The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk how much can a 53 1/2 ton GMC tow?

Or more importantly, how can I figure it out?

I just finished new disk brakes on all four wheels, new wiring including a trailer harness and already had a ball hitch. It has a 350 installed and a 400 tranny. Newere rear end although I can't tell you what.

I want to attach a trailer to pull ATV's etc but have no idea how I can determine what the load max is. I can put airbags on the springs to lift it, and I am confident I can stop, but it still ahs the original radiator and wonder just how much I can handle?

Also a naive question to show you how inexperienced I am, does dual tires on longer trailers lower the gross weight on the hitch? (ie make it easier to balance and pull?)

http://s615.photobucket.com/albums/tt231/RandyMohr/

I don't know how to determine what you can safely pull but I can give you two points to consider.

1. Too much weight on the tongue will cause your front end to be light, therefore your front brakes will lock up and skid.

2. Too little weight on the tongue (i.e. to much weight behind the trailer axle) will cause the trailer to wag like a dogs tail.

The real question isn't how much can you tow, its how much can you stop. What size vehicle did your brake parts come from, and how much weight are they designed to stop.

Trailer brakes sometimes fail. The plug falls out, the wire breaks, all sorts of things can and have happened. When it does the question is will that trailer be controlling you, or you controlling the trailer.

If the radiator isn't up to the job it will tell you without creating a dangerous situation. If the rear gears are wrong you'll know as soon as you start out. If the rear suspension is not stiff enough you'll see it when you attach the trailer.

thanks for the advice, the disc brakes are brand new, for a new 1/2 ton pick up so should be fine. I guess I test a hitch pull it a few miles and see how it goes. I don't see me pulling a 20 ft livestock trailer right away!

IIRC, the suggested amount of weight on the hitch is 10 % of the gross weight of the trailer and load-- this should allow proper steering and stopping. It also should prevent the trailer from swaying from side to side as you travel. You might confirm this with a local U-HAUL store.
Good luck.
Glenn

Add front and rear sway bars if you haven't already. That will greatly help with sway control. I'd suggest keeping the trailer weight under 50% of the truck weight to be conservative- 2000 pounds or so.

can I buy front and rear sway bars for a 53 specifically? Is that a job for a professional or can an average joe do it?

do a search and look up sway bars. Most people use camaro sway bars that are flipped over.

I agree that your pulling vehicle should weigh more than your trailer and load.

I did work with a guy that had a 3100 with a Cummins 4B and pulled a twin horse trailer all the time.

A small utility trailer and two ATV's should be fine. I wouldnt go beyond that. I did see a Jeep CJ once pulling a large trailer with 4 snowmobiles on it. The trailer caught some ice whipped a little and pushed the whole thing into the median and ended up rolling. Driver and passenger were ok thanks to the roll bar, however everything else was scrap