Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ silverado capability, weight question

[Garyj]

My Silverado says 1060 lbs for a camper. I found one that says it weighs wet 1345 lbs including 24 gallons of water and 40 lbs of propane. I have added a helper spring and am wondering if I will have problems of too much weight. tks

[aqualung]

The best thing to do is to take your truck to a scale (CAT Scale) and measure its actual weight when its full of fuel and passengers. You can remove the tailgate since its not there when the camper is. Take this measured weight and subtract it from the truck's GVWR. The result is the available cargo and is what you can actually carry. The payload number is an estimate based on the average passenger weight in the truck and the fuel in it.

You must include the camper's weight, contents, water, propane etc as part of the total cargo weight. You should also include the tie downs and turnbuckles in the cargo weight. A rule of thumb is to add 1000lbs to the camper's dry weight for a total but that's also an estimate. The only way to be accurate is to measure the loaded camper/truck combo and then subtract the actual truck weight you measured before.

When fully loaded, you can't exceed the truck's GVWR. Adding suspension upgrades will help to improve the ride but it does not increase the GVWR. Many things are considered in the GVWR, suspension is one but the axle capacity is another and the brakes is another, just to name a few.

Now, with all this said, will it be a problem if you're over the GVWR? Maybe, maybe not. When the camper is in the truck, the whole rig is now classed as an RV and that may have a different set of rules than a truck does. So its best to check with your state/provincial transportation department to find out. Will your truck handle the weight? most likely it will without any issues since there's always margin built into the GVWR. How much margin? Only the Chevy engineers know that.

[TODDFINK]

Just for reference. I have an 01 GMC ext cab 2500. It's weight with a full tank, and 2 passengers is right at 6k lbs. So with my 8600lb gvwr I should be able to tote 2600 lbs. I have a viking 8 ft pop-up. It's wet weight is about 1500 lbs even though its stated weight is 1380. I also run a 16 ft trailer. With my jeep that totals in just over 6k. So you add 10 to 15 percent of that to the truck. It puts me just under or right at my gvwr. I like that, I knoe I have a margin of error there. I run timbrens and a helwig rsb. It feels really stable on the road.


My best advice it to try to find a lighter camper or bigger truck.


The question is will the truck haul more than it's gvwr? Yes it will.

Do you feel safe running it that way? Up to you.