Recommended towing capacity

Or good rule of thumb.

I have a 2020 Chevy , 5.3, 6speed auto rated to pull over 11k?

Here’s the deal. I’m looking to buy a new camper for the family. We’re looking in the 26-30ft range, 5200-6200 lbs. trips will primarily be in a 100-150 mile radius, but I want the ability to go further like Colorado or Florida if desired.. With that being said, my primary concern here is to keep this truck as long as possible. My last truck went 10.5 years and I pulled a smaller camper without much issue.
So instead of looking at max capabilities, is there a good rule of thumb thats geared towards a recommended towing capacity to help preserve the life of my truck?

I don’t need any comments like “don’t buy a camper”, or “the best days were the day you buy and day you sell.”.

Thanks

Yes it can handle it but 5.3 is slighty underpowered and chevy’s light duty tranny’s arent well know for durability.

With that said, I can tell you being pushed down a mountain pass with 6k behind you in a 6k lb truck... isn’t fun.

Biggest concern is your tranny, so make sure you have a legitimate tranny cooler.

I would buy the lowest geared rear end available for that model. With a good weight distributing hitch, you should be good.

I Have heard the same , the light duty transmissions are the weakest point. They dont hold up to stress to good. In a performance application they are usually pulled for something else

Make sure you have tires with the appropriate weight rating.

FORD SUPER DUTY

Wouldn't do it with any 1/2 ton and expect a 10 year run. Perhaps if the trips are short and not more than a few times a year

Pulling it and stopping it are two different things.

Good feedback but back to my original question, what’s a good rule of thumb here? 4-5k lbs a safe bet? Would have to change everyone expectation but could make it work

Agreed. A good trailer brake controller and anti sway bars are a must. Also remember that 5200-6200 weight is empty weight. You can easily add 1K pounds with full tanks and all your gear.

At 60% to 70% of the rated tow capacity, under typical conditions & with infrequent usage, you should be fine.

Yes you can make it work. It isn't like you are going to pull it every day. Just don't beat on it. I am sure the new truck has a brake controller so just dial it in like you want it. The best upgrade I have ever done for towing was a set of air bags. No more using levelers, and you feel more in control.

I concur

With modern braking and transmissions that truck can handle a 6k camper, just be sure you have a good anti-sway hitch and trailer brake controller.

OR just buy a Super Duty and be done.

Set it up right and don’t look back.

Change the fluids when you should, use tow haul mode, drive like a sane person and you will not have problems. I don’t think gm has a weak trans, but people who think they have to tow in overdrive causing excessive labored shifting and lack of maintenance and a good cooler kill them.

Towed our 30 foot 7300 lb tt with several 1/2 to 1994 chevy. Never had an engine or transmission problem (I did preventative maintenance and had a trans cooler) sold it after 17 years and 265,000 miles. Today’s 1/2 tons are twice what that truck was. Get the highest numerical rear end ratio they will give you, probably 3.42 on new ones.

and do not use cruise control

That’s the problem it’s kind of a broad question because of the variables. I’d say 4-5k is a good threshold for under 1000 miles a year w/a good clean tranny cooler. Over that mileage it’s kind of a roll of dice. Could go 100k, 50k, 37k

Been in 2, 1/2 ton chevys pulling a load when tranny’s blew under 50k miles and known several more. Ford and Toyota are better but half ton trannys is still a half ton tranny. Tranny cooler and lower geared rear end .

My last GM truck was an 05 Z71, so different transmission. One center console boat I had was probably 4,000-4,500 with gear and fuel.

I never did like how it shifted with the tow haul mode. I kept it out of overdrive, drove 60 with the cruise set and never looked back. It would take a pretty steep hill to ever shift. The time difference between 60 and 70 did't phase me. I imagine another 1,000 pounds would have been the same.

If I was going to take a heavy camper to Colorado I would absolutely want good trailer brakes. And hopefully the newer transmissions would help control it as well going down those long mountain passes.

