Trailer/Truck Setup

elothian · Jul 9, 2015

I'm new at this but I have a truck/trailer configuration question.

I have a 2002 Chevy 1500 and a 10K trailer. I moved from Vermont to Arkansas in 2010 and used my trailer to move household good, mower, etc. I had to leave my Bobcat CT230 in storage. I now want to bring it down to do work around the house and looked at having it commercially transported. The cost is staggering ($2-4k). I'm just wondering if my Chevy can manage the trailer and 3,500lb trailer? If not what configuration would work as this is a 1500 mile trip and I don't want to hurt the truck, trailer, tractor, myself, or anyone else on the road.

Any information would be appreciated.

dusty3030 · Jul 9, 2015

Welcome!
How much does your trailer weigh? Let's say it's 2,000 and your tractor is 3,500 = 5,500 lbs.
Does your trailer have brakes and does your truck have a brake controller?
What engine is in the truck? Auto or Manual?

If you have one of the V8's and automatic than you should be great and well within the capacity.
I would want working brakes on the trailer, that's a long ride to be white knuckled.

Good luck! Cabot is a nice place to live, that whole area has grown immensely in the last few years and it's not far from the mountains to get away on the weekend.

RedNeckRacin · Jul 9, 2015

Agreed, 5500lbs wouldn't much much work for a 1500 with a v8 as long as you load the trailer properly, chain it down, drive sensibly and the trailer has brakes. Have you checked the tires on the truck and trailer? What about the lights/brakes on the trailer?

Do you have 4 days to make the trip? A quick google search shows 23 hrs driving and that doesn't include stops, traffic or breakdowns.

elothian · Jul 9, 2015

Thank you for your input. My 1500 has the 5.3 litter V8 and I have trailer breaks. I loaded it in 2010 and it squatted the truck pretty good which has me concerned. If it will work, I will spend the money on updating the trailer and preparing the truck for the trip.

dusty3030 · Jul 9, 2015

If it's the tractor only and nothing hanging off the back of it then you should be able to balance over the trailers axles.

You might check into a weight distribution hitch set up for the truck / trailer combo. On a bumper pull trailer it helps in leveling you back out but more important in control in keeping the front tires on the ground.

M5farms · Jul 9, 2015

Load and go. IMO to many people do not use the trucks capabilities. Brakes on the trailer and balanced load are most important. todays 1500s are equivalent to 250 and 350 of yesteryear .

George2615 · Jul 9, 2015

Tractordata shows your CT230 weighing at 3056 lb. plus 735 lb. for the loader (3791 total).
Assuming your trailer weighs 3500 that totals 7291 lbs. which should be no problem for your 1500 with 5.3L and trailer with brakes.
If your truck has a tow/haul button on the shifter using it will raise your shift points to prevent lugging the engine.
My 1500 w/ 5.3 is a little newer than yours and its rated to tow 9600 lb.
I did add helper springs to my rear leafs to cut down on the squat.
If too much squat is a problem you can add helper springs, Have a spring company add a leaf or two, install air shocks to assist holding the back end up or get a load equalizer hitch set up.

tcartwri · Jul 9, 2015

Call a freight broker and ask for a 'LTL' shipment. It will be less than the fuel you will burn in your pickup for the trip.

LD1 · Jul 9, 2015

Not enough information for anyone to accurately say.

1. What does your manual say you chevy is rated to tow? Things like 4wd or 2wd, standard cab or ex cab, axle ratio, auto or standarf options, etc can all change the tow ratings. Tow ratings for the 5.3 in that year can be anywhere from 7100# up to 9000#, depending on options.

2. The trailer. Ok, its a 10k. How much does it weigh? There are several style of trailers in 10k form and several lengths. They could weight anywhere from 2k or a tad under, to over 3500#

3. Tractor. Ok its a CT230. How much does it weigh. Base weight is 3100#. Does it have a loader? Loaded tires? Cab? any attachemts going with it? A 230 with loader, cab, loaded tires and a heavy implement could be over 5k.

So...worst case scenerio you have a 5000# tractor and a 3500# trailer and a truck rated to tow 7100#, then no I wouldnt want to tow that 1500 miles.

Best case would be a base 3000# tractor, a 2000# trailer, and a truck rated to tow 9k.

So the answer to "if you can tow it".....I dont have the slightest clue without knowing what you have got. How can anyone?

Diamondpilot · Jul 10, 2015

You are bumping the limits with that era 5.3 truck but it's doable. The biggest issue is the soft suspension as you noted. I back my tractor on to help with weight distribution.

