Another 5.3 1500 Towing capacity question...

[JCarson1]

Hi all, first time posting, so go easy on me,
I have a 4x4 2006 Silverado 1500 with a 5.3, the 3.42 rear axle ratio and a 6,400# GVWR. From what I can find online, the max for a dead weight hitch - towing capacity is between 6,000# and 7,000#, with 295 hp @ 5200 RPM and 335 tq @ 4000 RPM. Please correct me if any of these numbers seem off.
My travel trailer is 24ft long, with a dry weight of 5,300# and a GVWR of 7000#, and a hitch weight of 650#. My question is this, should I put the money into beefing up this truck with air bags, bigger brakes, radiator, etc... or just bite the bullet and get a 3/4 diesel and be done with it. This truck is paid off and I would really like to keep it, but we would like to start traveling soon and I would like to have the extra low end torque of a diesel. I do have a larger weight distribution hitch (I forget the exact dimensions), and a sway bar to go along with it. It's an older truck with 200k miles on it, but it's been good and we're just starting out, so anything new is out of our price range. Looking at used fords with the 6.7l. Let me know what yall think!

 

[Mountain high]

It depends on where you tow. On flatlands you should have no issues. I towed today in the Rockies approximately 7,000 pounds with our 25 foot Travel trailer behind our 2016 Ram 2500 4x4 just to get from one side of Colorado Rockies to the other. TT dry weight 6,155 pounds and GVWR 9,995.

There's five (5) mountain passes and summits on US 24 from Minturn to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Done it countless times. Keep the holding tanks dry and no more than 1/3 fresh fill in the 100 gallon tank. Battle Mountain Summit, Tennessee Pass, Trout Creek Pass, Wilkerson Pass, and Ute Pass, one right after the next. A lot of the trip the truck was at WOT (floored) just to try to get back up to the 30 MPH to 45 MPH speed limits after slowing on hairpin turns on steep grades. Then there's going down. 6.4L, 4.10-1 axle ratio, 410 horsepower and 429 torque.

Diesels do better at our high altitude. The truck did fine, but it's working hard. It winds up to 5,500 RPM on Battle Mountain Summit heading out of Minturn. Diesels don't rev up as much to get up the grades.

Don't think your Silverado 4x4 would handle it as well, since I own a 1998 Chevrolet K1500 with a V8 and 3.73-1 gear ratio. It's towed 6,000 pounds over the same route and it is a lot less tow capable than our Ram 2500 4x4.

 

[JCarson1]

It depends on where you tow. On flatlands you should have no issues. I towed today in the Rockies approximately 7,000 pounds with our 25 foot Travel trailer behind our 2016 Ram 2500 4x4 just to get from one side of Colorado Rockies to the other. TT dry weight 6,155 pounds and GVWR 9,995.

There's five (5) mountain passes and summits on US 24 from Minturn to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Done it countless times. Keep the holding tanks dry and no more than 1/3 fresh fill in the 100 gallon tank. Battle Mountain Summit, Tennessee Pass, Trout Creek Pass, Wilkerson Pass, and Ute Pass, one right after the next. A lot of the trip the truck was at WOT (floored) just to try to get back up to the 30 MPH to 45 MPH speed limits after slowing on hairpin turns on steep grades. Then there's going down. 6.4L, 4.10-1 axle ratio, 410 horsepower and 429 torque.

Diesels do better at our high altitude. The truck did fine, but it's working hard. It winds up to 5,500 RPM on Battle Mountain Summit heading out of Minturn. Diesels don't rev up as much to get up the grades.

Don't think your Silverado 4x4 would handle it as well, since I own a 1998 Chevrolet K1500 with a V8 and 3.73-1 gear ratio. It's towed 6,000 pounds over the same route and it is a lot less tow capable than our Ram 2500 4x4.

Sounds like quite the travel day! I've made the drive myself a few times (without a trailer) and I could only imagine climbing up to Leadville in my old truck... You make a good point about towing flatlands. I'm in East Texas, so I'm not facing 14,000 ft peaks on a daily basis lol but I would like to make my way out there one of these days and I know my current rig wouldn't cut it. Maybe down here, but if I'm going to spend the money, might as well put it into something I can use everywhere and for a long time. Thanks for the info!

 

[Mountain high]

Sounds like quite the travel day! I've made the drive myself a few times (without a trailer) and I could only imagine climbing up to Leadville in my old truck... You make a good point about towing flatlands. I'm in East Texas, so I'm not facing 14,000 ft peaks on a daily basis lol but I would like to make my way out there one of these days and I know my current rig wouldn't cut it. Maybe down here, but if I'm going to spend the money, might as well put it into something I can use everywhere and for a long time. Thanks for the info!

