99Silverado

I am about to put a brake controller on my 1500. Is there a wire already in the brake petal area that is running to the back? If there is, what do I look for?

Has anyone pulled a 5th wheel RV with a 1500? I have a deal on one!

art

Check your tow ratings for the specific 1500 you are looking at, they vary because of rear-end gear ratio, engine, towing package, etc. Know exactly how heavy your 5th wheel is, loaded out as if you were taking a trip, take it to a truck stop with truck scales. Weigh the trailer by itself then weigh the rear wheels of the trailer by themselves, this will give you your total trailer weight and also will give you the "pin" weight of the trailer. Take the total weight of the trailer and then subtract the weight of the rear wheels and that should give you the "pin" weight. The "pin" weight is what is going into the bed of your truck and that combined with the weight of the rear of your truckcan not exceed your rear tireweight rating, the tires will fail if overloaded. I have a 2500 HD Chev. Duramax and tow a 32' 5th wheel with it. I have my hands full, especially in the mountains, but it is within the published weight ratings. Unless you have a very small 5th wheel, I would not suggest towing it with a 1500, itcould prove very dangerous to you and your family. My uncle was towing a 5th wheel last year that was to heavy for his truck and blew out a right rear truck tire, lost control of his rig and was killed.It's better to get a truck with a little more capability than you need, than less. It is miserable trying to tow a 5th wheel with a underpowered truck that does not have the brakes, tires or suspension to handle the load. You will end up buying transmissions, tires and will basically destroy the 1500 if you overload it and might kill yourself or a loved one.

99Silverado

Here is some of my problem. I checked trailerlife.com's tow ratings for 1999. This (and most other parts stores and websites) don't list a 5.7 litre in a C1500 for 1999! They do list the newer 4.8 & 5.3 (5000# to 8200# respectively). They do list a 5.7 in a Suburban - which I think the pickup should tow a little more due to less weight - at 6500# - which is the GVWR of this 5th wheel I'm looking at.

Another problem is tires. My truck has American wheels and a Hercules brand of tires. They are rated at @ 2150#.

tramp

Putting a Brake controler in is very easy, the turck should have a wiring harness with it and a fuse. Depending if you have a trailer package on the truck it should be very easy if you have the plug at the back and the reciver you will have it. Under the drivers side of the dash toward the left kick panel nearing the back there is a cover that is in place, remove this and you will see a place for the plug for the brake controller.It is the second from the left on the top. Connect the wires correctly and plug the unit in. If you do not have the towpackage you should still have all of the wiring under the dash either tucked up and taped under it or you may still be able to utilize this plug
Pulling a 5th wheel should not be a big deal i have had many customers pull them with the same sort of vehicle and nevera colmplaint. Just make sure the vehicle you are towing with is able to tow the unit comfortable. Try to keep the Gross weight of the unit around 7000 pounds, try very hard not to go over that or else like stated you will blow trannys and perhaps cause accidents.

tramp

Also Do not forget to install the fuse provided with the harness, it goes under the hood from under the fuse cover and replacing the B+ plastic cover.