Hey everyone! Ive been looking at buying a fishing boat, and occasionally I might tow an enclosed trailer or small camper. But that all got me thinking about the towing capacity of the truck I bought back in may. It's a 2010 ccsb silverado 1500 Z-71. It has the LC9 5.3 with 6L80E and a Procomp 6" Stage I lift with I "think" 4" blocks and an Add-A-Leaf in the rear. i'm running 35x12.50LT20 Toyo M/T's. Since I bought the truck, i swapped the differentials for 3.73 geared ones, but the rear differential I put in is a 14bolt 6lug with disc brakes.. It has the stock hitch on it. I've also added a tune/intake/exhaust. I have a Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller to put in it. What kinda weight can I tow with this truck safely?

 

There is this thing called an owners manual that will list the stock towing capacity.....



But in all seriousness, you'll be fine with any fishing boat. Id just look into a tru-cool if youre going to tow 5k or more regularly. Also, you will probably want to upgrade to a class v hitch if youre over 5k.

 

I know, but my truck isn't stock.

 

Using a little spreadsheet formula I have for 90% efficiency, you gain 375.38 lbs. of torque at the wheel going from 3.42 to 3.73 gears. Total capacity with the 3.73 gear and a 4.027 1st gear on the 6L80 transmission is 4528.74 lbs. given the 335 ft. lbs. of torque the engine has.

Looking at the Chevrolet.com website for 1500 series pick-ups with the 5.3 engine and 3.42 gear the is 9100 lbs. of towing capability. My educated guess is that you will pick up a safe 1000 lbs. of towing capacity.

Keep in mind that the taller tires will reduce your gear. Hence, a 3.73 becomes something smaller like a 3.53. I don't have a formula to compute this actual change.

PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send you my spreadsheet where you can plug in the numbers.

 

Stopping is the most important...
ive towed up to 16k and quite a few times of 12k but mostly 8k.. i have no clue what my truck is rated for tho

 

Search in Google the best way for any problems.

 

Well, youve done nothing to take away from the factory rating. I wouldnt go much over it because you can tweak the frame, and the gvw of your rear axle wont go up unless you toss a 10.5" 14 in there (which would be kinda pointless with the 1/2 frame).

As long as you dont buy a massive sailboat, you are fine towing any normal fishing boat. Just watch your hitch as you may need to upgrade it with the increased stress if you end up with a huge drop setup.