2500's can't tow?

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Chrisdidwht

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I have a 96 gmc 2500 single cab long bed 5.7 vortec rwd (8lug). I want to tow a Toyota t100 on a trailer. I put this combo on uhauls website and their system tells me it's a no go. But I can put a subarban 1500 or a base Yukon and it's fine. What gives?

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DerekTheGreat

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What's with the rusty orange stain on the hood near the coolant overflow bottle? Has that engine's cooling system been neglected? That'll definitely pose problems towing long distances if it has and still is..
 

evilunclegrimace

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I have a 96 gmc 2500 single cab long bed 5.7 vortec rwd (8lug). I want to tow a Toyota t100 on a trailer. I put this combo on uhauls website and their system tells me it's a no go. But I can put a subarban 1500 or a base Yukon and it's fine. What gives?

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I ran into this problem with U haul a while back and I THINK that U haul uses the curb weight of the tow vehicle as part of their towing parameters. A suburban or Yukon weighs more than a pick up so in their minds it makes for a better tow vehicle even though your 8 lug truck has bigger brakes. They figure that the combined weight of your trailer and the T100 is going to push your truck during braking.

Personally if you are not going tow the T 100 for a long distance I would tell them that you are going to tow a much lighter vehicle.
 

Mark Gilbert

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Tow weights are something that seems to cause a lot of arguments. U-haul seems especially conservative, but keep in mind they are generally the go-to option for people who have never towed a vehicle or even driven anything larger than a toyota camry, so from an insurance perspective they need to be cautious.

There are several sites that will offer suggestions to safe towing limits based on your vehicle. A google search for "Tow Ratings" will point you in that direction. Remember, that if you are exceeding what is considered a safe Combined weight and you get in an accident you will be held accountable. In fact your insurance will be considered invalid and it will all be out of your pocket. Especially bad if someone is injured or killed.

So according to one reference: (I am using a 99 classic because the chart doesn't show 96, but I figure fairly safe to believe they are similar)
I am assuming your truck is 2wd. If you have 4.10 gears you should be able to safely tow 8000lbs and if you have 3.73 gears you are limited to 6500lbs. A fair estimate for the T100 is 4000lbs. I believe U-hauls trailer weighs 2200lbs. This gives you 300lbs of safety on your load if you have the higher gear ratio. I consider that a tight margin if you were to drive through the mountains or any slopes... It is also assuming you have no extra weight in the vehicle (tools, people, coolers etc)

The 2500 suburban is more likely to have the 454 and that will have a rating of 8500lbs with the higher gears and 10,000lbs with the 4.10 gears...

For true legality I believe you need to look at the actual Gross Combined Weight Rating of the vehicle and then subtract the actual vehicle weight and the weight of the loaded trailer and see if you end up with a positive number...

I haven't looked really hard, but I haven't found a source that had an accurate GCWR. Don't mistake it for GVWR...
 

Chrisdidwht

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What's with the rusty orange stain on the hood near the coolant overflow bottle? Has that engine's cooling system been neglected? That'll definitely pose problems towing long distances if it has and still is..

Yeah it was at one point. It's an ex city truck. But I bought it off an old guy that let anybody borrow his truck. So it got a little beat up. I put a new water pump and flushed the system.
 

Chrisdidwht

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Tow weights are something that seems to cause a lot of arguments. U-haul seems especially conservative, but keep in mind they are generally the go-to option for people who have never towed a vehicle or even driven anything larger than a toyota camry, so from an insurance perspective they need to be cautious.

There are several sites that will offer suggestions to safe towing limits based on your vehicle. A google search for "Tow Ratings" will point you in that direction. Remember, that if you are exceeding what is considered a safe Combined weight and you get in an accident you will be held accountable. In fact your insurance will be considered invalid and it will all be out of your pocket. Especially bad if someone is injured or killed.

So according to one reference: (I am using a 99 classic because the chart doesn't show 96, but I figure fairly safe to believe they are similar)
I am assuming your truck is 2wd. If you have 4.10 gears you should be able to safely tow 8000lbs and if you have 3.73 gears you are limited to 6500lbs. A fair estimate for the T100 is 4000lbs. I believe U-hauls trailer weighs 2200lbs. This gives you 300lbs of safety on your load if you have the higher gear ratio. I consider that a tight margin if you were to drive through the mountains or any slopes... It is also assuming you have no extra weight in the vehicle (tools, people, coolers etc)

The 2500 suburban is more likely to have the 454 and that will have a rating of 8500lbs with the higher gears and 10,000lbs with the 4.10 gears...

For true legality I believe you need to look at the actual Gross Combined Weight Rating of the vehicle and then subtract the actual vehicle weight and the weight of the loaded trailer and see if you end up with a positive number...

I haven't looked really hard, but I haven't found a source that had an accurate GCWR. Don't mistake it for GVWR...

Got it, guess I have to figure out what gears I have and do more calculations. Thanks for all the info.
 

Chrisdidwht

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I ran into this problem with U haul a while back and I THINK that U haul uses the curb weight of the tow vehicle as part of their towing parameters. A suburban or Yukon weighs more than a pick up so in their minds it makes for a better tow vehicle even though your 8 lug truck has bigger brakes. They figure that the combined weight of your trailer and the T100 is going to push your truck during braking.

Personally if you are not going tow the T 100 for a long distance I would tell them that you are going to tow a much lighter vehicle.

I'm taking it from Oakland to San Francisco. The bridge is the only part I'm worried about. No shoulders if anything goes wrong. Also my truck weighs 5000lbs. Same as a 96 Yukon.
 

L31MaxExpress

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I have a 96 gmc 2500 single cab long bed 5.7 vortec rwd (8lug). I want to tow a Toyota t100 on a trailer. I put this combo on uhauls website and their system tells me it's a no go. But I can put a subarban 1500 or a base Yukon and it's fine. What gives?

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Uhaul is stupid with their tow ratings. I checked and their system let me pull a 4wd Jeep Cherokee on an auto transport behind a 1500 Express van with 3.42s rated by GM for 5,500 lbs yet couldn't pull the same trailer behind a Nissan Pathfinder with a 4.0L rated at 7,000 lbs.
 

PlayingWithTBI

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Also FYI - a trailer without brakes can only be rated for 3,000LB GVWR although I'm sure you have brakes huh?
 

Supercharged111

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Also FYI - a trailer without brakes can only be rated for 3,000LB GVWR although I'm sure you have brakes huh?

Irrelevant, Uhaul trailers all have surge brakes. And I'll foot stomp how retarded Uhaul's tow ratings are. Just lie, a T100 is within the truck's factory rating I'm sure. You'll be in the 6000-7000# range on the trailer.
 
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