O/T-towing capacity

[Nancy Howell]

I have a 96 Chevy 2500 (3/4 ton) p/u with the 5.7 or is it the 5.9L vortec engine, auto tranny, goose neck hitch. What is the towing capacity? Yeah, I could probably find it in the owner"s manual, but as far as I"m concerned, ya"lls opinion is carries more weight.

 

[Anonymous-0]

There's going to be a sticker on the vehicle with information specific to your truck. It could be in a couple different places like the inside of the glove box, one of the door frames, or on the engine side of the firewall. That's your best data.

As to "what you can get by with" you probably won't get any takers here.

 

[old]

Look inside of the door panel and you should find a GWR and some other numbers those tell you what it for the most part legal to haul/pull with it. That said I have my 1980 Chev heavy half ton licensed for 18,000lbs and have come close a few time to hauling that much. It pushes it to its limits but it does it, but it also has a 4 speed, and is 4 wheel drive
Hobby farm

 

[vapet]

Read the book, could keep you out of trouble later on.

 

[ScottyHOMeY]

Your door sticker will give you the max GVW for your pickup alone. It won't deal with the max GCVW of the pickup and a trailer. And you probably won't find it in the owner's manual, as the tables I found for my Ram (on Dodge's site) runs to about four pages of tables that cover all the variables -- 2 vs. 4wd, engine, tranny, rear-end ratio, single or dually, 2500 0r 3500 . . .

I'd suggest a little googlin' to find that somethin similar for your Chevy.

Others have hinted at it, so I'll just say it. Think twice, or even three times, about exceeding any weight ratings you find. Those ratings have as much, and often more, to do with how much you can stop than with how much you can pull. A lawyer'll have a field day with ya if anything bad should happen while you're overweight.

 

[Mike M]

What the door says and what you can really do are entirely different. What are you planing on towing and are you using the gooseneck ?

I have a 96 Ram 2500 360 gas and have pulled a 25 foot tandem dually gooseneck with a JD 720 d on it. Tractor should go about 7500-8000 lbs and the trailer 6500 ? GVR or whatever is about 8600 so I'm way over ! Handles it fine. Stopping you just have to drive careful.
Dads 81 F350 with dump bed is only 10,000 lb GVR and it is fine with 15,000 on it.

 

[Allen in TN.]

If your truck is a gas burner? you may have the 6.0 with a 4.10 gear. Factory recomends around
12,900 2 wheel drive and 12,700 for the 4 wheel drive. Four wheel drive weights more so the towing is a little less. The factory specs are set to consider stopping as well as towing.
Good luck
Allen

 

[Goose]

How much are the truck and trailer licensed for? Unless you are expert at dodging scales, sooner or later a scale officer is going to compare your registration with what he sees on his scale.

 

[Nancy Howell]

I know for a fact its not a 6.0 and its definitely geared for road running not towing. Truck will definitely get it when you need it to. It does have 4wd. For this truck I pull my large 2-horse bumper pull (approx. 3000lbs) with one or two horses (add 1,000 to 2,000) or I use it to bring the tractor in when we're hauling hay. For that I pull a 20ft g/n (appox. 2500lbs) and the Ford 2810 tractor (approx. 5500lbs) for a total of about 8000lbs. Truck does ok, but I've always felt this load was pretty close to max for it. When pulling this, I drop it out of overdrive, into 3rd. Otherwise it will downshift at the smallest incline. Also drive no faster than 60 with this load. Electric brakes are out on the 2-horse right now, but the g/n has electric brakes and truck is wired for electric trailer brakes.

 

[Anonymous-0]

A 96 is probably a 5.7 (350). You should never tow in overdrive. My 2000 has the tow/haul mode which is nice. The mileage of the 6 litre isn't so nice though. Dave

 

[Allen in TN.]

I might have misread. 3/4 ton for 2006 was a 6.0,
8.1 or Diesel I think.
Allen

 

[Lee in Iowa]

It will make a lot of difference if its a light duty 3/4 ton [6 bolt wheels] or a heavy duty 3/4 ton [8 bolt wheels]an 8 bolt will usually have heavier springs, bigger brakes, and the bigger transmission if its a 6 bolt and has the 4L60e transmission they are not very good for towing. As far as following what it says on the door or in the book almost everybody around here that pulls a gooseneck stock trailer exceeds that. I pull a 7x20 that weighs 4500 empty with 10 1200 pound cows in it with my 89 3/4 8 bolt chevy, it has the 5.7 with a turbo 400 non overdrive auto and low gears. If you have high gears use the 4 low in the transfer case whenever you go out in a hayfield or anywhere the ground is soft or when you're maneuvering at slow speed if you're not turning too short, and as someone else don't tow in overdrive. Lee

 

[Oldmax]

I have neaver seen a 3/4 ton with 6 lug wheels . I have a regular
2004 - K 2500 Crew Cab Silverado 6 lir eng - auto trans - 373 rears . Has 300 HP and 350 LBS torq . Is rated to pull 9400 lb trailer
I pull a 16' Tandom utility traIliler rated 7000 LBS . most of time with less than 5000 LBS .& and a 23' Camper that weights in at 5800 LBS . and get about 13 MPG while towing . 17 on road runing without trailers. I don't drive over 60 while pulling anything.

 

[kyhayman]

Without looking, it 'sounds like' you are well within the safe haul range. Lots of potential weak links (rating of bumper or frame hitch on the horse trailer). Both the 'everyone fudges weights' and watch out for lawyer crowd have their merits. Load it right, slow down, check your tires, and carry plenty of insurance. Seriously, it makes no difference how much under or overweight your vehicle is, anyone can sue anyone for anything and if their is an accident its going to happen.

 

[Anonymous-0]

She said 1996, not 2006. Dave

 

[Lee in Iowa]

From 88 to 98 or 99 they made a lot of 2500's witl 6 lug wheels - light duty 3/4 tons. And now they have heavy duty 1/2 tons with 8 lug wheels go figure. Lee

 

[tlak]

I have a 94 3/4 ton g20 van with 5 lug wheels.

 

[495man]

(quoted from post at 14:00:51 04/11/08) I have neaver seen a 3/4 ton with 6 lug wheels . I have a regular
2004 - K 2500 Crew Cab Silverado 6 lir eng - auto trans - 373 rears . Has 300 HP and 350 LBS torq . Is rated to pull 9400 lb trailer
I pull a 16' Tandom utility traIliler rated 7000 LBS . most of time with less than 5000 LBS .& and a 23' Camper that weights in at 5800 LBS . and get about 13 MPG while towing . 17 on road runing without trailers. I don't drive over 60 while pulling anything.

Seen and driven several GM/Chev "light duty" 3/4 tons with 6 bolt wheels, late 80/ early 90's style. They had 2500 on the door.