Depends on the package / options the tow vehicle has, like standard tow package, hd tow package with upgraded cooling system both engine & trans, class 4 or 5 frame mounted hitch, ultimate tow with all the aforementioned plus integrated brake controller and XL or low to mid load index E load range tires.
The weight rating sticker on the door jamb takes all factory options / configurations into account.

Trailer brake controller + weight distributing hitch with sway properly adjusted/set up will help tremendously.
Extremely easy to go over 1/2 ton pickup rear axle or tire weight rating due to tongue weight.

Whatever you do, don't let an RV salesman give you false confidence in your pickups actaul capabilities.
Actual capacity is stated & limited by the numbers on the door jamb label, tires, hitch mounted to the vehicle weight ratings & tongue weight.

Travel weight will be significantly higher than the empty weight the RV dealer, brochure or sticker on the trailer states.
It is easy to add 600 - 1200lbs of battery, full propane tanks, personal stuff / gear etc.

Good rule of thumb, stay under all weight ratings, a couple trips per year into the mountains shouldn't take much life off of a properly set up, maintained / serviced vehicle.
The lowest rated piece or part (weakest link) of the entire towing system is the maximum.

Thanks, good info. I couldn’t answer all of these at the moment but will do some research. I do have a brake controller and will do a weight distribution hitch vs air bags.

I just put these on my F350 in will stop on a nickle.

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/power-stop-1-click-oe-replacement-brake-kits/9194

Get good trailer brakes, a weight distribution hitch and drive like a normal sane person and you will be fine.

That truck isn’t gonna be overly burdened by that load, but if your gonna be towing it a lot I would look at a 3/4 ton platform just for the beefier components.

You are perfectly fine as long as you have trailer brakes and a good weight distributing hitch. Will you be underpowered in the mountains? Yes a little bit but you aren’t going to blow up the transmission towing that much. I had a 5.3 and my trailer was around 7500lbs with everything in it. Handled fine and I used to put my 4wheeler in the bed while towing it. Obviously a 2500 is better and drives light years better w a big load but it sounds like you already have the truck.

A ton of people on this thread don’t really understand it and it’s confusing as hell. Here is the best explanation I’ve seen:



Rustler makes a great point...DO NOT listen or pay any attention to the guys selling campers. Really what your truck can pull and what your truck is rated for are two completely different answers. I’ll give you an example....I’d be willing to bet that over 60% of the 5th wheel toy haulers on the road that are being pulled by an F250 are over on one of these ratings...it typically will be either the pin weight or the GVWR that they’ll blow. Fact is the F250 doesn’t have much GWWR @ 10k to play with because the truck and motor are so heavy.

Good luck and really educate yourself in the arena and realize that if you have a wreck and really hurt someone the vultures will all be looking for a cut...you have to evaluate your own risk tolerance.

Also factor in how often you will tow the trailer and to where. As stated before the RV dealership will sell the biggest 5th wheel to a guy in a 3/4 ton truck when he should actually be towing with a Dually, their advice is taken with many grains of salt.

If your towing the trailer on short trips on flat land, requirements are different than towing it in the hill country.

Two years ago I pulled my buddies 28’ Jayco to Arizona and it was a load going thru the mountains of New Mexico and I’m in a 6.7 power stroke.

Everyone’s idea of “ it tows just fine” is different. For some they are happy cruising down a back road doing 55 mph pulling their camper or boat and their current setup is just fine. For long hauls down the interstate thru hills and/or mountains they may not want to drive 55 or 60 mph ( or less ) for hours on end and therefore their needs change.

I tow a 4K lb trailer a lot ( 3-4 times a week sometimes ) and my 37’ 9k lb travel trailer a few times a month. I tend to lean towards the side of better to have it and not need it school of thought.

The truck is capable but it going 10 years without issues pulling a 6k lb trailer on the regular is a tall order for a 1/2 ton.

