Spin off thread about a equipment trailer.

Majicmike

Majicmike

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Anyone have any experience pulling about a 18gt trailer with a 5k lbs tractor on it with a 2012 Silverado with the 4.8. Please tell me I don’t need another truck😔
 
Its marginal if pulling flat, it is going to struggle on hills. I pull a 16ft steel trailer with wood bed and cars in the 2800-3000 lbs range, and I feel like that is the bare minimum to make it through someplace like western NC. My coworker pulled the same with a 4.8, and found himself taking hills/grades in 2nd gear. Granted, these are 2000-2004 model year trucks, not 2012.
 
How often is there a need to do so? Every day? Once per week? Once per month? Twice per year?
I've pulled what most of the trucks that I've owned weren't designed to pull, but not often, so no big deal.
My 08 F-250 5.4 gas got overworked the most....and that thing wouldn't pull a greasy string out of a cat's butt
compared to the 1/2 ton trucks I've owned.
 
It’ll do it. Won’t be fun, but it’ll do it. Make sure the trailer brakes are doing there share of the stopping.
 
Hills wont be fun if you have any.

Make sure your tongue weight is good.

Make sure your truck is equipped for traiker brakes and that they are working.
 
Snal~ said:
How often is there a need to do so? Every day? Once per week? Once per month? Twice per year?
I've pulled what most of the trucks that I've owned weren't designed to pull, but not often, so no big deal.
My 08 F-250 5.4 gas got overworked the most....and that thing wouldn't pull a greasy string out of a cat's butt
compared to the 1/2 ton trucks I've owned.
Click to expand...
Maybe 2-3 times a year
 
It'll be fine. That's prolly about 7k (no idea what an 18gt is). I would imagine the load rating of the truck isn't far off that.

It will make noise but you won't kill it pulling that a few times a year.

It's not really about moving/maintaining speed with something. It's about controlling and stopping it. Make sure your trailer brakes are hooked up and functioning and be specific how you load the tractor for the right weight on the tongue. Carry on.

I carried my fox body home long ago on a heavy equipment trailer (probably 7ish thousand total) with a 98' f-150 with the 4.6l. She sang when we came into the mountains and stayed in 2nd on inclines but nary a problem to be had.
 
Tow package on the truck? The extra cooling for the transmission especially is a big plus when the transmission likes to shift down to lower than normal gears to pull the load. You also usually get a brake upgrade and higher gear. Also electric brake controller makes pulling a trailer nice when you have 6k behind you.
 
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I pulled a 5x8 UHaul trailer loaded down from Ohio with a Subaru Outback….you’ll be fine.
 
Well worse case I could grab a truck from our off for any long runs. We have a couple 2500’s for pulling dump and fuel trailers. Y’all made me feel a little better. I know this is a stupid question but how do I know if my truck is set up to work the electric brakes on a trailer. The 2500 have some little switches and controls for trailer brake. I’m sorry guys for being ignorant
 
Majicmike said:
Well worse case I could grab a truck from our off for any long runs. We have a couple 2500’s for pulling dump and fuel trailers. Y’all made me feel a little better. I know this is a stupid question but how do I know if my truck is set up to work the electric brakes on a trailer. The 2500 have some little switches and controls for trailer brake. I’m sorry guys for being ignorant
Click to expand...
You’d add an aftermarket brake controller under the dash if you didn’t have one already there. Ive used tekonisha in past trucks, they are solid and reasonably priced. A lot of them you can also get a plug and play harness for your truck

 
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@Majicmike
Would you be just running back 2 lane roads or out on the interstate for long runs?
 
I added the brake controller on my '02 GMC and it was plug and play. Just had to mount the bracket with 2 screws to the underside of the dash. My truck had the tow package so it already had the 7 prong plug installed.

Does your truck have a tow/haul option on the end of the gear shifter? If so, push it in when you are towing. It changes the transmission shift points and prevents it from going into overdrive, that's at least what I was told.
 
I'm back to squat in this new thread too. Sorry for sidetracking the other one.

You're fine. Adapter plugs in to brake controller which mounts under your dash. Anticipate every stop as far in advance as possible, don't get worried that your transmission is shifting (that's what it's there for), don't be in a hurry and don't peel off your clothes, it wouldn't look nice on my highway.

Good luck with your trailer search. The internet will try to scare you away from towing. It's really not that scary.
 
beamernc said:
Does your truck have a tow/haul option on the end of the gear shifter? If so, push it in when you are towing. It changes the transmission shift points and prevents it from going into overdrive, that's at least what I was told.
Click to expand...

Don't believe that about OD, but one of the neat things I've learned that tow/haul does is holds the gear when you let off the accelerator instead of upshifting to decrease RPM like it normally does, and it downshifts as you decelerate to help you stop.
 
My ‘03 Ram 1500 had the wiring harness already there, so I’d hope your ‘12 Silverado would. But mine had a tow package so it already had the female plug at the rear bumper as well. All I had to do was buy the adapter that went from my Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller to the wiring harness under the dash, and then mount the brake controller.

Here’s a video if starting from scratch:

 
You should be fine with the weight, and you can probably figure out what your truck is actually rated for towing with a little time on Google. Get a brake controller and don’t over load the tongue of the truck. Another thing is make sure your tires are properly inflated, a blow out on a heavy trailer can lead to a very bad day for you and anybody around you. The last thing I have to add is please properly secure the load to the trailer. Unsecure loads are accidents waiting to happen.
 
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