Enough Truck??

I have a question for everyone.

I currently have a Silverado 2500 Crew Cab standard bed with the 6.0L gas engine, 3.73 rear end, and a towing capacity of 12,300lbs, per the Trailer Life towing guide.

I have been looking at upgrading to a 5th wheel, and I found one that my wife and I really like. Here are the specs that I have on the trailer:

Unloaded Vehicle Weight: 9,925 lbs
Dry Hitch Weight: 1,860 lbs
Cargo Carrying Capacity: 2,575 lbs
Exterior Length: 34'-11"

Is this going to be too much trailer for my truck?

I apologize if this seems like a dumb question, but I have never towed a 5th wheel before. Just thought I would make sure before my wife and I got real serious about buying.

Thanks in advance.

There's one important number needed for you and us to answer the question: your Silverado's cargo capacity. You will find it on the sticker on the driver's door. It's probably something in the area of 3,000#.

Compare that number to the 5th's pin weight + TV driver and passengers + TV cargo + TV fuel. Keep in mind that the 5th's dry pin weight is going to go up by several hundred pounds when you load it with propane, cargo, and adult beverages.

My glove compartment has a sticker that says the payload rating is 2152 lbs.

Jeremy, here's the deal. I had a 07 2500 HD with the D/A combo. It was rated to pull a 15200# 5er with a GCVW of 22K. Now your delema is that you have a 6.0 gas engine which will lower the towing capacity. If it does not have the Allison trans that will hurt it even more. If you still have the owners manual, it will state what your truck is rated to pull. Look at the section for your 2500HD C/C S/B with the 6.0 engine/trans, and rear end ratio. Your other issue will be pulling hills and fuel mileage.

When deciding whether a trailer can be towed I would look at the gross vehicle weight rather than the dry weight unless you plan on pulling it empty. It does not take a lot of 'stuff' to get the weight up on the trailer.

Bob&Patty said:

Jeremy, here's the deal. I had a 07 2500 HD with the D/A combo. It was rated to pull a 15200# 5er with a GCVW of 22K. Now your delema is that you have a 6.0 gas engine which will lower the towing capacity. If it does not have the Allison trans that will hurt it even more. If you still have the owners manual, it will state what your truck is rated to pull. Look at the section for your 2500HD C/C S/B with the 6.0 engine/trans, and rear end ratio. Your other issue will be pulling hills and fuel mileage.

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I would love to have a D/A combo, but when we bought my current truck, the money was just not there to justify the extra expense for the diesel option. Plus, we got a really good deal on my truck, so I can't complain at all about not having a diesel yet.

I am not too worried about the fuel mileage with my 6.0 motor. Except for 1 trip that we take every year up to the UP of Michigan, we almost always stay at campgrounds that are an hour or less away from my home. We have not really ventured out and put thousands of miles on the trailer every year. It is a goal of ours to do that, but we don't expect to do that until we get closer to retirement age.

I will have to take a close look at what my owners manual says tonight.

So I looked in my owners manual (and for a 6.0L, 3.73 rear end, crew cab, standard box, 4x4) it lists the towing capacity to be 9800lbs. To me this seems really low for this truck. With the 4.10 rear end, it shows a capacity of 12,300. That is a huge difference depending on what rear end you have in your truck.

Why is there such a difference? I knew there would be some difference, but I didn't think this much!

This all kinda upsets me to be honest. I bought this truck to be able to tow a fifth wheel when we finally can afford one. And now I see it can only tow 9800 lbs?????

Do you have the Allison transmission, that could make a big difference.

Not sure what year you have which could make a difference, but assuming you have a 2013 2 wheel drive (older models are a little less), the GVWR is 9500#, the curb weight is 6153#, giving you an effective cargo capacity of 3347# if my math is right. Assuming 210# of fuel, 350# of people, and another 50# misc., that would leave you with a cargo capacity of 2737#. The next limiting factor is the rear Gross axle rating at 6200# max. If you weigh the truck wet (everything on) hooked to the trailer, and your weight is over 6200# on the rear axle only you're overweight. The Combined Gross Weight of the Truck and 5th Wheel Trailer with 3.73 rears and 6.0 gas is 16,000#. If you have a dry trailer that weighs 9925# and a truck that weighs 6153# + fuel, people and mis of 610# that would make your combined gross 16,668# which is already 668# over gross and you haven't put anything in the trailer. I also believe that the allison is only available with the diesel. FYI there may not be a lot of difference in the horsepower between the gas and the diesel but the torque difference is night and day. That said do people pull them with this type of truck? You bet, they also experience a higher level of repairs, loss of performance, saftey issues and the liability that may insue from operating an overloaded vehicle, and uncomfortable tow experience. Which is why my TV is a F350 duallly with 4.10 rears and a 6.0 diesel running an SCT controller. Power when I need it, stablity of ride, and overall fuel mileage equivalent to a 3/4 ton. Don't know what the market is in your area, but here you can usually pick up a 1 ton dually for the same or less than a 3/4 ton.

