Towing capacity

Just purchased a 1998 3500 dually with a 5.7 (44000miles).
Planning on purchasing a travel trailer with dry weight of 8150lbs.
I believe towing capacity is 10,000lbs, but hard to find info on that old of vehicle.
Anyway, I'm worried that it's too close to the max cap, should I have anything to worry about?
Thanks

As a rule of "thumb" we estimate that the trailer GVWR should be about 10% less than the max tow rating of the tow vehicle. That leaves some capacity to handle the weight of occupants, trailer hitch, etc. in & on the truck.

I have a 1999 vintage Trailer Life towing guide and can look up the 1999 version of your truck, but need the make, cab style, bed length transmission and 2WD vs 4WD to get an estimate. Typically the published rating number is a little high because vehicle options always reduce the actual somewhat, but the 10% under estimate tries to allow for that as well.

I don't see any Chevy/GMC 3500's with the 5.7L engine that have a tow rating over 9000 lbs. I think you need the 7.4L engine to get anywhere near 10,000, so you may indeed have "not enough truck".

Gary RV_Wizard said:

As a rule of "thumb" we estimate that the trailer GVWR should be about 10% less tan the max tow rating of the tow vehicle. That leaves some capacity to handle the weight of occupants, trailer hitch, etc. in & on the truck.

I have a 1999 vintage Trailer Life towing guide and can look up the 1999 version of your truck, but need the make, cab style, bed length transmission and 2WD vs 4WD to get an estimate. Typically the published rating number is a little high because vehicle options always reduce the actual somewhat, but the 10% under estimate tries to allow for that as well.

I don't see any Chevy/GMC 3500's with the 5.7L engine that have a tow rating over 9000 lbs. I think you need the 7.4L engine to get anywhere near 10,000, so you may indeed have "not enough truck".

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5.7 is the size of the Cummins diesel in that year RAM 3500. Plenty of motor for that trailer.

5.7 is the size of the Cummins diesel in that year RAM 3500. Plenty of motor for that trailer.

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The Cummins diesel of that vintage is 5.9L, not 5.7L.  There was a  5.7L Chevrolet V8 in those years, though I would expect a 3500 to have the 7.4L (454) instead

Redpop said:

Just purchased a 1998 3500 dually with a 5.7 (44000miles).
Planning on purchasing a travel trailer with dry weight of 8150lbs.
I believe towing capacity is 10,000lbs, but hard to find info on that old of vehicle.
Anyway, I'm worried that it's too close to the max cap, should I have anything to worry about?
Thanks

Click to expand...

When we first started full timing we had a 1999 Dodge Dually. It had a 5.9 Cummins diesel. Our trailer was a 14K GVWR fiver. We got the trailer at Lazydays RV at Seffner, FL. In those days they would not hook you up unless your truck was stout enough for the task.

Yeah, it s 3500 5.7 2WD crewcab
I thought it was a small engine for that truck as well, vin number says it was built with a 5.7

The GVWR on the door says 10000. Not sure if a 8100-8200 trailer was too close to capacity.

My 1999 Silverado 1500 4x4 with a 5.3L had a 7,400 lb tow rating. One would think a 3500 Dually just one year older and with a larger motor would be at least 9,000 - 10,000 but it's just a guess of course. And I believe 1999 was a significant year of change in engines, body style, etc. so that may have an impact as well.

Redpop said:

Yeah, it s 3500 5.7 2WD crewcab
I thought it was a small engine for that truck as well, vin number says it was built with a 5.7

The GVWR on the door says 10000. Not sure if a 8100-8200 trailer was too close to capacity.

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GVWR stands for Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. This is what the truck payload is rated to haul not to pull. Meaning if the truck empty scaled weight was 7,000# then the additional payload weight that the truck would be rated for would be 3,000#. The 3,000# would include fuel, passengers, things loaded in the truck and trailer tongue weight. This is not trailer towing rate. That rating would be called GCWR or Gross Combined Weight Rating. This weight of the truck loaded plus the trailer weight being pulled.

Hope this helps

In 1999, the 3500 Crew Cab dually with 5.7L V8 was tow-rated for 7000 lb if it has the standard 4.10 rear axle and 8500 with the optional 4.56 rear axle. There is no reason to believe your 1998 would be any more capable. To get to a 10,000 lb tow rating, the truck would have to be equipped with the 7.4L engine and 4.10 axle.

Odds are the truck has at least a few optional items whose weight would reduce that number a little, maybe 100 lbs or so. In any case, no where near enough to handle the trailer you are talking about.  It's not really the engine size/horsepower that matters either - you can see that the rear axle ratio alone has a major effect. The small block 5.7L probably would not accelerate very quickly, but it would move the trailer.

As others have explained, the 10,000 lb GVWR is NOT the tow capacity rating.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

The Cummins diesel of that vintage is 5.9L, not 5.7L.  There was a  5.7L Chevrolet V8 in those years, though I would expect a 3500 to have the 7.4L (454) instead

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Oops, my bad

I still have '90 chevy truck brochure.
I bought a new '90 3500 DRW 7.4 4.56 gears.

The brochure shows the 3500 DRW 5.7 190 hp/300 torque....
..8500 lbs/3.73
..9500 lbs/4.10
..10500 lb/4.56.

Now ....a newer  5.7 vortec puts out more hp/torque along with chassis upgrades in those 8 years I would 'spect the '98 has better tow rating than the '90 models shows.

The Crew Cab alone costs 500 lbs in tow capacity.