How much do you tow with your 1/2 ton?

JUICED COUPE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Location
Belmont
Im looking to pick up a silverado 1500 or a f150 late 90s and up. Id prefer a 3rd door. I may also look at tahoe suburbans and so on. How much are you guys towing safely with these? I plan to look at some campers in the high 20 ft range and would want it to tow the camper. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
Nah, it'll be fine. I wouldn't want to do it with a 4.6L, and it probably won't be awesome with a 5.4L... but it should be fine once up to speed. The camper we towed to Alabama last month was a 27 footer and only weighed like 5k.

Pretty sure a 97 F150 had bigger brakes on it than a 96 F350, too. That's definitely true once you get into the 03+ F150s.
 
My dad towed a 30 footer with a slide out with a half ton conversion van. Never burned anybody at a light but you did have to pay attention to the stopping distance. He also towed for years with a 76 Dodge Ramcharger. That truck saw all kinds of heavy loads.

The key to all of em were good trailer brakes and proper trailer loading. With all the campers he and I have towed the weight distrubution hitch and its set up is where you get the handling you want. Stopping well thats up to common sense no matter how big your rig is.
 
1/2 tons of today have a much higher ratings than those of even 10 years ago.
My '11 1/2 ton Ram is rated to tow over 10k.
My '82 3/4 ton Suburban is rated about the same.
Weight distributing hitches are great for making things work better.
Not everyone needs a CTD dually quad cab to pull their pop up...
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
My dad towed a 30 footer with a slide out with a half ton conversion van. Never burned anybody at a light but you did have to pay attention to the stopping distance. He also towed for years with a 76 Dodge Ramcharger. That truck saw all kinds of heavy loads.
The key to all of em were good trailer brakes and proper trailer loading. With all the campers he and I have towed the weight distrubution hitch and its set up is where you get the handling you want. Stopping well thats up to common sense no matter how big your rig is.
Click to expand...

Ditto!

We had a 27' Elkhart Traveler (6000#) that was towed for years with a '69 Pontiac Catalina & later with a '74 IH TravelAll (sub-300 cubic engine) without any issues. I think the biggest keys were: A) tranny coolers added to both, B) No OD to to contend with generating heat, & C) brake controllers (granted, old crappy resistance models) on both

As noted, neither were quick off the line, but were driven with common sense (not matted, manually shifted up thru the gears, attention to traffic/slowing well in advance of stops) and performed well...

OTOH, folks drive like ass these days and I prefer 3/4-ton or bigger for anything more than a 1-ton load (hauled or towed) :lol:
 
Look at what they are rated for and be under that.

My dad's 1/2 ton. 2002 1500.

22' trailer - 2000 lbs
Jeep - 4500 lbs
Figure another 1000 lbs for camping gear, me and 2 small boys.

Does it fine. Holds 70mph all day long. Where I go wheeling I have to go up 2 steep grades that slows me down for both.

Just drive like you have some sense.
His truck is rated for 8100 lbs
 
my boss has a '03 F150 with 280k on the clock.. just started having trans issues. 5.4L Auto. Not a race winner pulling 4 ton of stone on a dump trailer or a good load of wood on a flat 16ft BP, 2-1/2 tons of hay is not too bad on the 16ft. Electronic brake controllers are worthwhile. Makes a noticeable difference. Inexpensive improvement at $60-$100 or so..
 
Thanks a bunch guys. Seems like Ill be fine towing a 24 to 30 footer with some common sense. I may look into mid 90s burbs in 3/4 ton. Seems they could be had cheap.
 
Back
Top