2018 GMC Sierra 1500 5.3L Towing Question

OkSierra1500 · September 9, 2021

Hey everyone! I'm new to the idea of towing a travel trailer, and I've been doing as much research as I can, but I do have a question in general about "how heavy of a travel trailer is safe to pull?". So I have a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 5.3L 4WD crew cab truck. My sticker shows 7200lb GVWR and I think I found information that suggests that the trailer weight capacity for my truck is 9100lb. Does this mean that my GCWR is 16,300lbs? Also, it says the payload capacity for my truck is 1543lbs.

I'm potentially looking at getting a 32' travel trailer with a GVWR of 8495lbs. Overall, does this mean that my truck should be safe to pull it? I thought I read that you want to stay under 80% of the GCWR of your vehicle?

Sorry if this question has been asked a lot or whatever, just trying to find better explanations that I can understand better

Thanks in advance!

JimCost2014 · September 9, 2021

2 hours ago, OkSierra1500 said:

Hey everyone! I'm new to the idea of towing a travel trailer, and I've been doing as much research as I can, but I do have a question in general about "how heavy of a travel trailer is safe to pull?". So I have a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 5.3L 4WD crew cab truck. My sticker shows 7200lb GVWR and I think I found information that suggests that the trailer weight capacity for my truck is 9100lb. Does this mean that my GCWR is 16,300lbs? Also, it says the payload capacity for my truck is 1543lbs.

I'm potentially looking at getting a 32' travel trailer with a GVWR of 8495lbs. Overall, does this mean that my truck should be safe to pull it? I thought I read that you want to stay under 80% of the GCWR of your vehicle?

Sorry if this question has been asked a lot or whatever, just trying to find better explanations that I can understand better

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the site.

Is the 8495 a dry weight of the trailer? Meaning no propane, water for the gray and black tanks, supplies, etc...?

asilverblazer · September 9, 2021

The sticker on the bottom of your door jamb will tell you all the maximum weights. 16,300 is not likely your GCWR.

There is no 80% rule. That is only some peoples rule of thumb. How close you want to run at, near or over any maximum weight listed for your truck is your preference/discretion/comfort/risk.

It is possible to exceed one of the maximum weights with out reaching another. You may run out of payload/GVWR/GAWR before reaching the maximum tow rating. The only way to know for sure is at the scales.

After all that - the trailer specs listed should be with in your trucks capacity. Still requires weight distribution hitch set up properly, proper load distribution, sway control device and trailer brakes; along with driver competence.

OkSierra1500 · September 9, 2021

51 minutes ago, JimCost2014 said:

Welcome to the site.

Is the 8495 a dry weight of the trailer? Meaning no propane, water for the gray and black tanks, supplies, etc...?

No, 6845 is the listed dry weight.

OkSierra1500 · September 9, 2021

17 minutes ago, asilverblazer said:

The sticker on the bottom of your door jamb will tell you all the maximum weights. 16,300 is not likely your GCWR.

There is no 80% rule. That is only some peoples rule of thumb. How close you want to run at, near or over any maximum weight listed for your truck is your preference/discretion/comfort/risk.

It is possible to exceed one of the maximum weights with out reaching another. You may run out of payload/GVWR/GAWR before reaching the maximum tow rating. The only way to know for sure is at the scales.

After all that - the trailer specs listed should be with in your trucks capacity. Still requires weight distribution hitch set up properly, proper load distribution, sway control device and trailer brakes; along with driver competence.

My sticker doesn't list GCWR at all. It only gives me GVWR and then the GAWR for FRT/RR axles. The other sticker gives me payload capacity of 1543 lbs.

JimCost2014 · September 9, 2021

5 minutes ago, OkSierra1500 said:

My sticker doesn't list GCWR at all. It only gives me GVWR and then the GAWR for FRT/RR axles. The other sticker gives me payload capacity of 1543 lbs.

So, on the trailer with all the gear, propane, and water, you will be close to 9500 pounds (ballpark).

The 1543 is a total weight which includes you, passengers, gear, full tank of gas, so when you start adding those up, it does not leave a lot to move from the trailer to the truck.

You could probably tow it, safely, IMO, no. Others will disagree, but the truck will be working hard to get going, and even harder trying to stop.

If your heart is set on that trailer, a 2500 would be a much better way to go.

asilverblazer · September 9, 2021

48 minutes ago, OkSierra1500 said:

My sticker doesn't list GCWR at all. It only gives me GVWR and then the GAWR for FRT/RR axles. The other sticker gives me payload capacity of 1543 lbs.

I had to go back and look at mine - sure enough GCWR isn't there. However, there is a documented number for your truck, maybe its in the manual. I can't remember where I must've found mine, but it is NOT the sum of maximum trailering capacity and GVWR.

FYI: My GCWR is 15000, maximum trailering capacity is 9200 and GVWR is 7200

swathdiver · September 9, 2021

4 hours ago, OkSierra1500 said:

Hey everyone! I'm new to the idea of towing a travel trailer, and I've been doing as much research as I can, but I do have a question in general about "how heavy of a travel trailer is safe to pull?". So I have a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 5.3L 4WD crew cab truck. My sticker shows 7200lb GVWR and I think I found information that suggests that the trailer weight capacity for my truck is 9100lb. Does this mean that my GCWR is 16,300lbs? Also, it says the payload capacity for my truck is 1543lbs.

I'm potentially looking at getting a 32' travel trailer with a GVWR of 8495lbs. Overall, does this mean that my truck should be safe to pull it? I thought I read that you want to stay under 80% of the GCWR of your vehicle?

