repower tow rating

[turbhoe]

bare with me here as i'm just wondering and thinking out loud.

if you do a repower in say for me it would be my tahoe. say i replace the rearend with the 11.5 or 10.5 rear run the ally trans and run a d-max, then swap over all the brake stuff ie: go 8 lug and run factory 2500 rotors, calipers and master cyl. wouldn't i be able to safely tow more than a stock tahoe? oh and forgot to mention i found a rear air bag kit (that uses full size bags) that replaces the stock springs. it is a self leveling kit. and it wouldn't be hard to beef up the trailing arms and what not and the front torsen bars are easy to beef up also. now the truck weighs in at 6020 with me in it and a half tank of gas. i'm sure it will be even heavier after the swap. and the tahoe frame is fully boxed front to rear, i guess its an suv thing.

now i'm talking about towing 20,000lbs. but i would think that it could tow a couple thousand more than its stock counter part with out fear of lack of brakes, suspension or drive train components. the hitch rating is 12,500 with the right equipment but the tahoe itself is not rated at that.

 

[ripmf666]

Just me but just to short of a wheel base for me to tow any heavier. I hated towing with our 05 with a 5.3 had enough power but with people and a 16' full deck trailer loaded with 4 wheeler it would sway all over. Now the 01 1500 suburban we have has a 5.3 and 4:10 but feels like a pig to me after driving the truck. But the long wheel base it tows very nice. If it was cheap enough I would swap a dmax in it but easier and cheaper to sell and buy a ccsb dmax to replace it with.

 

[turbhoe]

ccsb won't fit 6 people comfortably. i towed a 30ft camper with out any issues, with or with out the sway bar on it. it was a pig too. i think if you load things correctly and don't drive 90mph it shouldn't do too bad. my tahoe is ruffly the same length as a reg cab sb but with way more weight in the rear. maybe better weight distrubution of the tahoe helped, i don't know. but minus the sway part (because it can be driver induced or bad loading of the trailor) would it be feasable to say it could tow a little more.

 

[ripmf666]

I carry a cdl so I'm use to hauling 80,000+ . We had the tahoe loaded with 6 people and cloths for 4 days of 4 wheeling in the mountains of WV. Trailer was a 18' full deck with 5 4 wheelers 2 Polaris 500 Ho 4x4's 1 500 outlaw 1 500 scrambled and 1 500 quadzilla. No matter how you loaded it she hated anything over 50 lol I hated that drive. The short wheel base sucks its shorter then a reg cab lb after you tow with a Exsb or more setup truck your spoiled. I would tow with the wifes 1500 suburban but it lacks the power and really not safe to try and haul even my truck on a light car trailer with it. What I was saying its cheaper for me to buy a ccsb to tow with other then to make her suburban into a dmax powered 2500 would be cool but not worth time and money to me.

 

[jmaz268]

to me towing capacity is in the platform of whats towing it.....not necessarily the engine/trans.....so unless you upgraded the platform, it will only be rated for what it was originally designed for.

The dmax motor can tow more than it the chasis can handle no doubt, but safely is the issue....

 

[turbhoe]

thats what i'm talking about. change entire drive train including suspension, axles, brakes and tires. like if you built a custom vehicle say totally custom, how would you know what it can tow? because if its custom you don't have any manufactorer telling what its rated for. what intails actual tow rating?

 

[jmaz268]

That would involve testing the vehicle to breaking point im sure of....which you wouldnt want to do...


I would just do towing as what you felt as safe and in small portions to verify its safe.

 

[turbhoe]

to be honest im just trying to figure out how they do come up with tow ratings. personally i'd just be happy to be able to tow what i do now just easier. the camper was a breeze down hill and in town. but come to going back up the mountain that was fun. it did it, it wasn't like it was gonna die or anything but my dad smoked me with his mega cab cummins (we weren't racing he just pulled his soo much better). but i'm also trying to decide if i should go 8 lug and run the hd brakes. the are a whole lot thicker than mine and a bit bigger diameter. i already have hydro boost but, the master for the hd has a bigger diameter than the tahoe hydro boost master.

 

[jmaz268]

I'd say GM over rates the frames....but by how much who knows...

Adding the 8 lug would have been a priority to me on the swap....motor trans weighs quite a bit more....so why not not..

but im sure their will be overs chime in later...

