Question about towing?- 2003 Silverado - Montana Owners Club

rosyriz · 03-06-2007, 02:27 PM

Looking for your comments.
Reminder-I have the 2007 38ft Monty-3485. We found a 2003 Silverado 2500 HD with Duramax Diesel 6ft bed SRW. I'm calling the Monty dealer tomorrow to confirm towing capability, but I think we are going to purchase. Looking for your cmments. Rosyriz

marisolwithsol · 03-06-2007, 04:01 PM

There is a recent thread in Long Timers is something you might want to take a look at - or not, lol. Some folks have some very strong feelings one way or another about tv towing and capacities. Another suggestion would be to do a search on duramax tow ratings in the search feature. This question/issue has most certainly come up before

.
The only thing I would suggest is to not bother asking the dealer because they don't seem to know much better than the average Joe off the street. Check with Chevy ( online ) and/or look at the sticker on the inside of the driver door panel for it's specific ratings.

Good luck!

Marisol

Montana Sky · 03-06-2007, 04:16 PM

My current 2004 2500HD Duramax has over 71,000 miles on it. 38,000 or so of them have been towing many different size trailers. Before this truck I had a 2003 2500HD Duramax that I towed roughly 20,000 miles with. The 2500HD Duramax is a great tow vehicle; starting, stopping, power and stability have never been an issue with this truck. I will say that you have to watch your pin weight as one "can" exceed the 9,200 lb GVW. I will also go on to say I can tow my 3400RL and be within every rating on my truck, but it does take some work. You will have folks who will tell you that you must have a dually or 1 ton to tow a Montana. That is simply not true. In my opinion as long as you watch your GVWR your current truck will provide you a great tow vehicle.

eck-2 · 03-06-2007, 04:57 PM

I have a 03 3655fl monty and when we bought it a 03 2500hd duramax ls, the trailer gw is 14500 I had looked in the chey manual for a 3/4t crewcab short box was 15500 so it was fine. at work we have a 04 chevy 3500 and in its manual all trucks towing weights were rated at 12500. I was looking for a new chevy and asked the dealer about that and he said that it was Gm's way of CYA and that a 2500 would not have any problem with the gw of the trailer. And the towing gw difference between a 2500 and 3500 is 500lb. So I just bought a 07 classic LT3 with the 50 more hp and 6 speed allison in it and can't wait to hook the monty behind it. The 03 pulled it great. Left a lot of powerstrokes in my wake. so this should be a real dream. I also wanted one before the EPA standards went into effect

Glenn and Lorraine · 03-06-2007, 11:04 PM

Before the Naysayers jumb in here, and they will, I wanna say my piece.

I had an 03 2500HD D/A and towed a 2955RL without a problem. I moved up to an 05 2500HD D/A and still had no problems hauling my 2955RL around. I have since moved up to a 3485SA. Although I only towed it a short distance, and other than length, I noticed absolutely no difference between the 2 trailers. I will be heading out of Florida the end of April for Branson than work my way over to PA/NY and than onto Oregon. I have absolutely no doubt that my old 03 or my current 05 will have the slightest problems.
The only thing I would suggest to you is a set of Firestone Airbags. Use these to eliminate the squat that ALL ours rigs get when we put the Monty on back.

indy roadrunner · 03-06-2007, 11:14 PM

I always like to point out there are some of us who do not full time and I know mine is loaded lighter than others and this is something you have to take into consideration. I have had mine to Flordia and back, several trips to Dale Hollow in the Tennessee hills and have not encounted any towing problems as far as stability, or stopping. I just recently installed the Air Lift bags primarily to help out with the ride.
If I was full timing and had everything I own in the Monty I might consider moving up to a 1 ton. This is just my opinion and not based on written fact or to dispute any other comment in regards to this topic.

ken · 03-07-2007, 01:24 AM

I have to agree with everyones statements. The 2500HD will pull your Montana. We have the 05 GMC 2500HD and tow a 05 3475 Montana without any problems. Ours is a crew cab with the standard 6 ft bed. If you go that route, add the slider to your hitch. There will be times that you will need it to back into tight parking spaces. The modifications that I have had done to our GMC is adding the air bags, 45 gal fuel tank, and an edge/attitude chip. The air bags give us a better ride, larger fuel tank allows me some lattatude on the highway to find cheaper diesel fuel and distance if I need it. And the edge chip gives me 50 more hp and tightens up the trans for fuel milage. The chip is programable and I can reset it back to normal for servicing. The dealer has had no problems with that. The big thing is to purchase at least a EGT gage and keep your turbo from overheating. The edge has that. That is one gage GM forgot to put on.

