Newbie - Can I Tow 4,500 lbs with my Cheyenne K1500 5.0 Litre 5-Speed Manual?

[Terbro]

I just today bought a 1997 Cheyenne K1500 4x4 with the 5.0 liter with the 5-speed trans with 138K miles. I’m curious to know if I can realistically tow my car (1987 Buick T Type) on a trailer long distance…1,800 miles with it. I see that the GVWR on the door is 6100 lbs. My Buick weighs about 3,600 lbs and let’s say the trailer weighs 1,000 lbs – so 4,600 lbs total.

Wikipedia states that the ol’ 5.0 Vortec makes 230 hp and 285 lb/ft torque…not too hot in the torque department. Though the drivetrain and chassis may be able to tolerate the load, will I be able to get it over 55 mph? And is it likely to break something? Can the transmission handle it?

I bought the truck with a bad clutch, so haven’t actually driven it yet (not capable of engaging into gear) The motor ran fine standing still. So immediately after buying it, I had it towed to my mechanic, who will be installing a new clutch tomorrow…fingers crossed once the clutch is done, no other issues are revealed. I test drove a same generation Cheyenne with the 5.0 liter motor and manual trans and that one grinded gears every time when shifting into 2nd or 3rd gear as I remember.

Being that this one has such low miles, and looks visually to be in very good condition, I decided to risk it (and got a very good deal on it). Anyway, back to my point – 4,600 lbs…1,800 miles. Should/could I do it? Aside from the fact I can’t expect to be doing 75 mph the whole way…can the truck handle it?

If so, any tips (that don’t require ordering parts online, I’m planning on leaving in a couple days if I go) on squeezing more power? Of course the K&N air filter is the common upgrade. Anything else?

 

[Terbro]

Looks like I can do it, according to this forum thread: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/115662-how-much-can-i-tow-with-my-1997-gmc-1500/

He doesn't specify which transmission he has, but I'm assuming it won't make that big of a diff.

 

[ccreddell]

You shouldnt have any problems. I towed way more than that quite a few times with my 4.3/5-speed. Just as long as your tongue weight doesnt get so high you squat the rear, you should be fine. The only thing you may have trouble with is if you have larger than stock tires and no trailer brakes-then you may have trouble stopping it.

 

[Terbro]

Okay. I'm just curious to know if I'll be able to drive at freeway speed w/o keeping the pedal buried. I guess I'll find out. To reduce the tongue weight, is it better to have the car facing backward or is that dangerous to have more weight at the rear of the trailer?

I have to find out if my friend's trailer has brakes. And if so, obviously I'd need a brake controller. Need to install a Class III hitch still as well.

 

[east302]

Here is the towing information from a 1997 owner's manual...

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Check the RPO label in your glovebox for the rear axle. GT4 is 3.73 and GU6 is 3.42.

If it were me, I'd look at renting a truck or something. If you are in an accident, and have knowingly exceeded the towing capacity of your vehicle, you may open yourself up to a whole host of legal problems that your insurance company may quickly distance itself from.

 

[Terbro]

Interesting. I wonder why it drops so much with the manual tranny. It's 5K with the 5.7L motor with the same manual trans. And it's 5K with (assuming the) same auto trans with both the 5.0 and 5.7 L engines. So where's the weak point? Simple deductive reasoning leaves me nowhere...telling me it's not the motor because the 5.0 liter motor can handle 5K lbs with the auto trans. And in this thread, I'm told both the 5.0L and 5.7L engines have the Gertrag NV3500 manual trans. So the 5.0L motor doesn't have a weaker trans.

But I see that the 4.3L motor with the (supposedly same) manual trans (w/the 3.73 diff) has a lower rating still compared to the 5.0L, with the manual trans, so that does imply that it's the motor. So I'm guessing that the auto trans "protects" the weaker engine (the crank?) from breaking maybe by way of the torque convertor...disallowing direct "shock" to the crank in the case where all the weight would shift/slam suddenly. Hard to explain. Think of it as the equivalent of if one popped the clutch - with the resulting shock to the drivetrain; the motor in this case.

Or it could just be due to the "bad clutcher" aspect. With an automatic transmission, the torque convertor provides smooth torque increase, especially during initial acceleration/shifting gears. There's no shock or slamming to the rear end or crank shaft. But with the manual trans and the weaker crank shaft, get a baaad clutcher, who inadvertently pops it with 5K lbs being towed, and that shocks the crank and could break it? I'm just guessing, but I'd bet that's it. So! I'm thinking I'll be okay as long as I baby it. AND...I just happen to have a PhD in smooth, slow and silky clutching!