailer because it is not as comfortable towing it longer distance.
It may be different in Texas where you need air conditioned comfort , but......
In Oregon it is better to use the shortest trailer that will fit our needs rather than the longest.
We have to drive over mountain passes on 2 lane Highways to camp in tighter spots defined by the geography of the forest. Smaller trailer fits where Bigger trailer does not.
Taxpaying citizens in their cars do not like having to follow an old foagy ( I am one , born in 1946 ) at 45 towing too much trailer.
Do yourself a favor. Buy a USED 21 0r 24 and discover what you really want before laying down the big bucks for a 31 footer.
My fourth and last setup is a Duramax Diesel towing a 21T Komfort.
By far the best combo for me after trying the 16' , 25', and 36' diesel pusher MH.
Lowsuv has a good point. It appears that if the unit is within your specs you will be pulling near max. I don't think you'll find many people happy with that,most will probably be looking for a bigger TV. It may work OK in the flats but any mountain grades will be the pitts.
Regardless that 9500# is a nominal number and you likely won't have that. You need to load the TV up with all the gear and people you'd have on a trip and weigh it on a split scale. Subtract that weight and the weight of a WD hitch from the TV GVW and you'll have a realistic number to work with. And that ignores other limitations you have, such as hitch weight, axle weight, and so on.
Rodbender54 wrote: The rear axle Capacity is 3,950. My only concern is the shorter truck. Crew cab with the short box. My guess is the trailer loaded should weigh around 8,300. My truck is rated for 9,600. Which technically should be okay. What type hitching system would you recommend?
The rear axle capacity is not what you go by unless you subtract the weight already on it based on the weight of the portion of the truck that is bearing on it. You need to use the max cargo carrying capacity which is probably 1500-1600 lbs for that truck. If you load the heavy stuff in the rear of the trailer the tongue weight may stay within limits which is likely around a max of 900-1000 after adding in passenger loads and other items carried in the truck.
Rodbender54 wrote: The rear axle Capacity is 3,950. My only concern is the shorter truck. Crew cab with the short box. My guess is the trailer loaded should weigh around 8,300. My truck is rated for 9,600. Which technically should be okay. What type hitching system would you recommend?
The rear axle capacity is not what you go by unless you subtract the weight already on it based on the weight of the portion of the truck that is bearing on it. You need to use the max cargo carrying capacity which is probably 1500-1600 lbs for that truck. If you load the heavy stuff in the rear of the trailer the tongue weight may stay within limits which is likely around a max of 900-1000 after adding in passenger loads and other items carried in the truck.
The problem with loading too much weight in the rear is it can cause your tongue weight to be too light for the TT and can induce sway.
In terms of your truck. You need to look at all numbers related to towing. As stated above, go load your tv as you would for camping with passengers, pets, any gear you would load into truck and a full tank of gas. Then go weigh the truck. Take the weight you obtained and subtract it from your trucks gcwr to get your adjusted towing capacity. Take the truck scaled weight and subtract it from your trucks gvwr to get your available payload. You also need to know what your receiver is rated for. The trailer tongue weight will have to be subtracted from your available payload.
Now let's look at the weights on the trailer. you are wise to look at both gvwr and uvw of TT. The gvwr is the max your TT should weigh when fully loaded. The uvw or dry weight is the TT weight before options and cargo. You will probably never tow TT at uvw. You can either go by gvwr to ensure you are safe or you can know that the average camper adds approx 1000-1500 lbs of stuff into their TT. You may pack heavier or lighter, this is just an average. Anyways, you can add the average above to get a guesstimated loaded weight. Once you decide which weight you want to use for calculations, we can figure out a tongue weight. Tongue weight should be about 13-15% of your loaded TT weight. This is the number that will have to be factored into your payload.
These numbers should help you to figure out if tour tv is capable if towing that TT safely. It will be up to you to determine how close to max capacity you are comfortable towing. I was at max capacity in a 1/2 ton suv and hated the white knuckle experience. We lasted 1 season before upgrading to tv in signature. That was with towing a 7000 lb TT in a tv rated to tow 9100 lbs and rated for 910 lb on receiver. We were at bare min maxed out on receiver and over on payload. It was not a fun experience. Now towing is fun again.
Perhaps a smaller 24-26 ft range TT (with 1 slide) would be lighter weight and pull better behind your Tow Vehicle? Especially if you like to "load heavy" - like my wife. If wondering, there's more than trailer weight and TV weight. Wind drag "negative influence" must be taken into account as well. If wondering, I used to tow at my TV's weight limits. Blew 1 x transmission, 1 x transfer case and endured several white knuckle situations. Now, I no longer tow at "the limits" of my TV. Never again...
* This post was
edited 06/03/12 12:05am by spike99 *
If you look at trailers with GVWR that is 80% (or less) of your tow capacity, that will help keep tongue weight in a manageable area. Your 80% number is 7680. At that weight, you could still see loaded tongue weight as high as 1150 lbs.
Your payload is around 1700 lbs. Subtract 1150 lbs tongue weight, 100 lbs hitch weight, and you've got 450 lbs left for cargo and passengers in the truck. Weight of any accessories added to the truck, such as bed cap (200 lbs) / tonneau (50 lbs), etc) would need to be subtracted from that 450 useable payload.
Even at 80% of rated tow capacity, you need to be very careful of weight added in the truck.
ive got the same 2006 set up, same wheel base, motor, 373 gears, etc. i tow a 4600 unloaded 24ft trailer and it is the most enjoyable tow ever. when i fill it up with water, and everything else needed for a long stay (dry camp), it is probably at the 6000 or so point. you REALLY know it is back there then. i also have the 9500 max GVW on the truck. i would definitely NOT want to tow anything approaching that mark. i tell the wife that if she wants more luxury and length, she has to buy me the 2500hd. we are sticking with the 24. i think you are just going to have to downsize.
Offline