 

[turbhoe]

over rated the frames? or under?

 

[jmaz268]

I'd say over rates because if one breaks while towing something they claim it will handle....holy lawsuit.

 

[turbhoe]

i see. i was thinking under rate but were meaning the same thing. as in they say the frame is good to say 10,000 pound when really its good to more they just don't say so because if it breaks at that amount they are reliable.

 

[jlawles2]

When determining tow rating and such, several things must be determined.

The 1/2 ton frames (especially with a Dmax) will twist due to the torque. This will fatigue the frame over time.
The Tow rating of the hitch installed on the truck could be limited by either bolting, or actual frame materials.
The tongue weight of the trailer during braking. If setup improperly, excessive tongue weight will lift the front tires enough to cause braking and steering issues (LOSS OF CONTROL DURING STOPPING).
Since you are swapping to the 8 lug, tires will not be an issue (rims also have a weight rating).

If you look, Dodge changed the rating on the HD platform (do not know what changes were made to the frames) after it was pointed out that the GM and Ford platforms had much more towing capability. Even though there were trucks out there that were already doing what Dodge said not to do.

 

[DieselS10]

I've been wondering about this issue as well. My S10 exceeds it's own GVWR by about 1500 to 1800 lbs when it's empty. It has complete 1 ton drivetrain along with 8 lug wheels and E rated tires and I lengthened the frame to 132.5" to add the extended cab to the longbed chassis. The frame has been boxed, trussed, gusseted and had multiple cross-members added and is supported by medium duty air-bags. It has absolutley no frame flex or twist and I've tried. I also towed a gooseneck dump trailer loaded with broken concrete when it had the 6.5 Detroit in it with a total load of 18,200lbs counting the truck and trailer and it handled it flawlessly, but if I was to get pulled over loaded like that they would have probably impounded it due to what it says in the door jamb. What could a guy do to get one recertified?

Turbhoe, I agree with you in that it should be able to safely handle more with EVERYTHING upgraded, but I also agree with Ripmf in that one should be very carefull getting to much weight behind a short wheel based vehicle. JMO

 

[Chevy1925]

with all the HD stuff added (brakes, axles, trans, motor,ect) i would say 10k trailer/load weight would be reasonable but your wheel base is short and your gunna be fighting that with what ever you tow. sure on a nice day it may drive just like it does every day but how about in a 40-50mph cross wind? rain slick roads? panic stop situation? Having that weight over the rear compared to a rc sb pick up is a bad thing IMOP. you loose weight bias over the front where your control is and adding a load only further takes that away. Even if you add distribution bars, a pick up still will have a better front weight bias.

id take my cc lb with a big trailer/load any day over a shorter wheel base vehicle. you jsut have more stability and a frame that will hold strong with the applied hp/torqe and load on the back

 

[turbhoe]

When I towed the camper it was with a weight distribution hitch. Those rear coil springs aren't much for holding a load. But after it was set up correctly the whole truck looked normal only that the whole thing sat a touch lower. Of course I had trailer brakes which I think anytime you get into that much weight you need trailer brakes. When I go back home we will be going camping again and I will pay more attention to how it pulls and maybe go down the interstate with it to see how it does.

After the dmax is I stalled I will Definatly have more weight on the front lol. I'm also thinking abou going to a junk yard and getting a cheap set of hd torsion bars just to see how well they line up. Some say they work good some say they are way too long. So I'm just going to get a pair and see for myself.

 

[turbhoe]

Just a note: I won't be towing all the time. The dmax swap for me is not soley for towing. It's more for fun and hopefully mileage. But when I do tow I wanna know what I can tow and with everything up graded I think it can tow at least a little bit over stock.

 

[baggedLB7]

Quick story I was in a 95 dually cclb and picked up a 1/2 ton chev that the tcase blew apart in and I was running down the freeway at 65 and a tire blew on the trailer and it whipped to the left then back to the right all the way around and jackknifed up against the right rear of the truck and spun the truck and trailer 180 deg around in the middle of the freeway in a mater of seconds and lucky enough I didn't flip and no one got hurt. Its situations like that and many other things that could happen out of nowhere that cause me to say don't tow heavy with a short wheelbase vehicle. That's just MHO though.