Towing Question....

[TBSS07_Chappy]

I was thinking of towing my 64 Chevelle SS with the TBSS....curb weight of the Chevelle is 3000lbs and UHaul says that a full car trailer from them would exceed the 4000lb limit on the stock hitch....does that sound correct? I can't believe the trailer would weigh over 1000lbs.

[2002SLT]

What 4,000lb limit? Our towing capacity is over 6,500lbs.

[TBSS07_Chappy]

Yeah but the stock hitch only has a 4000lb rating......you need to look and make sure

[Fishhunter911]

6500 weight distribution hitch.... just get one of those and you good to go.

[ScarabEpic22]

Yeah but the stock hitch only has a 4000lb rating......you need to look and make sure

Check it again my friend, there is another weight limit below that of like 6600+lbs. Weight carrying vs weight distributing.

[TBSS07_Chappy]

OK....what is the difference? I really want to find out......anyone towed anything over 4000lbs with the stock hitch

[mjw930]

The main reason to go to a weight distributing hitch is to reduce the tongue weight. At 4000 lbs and a 15% tongue weight you are at the limits of the trucks specification (600 lb tongue weight assuming additional load in the truck doesn't exceed the rear axle gross weight of 3400 lbs). Load distributing hitches reduce the effective tongue weight by distributing the load into the frame and onto the front wheels. If you adjust the trailer to 10% tongue weight (more than enough for a dual axle trailer) you can probably tow 6000 lbs without a weight distributing hitch.

Understand that even with a load distributing hitch the effective load on the truck is equal to the total tongue weight, it's just distributed to the frame rather than to the real axle. The total capacity of the truck is 6004 lbs so you need to take into account the base weight of the truck (roughly 4700 lbs) plus all your gear, people and tongue weight. The total combined vehicle weight cannot exceed 11,500 so if you load down the truck to it's limit, including the tongue weight, your effective towing capacity is only 5500 lbs.

The label on the hitch is generic to a class 3 hitch and has no real bearing on the actual load capabilities of the truck.

[TBSS07_Chappy]

OK, so the overall consensus is that the stock hitch will have no problem towing up to 5500lbs?

That is what I needed to find out......is the stock hitch on the TBSS capable of towing up to 5000lbs?

That would put the ovevall curb weight( TBSS + ME+ TRAILER + CAR ) at right around 10,000 LBS.

The UHaul Car transport trailer is a dual-axle, full drive up trailer. Yet they tell me that I can't do it with the TBSS.

[mjw930]

OK, so the overall consensus is that the stock hitch will have no problem towing up to 5500lbs?

That is what I needed to find out......is the stock hitch on the TBSS capable of towing up to 5000lbs?

That would put the ovevall curb weight( TBSS + ME+ TRAILER + CAR ) at right around 10,000 LBS.

The UHaul Car transport trailer is a dual-axle, full drive up trailer. Yet they tell me that I can't do it with the TBSS.

The stock hitch is capable of towing 10000 lbs, it's the truck that can't tow that much. If the trailer isn't weight distributing then it will probably overload the rear airbags since it will put well over 700 lbs onto the rear axle. Uhaul has a database of capacities and no matter what we say they will not rent unless that database says it's OK. Sorry.

Get someone you know who has a full size PU and use it to get the trailer, then you can see if it will work on your TBSS with some positioning of the car to reduce tongue weight.

[TBSS07_Chappy]

MJW,

Thanks....I will do that.......I really didnt think GM would make the TBSS capable of 6600lbs towing and not give us a hitch that could handle it.

Chappy

[kevint704]

I have a 66 chevelle that I tow often with my TBSS on my dual axle open car trailer and have no problems. I am not using any kind of weight distribution towing setup. The rear of the truck automatically raises to the correct ride height when towing and therefore the rear does not even squat much with the car loaded. The TBSS pulls it very well. I can tow on the freeway with the cruise set at 79MPH and have no problems. I believe our cars probably weigh about the same.

[PowerKraus]

I have a 66 chevelle that I tow often with my TBSS on my dual axle open car trailer and have no problems. I am not using any kind of weight distribution towing setup. The rear of the truck automatically raises to the correct ride height when towing and therefore the rear does not even squat much with the car loaded. The TBSS pulls it very well. I can tow on the freeway with the cruise set at 79MPH and have no problems. I believe our cars probably weigh about the same.

kevin is right. Our trucks and their factory hitches can tow the approximate 6,000lbs; the weight of a car/trailer/materials. It would be a 'best practices' (sorry about the 80's term) to utilize a weight distributing hitch ('WDH'), very simple platform to install. It also helps with high speed stability.

I tow just over 6,000lbs with a WDH. No problems with acceleration or MORE importantly,braking, albeit I have electric brakes on my trailer.

Enjoy!

[Mjrcarnut]

Will tow it with not problems,, But I would recommend installing an aftermarket Trans cooler if your going to tow a lot! Better safe than sorry!:undecided

[HUMBLER]

I tried towing a 3500 GVWR pop up with my truck last weekend. After a bit of freeway driving and stopping the check engine light came on and tranny problems followed, seemed computer related. All the dealer did in the end was reset the computer and install a couple upgrades. Towed fine the rest of the weekend. However, my truck sags quite a bit when hooked up. Any thoughts on problem I had and why it happened. Just coincidence? Problem with the Prodigy BC install? Other?