5th wheel towing w/2011 shrtbd 1500 5.3L
 

I have a new 2011 silverado 5'8" bed, 5.3L V8,HD trailering pkg,3.42 axel ratio 4 wheel drive, Z71. I have been towing a 3000 lb travel trailer and hardly know that it is back there. We have been looking at "1/2 ton towable fifth wheels" in the 6800 - 7100 lb dry weight range. From what I can find it looks like I have a 9500 lb max trailer weight rating and gross combined weight rating of 15,000 lbs. I figure the curb weight of the truck at 5329+full fuel 167+ 2 pasengers, dog 440 lbs+ 150 lbs for pin hitch = 6,086 lbs loaded truck weight. I add 7,000 lbs dry trailer and 1,000 lbs of misc stuff( water,cargo in the trailer and occasional 2 additional people in truck) and come up with GCWR of 14,086 lbs. The cargo weight that I used is very conservative as we don't travel any distance with much water if we can help it, and it is almost always just 2 of us and the dog. It appears that I am about 1,000 lbs or more below max. Towing to near to max is not usually a good experience. Does anyone out there have experience with a similar situation? Do my numbers look right?

Thanks

DC

it can be done but the truck might not like it to much you will definitely feel it back there you might wana look in to a bigger truck or smaller trailer

Yeah I would think about a desiel truck
Maybe a 3/4 ton with a duramax would be the fit for you

Changing trucks is not an option right now. I do know that the towing experience will be different than towing a 3000 lb travel trailer. Was just wondering if it would be a bad tow. Could look for a smaller 5th wheel if needed but reduction in size does not change weight all that much

A fifth wheel that weights 7500lbs maybe 1/2 ton towable but one that weights over 10000lbs is not JMO. I tow a bumper pull that weights 11000lbs (W/equalizer hitch) loaded with my 2500 hd 6.0 with no problems but when I first bought the trailer I had a 2007 1500 5.3 and it was just wrong to tow that kind of weight with it. The wind would kill me and the power was just not there so I ended up buyiing a new truck. I wish I had bought a lighter trailer to begin with.