Can I tow with what I have or should I upgrade my ratio? - The biggest issue is the what if issue. Lets say you are able to upgrade your ...

The biggest issue is the "what if" issue. Lets say you are able to upgrade your gears, and brakes, and radiator. And you're towing 8000 lbs with a truck that came off the manufacturing floor with 3.08 gears, which is only rated for maybe 6500 lbs. If you are involved in an accident, even if somebody else hits you and it's not your fault, you could be in hot water because you are over the load limits of that specific truck's GVWR, stamped on the truck. Forget about the awesome upgrades, I seriously doubt the lawyers will want to hear about the super-cool low gears and awesome radiator. It really comes down to what the truck was originally rated to handle, off the plant floor.

The issue here is not what you can tow but what you can haul.
What does the yellow sticker inside the driver's door say you can carry?

Using the GVW of a travel trailer and that is the only weight you should use, you want between 13 and 15% of that weight on the tongue.
A 7000 lb TT will want at least 950 lbs of tongue weight. Now add 100 lbs for the hitch, the weights of all occupants, any mods to the vehicle and all the STUFF you carry. Does that exceed the max weight on the yellow sticker?

By the by the boat comment is a red herring because boats are not big rectangular boxes subject to semis passing and cross winds etc.

If you check out some of the RV forums you will get a good idea just what your truck can haul.
I have a 20' TT and we put about 10 ~ 15k miles a year pulling it.
A 1500 truck with the tow package is good for the 5k to 6k lbs range. Anything more and you will not be real
happy.

even if you are legally over capacity, why wouldn't you be covered? sure, you would be at fault. If speeding doesn't make you not covered, why would overweight make you not covered? hell, if people in a dui accident are covered, why wouldn't overweight still be covered?

GOAT721 wrote:even if you are legally over capacity, why wouldn't you be covered? sure, you would be at fault. If speeding doesn't make you not covered, why would overweight make you not covered? hell, if people in a dui accident are covered, why wouldn't overweight still be covered?

I'm fairly certain your insurance would cover you. The big question is the upper limits of your coverage. There would surly be a lawsuit involved for negligence-knowingly towing over what the truck is designed for.

If somebody ran in to me over payload-I'm suing.

GOAT721 wrote:even if you are legally over capacity, why wouldn't you be covered? sure, you would be at fault. If speeding doesn't make you not covered, why would overweight make you not covered? hell, if people in a dui accident are covered, why wouldn't overweight still be covered?

Why would you risk you and yours and other people?

So I didn’t read through everyone’s replies to see where this was going, but that said if you plan on towing through the mountains your truck will scream through the grades. Particularly uphill. I have a 11 with the 5.3 and 3.08’s. I have a 26ft bumper pull that weighs 4900lbs dry. While it does great on flat grade it doesn’t like the hills. It really didn’t like the hills before I had a lewtune. IMO it does better with a lewtune now but still doesn’t like hills. No mountains here in the mitten state. If I were you, it’s a lot cheaper to re gear than buy a new truck but that depends on what camper you go with. I’d personally re gear. I have the wife, two kids and the dog and the 26ft does fine. But you definitely don’t want to be buying a camper that is the max of what you can tow. By the time you add propane, water, people, clothes etc that all adds up. Stay around 4500-5000 lbs for dry camper weight. 5000 IMO being max. Also proper weight distribution hitch setup is a must. I cannot stress enough that when your loaded, hooked up with your weight bars that your camper should be LEVEL! Drives me crazy all the people pulling tt’s and they are nose diving. It’s not that hard to setup. Shop around if you go with the new gears because people are all over the place. Luckily if I ever go that route I have a good friend that does this sort of work so it wouldn’t cost a ton.

19trax95 wrote:Get a different truck.

Changing your gear ratio does not change your towing capacity.

Really around 6000ish pounds is about all id want to tow with a 1500 and be comfortable. They can do more, but with a high profile trailer such as a camper, or larger enclosed trailer, the 1500s just get sketchy to me. They don't control it well unless there is zero wind and no need for sudden changes in direction.

Lower profile trailers are a little better. But the weight still gets to the truck pretty easy.

If you want to stick with a 1500, look for one with 3.42 gears or if your going a little older than what you have, 3.73 gears with the max tow package.

But unfortunately, with the 3.08 trucks, they get the neutered rating and are stuck there because of it.

And what was the recent discussion we had about the higher gear ratio???
All the towing capacity is being put into the transmission with the higher gear rear ends..
Just not my cup of tea .
For those of us that tow regularly I would prefer that ratio be in the rear and NOT the transmission..

It's just not good common sense IMO..

So which advice are you actually giving here... Buy a newer truck with higher gears [3:08~3:23] and a 8 or 10 speed transmission???
Or a older truck with a lower gear [3:42~3:73] and a 6 speed transmission???
Can't have it both ways..
I would prefer a lower gear in my rear with a transmission that accommodates that rear..
Until proven likewise... I'll stick with the lower gear and proven trans to tow..
I can just imagine what a 10 speed will be doing with a high gear rear and hills and mountains .. sounds like a lot of gear changing and service $$$$$

Linux3 wrote:

GOAT721 wrote:even if you are legally over capacity, why wouldn't you be covered? sure, you would be at fault. If speeding doesn't make you not covered, why would overweight make you not covered? hell, if people in a dui accident are covered, why wouldn't overweight still be covered?

Why would you risk you and yours and other people?

its not really risking you and others. this was in the context of modifying his truck into an exact clone of a higher rated truck. it would be 100% as safe and capable.

CKNSLS wrote:

GOAT721 wrote:even if you are legally over capacity, why wouldn't you be covered? sure, you would be at fault. If speeding doesn't make you not covered, why would overweight make you not covered? hell, if people in a dui accident are covered, why wouldn't overweight still be covered?

I'm fairly certain your insurance would cover you. The big question is the upper limits of your coverage. There would surly be a lawsuit involved for negligence-knowingly towing over what the truck is designed for.

If somebody ran in to me over payload-I'm suing.

if insurance covered all your expenses, what are you suing for? just for a free lunch because they exceeded a rating by 1,000 lbs?

If somebody ran in to me over payload-I'm suing.[/quote]


if insurance covered all your expenses, what are you suing for? just for a free lunch because they exceeded a rating by 1,000 lbs?[/quote]

I be suing for a High Country Silverado.