You may also look into renting a truck. Around here you can get a diesel 3/4 ton for a week for $400. Many people at my marina do this.

Chris

elothian · Jul 10, 2015

Thank you all for your help. I did the math yesterday. The truck is rated for 7,800 lbs, my trailer is 3,000 lbs and the tractor with back blade is approximately 4,300lbs (I don't know how much weight loaded tires adds?). Basically, I'm pushing the max of the truck and that is probably not a good thing over a 1,500 mile journey. I have reached out to several LTL shippers (no response yet) and contacted USHIP (have four bids with the cheapest being $2,100). I have also looked at renting a 3/4 ton diesel but no company I have found does that with tow package. If anyone has a good shipper or knows of a company that rents vehicles with tow packages, I'm all ears.

Again thanks for pointing me in the right direction on this.

Eric

newbury · Jul 10, 2015

Moving from Vermont to Arkansas? Can't take the cold

I went from Vermont to Virginia to Mississippi.

elothian said:
Thank you for your input. My 1500 has the 5.3 litter V8 and I have trailer breaks. I loaded it in 2010 and it squatted the truck pretty good which has me concerned. If it will work, I will spend the money on updating the trailer and preparing the truck for the trip.

MOST trucks seem to require a weight distribution hitch for over 5,000 lbs.

elothian said:
Thank you all for your help. I did the math yesterday. The truck is rated for 7,800 lbs, my trailer is 3,000 lbs and the tractor with back blade is approximately 4,300lbs (I don't know how much weight loaded tires adds?). Basically, I'm pushing the max of the truck and that is probably not a good thing over a 1,500 mile journey. I have reached out to several LTL shippers (no response yet) and contacted USHIP (have four bids with the cheapest being $2,100). I have also looked at renting a 3/4 ton diesel but no company I have found does that with tow package. If anyone has a good shipper or knows of a company that rents vehicles with tow packages, I'm all ears.

Again thanks for pointing me in the right direction on this.

Eric

Are you sure your trailer is 3,000lbs? Is it enclosed? I've a 12K equipment trailer that's only 2K lbs and it's built heavy.

"Pushing the max" of the truck WEIGHT-wise is not such a bad thing if you:
DON'T push the speed limit - stay below 65, maybe about 60 - let everybody pass
Everything is in good condition - trailer bearings, truck brakes
Avoid bad weather
Don't load the truck bed down with things like a 1,000 pound planer.

There is a great tradeoff between doing it yourself and throwing money at someone to get er' done.

And take into consideration the cost of your time, energy, fuel, etc. Do you have to deadhead the trailer up there?

Also look at the cost of renting a larger Penske for a one way trip, just drive the tractor in.

I've been hauling trailer loads from Alexandria, Va to Fulton, MS for about 3 years now, two or three trips a year. It's a pain but since I'M the mover I trust me. My father had a small fortune in Chinese art stolen by movers.

elothian · Jul 10, 2015

I moved from Vermont to Arkansas for my wife. She was raised there and we met in Iraq in 2006. We were both deployed with the Army National Guard. I'm still in and she got out. Honestly, I don't miss the winters. Thanks for the insight.

Diamondpilot · Jul 10, 2015

elothian said:
Thank you all for your help. I did the math yesterday. The truck is rated for 7,800 lbs, my trailer is 3,000 lbs and the tractor with back blade is approximately 4,300lbs (I don't know how much weight loaded tires adds?). Basically, I'm pushing the max of the truck and that is probably not a good thing over a 1,500 mile journey. I have reached out to several LTL shippers (no response yet) and contacted USHIP (have four bids with the cheapest being $2,100). I have also looked at renting a 3/4 ton diesel but no company I have found does that with tow package. If anyone has a good shipper or knows of a company that rents vehicles with tow packages, I'm all ears. Again thanks for pointing me in the right direction on this. Eric

Check with Ryder truck.

Chris

RollTideRam · Jul 12, 2015

elothian said:
Thank you for your input. My 1500 has the 5.3 litter V8 and I have trailer breaks. I loaded it in 2010 and it squatted the truck pretty good which has me concerned. If it will work, I will spend the money on updating the trailer and preparing the truck for the trip.

What is the length of your trailer. Do you have any wiggle room left. When you "squatted the truck" you may be able to move tractor back some and not have so much tongue weight. If you have the proper hitch, you can subtract the tongue weight from trailer, because that is on your truck. Can't remember, but something like 10 percent tongue weight is what you want.

zing · Jul 13, 2015

elothian said:
I'm new at this but I have a truck/trailer configuration question.

