Towing at the limit

[nominion]

Tow Vehicle Info

 

2018 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT Crew Cab Short Box

5.3L Engine

8L90 Transmission

Trailering package

3.42 Gearing

 

GVWR:    7200 lbs
GCWR:    15000 lbs
Towing Capacity:    9100 lbs
Curb Weight:    5695 lbs
Passenger Weight:    300 lbs (2 people)
Cargo Weight:    225 lbs (26 gallons of fuel, hitch, misc. stuff)
Estimated Vehicle Weight:    7198 lbs

 

Travel Trailer Info

GVWR:    9584 lbs
Dry Weight:    6826 lbs
Cargo Weight:    1000 lbs (estimate of food/beverages, water, clothing, misc. camping gear)
Estimated Hitch Weight:    978 lbs
Estimated Trailer Weight:    7826 lbs

 

I know the total trailer weight, current vehicle weight, and combined weight are at the limit.  Cargo weights are estimated, so there is some room to adjust. 

 

I'm considering a new travel trailer and I'm on the fence about my current half ton truck.  We are a family of 6, so the travel trailer needs to be big to accommodate all of us.  Regardless of the tow vehicle, a second vehicle will be involved just to carry everyone.

 

Would you feel comfortable towing in a setup like this with a weight distribution and sway control hitch or is this too much trailer for my half ton truck?

Edited March 20, 2021 by nominion

[JimCost2014]

No, one thing that you can never replace is a life, yours, family, or an innocent victim if things go wrong.

 

At the limits, your truck will never respond like it does without a load or trailer behind it. If there is ever a doubt, go with more truck than you need, you can now go, brake, and stop, without the "white knuckle" effect  the whole trip.  

[dieselfan1]

No I wouldn't. Been there done that too many times.

I say for a half ton 6000 is my limit.

Any more than that , you have to beat the hell out of the truck to get the job done.

My current setup is a 25 ft that weighs 5800 loaded and ready to camp. It's a handful in the wind but otherwise it's not too bad to tow.

If I get a bigger trailer I'm getting a bigger truck.

The one thing you have that may help is the 8 speed.

You never mentioned how long your trailer is . The wind hates long trailers

 

 

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[Praedator]

Towing across country or 1-2 hours away?

It's all in what you are comfortable with, within reason of course.  I tow and have towed 28 ft campers weighing in, fully loaded, around 7,500 - 8,000 lbs.  I'm comfortable towing that without a problem.  The brakes on the camper basically stop my truck.  You cannot go without good brakes on the larger loads.  

 

 

[dieselfan1]

Towing across country or 1-2 hours away?

It's all in what you are comfortable with, within reason of course.  I tow and have towed 28 ft campers weighing in, fully loaded, around 7,500 - 8,000 lbs.  I'm comfortable towing that without a problem.  The brakes on the camper basically stop my truck.  You cannot go without good brakes on the larger loads.  

 
 

I bet you ain't too comfortable towing that in a 30 mph crosswind. I know I wouldn't be

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[ic3man5]

My rule of thumb is divide the tow rating in half. The truck actually does a really good job towing a lot of weight but that 5.3L will hate your guts. Trying to maintain 65-70MPH with anything over 5500lbs makes me feel like I'm going to blow the engine up. I also wouldn't do it long term without beefing up the programming on the torque converter in the tranny and getting a better cooling system for the tranny. I've towed over 1000 miles with about 6K enclosed trailer brick (flat front) wider than the truck and it doesn't like it but it does it.

[truckguy82]

11 hours ago, ic3man5 said:

My rule of thumb is divide the tow rating in half. The truck actually does a really good job towing a lot of weight but that 5.3L will hate your guts. Trying to maintain 65-70MPH with anything over 5500lbs makes me feel like I'm going to blow the engine up. I also wouldn't do it long term without beefing up the programming on the torque converter in the tranny and getting a better cooling system for the tranny. I've towed over 1000 miles with about 6K enclosed trailer brick (flat front) wider than the truck and it doesn't like it but it does it.

