07 GMC 1500 and a NC trailer

Hello all, Please forgive me if I am posting in the wrong area. I am very worried about my tow vehicle's capabilities. I know it depends on actual weights but if someone can just give me a general idea if I am going to be towing safely or not, I can feel better about this. I have a 2007 1500 GMC Sierra sle1 with the MAX tow package. This truck had all HD drive train and wider base. 6.0 L gas engine. 4x4 crew short bed. My rig is a 32' NC model bhdd TT.

I have tried to put all these numbers into perspective and it is driving me nuts. I do not have the means to get actual weights. I do have a weight distribution hitch, and I do have some of tow vehicle factory weight numbers.

Any help or piece of mind I can get would be most appreciated.

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

Does your GMC 1500 HD have 8 bolt wheels and what is the GVW on the door of your truck ???

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

Hi Jon, My truck has 6 bolt wheels and the gvw is 7300.
Thanks, Kevin

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

Kevin; acording to the 07 trailer live tow ratings your truck with the HD towing package and 4.10 gears the capacity is 10,500 lbs for a conventional trailer. With standard gearing it is around 8500lbs. This is for the new body style, classics are 9900 and 7900 lbs. Jon

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

Thank you for checking this for me. I am new to this and I have one more question? So I should be able to tow a camper that weighs a max of 10500?

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

No, the tow guide means nothing. It is nothing more than marketing fluff. Keep in mind, that those are MAX tow ratings, assuming the lightest configuration made of the truck. This means 2wd, small motor, regular cab, only 150 pound driver, no power equipment (it is quite heavy for those motors and stuff) and no camping gear. To give you an example of how much that fancy stuff weighs, a Denali weighs 500 pounds more than a regular GMX truck. The are two weight ratings that determine your towing capacity. The first is GVWR, which is the maximum amount of weight allowed on the truck drive axles and GCWR, which is the maximum weight of the truck and the trailer together. So, on a half ton you have a GVWR of 7300 pounds. You must first subtract the dry weight of the truck. I did the math and most of the truck seem to have a dry weight of around 5000ish pounds or so. Now you have to add your passengers, fuel, trailer hitch and any other gear you might carry in the truck. I believe you are looking at a conventional trailer, so a rough estimate is 10-12% of trailer weight for hitch weight. Call it 1100 pounds of hitch weight. As long as when you add up all of these you don't exceed the GVWR of the truck, you are fine. I have no idea what the GCWR is for your truck but you can just take the weight of the truck and add it to the weight of the trailer. If you are under on both GVWR and GCWR, you are good to go! I hope this helps, good luck!

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

Just to make things a little murkier, there is also the GRAWR, or Gross Rear Axle Weight Rating. I found on my F-150, this is real limiting factor. This spec for me was on the driver door.

So to recap, there is the GVWR, GCWR, and GRAWR, all of which should be higher than the load put on them.

Well we were tired of worrying about weights and towing so yesterday we traded the GMC 1500 for a F250 Super Duty 6.4 Diesel.

camping4life said:

Well we were tired of worrying about weights and towing so yesterday we traded the GMC 1500 for a F250 Super Duty 6.4 Diesel.

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Nice truck. It has the TSB done on the front air dam which is good and also good clean exhaust tips so that tells you the DPF is intact. All good signs. Welcome to the world of towing with a diesel, you are going to love it!

Ok, now I have to learn all the acronyms for diesel talk. I have no idea what you just said, Dave. Thanks for the compliment. Is there an area about diesel talk on here?
We almost bought a F350 Duelly King Ranch but figured for hauling and everyday use, it was over kill.

Thanks,
Kevin

camping4life said:

Ok, now I have to learn all the acronyms for diesel talk. I have no idea what you just said, Dave. Thanks for the compliment. Is there an area about diesel talk on here?
We almost bought a F350 Duelly King Ranch but figured for hauling and everyday use, it was over kill.

Thanks,
Kevin

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Sorry about that, haha. TSB - technical service bulletin. You either had that front air dam changed or you have a job 2 truck which is even better.
DPF - Diesel Particulate Filter - All 2008 and later truck were required to have them. Basically, it is like a catalytic convertor, only it is designed to trap soot. When the filter plugs up with soot, the truck goes into what is known as a "regen" where it dumps diesel fuel down the exhaust stroke of the engine. This causes it to ignite in the filter and basically incinerate the soot, clearing the filter. If you look at older pre-DPF trucks, they have black soot all in their exhaust pipes. DPF trucks should be clean, like yours. If the DPF is cracked, soot can slip by and will show up as black exhaust tips.

A couple of things to remember with the 6.4L. First, always follow the extreme maintenance schedule in the book. A well maintained truck will treat you right. Always check the oil and be religious about oil changes. The 6.4 had a reputation of "making oil" which was actually diesel fuel that was from regens that made the truck appear to have a higher oil level. All new Dodges and Fords have some level of oil dilution as they preform the regen the same way. GM uses a 9th injector in the exhaust, but this has its draw backs also as you have a much more complicated system. A little oil dilution is normal and not an issue. If you have 3 extra quarts, something is not right! The other area on these to keep an eye on is the radiator. Look for any signs of leaking, some of the early Job 1 trucks had lots of radiator failures. Most of these have been replaced under warranty so you should be fine.

Other than that, you are good to go! Remember that these truck use special coolant and additives, you can't just dump prestone in from Walmart. The maintenance schedule is key, it will give you hundreds of thousands of miles on these trucks. You are going to love the added power over a gas burner, these things love to work. Congrats and enjoy!

Dave, thank you so much for taking the time to explain some of the ins and out of this awesome truck. I know it has the snow plow package, tow package 10K GVWR, 12.5k tow hitch, off road package. Can you maybe explain what the uplifter switches would be used for and how to use them? The manual tell nothing.

camping4life said:

Dave, thank you so much for taking the time to explain some of the ins and out of this awesome truck. I know it has the snow plow package, tow package 10K GVWR, 12.5k tow hitch, off road package. Can you maybe explain what the uplifter switches would be used for and how to use them? The manual tell nothing.

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Sure. The upfitters can be used for a number of things. They are nothing more than a switched power source, with different amperage limits. People use them for things like on-board air compressors, snow plow lights, air horns, I have one of mine hooked up to our rear DVD player. They only work when the ignition is on. You will have to check your book on which amperage each has and then select the correct one for your application. It might be 5,15, and 2 30s, but don't quote me on that. The beauty of these is you can wire things directly to the switch as opposed to the fuse panel or putting in your own switch somewhere. They are very accessible and ready to go.

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

I have one more question for now. LOL The truck has a built in brake controller, I have a prodigy that i kept from my old truck. Which one do you think will treat me better.?

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

camping4life said:

I have one more question for now. LOL The truck has a built in brake controller, I have a prodigy that i kept from my old truck. Which one do you think will treat me better.?

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Built in is 1000 times better. I am not sure on the 2008, but on the 2011 it actually uses the ABS of the truck. I believe it will be the same on yours but don't quote me on it. Sell your prodigy on ebay and use the one that is really integrated with the entire braking system of the truck.

Re: My Truck and Trailer Weights

I agree with Dave I have had both controlers and the Ford unit is as good as any.