Filled up at the Phillips 66 in Leadville, Colorado yesterday across from Safeway. Thought about getting gas at the Shell in Minturn with 3/8ths on fuel gauge, but it looked way too tight for the trailer with just one spot available. I usually go for the Phillips 66 for easy access. Not a lot of fuel stop choices in-between, like none. Just 32 miles further to Leadville, but then it's at above 10,000 feet. It goes through a lot of fuel just getting there. Horsepower takes a big whacking at high altitude versus living at 6,000 feet. Averaged 8.9 MPG per the computer on 35's tires on the trip.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Hi all, first time posting, so go easy on me,
I have a 4x4 2006 Silverado 1500 with a 5.3, the 3.42 rear axle ratio and a 6,400# GVWR. From what I can find online, the max for a dead weight hitch - towing capacity is between 6,000# and 7,000#, with 295 hp @ 5200 RPM and 335 tq @ 4000 RPM. Please correct me if any of these numbers seem off.
My travel trailer is 24ft long, with a dry weight of 5,300# and a GVWR of 7000#, and a hitch weight of 650#. My question is this, should I put the money into beefing up this truck with air bags, bigger brakes, radiator, etc... or just bite the bullet and get a 3/4 diesel and be done with it. This truck is paid off and I would really like to keep it, but we would like to start traveling soon and I would like to have the extra low end torque of a diesel. I do have a larger weight distribution hitch (I forget the exact dimensions), and a sway bar to go along with it. It's an older truck with 200k miles on it, but it's been good and we're just starting out, so anything new is out of our price range. Looking at used fords with the 6.7l. Let me know what yall think!

Could be as high as 7400 lbs - would need the trim level, bed length and cab style to get a closer estimate. Here's a Chevrolet towing guide for that era. I doubt if its as low as 6000.

If the trailer is loaded near its GVWR, you will have pushed the truck to its max limits or maybe even exceeded it a bit. Might be not so comfortable or easy to handle, but the wheels aren't going to fall off. As Western Slope says, much depends on where you travel, plus I think your personal standards for ride and handling are a factor. Some drivers (and passengers) simply have more aplomb than others when it comes to stress and ride comfort.

 

[Mountain high]

"My question is this, should I put the money into beefing up this truck with air bags, bigger brakes, radiator, etc... or"

A 3.42-1 to 4.10-1 gear ratio swap would be the most beneficial upgrade with towing. We had 3.42-1 gear ratios in two 4x4's. A 1984 GMC and a 1995 Chevrolet K1500 Silverado. The 1984 is up in Wyoming on a field. It still runs, but I recall just hoping to make it while towing up to the Eisenhower tunnel. The 1995 consumed oil by the quarts at 250,000 miles. Towing was its life. Both had 5 speed manual transmissions. Under 65 MPH, shifting into 5th gear in Colorado it was like throwing out and dragging behind a boat anchor on both trucks. These trucks were designed for fuel economy with 3.42-1 gears. The 1995 with the 350 V8 did just OK. A 4 speed automatic would have been worse in it. Borderline with towing in the Rockies. My current trucks axle gear ratios have 4.10-1 in our 2016, 3.73-1 in our 1998, and 4.56-1 in our 1978. No issues.

 

[JCarson1]

Could be as high as 7400 lbs - would need the trim level, bed length and cab style to get a closer estimate. Here's a Chevrolet towing guide for that era. I doubt if its as low as 6000.

If the trailer is loaded near its GVWR, you will have pushed the truck to its max limits or maybe even exceeded it a bit. Might be not so comfortable or easy to handle, but the wheels aren't going to fall off. As Western Slope says, much depends on where you travel, plus I think your personal standards for ride and handling are a factor. Some drivers (and passengers) simply have more aplomb than others when it comes to stress and ride comfort.

Hey Gary, thanks for the towing guide. My truck is an Extended Cab 4x4 with a 6.5 ft bed and the 5300 V8 Vortec. Not sure of the trim package, but I believe its just a stock work truck. According this guide, my max trailer weight is 7800# for an axle ratio of 3.73... The interesting thing is, my truck has a the 3.42 ratio which is not a combination on this sheet... but towing capacity is significantly less for those models with the 3.42 gearing. So I may be doomed from the get go

 

[Mountain high]

Based on pure logic it's 6,800 pounds towing capacity. Everything else on the chart differs by 1,000 pounds per the chart between the corresponding different axle ratios for the 5.3L.

 

[No cats]

I go with 6,800 lbs but get there a little differently. The diff between 2WD and 4WD for the same trucks with 3.73 axles is 300 lbs, 8,100 for 2WD and 7,800 for 4WD.

So if we use that 300 lbs difference on the 3.42 trucks, the 2WD is rated at 7,100 so take 300 from that and get to 6,800.

