• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

Towing capacity

A

Acesneights1

New Member
Messages
10,018
Reaction score
36
Location
Northeast CT
I never got the owners manual with my 2 door 95 Tahoe. What weight camper can I tow. I have alot of mods. I'm looking at one right now that is 7000lbs but thinking it may be too heavy. This truck has had overheationg issues with towing despite cooling mods and rad cleanings. Want to play it safe this time.
 
As long as your rad/ac cores are clean you should be fine with that, engine is powerful enough, possibly a extra trans cooler, & deeper trans pan, also 7K with 2dr tahoe, you'll want to make sure both vehicle and trailer brakes are up to par. Mines hauling 18K on occasion, no issues, and this was before ATT.
 
sounds good. Truck pulls it real good just runs hot on hills. Been through it before in many posts. Every thing is clean clean and I did all availible mods except intercooler.
 
Acesneights1 said:
I never got the owners manual with my 2 door 95 Tahoe. What weight camper can I tow. I have alot of mods. I'm looking at one right now that is 7000lbs but thinking it may be too heavy. This truck has had overheationg issues with towing despite cooling mods and rad cleanings. Want to play it safe this time.
Click to expand...

How old is the radiator?
 
Kenny, what about an electric fan as a booster when you hit a hill towing? it could be on a standard switch, no need for thermostat if that is the only time you need it.....
 
Kenny, I still never seem to remember a direct answer to this question.

When your climbing into the condition that you are overheating, is your fan clutch engaged?
 
94K30 said:
Kenny, what about an electric fan as a booster when you hit a hill towing? it could be on a standard switch, no need for thermostat if that is the only time you need it.....
Click to expand...

Electric fan can actually make it worse at highway sppeds from my past experience with my motorhome. It actually acts as a barrier because the air coming in if faster than the fan spinning.
 
BTW so not to get confusing , I have another thread going on the whole overheating thing. What I was actually looking for here was the rated towing capacity of the truck. I don't have the owners man.
 
If you have not already done it etrailer.com has a great video of how to install a brake controller in a 93 Suburban (which should cover all CK trucks).

I am picking up a travel trailer in a couple weeks myself, so I need to get that brake controller in. But my trailer is a '49 Spartan Manor 25' weighing in at a whopping 3700lbs. Shouldn't be a problem for any truck much less a match for the 6.5.

... Get a vintage aluminum trailer they are super light compared to todays heavy weights. :)

What trailer are you picking up anyway?
 
I already have the brake cont but thanks. It will hopefully be a 24 ft prowler 2000. About 6600 gross IIRC. Guy is having titler issues so I'm waiting.
 
Had to go find it: I knew I had posted this before:

Depends, with all bolt on mods loads of 10-11K# are about max I'd push it for sustained towing on my K1500, some go more with their 2500 & 3500 HD framed trucks, power & braking wise with mods in my signature my K1500 far exceeds factory power & stopping ratings of either 2500 or 3500 truck however over time beefier frame/axles of the HD rated and stability of a dually axle in 3500 would be advantage/best way if I were hauling big often and only truly safe way to pull big loads, mine will move on rare occcasion up to 18K loads for short trips, I run slow & escorted when I do this and stay slow lane if I must get on interstate or run the country roads.

That said factory ratings are as follows from my 98 Truck & 98 Burb/Tahoe owners manuals

Truck, ratio, weight
K1500 3:42 6000
........ 3:73 7000
C2500 3:42 6500
........ 3:73 7500
........ 4:10 8500
K2500 3:73 6000
........ 4:10 8000
C3500 4:10 8000
K3500 4:10 7500
C3500 4:10 8000 (crew cab)
K3500 4:10 7500 (crew cab)
C3500 4.63 9000 (chasis cab)
C3500 5:13 10000 (chasis cab)

Burb, ratio, weight
K1500 3:42 6000 (utility 2/4 dr Hoe)
........ 3:73 7000 (utility 2/4 dr Hoe)
C1500 3:42 5500 (Burb)
K1500 3:42 5000 (Burb)
C2500 3:73 6500 (Burb)
........ 4:10 8000 (Burb)
K2500 3:73 6000 (Burb)
........ 4:10 7500 (Burb)

another FYI as explained in the owners manual GVW is curb weight of vehicle plus cargo-people-and if towing tongue weight of what is being towed.

10% tongue weight is recommended for bumper pull, & 12% for weight distributing hitch
 
Could I ask a neophyte question, does WMI stand for Water Meth Injection or Water Mist Injection? I see the water mist system on Heath's site and wondered which one you were referring to.
 
This is what Ryan aka Snowdrift had to add to the discussion;

A gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is the maximum allowable total weight of a road vehicle or trailer that is loaded, including the weight of the vehicle itself plus fuel, passengers, cargo, and trailer tongue weight.

In the United States, two important GVWR limitations are 6,000 pounds (2,721 kg) and 8,500 pounds (3,856 kg). Vehicles over 6,000 pounds are restricted from many city roadways (though there is some dispute about whether this restriction is for actual curb weight or GVWR), and vehicles over 8,500 pounds do not have to display EPA estimated fuel mileage or a Monroney sticker nor are they subject to state emissions testing.

Most U.S. cars have a placard (sticker) with this information. It is located typically either in the driver's side door or doorframe, owners manual, or also may be present on another sticker immediately under the hood near the radiator, although that sticker more typically contains information about the size of the motor, various fluid capacities, etc.

Most U.S. commercial trucks (especially semi-trailer trucks and dump trucks) are required by licensing authorities to have this information printed on the outside of the vehicle and for it to be clearly visible from a specified distance. Many do so by painting these numbers in a large font on the driver's side of the truck near the door.

Gross weight is often confused with curb weight, which represents the weight of the vehicle with no passengers or cargo. The difference between gross weight and curb weight is the total passenger and cargo weight capacity of the vehicle.

For example, a pickup truck with a curb weight of 2000 pounds might have a cargo capacity of 3000 pounds, meaning it can have a gross weight of 5000 pounds when fully loaded.

For vehicles containing no fuel or driver, the gross weight is the sum of the tare weight (the unladen vehicle weight) and the weight of the load carried.

For the measuring of loads picked up at a depot or materials yard (such as gravel or rock, or other bulk goods), the weight of the driver, fuel, and existing loads are assumed to be constant between the weighing of the vehicle upon entrance (tare) and laden (gross) upon exit.

Such weights are determined by a specialized scale called a weigh bridge, and such scales will usually have a computing function within the display to compute tare weight.
 
I just looked in the manual for towing capacity. It says "ask your dealer..." Go figure.

I could swear I had a dealer tell me that they were good for 5K pounds back when I was looking at a new one on a lot in Pittsburgh...

You should be fine, just need to get enough tongue weight to stay stable without overloading the real axle and tires/wheels....

On edit: Dang - I go walk out to the garage and back and miss 6 new posts. Obviously TD has a better manual than I do...
 
I dug up my manual, here's what it says for 97 towing capacity anyhow. c/k truck

k-1500

3.42 gear - 6,000lbs
3.73 gear - 7,000 lbs

K-2500
3.42 gear - 6,000
3.73 gear - 6,500
4.10 gear - 8,000

k-3500
4.10 gear - 7500

All listings for the 6.5 diesel engine of course

Those are all WEIGHT OF THE TRAILER weights.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top