I have a 2002 Chevy 1500 and a 10K trailer. I moved from Vermont to Arkansas in 2010 and used my trailer to move household good, mower, etc. I had to leave my Bobcat CT230 in storage. I now want to bring it down to do work around the house and looked at having it commercially transported. The cost is staggering ($2-4k). I'm just wondering if my Chevy can manage the trailer and 3,500lb trailer? If not what configuration would work as this is a 1500 mile trip and I don't want to hurt the truck, trailer, tractor, myself, or anyone else on the road.

Any information would be appreciated.

I had a 2004 Chev Sliverado crew cab with the 5.3l Vortec, and used to pull my horse trailer with it so I can give you some real life experience. That truck would go like stink when unloaded, sounded and felt great when the light turned green. It had problems when pulling a load though, especially uphill. My trailer (at that time) was a three horse gooseneck, aluminum body with a metal frame, so probably 2500-3000 lbs. I have pulled at most two ponies (900-1000lbs) and a horse (1300lbs) plus 1500-2000lbs of tack, people, hay, and groceries, so I was pulling a lot but still 1000 lbs under the 9500lb limit. Here's what would happen.

Pulling away was fine, and on the flat it would get me to 120kms/hr on the highway fine, although it would take its time getting there. Once I got there it was good on the flat, but could not handle it uphill. It would slow down until it downshifted and the engine would race. Then unless I was willing to really race the engine (like 4000-4500 RPM) it would slowly slow down again until it downshifted again, and I ended up doing 70kms/hr on the highway, which is dangerous and requires 4way flashers. There was no way to avoid it either, because even if you gave it the gas the engine would race and slowly pick up speed but as soon as it shifted it would start to slow down again. The only choice was to crawl to the top of the hill and then try to make speed again. Country roads were the same. On a short, steep hill it would keep losing speed and gear down until you were crawling. No matter how fast you made it race the engine it would not keep the speed, and once it lost the speed it would not get it back. It didn't matter if you hit 4500 or even 5000 RPM it was not going to accellerate up that hill, so you might as well just leave it at 3500 RPM in a low gear and plod up it. In the end I got rid of that truck because it was not adequate for my needs of towing regularly to horse shows, and it was not safe to have my family in it at that speed on the highway. As well, the trailer really bullied that truck around on the highway, and you could feel it moving the truck when it wanted to.

Some of the others are estimating your load at 7500lbs. My advice to you if you are pulling 7-8000 lbs with that truck is to only do it if you are comfortable with a slow and steady trip. And don't take the family. It will get you there, but you won't be able to just forget about the trailer and drive. If the load is actually 5500lbs, like the earlier posters have said, then your truck should handle it much more easily.

Here's a pic of the old girl, to give you an idea of the truck. The trailer is not actually connected in that pic (you can see the trailer jack is down), so the truck was squatted a lot lower when connected.

grnspot110 · Jul 13, 2015

Another thing to look at is the receiver hitch! My '06 Silverado was in the group that had rust problems with their hitches, replaced it with a class V. Handled up to 7,000 just fine.

Found out a few days ago that the 13 Silverado I traded for in April has a 5,000 lb. hitch with a 9,500 lb vehicle load rating! The new class IV Curt hitch arrived a couple hours ago, will be on by noon tomorrow! UPS driver said he'd had the same problem with a Ford Super Duty!

farm boy00 · Jul 14, 2015

grnspot110 said:
Another thing to look at is the receiver hitch! My '06 Silverado was in the group that had rust problems with their hitches, replaced it with a class V. Handled up to 7,000 just fine.

Found out a few days ago that the 13 Silverado I traded for in April has a 5,000 lb. hitch with a 9,500 lb vehicle load rating! The new class IV Curt hitch arrived a couple hours ago, will be on by noon tomorrow! UPS driver said he'd had the same problem with a Ford Super Duty!

I think that would happen to many different brands not just one or two. At least that's the case here in Michigan

M5farms · Jul 14, 2015

I have a 2010 ram 1500 4wd 5.7hemi, It pulls just fine with a load as matter of fact this past weekend I hauled my tractor on my 24' gooseneck approx. 15k total 60 miles round trip, hauled 2 loads of hay 14k pounds same distance. plenty of power, trailer brakes help stop it. I never got over 50mph and know how to balance the load so the truck is not squatted. fuel mileage is the only negative. It drops to 12mpg doing this kind of hauling