1500HD towing

[JeremyN]

Is anyone out there towing with a Silverado 1500HD?

My cousin has a travel trailer with a GVWR of about 7500lbs. He is currently pulling his trailer with a 2003 Silverado 1500 Ext Cab short box. The truck pulls it fine, but his kids are getting older, and he wants to find a crew cab truck. He called me last night saying a dealer near him has a 2006 Silverado 1500HD for sale. We talked a little about how the truck was different than my 2500HD, but overall I said I thought the 1500HD would do just fine for his current application.

I told him I would post the question to everyone on here about it though. Just wanna see if anyone has had any experiences (good or bad) with the 1500HD, and whether or not you would recommend it for a tow vehicle.

I also want to add that fuel mileage doesn't mean anything to him, as the only time he drives his truck is when he is pulling the camper. He only puts about 2500-3000 miles on his truck a year, so the poor gas mileage that you hear of on the 6.0L motor doesn't matter.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bob&Patty]

I do believe that GM made a 1500 HD a few years back. It did not seem to be real popular. "I think" it had the 6.0, bigger diff, Allison trans and bigger brakes. I would suggest doing some research on the said truck. With the VIN# you can get all the specs on the truck.

 

[Ladiver]

I had one of those elusive 1500HD's with Quadrasteer (4 wheel steering). It was AWESOME. I really wanted to keep it, but what we were looking for in a trailer would have just been too much for the truck.

The 1500HD was the same as the 2500 LD. GM seemed to get away from light duty vs heavy duty. They already had a 3500HD and 2500HD, so the 2500LD became the 1500HD. There was no option for diesel and the 6.0 was the motor. I really do not remember which transmission it was, but I am pretty sure it was NOT the Allison.

I think your cousin would be pretty happy with the 1500HD, as it should* tow 7500 without a problem. Check the specs with GM first though. Remember that 4wd will reduce some of the capabilities, also look at gear ratio (they offered 3.73 and 4.10). We already had our 1500HD paid off, so we tried to find trailers that fit our payload capacity. While we did find a few, we realized that towing a larger trailer with the 6.0 would result in gpm's rather than mpg's. My stock truck was getting around 10-12 mpg empty in the city. I added a chip to it and that brought it to 13-14 city and around 16 hwy. I imaging that would be cut in half while towing.

I traded up to the 3500HD and love it. I do miss Quadrasteer, but I think I like my Cyclone more. The ride quality might be better in the 3500HD than it was in my 1500HD.

 

[cycloneracer]

I had a 2004 Chevy 1500HD. It was a nice truck. 6.0L engine and a "heavy duty" transmission. NOT the Allison. I ended up putting air bags on mine to help with loaded driving. The rear springs were light for a better ride than the 2500's. I wasn't crazy about the 6.0 and the transmission as it seemed to always be down shifting, even when unloaded. Sometimes it would go all the way to 2nd gear from 4th. Never gain any speed, just more RPM's and noise. The interiors of this era truck was one of the best GM made, much nicer than the following generation. My only concern would be paying a premium for a 1500HD because they didn't make very many as they weren't very popular. You may be able to pick up a 2500 for less money. One thing to watch for on these gas trucks is the exhaust manifold bolts. If any are broke it may be a major expense to fix it. The ones that break off are the ones on the back of the engine and sometimes require pulling the head to fix.

 

[DMitch]

I owned one and it was a great truck. Pulled 8,000 lbs. with it and it had no problems at all. I'd recommend it for 7500 lbs. any day.