I am a part of a portable church and soon I will have to tow a trailer. It is a 24 ft trailer. 10,000 lbs capacity. Would a stock Sierra 01 be able to tow it. Or how can I find out? I don't want to mess up my truck. It will have a heavy duty hitch with a (I am not technical in anyway) "load balancing hitch" I think. What else will I need?

Thanks Guys,
I really like your site

 

The max towing for a 1500 is about 9,000 lbs, a 2500 is 10,000,and a 2500HD is 16,000 I think. So it depends on what you have. Check out GMC.com for a little more info.

 

So if the load in the trailer equals less than 9,000 lbs then I should be able ok. I am not sure how much the trailer actually weighs. This is all really confusing to me. I get confused with the actual weight of the trailer and the actual weight of the truck and carrying capacity.

I forgot to mention the sierra is a 4.8 liter.

 

please do NOT try to tow 9K lbs in a half ton truck. the problem isnt moving it is stoping. if you are going to be towing constantly, dont come close to maxing out a half ton. if you need ot pull go with a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck meant for pulling. also just fyi if the tow max is lets say 8500 lbs that will INCLUDE the weight of the trailor. just the shear tongue weight of a 9-10K lbs trailor will make for a scarry ride.

 

dont forget just because the trailer says 10k #s capacity doesnt mean your pulling that much that is just what the trailer is rated at. for ex. the trailer might only weigh 3000# by itself with nothing on it. So you will actually want to know what your trailer weighs and the cargo to go on the trailer weighs to give you a total weight you would be pulling. You also would want it loaded corectly so you wouldnt have it all on the tongue or all behind the axles on the trailer and that the trailer has good working breaks. Just all things you want to think about if your close to your towing capacity.

 

Either way, if you're close to 9k to 10k lbs., you'll be maxing or even exceeding the rated towing capacity of your truck, especially with the 4.8L motor. You may be able to do it a few times, but you're going to really be abusing your truck.

 

Wow, thanks guys. Sounds like I could really screw up my truck. What do you think would be a safe weight to tow for my 1500?

 

I would check the owners manual, but I would say something in the 7,000lb range.

 

Thanks, I really appreciate it. We are supposed to get the trailer sometime this month. I will take it to a coop and get it weighed. And then weigh it again with the load in there. I really really don't want to screw up my truck. I have dreamed about this truck since I was 5.