1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

Z

zibzer

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Apr 28, 2007
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Hello, I have a 1987 Peterborough 17.5ft boat. Its a beautiful boat and tows quite nicely with my little V6 Silverado. Ive been thinking of getting a bigger (20-25ft) boat with cabin but am worried about being able to tow it safely (especially coming out of the water). Let me know what you guys think! btw I have a 3.73 posi rear end (not the factory 3.08) and WILL install a tranny cooler.

Heres a pic of the type of boat im looking at getting.
bd1412488.jpg


and my truck is a 2000 Silverado 4.3L V6
 
83Evinrude

83Evinrude

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

I would want a 3/4 ton truck to pull the boat you have pictured but I'm sure some would pull it with a 1/2 ton and a V/8. It sure looks like too much for a 1/2 ton V6 truck to me.

You really need to know what it will weigh on a trailer and loaded with your gear to know however. Check your owners manual and then find out how much a boat you are interested in weighs.
 
J

jbrown270

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

I have a 2002 V6 silverado with 3.42 gears. It is rated for 5100 lbs. With 3.73 gears, i would guess the max would be about 5500-5600 lbs.
 
L

LIQUID PROZAC

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

hard to believe a v6 rated at 5k pounds-definitely don't want to go near that must be thinking gvwr not tow rating
 
wvmedic

wvmedic

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

zibzer, will it tow it? Yes.

Will you be happy with it? No.

Will it be safe? Maybe with the proper equipment.

I had a 1991 K1500 was the heavy duty package, but I didn?t like towing my 900 lb. boat with it. I could load over a ton of stone in it and it did real good, but towing stunk the valves chattered on the hills and it just didn?t seem to like to tow.

Jeff.
 
H

HappierWet

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

wvmedic said:
zibzer, will it tow it? Yes.

Will you be happy with it? No.

Will it be safe? Maybe with the proper equipment.



Jeff.
Click to expand...

I'd think that size boat would push a half ton pickup around pretty bad.

Might pull it, but probably won't control it, my opinion is it's not safe.
 
wvmedic

wvmedic

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

HappierWet said:
I'd think that size boat would push a half ton pickup around pretty bad.

Might pull it, but probably won't control it, my opinion is it's not safe.
Click to expand...

Maybe I should have included, I wouldn?t recommend towing it with that setup.
I wasn?t inferring that I would, rather it probably (defiantly) isn?t the truck of choice. Kind of what I meant by I didn?t like towing my 900 lb boat with my ? ton V6, I however should have been more clear.

You need at least a ? ton, sorry for not being clearer in my earlier post.

Jeff.
 
Z

zibzer

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

thanks for the tips guys. Maybe Ill look into a slightly smaller boat... or rent a slip for this one and only tow it a couple times per year.. I got the info for my truck and apparently its good to tow 5900lbs with 4l60E tranny (yes) tow package (yes) and 3.73 gears (yes)



LIQUID PROZAC said:
hard to believe a v6 rated at 5k pounds-definitely don't want to go near that must be thinking gvwr not tow rating
Click to expand...

No, he is talking tow rating. the 4.3L V6 is a BIG v6 and it has respectable torque
 
H

hazmat5760

Seaman
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Aug 17, 2009
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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

I pulled my 22' stingray with my dad's Sonoma, my s10 was dead, and had no prolbems whatsoever. So the 4.3 is very happy towing.
 
Gary H NC

Gary H NC

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

I bet the boat in the picture and the weight of a trailer would be well over the towing capabilities of a half ton v-6...
No way i would do it...If you had to get on the brakes hard that rig would push the truck around in a split second.
I have pulled trailers of every type and drove trucks for over 25 years and have seen it many times.

A one ton dually is the truck for that...
 
ezmobee

ezmobee

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

I have a '90 K1500 with a (brand new) 350 V8 and to be honest I don't think it tows that great for what it is. I pretty much have my foot to the floor on larger hills. I wouldn't personally consider towing that boat with that truck and only a V6.
 
S

system-f

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

I guess people don't remember when the C/K2500 trucks came standard with the 4.3. I think the real question here should be can your 1/2 ton truck safely stop that boat. The 4.3 won't go anywhere in a hurry, but should be more than capable of a 5000lb towed load. The litte V6 in my Pathfinder does just fine with that much weight, but it is no rocket.
 
V

virgil47

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Re: 1500 Silverado V6 - How much can I safely tow?

If I were contemplating a boat of that size I would be sure the trailer had a good electric brake set up. With good brakes on the trailer and a good controller in the truck that is properly set up stopping should be no problem if you drive sanely.
 
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