Can anyone please give me their experience with towing? It says on my door pillar "26000 GCVW". Now, my truck weighs about 11000 empty so that would leave me with 15000. Doesn't seem like much for a truck that size? I see guys with regular pickups pulling what seem to be "Battleships" with their little trucks! My plan is to buy a dump trailer and to get the size I want I am in the 20-25000# GVW trailer range. The next size trailer down is in the 14000# range but is fairly small in volume. So, has anybody pulled 20000# with their truck? Anything bad happen? What is the weak link on these things anyhow? Engine? Tranny? Axles? Thanks for any input I get! Mark

pulling 20K with these trucks would be a super slow pig. Without a programmer and a stock Allison....it will barely get out of its own way. Sorry...but that is the truth.

Thanks for the reply! I'm not looking for sunshine.....Just the truth! I just put a PPE on it and I have that on level 2 and it is defineatly quicker. I bought it for mileage though and I did pick up 2 more MPG (hand calc) towing my snowmobile trailer. Trans is stock though. So u r saying the tranny is the weak link?

The weight rating on the truck is 26k. That means the trailer can add up to 15k to the truck via pin weight if the rear axle will hold it. A gn will transfer 25-30% of its weight to the pin. So if you have a 30k trailer only 10k of the weight will be on the truck, making your gross weight of your truck (11k) + trailer pin weight (10k)= 21k. It will pull it, just slowly.

DMAXBOB

I bought my 04 used, don't know what was done with it before I got it about 2 years ago. But I had the tranny gone through, beefed up a little to deal with the extra power I putting in with the Predator. I pull an 18K # RV with it with no problems whatsoever. Rarely get EGT over 1200, and if it does, it's only for a few seconds uphill or passing. Nothing to worry about. I run the Predator on the tune above "tow", forget what they call it, and it will run 75-80 all day.

BTW, I am aware I am running over GCVW. No need for the replies regarding that. Just bought a Kenworth to resolve that issue.

-JR

Yep...transmission is the weak link. I should say, "the 4th to 5th gear shift, is the weak link." 1-4 will handle alot of power, but 5th will slip with a power level that adds 70-80 extra HP.

I slipped mine with Edge Juice on 3 while towing a bit over 18,000 LBS. And I was careful about the shift onto 5th gear too. I would not let it just slam into 5th without lifting on the accelerator. Then I would just roll into 5th gear. Eventually though, it would limp the transmission when rolling into 5th. Toasted my C-3 clutches after limping it 4-5 times.

Funny thing was....the times I limped it were not full on, crazy slips either. I would be rolling into the throttle, and would feel the trans slip slightly. I would immediately back off the go pedal. But the damage was done. Mike L pulled it apart and he hooked me up with a built trans. Now, I can run 500 HP tunes all day long.

The weight rating on the truck is 26k. That means the trailer can add up to 15k to the truck via pin weight if the rear axle will hold it. A gn will transfer 25-30% of its weight to the pin. So if you have a 30k trailer only 10k of the weight will be on the truck, making your gross weight of your truck (11k) + trailer pin weight (10k)= 21k. It will pull it, just slowly.

DMAXBOB
I think we're missin' each other Kyle. The truck has 2 weight classifications on the sticker: GVWR and GCW. Its my understanding that GVWR is the maximum allowable weight of the truck only, in this case, 17500 pounds. The GCW is the weight of the truck plus the gross weight of the trailer which in this case is 26000 pounds. Is this correct?

Yep...transmission is the weak link. I should say, "the 4th to 5th gear shift, is the weak link." 1-4 will handle alot of power, but 5th will slip with a power level that adds 70-80 extra HP.

I slipped mine with Edge Juice on 3 while towing a bit over 18,000 LBS. And I was careful about the shift onto 5th gear too. I would not let it just slam into 5th without lifting on the accelerator. Then I would just roll into 5th gear. Eventually though, it would limp the transmission when rolling into 5th. Toasted my C-3 clutches after limping it 4-5 times.

Funny thing was....the times I limped it were not full on, crazy slips either. I would be rolling into the throttle, and would feel the trans slip slightly. I would immediately back off the go pedal. But the damage was done. Mike L pulled it apart and he hooked me up with a built trans. Now, I can run 500 HP tunes all day long.
How much did that little "extra" run?

$3500 a few years ago

I think we're missin' each other Kyle. The truck has 2 weight classifications on the sticker: GVWR and GCW. Its my understanding that GVWR is the maximum allowable weight of the truck only, in this case, 17500 pounds. The GCW is the weight of the truck plus the gross weight of the trailer which in this case is 26000 pounds. Is this correct?


The combined weight is only a recommendaation from the manufacturer. DOT will go strictly by GVWR (17.5k) and the axle/tire ratings.

DMAXBOB

i have a 07 5500 dump with tool boxes that weighs 16,000lbs
and i tow a tag 23' deck over that weighs 16,000lbs every day and have no issue with take off or stopping

the truck is stickered for 33,000lbs too and never had dot raise an eyebrow about it and i have been pulled over (and let go) numerous times on spot checks

Well now lets see I'm stickered in california for 45 thousand and go through the dot scales at about 40 thousand with no trouble from chp. But as for the trucks ratings it has a 16,500lbs gvwr but it has an 7,000lbs front axle and an 13,500lbs rear rating for a combined 20,500lbs .
I can say stock the truck was a dog even empty but with it being tuned it stays with traffic upto about 30,000lbs gross after that it slows down but i can still pass gas rigs in the hills . As for a max usable weight about 40,000lbs is the highest i can go before the trans starts to build heat to fast. I have moved heavier for short trips.

I have an '06 5500 with 1000RDS trans 4.85 rear end. Everything is stock. My GCWR is #26000. With the truck loaded and the trailer loaded I have scaled at over #34000. It pulls fine and stops fine. The trans temp barely gets off the bottom of the gauge. We are pretty flat around here so I am sure that makes a difference too. You're right dmaxbob, dot will go by sticker on the truck. I got pulled over the other day (I was empty) and he questioned me on my gvw tag on my plate and wondered why I was at #28000. I told him just to be safe. He laughed. If they really want to get sticky about weight they will measure your tires and their foot print and calculate a formula from there. They can be pretty tough if they want.