Jeremy, a 6.0 is a small CI" engine. It will need lots of RPM's to do the job. Gas engines do not produce power at low end like a Duramax does. The 4:10 gears helps with power band...but not fuel mileage. BTW, my 07 Chevy D/A C/C LB 4WD with all the goodies is still for sale at the dealer. It is a great truck with low miles. Its a long drive to get it though.

Not enough truck in at least two areas.

Payload: 2152 - 150 pound 5th wheel receiver - 1860 = 142 pounds for you, your wife, anything else in the truck and anything in front of the RV axles.

Tow ratings for 2007.5+ GM 6.0L/6-spd/3.73 is more like 9.500-10.5k pounds, depending on cab, bed. 4.10 axle jumps up a bunch, especially 2011+. I cannot tell if your truck is the -07 old body style, 6.0L/4-spd trans or the current body style, 2007.5+ 6-spd. The tow rating for the old 6.0L/4-spd was even lower, in the 7500-8500 pound range with 3.73.

APT said:

Not enough truck in at least two areas.

Payload: 2152 - 150 pound 5th wheel receiver - 1860 = 142 pounds for you, your wife, anything else in the truck and anything in front of the RV axles.

Tow ratings for 2007.5+ GM 6.0L/6-spd/3.73 is more like 9.500-10.5k pounds, depending on cab, bed. 4.10 axle jumps up a bunch, especially 2011+. I cannot tell if your truck is the -07 old body style, 6.0L/4-spd trans or the current body style, 2007.5+ 6-spd. The tow rating for the old 6.0L/4-spd was even lower, in the 7500-8500 pound range with 3.73.

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I have a new body style 2007 Silverado. So the 2007.5+ model.

I was also really surprised on the difference between the 3:73 and the 4:10 ratio. In our 07 RAM, there is almost 3000 lb. difference. If we decide on a Road Warrior/Cyclone unit, we will most likely change them out.

Also keep in mind when you get up into the 4.10, especially with a gasser, your gas mileage will drop significantly. Several years ago we had a F250 Super Duty with the gas engine and 4.10 rear end, averaged about 4-6 mpg with a 10k (small) fifth wheel. Didn't have that truck long after we bought the camper. Would it pull it? Yes. Was it scary high RPMs and incredibly expensive fuel. Yes.

There is a lot of confusion about gear ratios. Big item is cooling and that is why the ratings for towing rise. The higher RPM's allow more cooling. Everyone out there with a 3:55 Ford has found that it tows fine and has the torque and cooling to do the job while saving wear and tear on the engine. If you are under cooled and under powered then the higher ratio will help you burn more fuel and tow cooler.

So since this thread, I have been casually looking at some diesel pickups to upgrade to. At a local dealership about an hour away from my house, they have a 2005 F350 Crew Cab shortbed Powerstroke. This truck has the Lariat package and it looks absolutely spotless from the pictures. It is a 1 owner, with 80,000 miles on it.



I am probably going to look at it tomorrow night. Is there anything that I need to be concerned about on this truck?

Also, it has the 3.73 rear end in it. That would be a good enough pulling gear in this truck, right?

If its a 6.0 engine you might want to research it a little bit I've heard they had some problems that's just what I heard when I was looking ⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄⛄

JeremyN said:

So since this thread, I have been casually looking at some diesel pickups to upgrade to. At a local dealership about an hour away from my house, they have a 2005 F350 Crew Cab shortbed Powerstroke. This truck has the Lariat package and it looks absolutely spotless from the pictures. It is a 1 owner, with 80,000 miles on it.

View attachment 25373

I am probably going to look at it tomorrow night. Is there anything that I need to be concerned about on this truck?

Also, it has the 3.73 rear end in it. That would be a good enough pulling gear in this truck, right?

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Nothing wrong with a Ford. But, I REALLY like my Bow Tie. LOL

I have never really been a Ford guy either. But I have been starting to like them a little more every year.

As far as the 6.0L issues.......I know that Ford had issues in 2003 and some of 2004. I thought they had the issues figured out by 2005 though. Am i incorrect in thinking this?

I would really like as much input as possible. I want to save myself a trip if it isn't going to be worth it.

Thanks everyone!

really confused how you get more or less weight by changing rear end ratios..drove over the road trucks for over 45 years and rear end ratios never gave us more weight ..springs shocks or such ,,,maybe but not gear ratio just my humble opinion