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Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra Trailer and Towing Questions

195 messages,  Last post on Nov 29, 2009 at 6:12 AM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Classic, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Chevrolet Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra 1500, GMC Sierra 2500, GMC Sierra 3500, Towing, Truck

#106 of 195 Horn Problems by yerardic Mar 19, 2008 (7:41 am)
I am hoping someone could help me out. I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado, and I am having a problem with my horn. When I turn my steering wheel it wheel let out an intermittent honk or a prolonged honk. It just does it intermittently. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be the problem? Replies to this message: obyone (Mar 19, 2008 11:27 am)
#107 of 195 Re: Horn Problems [yerardic] by obyone Mar 19, 2008 (11:27 am)
Replying to: yerardic (Mar 19, 2008 7:41 am) Sounds like some frayed wiring in your steering wheel causing the wires to make contact when you turn thus enabling the horn. Looks like you're going to have to take apart that steering wheel.
#108 of 195 Can I Tow A 13000 lb 5th Wheel? by familycamper1 Mar 28, 2008 (12:49 pm)
I have a 2008 Chevy Silverado 6.0 vortex, 3.73, with trailer/towing package, 5th wheel hitch. Can I tow a 13000 lb 5th wheel? If not, which truck would you recommend? Thanks for all the help. Replies to this message: davethecarnut (Apr 12, 2008 1:15 pm)
#109 of 195 need to know whats better by budster95 Mar 30, 2008 (8:25 pm)
what is better...... i have a 1988 1500 sierra long box, and want to put a camper on it, the camper is older and weighs about 800 lbs, our vehicle weighs about 6000 lbs. we do not know what the gvwr for our truck is, as it was removed from the door, if someone else has a truck like ours, could you let us know what it is...we want to know if we should put 1 or 2 leaves as we already have 4 on each side, or should we go with the air bags? Replies to this message: davethecarnut (Apr 14, 2008 1:40 pm)
#110 of 195 Re: Can I Tow A 13000 lb 5th Wheel? [familycamper1] by davethecarnut Apr 12, 2008 (1:15 pm)
Replying to: familycamper1 (Mar 28, 2008 12:49 pm) I have an 03 2500 with 496 (8.1) and Allison and 3.73's that is rated to pull 13,000 lb. 5th wheel. I don't think your drivetrain combo is rated for that. And since the mfgs. gave up on gas big blocks (except Ford's V10) you're looking at diesel nowadays to get that rating and more.
#111 of 195 Re: need to know whats better [budster95] by davethecarnut Apr 14, 2008 (1:40 pm)
Replying to: budster95 (Mar 30, 2008 8:25 pm) I had a 89 Chevy "light" 2500 with the 7200 GVW. It had a six lugs. I don't know the GVW of the 1500. Are you sure about the 6000lb weight of your truck? Even with the extended cab your truck should have an empty weight of no more than 5000lbs. Were you factoring in passengers and gear with that 6000? I'm no expert, but I would go with the helper springs/extra leaves if you were going to leave the camper on the truck the majority of the time. If you were to take the camper off often, I would go with the air bags, that way you wouldn't have such a rough ride without the camper.
#112 of 195 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab 5th Wheel Towing by rockyphillips Apr 21, 2008 (8:27 am)
I have a 2006 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab with the Vortec MAX Performance packgage. My owner's manual indicates that the 1500 Crew Cab is not designed for or intended to be used for 5th wheel towing. Does anyone know the design restrictions of the truck that prevents it from being able to tow a 5th wheel trailer?   My owner's manual containes a list of GM truck towing capacities and the 1500 crew cab is only model that has this 5th wheel restriction. Replies to this message: quarque (Apr 28, 2008 3:49 pm) rockyphillips (Apr 28, 2008 5:57 pm) quarque (Apr 29, 2008 8:24 am) davethecarnut (May 06, 2008 11:12 pm) buckmeister2 (Jun 11, 2008 4:02 pm)
#113 of 195 Re: GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab 5th Wheel Towing [rockyphillips] by quarque Apr 28, 2008 (3:49 pm)
Replying to: rockyphillips (Apr 21, 2008 8:27 am) I had the same question a while back when I was considering the Denali for towing. I noticed the GMC website had blanks for any Crew Cab model when it came to 5th wheels. So I did some poking around on the net and it seems that the issue is not weight or towing ability, it is space. The bed is too short for standard setups. But there appears to be some special hitches you can put in the bed that slide and let you get around the space problem. There are rumors that putting a 5th wheel on a CC model voids the warranty. I doubt that is true but who knows. I'm sure you will get a different answer from every dealer.   If someone has more info on this topic please post it. Replies to this message: rockyphillips (Apr 28, 2008 5:57 pm) quarque (Apr 29, 2008 8:24 am) davethecarnut (May 06, 2008 11:12 pm) buckmeister2 (Jun 11, 2008 4:02 pm)
#114 of 195 Re: GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab 5th Wheel Towing [quarque] by rockyphillips Apr 28, 2008 (5:57 pm)
Replying to: quarque (Apr 28, 2008 3:49 pm) Thanks for the input. I spoke with an RV dealer who suggested that a "slider hitch" is required to pull a fifth wheel with a GM crew cab short bed. Apparently, a slider hitch adjust forward for road towing and then adjust toward the back of the bed for backing/turning. I have emailed with GM customer service but they will not confirm or deny the existence of a "slider hitch", nor confirm or deny if it will safely and mechanically resolve the problem without damage to the truck, nor confirm or deny if it will void the vehicle warranty. They did however confirm that a GM crew cab shortbed is not designed nor intended to tow a fifth wheel trailer and they also indicated that there is not a fix to solve the problem. They confirmed that the problem is solely with the lack of horizontal space between the cab and the placement of where the kingpin hitch should be installed. I certainly do not want to damage my truck or risk safety so if there is anyone else out there that can further clarify if a slider hitch is a safe and mechanically sound solution to allow fifth wheel towing with a GM crew cab short bed - I would love to hear from you. Replies to this message: quarque (Apr 29, 2008 8:24 am) davethecarnut (May 06, 2008 11:12 pm)
#115 of 195 Re: GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab 5th Wheel Towing [rockyphillips] by quarque Apr 29, 2008 (8:24 am)
Replying to: rockyphillips (Apr 28, 2008 5:57 pm) Will GM confirm or deny the existence of a truck? lol   I hate it when companies do this kind of BS. I'm sure there are people out there with sliders in a CC model towing just fine. You only need to slide it back when the trailer is making an angle more than xx degrees with the truck. Otherwise the trailer will hit the cab. Depending on how "pointy" the trailer front end is, I bet most of the time you don't even need to slide it. It must have a pretty decent clearance otherwise you'd have to slide it every time you went around a corner.   On another note, I found the 1500 series a little lacking on the payload rating for fifth wheelers. Ones I considered had a hitch weight of 1200+ pounds. Most are over 900 pounds. After you add the passengers and gear you can easily go over 1500 pounds. You might consider the 2500 series - much better suited for 5th wheels. I ended up going with a traditional trailer.

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