The tranny is rated for 650ft lbs of torque and the stock coolers are fantastic. Please be informed before you advise someone to spend money. Also it’s been proven a simple thermostat temp decrease will lower the trans temp significantly.

Edited March 22, 2021 by truckguy82

[ic3man5]

1 hour ago, truckguy82 said:

The tranny is rated for 650ft lbs of torque and the stock coolers are fantastic. Please be informed before you advise someone to spend money. Also it’s been proven a simple thermostat temp decrease will lower the trans temp significantly.

Rated torque and towing are two separate things; the tcc is known to be weak in the 6l80 in the 2014+ generation and will likely fail around 60k WITHOUT towing. I personally suspect it's heat related due to how hot GM is running the fluid but that is a conversation for another topic.

 

The stock coolers are not good enough when getting into the 5-6k tow range towing at high speeds. The engine heat output on top of the transmission heat output is too much for stock cooling. I would hit 210+F with or without the tstat delete. tstat delete just delays how quick it heats up, but once it heat soaks it's not good enough. This is all in 80-85F ambient temperatures; Southern states would see this problem even worse.

 

$100 transmission cooler is a no brainer when we are talking potentially $100k worth of equipment.

 

edit: Here is a reference to the TCC tuning with HP tuners (AFAIK nothing else can do it): 

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by ic3man5

[UnlimitedMatt]

On 3/19/2021 at 8:38 PM, nominion said:

Tow Vehicle Info

 

2018 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT Crew Cab Short Box

5.3L Engine

8L90 Transmission

Trailering package

3.42 Gearing

 

GVWR:    7200 lbs
GCWR:    15000 lbs
Towing Capacity:    9100 lbs
Curb Weight:    5695 lbs
Passenger Weight:    300 lbs (2 people)
Cargo Weight:    225 lbs (26 gallons of fuel, hitch, misc. stuff)
Estimated Vehicle Weight:    7198 lbs

 

Travel Trailer Info

GVWR:    9584 lbs
Dry Weight:    6826 lbs
Cargo Weight:    1000 lbs (estimate of food/beverages, water, clothing, misc. camping gear)
Estimated Hitch Weight:    978 lbs
Estimated Trailer Weight:    7826 lbs

 

I know the total trailer weight, current vehicle weight, and combined weight are at the limit.  Cargo weights are estimated, so there is some room to adjust. 

 

I'm considering a new travel trailer and I'm on the fence about my current half ton truck.  We are a family of 6, so the travel trailer needs to be big to accommodate all of us.  Regardless of the tow vehicle, a second vehicle will be involved just to carry everyone.

 

Would you feel comfortable towing in a setup like this with a weight distribution and sway control hitch or is this too much trailer for my half ton truck?

Like everyone else said, it would be easier/better/safer with a bigger truck.  That being said, I tow my 32', 7900 pound (fully loaded) camper with my 2018 Silverado (with the same set up as yours).  The only limit I am close to when I tow is my trucks payload, which is 1662 pounds.

 

I have made a few modifications to my truck to help it tow better: deleted transmission thermostat, reprogrammed my electric fans, LT tires, rear air bags and GM factory towing mirrors.  

 

I am always towing at high elevations and I never tow over 65 mph.  My truck does fine although my towing mileage is low, 6-8 mpg on average.

[YukonXL04]

13 hours ago, UnlimitedMatt said:

Like everyone else said, it would be easier/better/safer with a bigger truck.  That being said, I tow my 32', 7900 pound (fully loaded) camper with my 2018 Silverado (with the same set up as yours).  The only limit I am close to when I tow is my trucks payload, which is 1662 pounds.

 

I have made a few modifications to my truck to help it tow better: deleted transmission thermostat, reprogrammed my electric fans, LT tires, rear air bags and GM factory towing mirrors.  

 

I am always towing at high elevations and I never tow over 65 mph.  My truck does fine although my towing mileage is low, 6-8 mpg on average.