Is that how you got to your number Western Slope?

 

[Mountain high]

Pedro Dog,

My 6,800 was based on everything listed in the 5.3L column under 2WD and 4WD on towing capacity increases by 1,000 pounds for the next higher number in rear axle ratio. So increasing from a 3.73-1 to a 4.10-1 increases the tow capacity from 7,800 to 8,800. Put in some 4.56-1 gears instead of 3.42-1 and it should be able to tow 9,800 theoretically. Only, if the truck could stop too with 9,800 pounds in tow. That's a different issue. 9,200 is listed though.

https://usdieselparts.com/i-24076389-99-08-chevrolet-gmc-1500-4-56-ratio-gear-package-kit.html

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I also just noticed footnote #2, which says Silverado 1500s are limited to 5000 lbs unless they have one of the suspension upgrade packages, i.e. Z85, ZX3, or Z71.

It seems odd that you have a 4x4 with a 3.42 axle when the guide only shows 3.73 & 4.10 for that configuration, but sometimes there are production changes that don't get reflected in the tow guides.

I found another tow capacity table but not sure how official it is. It has these two entries:

• Work Truck 4x4 Extended Cab 6.5 ft. box 143.5 in. WB - 6,700 lbs
• LS 4x4 Extended Cab 6.5 ft. box 143.5 in. WB - 6,700 lbs

Here's the entire listing.

 

[DeckArtist]

Hi all, first time posting, so go easy on me,
I have a 4x4 2006 Silverado 1500 with a 5.3, the 3.42 rear axle ratio and a 6,400# GVWR. From what I can find online, the max for a dead weight hitch - towing capacity is between 6,000# and 7,000#, with 295 hp @ 5200 RPM and 335 tq @ 4000 RPM. Please correct me if any of these numbers seem off.
My travel trailer is 24ft long, with a dry weight of 5,300# and a GVWR of 7000#, and a hitch weight of 650#. My question is this, should I put the money into beefing up this truck with air bags, bigger brakes, radiator, etc... or just bite the bullet and get a 3/4 diesel and be done with it. This truck is paid off and I would really like to keep it, but we would like to start traveling soon and I would like to have the extra low end torque of a diesel. I do have a larger weight distribution hitch (I forget the exact dimensions), and a sway bar to go along with it. It's an older truck with 200k miles on it, but it's been good and we're just starting out, so anything new is out of our price range. Looking at used fords with the 6.7l. Let me know what yall think!

My 2005 Z71 RCSB [regular cab short bed] would tow up to 8000 lbs. It had the 3.42 axle and the towing package as well. I really miss that truck sometimes. It made it over 385k before it started to have motor problems. I'd get the 3/4 ton and be done with it. You do not want to be too close to the max towing with a camper that large.

 

[JCarson1]

My 2005 Z71 RCSB [regular cab short bed] would tow up to 8000 lbs. It had the 3.42 axle and the towing package as well. I really miss that truck sometimes. It made it over 385k before it started to have motor problems. I'd get the 3/4 ton and be done with it. You do not want to be too close to the max towing with a camper that large.

Wow, yeah I think that would be perfect for what I need. And that was the 2500 with the 6.0? If I went that route, would it be worth it to get something newer, or just stick with ole reliable? I really like the simplicity of the 03-06 chevy's. Just not sure how reliable the 2007-2015 models are

 

[JCarson1]

I also just noticed footnote #2, which says Silverado 1500s are limited to 5000 lbs unless they have one of the suspension upgrade packages, i.e. Z85, ZX3, or Z71.

It seems odd that you have a 4x4 with a 3.42 axle when the guide only shows 3.73 & 4.10 for that configuration, but sometimes there are production changes that don't get reflected in the tow guides.

I found another tow capacity table but not sure how official it is. It has these two entries:

• Work Truck 4x4 Extended Cab 6.5 ft. box 143.5 in. WB - 6,700 lbs
• LS 4x4 Extended Cab 6.5 ft. box 143.5 in. WB - 6,700 lbs

Here's the entire listing.

Yeah, I'm not sure why my particular model is like this. Here is the original paperwork that came with it, that might explain a little more. It's possible whoever bought it originally, requested certain options. Thank you for your input and research!

 

[DeckArtist]

Wow, yeah I think that would be perfect for what I need. And that was the 2500 with the 6.0? If I went that route, would it be worth it to get something newer, or just stick with ole reliable? I really like the simplicity of the 03-06 chevy's. Just not sure how reliable the 2007-2015 models are

No it was a GMC Sierra 4x4 1500. The 3/4 ton with the 6.0 tows around 10,000 depending on the package. I'd go with 2005-2009, they are not expensive and they are less expensive to fix.

https://towingcap.com/gmc/sierra-2500hd/2005/