I have a 42 Foot 5th wheel - Can I tow it with a Cheverolet Silverado 2500 4X4
Asked by carmen1918 Aug 02, 2015 at 08:04 PM about the Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD
Question type: General
5 Answers
Read this below, says a 2015 will tow up to 17,900 pounds and you can load 3,760 in the truck. What's the weight of your 5th wheel?. http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/silverado-2500hd/2015/?tab-id=reviews-tab#/leaderboard-reviews-3-anchor
A 14000 POUND FIFTH WHEEL IS HEAVY AT THAT...IF YOURS WEIGHTS MORE LOADED THAN THAT..ID SAY NO....
I wouldn't try and pull the full 17,900 pounds. You're really pushing it. So, what is the actual weight, if you know. Kelly's right, pulling too close to the limit or over is dangerous. You might need a Freightliner? 42 feet is about as large as they get, correct? And, where do you pull this thing to? The fuel pulling this must be horrendous. Is you truck a diesel?
My brother has the GMC version of the 2500 Chevy and he pulls his 15,000 5th wheel without any issues. If he packs his beer in there is is well over 18,000 pounds. You can put on stiffer shocks and springs if you have any issues, but the camper sales people should be able to give you a good answer.
So many of these people really have ZERO clue what they are talking about. When someone makes a statement like "You might need a Freightliner" or "You're really pushing it" it should be a clue of how ignorant they actually are of the issue. As an example: My Big Rig truck, a Peterbilt 379, is manufactured gross rated to tow 80,000 pounds total weight...yet every day I tow 129,000 pounds...how is that possible? Well, I register for the excess weight and pay the fees to the state of Nevada where I operate that truck commercially. My 1991 Chevy 2500 is rated to tow about 12,300 with a hitch limit of 600 pounds. I tow a 19,000 pound 41 foot park model twice a year from Mesa AZ to Leavenworth Washington and back to Mesa every year...for the last 12 years. How? Well I equip my truck correctly. It has a 1300 pound tongue weight. I mitigate that by properly setting up my weight distributing hitch. You see? I then use two, not one but TWO locking sway control units. I also have both air shocks, run at 100 psi and Firestone air bags, run at the needed pressure to negate any minimal sag I may encounter after setting up my weight distributing hitch. I make sure the brake controller works and the trailer brakes work correctly. Now, I would not do this with a 1500 pickup but a 3/4 ton pickup is just fine as long as you follow the most important rule: Do NOT drive the posted speed limit! Its a LIMIT, a MAXIMUM! Not a suggestion. This combination of truck and trailer is perfectly safe at about 10 mph BELOW any posted limits...that includes YELLOW speed signs in curves and mountains. So if a curve suggests 30 mph...yep..I slow to 20 mph. You see? Now the biggest worry you have when doing this is related to the rear axle weight limits, brakes and transmission cooling. My pickup has a TBI 350 running headers and a 700R4 transmission rebuilt and running a towing shift kit and TWO large multi pass coolers with a dedicated fan (They are stacked together). On hills where a F350 dually might pull the same trialer up it at 35 MPH I can tell you I only make 15 to 18 MPH. I have VERY bright LED tail lights and flashers. I pull over in low visibility situations. Does this hurt my truck or is it dangerous? No of course not because the other big thing is the weight on the rear axle is within limits. I can easily haul 2000 pounds of cargo in the bed and not hurt the axle. The big problem is heat generated when towing so if its summer I just drive at night. The route from Washington to Mesa includes some big hills...but it makes it all the way and I keep the AC on all the way. Would it be more comfortable in a F350 or 3500 dually? Maybe but no more safe...The danger is not so much in the weight its in the setup and the lack of ability of so many morons to drive slow