I'm fixing to swap my 27ft for a 32ft similar to yours but older. Which WDH are you using and sway control?

I have a 6.2, 8spd though. My 8spd runs pretty cool stock. Highest I have ever seen it is 192 while towing in 105+ heat

[nominion]

Would the weight of the driver be included in the payload calculations or should it be excluded, up to 150 lbs?  For example, if I weighed 150 lbs, would I or would I not add that to the weight of the cargo that subtracts from available payload?  How about a full tank of fuel?

 

I went and drove a few 3/4 ton trucks today.  To get something optioned like my current truck....yikes.  Also, while nice, I don't know if I can justify trading up to tow a trailer a half dozen times per year.  It would be a daily driver and the mileage is likely going to be 12 MPG, maybe 14 MPG if I'm lucky.  

 

I may go with a lighter trailer.  Something with a dry weight of 5800 lbs and tongue weight of 600 lbs, before cargo.  I would think that would be manageable.  

[YukonXL04]

8 hours ago, nominion said:

Would the weight of the driver be included in the payload calculations or should it be excluded, up to 150 lbs?  For example, if I weighed 150 lbs, would I or would I not add that to the weight of the cargo that subtracts from available payload?  How about a full tank of fuel?

 

I went and drove a few 3/4 ton trucks today.  To get something optioned like my current truck....yikes.  Also, while nice, I don't know if I can justify trading up to tow a trailer a half dozen times per year.  It would be a daily driver and the mileage is likely going to be 12 MPG, maybe 14 MPG if I'm lucky.  

 

I may go with a lighter trailer.  Something with a dry weight of 5800 lbs and tongue weight of 600 lbs, before cargo.  I would think that would be manageable.  

Your payload includes a full tank of fuel, and a 150lb driver. So add any additional weight other than that.

My current trailer weighs 6k ready to go, tongue weight is around 840.

Tows it great, no problems

[UnlimitedMatt]

10 hours ago, YukonXL04 said:

I'm fixing to swap my 27ft for a 32ft similar to yours but older. Which WDH are you using and sway control?

I have a 6.2, 8spd though. My 8spd runs pretty cool stock. Highest I have ever seen it is 192 while towing in 105+ heat

I am using an Equalizer Hitch, it is a weight distributing hitch as well as sway control.  I think it does a great job.

 

My Silverado is only a 5.3 with the 6 speed.  While towing uphill on a long, slow dirt road at 9200 feet above sea level, I saw transmission temps around 220 degrees before I deleted the transmission thermostat.  

[YukonXL04]

4 hours ago, UnlimitedMatt said:

I am using an Equalizer Hitch, it is a weight distributing hitch as well as sway control.  I think it does a great job.

 

My Silverado is only a 5.3 with the 6 speed.  While towing uphill on a long, slow dirt road at 9200 feet above sea level, I saw transmission temps around 220 degrees before I deleted the transmission thermostat.  

Is it the dual bar setup? I have the only 2 bar with chains and a separate sway bar and I don't love it, so looking for something better but have read mixed reviews on just about all the hitches.

Yea my uncle would follow me in his 5.3/6spd 2017 , I was towing and usually around 173-180, and he was running 195-200 with no load. So I figured the 8spd just runs cooler

[Boomer5455]

  On 3/22/2021 at 10:06 AM, UnlimitedMatt said:

Like everyone else said, it would be easier/better/safer with a bigger truck.  That being said, I tow my 32', 7900 pound (fully loaded) camper with my 2018 Silverado (with the same set up as yours).  The only limit I am close to when I tow is my trucks payload, which is 1662 pounds.

 

I have made a few modifications to my truck to help it tow better: deleted transmission thermostat, reprogrammed my electric fans, LT tires, rear air bags and GM factory towing mirrors.  

 

I am always towing at high elevations and I never tow over 65 mph.  My truck does fine although my towing mileage is low, 6-8 mpg on average.

Hey Matt is that a 2600RB ? Looks like my set-up.