How much weight can a 1/2 ton pull?

[qu1cks1lver56]

used mine when it had the stock tired 305 to haul a 6000 pound car on a 20 ft trailer a few times on a load leveling hitch. had to give a little room to stop but it pulled it fine.

[nlped]

Here's one of my ole' truck pulling a rather heavy steel utility trailer w/ wood floor and a lwb '77 Chevy 2wd that had a bed full of junk,and it pulled it great...didn't stop to swooft though .

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by 79gmcc15

on my GMC it says "Trailering Special, 11,000 G.C.W" FWIW

(GCW) Gross Combined Weight.....as in you have to subtract the weight of the truck itself from this number to get it's actual capacity.

[78 Chevyrado]

You can get by a lot of the time having a bit too much weight on the trailer or a bit over on the tounge weight. Brakes are number 1. I wouldn't tow more than 1500-2000 without trailer brakes.

Even if your truck can haul (in the bed) say 2000lbs, the weight is on the truck, giving extra traction to the trucks tires. if you put that 2000lbs on a trailer, the weights still there, but the back of the truck doesn't have the extra traction to stop safely without the weight being on the truck itself. When you lock it up or panic stop the trailer just pushes you on anyway then it can jack knife.

[hillytim69]

How about short beds? My 75 GMC shortbox step is one of the "5/8" tons with the large rear springs, bigger drums and bigger front brakes and rotors. It had a Muncie sm-465 in it too but I converted to a th-350. My point is why would a shorty be loaded up with all the heavy half gear when to my knowledge, a short wheelbase is not as ideal for towing as a long wheel base? Or does the wheelbase make a difference?

[Pyrotechnic]

I don't think the Big 10 / Heavy Half thing wasn't about hauling super heavy loads, I think part of it was so you didn't half to deal with smog equipment and catalytic converters if you didn't want to. GM was able to exploit an emissions loophole by upping the GVWR into a certain bracket with the bigger springs and brakes.

It also just made for a more heavy duty truck for people that really worked their trucks, but didn't wanna get a 3/4 or 1 ton. Stiffer springs, bigger rear brakes, two piece driveshaft, dual exhaust crossmember, extra frame crossmembers, bigger brake booster, etc.

[78 Chevyrado]

Yeah my dad's 77 C10 was a shortie with the heavy duty suspension. Everybody loved that thing because It drove so good and didn't wallow all over the road like my uncle's light-est-duty 1/2 ton longbed did. my old '87 had the lightest springs on it, and I'll tell ya this, i'll never have another one, I have to have at least the heaviest duty 1/2 ton. I dont haul much, but they drive so so so much nicer to me.

[hillytim69]

Yep it rides solid but the back end sits up so high. When i re did the front end I put in summit 2" lowering coils, now I want to lower the back to make it level with the front or maybe slight bit higher but IDK know how to do it. Seems like a flip kit is too much and the shackle kits not enough. Maybe I'll leave it be for a while but it sure has that wild 70's jacked up stance right now! Can't believe we used to put air shocks on everything to get that stance... Oh yeah am I correct in saying that a short wheelbase is less appropriate for towing than a long wheelbase, all else being equal such as both being Big 10/heavy half's?

[79gmcc15]

from what I understand big tens were only LWB(?). and Ive always heard that LWB is best for towing. Ive heard its a lot more stable. every truck Ive seen towing almost everything bigger then a uhaul trailer have been LWB. And as for the ride. my truck does ride Very well. its kinda like a big boat, just kinda floats over the road. lol

[Desert1957]

The only advise I will give is tow with a trailer brake controller , set properly , with a trailer that has WORKING brakes. These trucks will pull almost anything , but its all about STOPPING the load. Any tow vehicle is not designed to pull twice its own weight. I know everbody has a different version on what is safe or not.

One other thing to consider if you need to haul a vehicle on a car trailer and your truck is not wired for it, Rent a U-Haul car carrier with surge-brakes there is no need for an electrical brake controller.

Here is my 87 heavy 1/2 , Class 4 hitch , towing with its old worn out , smoking 305V8 , 2:73 gears. Towed like a dream , didn't even know it was back there at highway speed.
(YES it had working electric brakes, LOL)

Desert

[slimneverdies]

Pulled this with my bumper attachment. No problems

[Goldfinger]

I moved a single wide for a friend of mine 2 years ago with my half-ton. The problem was i couldn't stop fast enough. I was using a bumper hitch as well.(Hercules bumper rated for 6 tons). I got 500 dollars for an hour of work. easiest money I've ever made.

[big10ratrod77]

dont forget bout engine brakeing! down shift boys helps ya stop, big 10s were great trucks but they still can have stoping problems... one time we had a load of red oak (which is perty dense wood) in the back of my big ten and a hardee trailer loaded to the max and that was scary to say the least with no power steering and the front end wont making tearibly much contact with the road so just dont go over the gvw

[slimneverdies]

I just picked me up an brand new enclosed trailer from Georgia and didnt even think to use my 86 C10 to pull it back to South Florida. So we used my buddies brand new F@#d F150. Man oh man was that a mistake. He has a 6 cylinder in the F@#d and it was a long trip home doing 55-60 mph especially going up little inclines. I needed to take it to the tag agency so I decided to ditch the F@#d and take a chance with the old C10. I can honestly say that this old 305/350 ran down the highway like the trailer wasnt even there. I know im crazy but its true!!! I know Im going to need a big truck to tow this thing but as much crap as I talk about my little 305/350 it has never let me down yet. By the way, this is being towed by a bumper hitch

[MalibuSSwagon]

My parents hauled around a gooseneck horse trailer back in the early nineties with an 84 C10 short bed, it did good. My dad swapped in a built up 350 since the 250 was having a bit of trouble making it up hills with all the gear and 2 horses loaded up.