Sorry if this question has been asked a lot or whatever, just trying to find better explanations that I can understand better

Thanks in advance!

Have you looked at your owner's manual? Do you have a 6 or 8 speed transmission? Short Bed or Regular?

You probably don't want to be pulling your trailer at its maximum weight, that's what GVWR means. At least for long hauls, the tow vehicle will likely be maxed out. What you want to find out is what the curb weight of the trailer is, subtract it's payload capacity from the GVWR to determine this. The number can still be off, the only sure fire way to know is to put in on the scales. Payload capacity seems limited to me, is she heavily optioned?

swathdiver · September 9, 2021

12 minutes ago, asilverblazer said:

I had to go back and look at mine - sure enough GCWR isn't there. However, there is a documented number for your truck, maybe its in the manual. I can't remember where I must've found mine, but it is NOT the sum of maximum trailering capacity and GVWR.

FYI: My GCWR is 15000, maximum trailering capacity is 9200 and GVWR is 7200

It's 15,000 or 16,700 depending on options for his.

OkSierra1500 · September 9, 2021

14 minutes ago, swathdiver said:

Have you looked at your owner's manual? Do you have a 6 or 8 speed transmission? Short Bed or Regular?

You probably don't want to be pulling your trailer at its maximum weight, that's what GVWR means. At least for long hauls, the tow vehicle will likely be maxed out. What you want to find out is what the curb weight of the trailer is, subtract it's payload capacity from the GVWR to determine this. The number can still be off, the only sure fire way to know is to put in on the scales. Payload capacity seems limited to me, is she heavily optioned?

It's a 2018 Crew Cab 4WD short bed. It has the premium plus package (8-speed trans). I don't think they had the 10-speed trans back for the 2018s, but I could be wrong. 3.42 ratio rear axle. Based on the manual, looks like either 15,000 or 16,700. I have the trailer brake controller option, but unsure if I have the "enhanced towing package" that the manual says is for the 16,700.

So the GVWR of the trailer is the absolute max it could be, but I don't ever want to max that out, right? Same with the GVWR of the truck.

swathdiver · September 9, 2021

29 minutes ago, OkSierra1500 said:

It's a 2018 Crew Cab 4WD short bed. It has the premium plus package (8-speed trans). I don't think they had the 10-speed trans back for the 2018s, but I could be wrong. 3.42 ratio rear axle. Based on the manual, looks like either 15,000 or 16,700. I have the trailer brake controller option, but unsure if I have the "enhanced towing package" that the manual says is for the 16,700.

So the GVWR of the trailer is the absolute max it could be, but I don't ever want to max that out, right? Same with the GVWR of the truck.

The 8-speed means you have the Enhanced Towing Package and your Tow Rating should be 10,700 pounds and the GCWR should be 16,700 pounds.

No, you don't want to max out but that doesn't always mean that you cannot for short runs.

Unless it's just you in the cab with nothing else aboard the truck, you could pull 10,700 pounds but the number will likely be a lot less when you load up the truck with passengers and their stuff which takes away from the payload capacity and tongue weight.

For example if you want to pull a 10,700 pound trailer, you'll want at LEAST 10% of that on your tongue so that is 1,070 pounds, 12 percent would be more stable, that would be 1,284 pounds which leave you with 259 pounds for the driver and any passengers, the hitch and stuff. Does this make sense?

Here's an exmaple with the towing calculator I made for my vehicles:

Edited September 9, 2021 by swathdiver

swathdiver · September 9, 2021

FYI: Your GVWR is 7200 pounds and payload capacity is 1543 pounds so that means your truck's curb weight (including a full tank of fuel) is 5,657 pounds. If you have lifted the truck and added wheels and larger tires your payload capacity will now be less because your curb weight has gone up with all the customizations.

OkSierra1500 · September 9, 2021

30 minutes ago, swathdiver said:

The 8-speed means you have the Enhanced Towing Package and your Tow Rating should be 10,700 pounds and the GCWR should be 16,700 pounds.

No, you don't want to max out but that doesn't always mean that you cannot for short runs.

Unless it's just you in the cab with nothing else aboard the truck, you could pull 10,700 pounds but the number will likely be a lot less when you load up the truck with passengers and their stuff which takes away from the payload capacity and tongue weight.

For example if you want to pull a 10,700 pound trailer, you'll want at LEAST 10% of that on your tongue so that is 1,070 pounds, 12 percent would be more stable, that would be 1,284 pounds which leave you with 259 pounds for the driver and any passengers, the hitch and stuff. Does this make sense?

Here's an exmaple with the towing calculator I made for my vehicles:

Thank you for all of this information! Is the weight on the tongue going to be either/or in the bed of hte truck or in the trailer itself? Or is that 12% needs to be towards the front of the trailer?

Again, I really do appreciate you breaking all this down for me.

JimCost2014 · September 9, 2021

3 minutes ago, OkSierra1500 said:

Thank you for all of this information! Is the weight on the tongue going to be either/or in the bed of hte truck or in the trailer itself? Or is that 12% needs to be towards the front of the trailer?

Again, I really do appreciate you breaking all this down for me.

Easy way to tell if you have the max tow package, what do your mirrors look like?

mikeyk101 · September 9, 2021

Figuring out what you can or can't tow will have your head swimming. It did mine when I began looking into it. Take a look at this site and it has several tools to help you with calculations.

http://www.towingplanner.com

This downloaded file may help too:

https://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam/chevrolet/na/us/english/index/vehicles/2018/trucks/silverado-1500/mov/02-pdf/2018-chevrolet-trailering-and-towing-guide.pdf

Edited September 9, 2021 by mikeyk101