trailer towing

[akitagandy]

I have a 1965 C10 that i built from the tires up, everything is new 3:73 posi, new axles,bearings everything except the housing, all the front suspension is new, a performance 355, with a 700R4 , power drum brakes and a nice big hitch welded to the frame. Does anyone know how big a camper trailer i can pull? akitagandy@gmail.com

[aerotruk63]

Check your GVW rating and also your tires load range. Some jurisdictions will nail you for having a passenger car rated tire. If your doing some serious trailering, look there first.

[Jurassic-1]

The truck will easily handle more than what is safe. I agree you should stay within its rating. If it is a coil spring truck you tend to not put a large amount of tongue weight on it. I loaded my 16 foot car trailer with about 5000 pounds of vintage street lamps and headed out for a 1400 mile trip. I did not get even 20 miles out of town before almost losing it all on a large hill out of town as a semi flew by and only complicated the swaying of my truck due to overload and light tongue weight. I returned home and borrowed my dads 2000 Expedition which was better but was still a white knuckle ride. Shortly after that trip I added a 2006 Duramax powered Silverado to my fleet for those towing jobs. Be careful !!

[Figuarus]

I am not a lawyer, but what aerotruk says is true.

Run an LT tire vs a P-metric tire on your truck. If anything ever happens, highway patrol/police will look at what equipment you have on the truck and ding you for that.

The fact that you have power drums is great, but nothing beats disc brakes for real stopping power. Get your brakes upgraded if you can.

That being said, I think I've seen that these trucks were rated to tow up to 5k lbs.

[63burban]

If you are going to do a lot of towing, 6 ply tires are a must along with the trailer sway bars on the hitch and trailer brakes. The equalizer/sway bar hitches when adjusted correctly we awesome on these trucks.

[oem4me]

Weight distribution, tires/suspension, and engine grunt aside, trailer brakes might be a good idea on the bigger trailers.
I think something has changed over the years. We are either smarter than we used to be, or just turned into a bunch of pansies.

[aerotruk63]

[Steve66]

Trailer brakes are a must if you pull anything more than a lawn mower trailer.