Tow rating for 1500 with 5.3 engine

[Dave12]

Does anyone know the tow rating for a 1/2 ton with a 5.3? Does anyone own one and tow with it? If so how about mileage, city/hwy/towing.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[BIGR]

Not sure what it was rated at but I use to tow with a 2003 GMC 4x4 1500 extended cab. Mileage towing a 3800 lb. camper was between 12 and 13.5 MPG. I knew when I hit the big hills with it. It felt gutless until the tranny kicked down a gear or two and then once the motor reved up you would think it was going to the moon. My Duramax will pull the same camper up the same hills in 5th or 6th gear. Man what a difference the diesel makes.

 

[921500Z71]

My dads is a 99 so its rated a 275hp or 285hp i cant seem to remember right now, anyway it has 3.73's, dont get 3.42s it takes forever to get through any gear when towing any weight at all. As far as towing goes im not for sure what it is rated at either but i would say in the 6.5k to 7.5k range or maybe a tad higher. He has put airbags on it too to help out with towing. When he pulled a 70 chevy pickup around 6k lbs from topeka to fort worth he got 10-11. On that pull it scared him enough to put the airbags on. Pulling our vette around 4200lbs or so he would get 13-15. I rode with him once while pulling a station wagon from topeka to kc (roughly 70 miles not much hills) and i believe it downshifted once, just put it in tow haul and let it go.

As far as unloaded mileage goes hes gotten as good as 22 on the highway and for city i cant vouche for that but i would get in the 13-15 range. This truck hasnt had an easy life i would say but is maintained religously. And afterall it is a half ton chevy and if they cant get the job done then i dont know what will. Except of course a dmax..... but only maybe i havent tested mine enough to find out.

One last thing my dads truck is part of the 200k mile club now and everything is original except for the tailgate cables, and whatever other tsb's there were and an idler arm. However it does have that intermediate steering shaft crap problem. Its noticeable but he doesnt want to fix it.... Hope this helps

 

[big block 88]

Yup the 3.42's suck my 05 was the biggest wimp ever it would be doing 50 in first gear trying to pull my empty 30ft triple axle falt deck, which I think weighs maybe 4000-5000 pounds, that was with the 310 horse 5.3 it is just a wimp that is why I went and bought the LBZ. I had a 99 5.3 with 4.10 that was mean as hell 921500 can attest to that I pulled a 9,000 pound dump bed trailer with it from waterville Ks to Topeka Ks the truck did great but the whole truck being a Reg cab Stepeide shortbed worked against me with no trailer breaks, I missed a couple gas stations from skidding past them, had to use the parking break because the rear axle was so heavy from the trailer worked great, but I wouldn't recomend it. Half ton chevy's though are actually stronger and tougher than all elses 3/4 and 1 tons it si a proven fact, me and 921500 have bpth done some pretty big loads in a half tons.