happy campers · 03-07-2007, 02:08 AM

I would agree with the others who praise the Duramax, and we love ours too. Although I don't have them yet, the Air Lift Super Duty airbags is going to be my next addition. I would seriously question an RV dealer's recommendation when he says that "you'll be OK pulling that trailer with your truck"; he just wants to sell you a trailer. Do your own homework when you check the tow ratings, and make a trip to a truck scale to get an accurate weight for the truck and trailer. The manufacturer's dry weights are probably conservative, and those will certainly get heavier as you start loading her up. As others have said, the truck absolutely will tow much heavier loads that exceed the ratings, but ultimately it's your responsibility to tow safely. I wouldn't want to find myself in court at the mercy of some insurance company's lawyers because I had an "incident", and I was found negligent and operating while exceeding the tow ratings was found to be a factor. The weak link on the truck will probably end up being the tires or springs; the axles on all of the big 3 might be the same on the 3/4 & 1 tons.

Emmel · 03-07-2007, 03:15 AM

rosyriz, just checking the Trailer Life guide for tow vehicles depends on ext cab or crew cab because it doesn't show a sb reg cab. Ext cab 2wd is 15,700 fifth wheel and cc is 15,400 so you figure which one you fit in and go from there. These figures are right out of the book for 2006 and a 2003 is within a couple pounds. Also, you will see what people recommend by their signature.

Cat320 · 03-07-2007, 04:31 AM

As usual...everybody wants to talk "towing" and few want to mention the key element of 5th wheel hauling...pin weight. Any diesel will "tow" any Montana, however the weak link with a 3/4 ton is the ability to carry the pin weight, passengers, aux fuel tank and fuel, cargo, tools, weight of the hitch and stay within the manufacturer's weight limits. A 2003 model does not have the sticker that tells you its cargo capacity, so you'll have to weigh it. My guess is you'll be well over your 9200 GVWR, especially when you add a realistic pin weight...not the empty one in the brochure.

Dave e Victoria · 03-07-2007, 03:01 PM

Not to worry. Go fore it. Best investment you ever made. Have fun.
Dave

Bill and Ann · 03-08-2007, 01:46 AM

I have to agree with Cat320. The pin weight is a prime factor. Our 03 GMC short bed had 245 tires on it when it was new. The pin weight put the tire capacity right at the edge of their rating. I have since upgraded the tires to 265's and am within safe limits now.

sreigle · 03-09-2007, 11:45 AM

I think we all agree pinweight is a major factor. But one thing that seems to be a recurring theme is to refer to 3/4 ton and 1 ton and to say a 3/4 ton maybe can't handle it, when referring to gvwr, gcwr, and tow rating.

We can no longer make blanket statements because the numbers have changed over the years. I see some 3/4 tons have a 9200 lb gvwr. And some 1 tons have a 9900 lb. gvwr. Yet my 3/4 ton 2005 Ford has a gvwr of 10,000, more than either of those. And tow rating of 15,200 and gcwr of 23,000. So I think we need to refer to the ratings without regard for 3/4 or 1 ton designations. Just an opinion and observation.

ols1932 · 03-09-2007, 12:45 PM

I hope this thread isn't going to get into a discussion of weights again. "I'm right, you're wrong" type discussion. We all have our own trucks and rigs and should know what we can do with them.

Orv

Cat320 · 03-09-2007, 01:23 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

I think we all agree pinweight is a major factor. But one thing that seems to be a recurring theme is to refer to 3/4 ton and 1 ton and to say a 3/4 ton maybe can't handle it, when referring to gvwr, gcwr, and tow rating.

We can no longer make blanket statements because the numbers have changed over the years. I see some 3/4 tons have a 9200 lb gvwr. And some 1 tons have a 9900 lb. gvwr. Yet my 3/4 ton 2005 Ford has a gvwr of 10,000, more than either of those. And tow rating of 15,200 and gcwr of 23,000. So I think we need to refer to the ratings without regard for 3/4 or 1 ton designations. Just an opinion and observation.

I agree that the number we place on a truck makes no difference, however, GVWR is irrelevant. Ford's truck with its GVWR 10000 has 100 more cargo capacity than GM's truck with its 9200. Bottom line...Ford is 700 heavier. That's 700 lost in both cargo capacity and in GCWR...because you have to lug it around.

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