I can’t offer an opinion on whether or not your truck will handle the load, but if it’s rated for 11000 pounds and can handle the tongue weight, you are probably Ok if the truck is set up right. With our 2007 Tundra, rated at 10,800 pounds, we are fine towing approx 6500#. We have the Blue Ox weight dist hitch and the Tekonsha P3 brake controller. The first brake controller was not much good, but the Tekonsha P3 has been great. Our Tundra came with the full towing package - tranny cooler, oil cooler, towing mirrors, etc. I run standard OEM shocks on the truck, per discussions with Toyota. I did upgrade the tires to 10 ply Michelins and run them inflated to 50 pounds. That eliminated any porpoising I had with the standard tires.

Been lots of places, but no serious mountains. The only place that gave me any worry was the downgrade into Palo Duro State Park, but it was Ok. Pretty steep.

Ram 3500 dually
Cummins, 6 speed
3.73 gears

That trailer is a parachute.

Seems like a dually for that sized trailer would be an overkill.

Bumper pull or 5th wheel?

Tractor trailers are 100% tow vehicles, they do not crest the mountain passes in top gear without loosing any speed. If you want zero slow down no downshifting you’re not gonna be happy with any half to. Don’t know if your set on gm or not, but I would give the Ford ecoboost a look lots of torque and tow well.

The truck has already been purchased. It’s a 2020 Silverado 1/2 ton 4x4, z71 RTS package. 5.3l v8 6speed auto.

If anyone knows how to calc this stuff, here’s what I’ve found.
GVWR 7100
Payload 1857
Towing cap 9500
Gcvwr is either 13400 or 15000. Inconsistent numbers here when I try to research. Axle ratio is 3.23

Passenger and cargo with 5 people estimating 900lbs

Camper I’m looking at:
UVW 5177
GVWR 7660
Hitch 660.

Here’s where I think I’m at.
Net payload of 297lbs
NEw GVW of 6803
New gcvw of 13803

If my math is right, I’m either good under the 15k gcvwr or I’m appx 400 over the 13400 gcvwr.

I don't have the same truck as you, but I went through this last year and can share my experience. Ours is a 2017 Ram 1500, 5.7, 8-speed, with a 3:21 gear ratio. The towing capacity is 9000 lb. The camper bug bit us last year, and I was very concerned about towing the 3:21 gear ratio. We bought a 28' tongue pull travel trailer with a gross weight of 6900 lbs. The truck pulls it very well. When towing, I keep it locked in 5th gear to keep the rpm above 2000 doing about 65 mph. On a flat straight highway or with a tail wind I may move it up to 6th. If climbing a big hill I may drop it to 4th gear. I wouldn't be afraid to tow it anywhere. I have a good brake controller, load leveler, and sway control bar. I would say the key is to run in a low enough gear to keep your rpm's up so as not to lug your engine, and to not get in a hurry. Also, unless to are camping in a remote location, there is no need to keep your fresh water holding tank full. 40 gallons of water can add 320+ lbs. to the gross trailer weight.

2020 chevy towing guide ---> Chvy towing

I suggest reading everything pertaining to the 1500 series.
Pages 14 and beyond break it down in specific models, cab configurations, engines, trans, rear ratio, etc.

That 660 tongue weight will increase with addition of at least battery(s) and full propane tanks.

1/2 tons payload ratings get real thin with 5 passengers.

If you buy a light weight camper. Think 4500 lbs it doesn't have to be inspected. Which is a waste of time.

The 3.23 rear end will really drag it down if you increase your tire size. Thats a pretty high gear even without the trailer.

A quality weight distributing hitch is key, regardless of any thing else. I have never used one with sway control, but the weight distributing bars by themselves make a huge difference. It does have to be properly adjusted to your specific setup. You cant just throw them on there.

Well a 3/4 ton FX4 would be better.

Whole point is to not have to use them....torque shift tranny and engine break....

Two best laughs in vehicle world(out side of dodge tow mirrors)

car and trucks at bottoms of a big pass like wolf creek with glowing hot breaks and the at sun rise back in the day at bird island boat ramp and the late birds trying to drop a boat and get the last parking spot

Big Cube gasser as you won't or don't need a diesel.