Can My Sierra Denali Handle a 30' Classic SO

[Big Dee]

Ike,
You make me feel better because our trucks have very simular specs. I see your tow rating is 10100 with 320 hp and your pulling a 34'. i am curious too how you did in the Rockies? Any problems anywhere?

[Big Dee]

Originally posted by igenerally

I traded a 98 3500 Dually for this Avalanche and I can't tell much difference in the towing.

Wow, that's great to hear! I could not imagine having to get a bigger truck and not have quadrasteer! It is so nice that going back to 2 wheel steering horrifies me!

[j54mark]

"I wonder what the trailer will actually weigh"

Something over 8,000 lbs. UBW is without propane in the tanks, no water, no grey water, no hitch (you mentioned a Hensley - what, 200 lbs.?), no groceries, no Lafuma recliners, no six packs of RC Cola, no nothing. You are helped by the fact that the Classic has very few weighty options. Don't forget permanently installed items like solar panels, awings over all the windows, etc. Airstream says not to get the entire package over 9100 lbs. or the coach itself is overloaded.

"15% of the GVWR of the AS is 1365. Does this mean at least the rear axle rating (4000) is ok?"

Insufficient information. We don't know what your truck actually weighs, only the maximum (7200 lbs) it is allowed. Same for the axle ratings. The 15% figure is only a guess, and will be affected by how much you put in your coach, where you put stuff in your coach (load your gold bar hoard in the tail and tongue weight will go negative!), how you load your Denali, and how you adjust the spring bars on the hitch.

A few guesses: Your Denali weighs 6,000 lbs. empty. Add gas, three adults, usual baggage, total 6,900 lbs. If tongue weight exceeds 300 lbs. (and it certainly will!), you are over gross weight for the truck (7,200). It would be extraordinary if you kept the total load of your Airstream under 8,500 lbs., even if you never travel with water in your tanks. IF you managed to keep the load in the truck under 7,000 lbs., and IF you managed to keep the loaded weight of the coach under 8,500 lbs., you have a GCW of 15,500 lbs. IF you do all that, you might, just might squeeze in under your rear axle rating of 4,000 lbs.

In practice, I don't think you can do any of that. I think you will be over in every department - over the gvwr of the truck, over the gawr of the axles (both front and rear), and over the cgvr of 16,000 lbs.

The 3/4 ton Avalanche referenced above should handle the load easily.

Mark

[Ken J]

Ike

Thanks - yea, I REALLY like my truck.........

Ken J.

[jcanavera]

Originally posted by Big Dee
Need everyone's opinion: Can My Sierra Denali handle a 30' Classic with slide out. I was thinking yes although it's close. Do I need the Hensley to be safe? Please, everyone give me your two cents. thanks.

Sierra Denali Max towing = 10,000 lbs
30' Classic SO GVWR= 9100 lbs

PS: I never travel with a full tanks, which would give me a leeway on weight.

I'm pulling my 30' S.O. with a GMC 2500 Savana passenger van. I have the 6.0 liter V8 and the 4.10 rear axle. Max capacity for me is 9,900 lbs. I have done the numbers on the Savana and I could tow the 9,100 max of the Classic with my normal towing load in the van. I'm pretty frugal on what I carry and based on my Safari which I had weighed, it tipped the scales about 500 lbs over the empty weight as printed on the closet door. This was with full LP, food, clothing. No water in any of the holding tanks.

I pretty much expect that if the numbers follow, my new Classic will come in about 500 lbs over its unloaded weight. I normally do not pull with water either. My specs for the 30' Classic S.O. show the unloaded weight as 7,877. My 27' Safari was 5,500.

You do have to be aware that the hitch weight is about 1,240 lbs on slide out model. I had to upgrade my factory receiver to a Class V and also upgrade the hitch. I ended up buying a Hidden Hitch receiver 1,400 lbs and an Equal-i-zer hitch which also had the same rating. Reese has a class V receiver (1,700 lbs), but it has a 2 1/2" box which forces you to use a Reese hitch or a reduction sleave.

Using the tow/haul switch in my van, the 6.0 liter 4.10 axle combination is a dream to pull with. I will echo the comments on checking the GCVWR before you go head long into this.

Jack

[overlander63]

Originally posted by Big Dee
I am worried now.
I am dying here trying to figure this out. I want to run out to a scale and weigh my truck tonight. Maybe, I will. Anyway here are my numbers from door or manual:

Denali
GVWR = 7200
GAWR Front = 3925
GAWR Rear = 4000
GCWR = 16000

30' Classic SO
GVWR = 9100
UBW = 7877
NCC = 1233

options
spare tire = 60
skylights = 19
oven = 15?

I wonder what the trailer will actually weigh in at?
15% of the GVWR of the AS is 1365. Does this mean at least the rear axle rating (4000) is ok?
Thanks, everyone, for your help! And please stay patient with me as i struggle with this.

By my trusty calculator, and what info you have given, you will be over your weight limit for this trailer.
GCWR is listed as 16000lb, when I add it up, the total is 16300, far over the 85% of GCWR everyone recommends. Not saying it won't do it, but you are pushing the envelope, and this is just going by the info you already have.
Not saying it won't work, but the evidence so far points in that direction.
Terry

[Big Dee]

all right- I am off to the truck scales. I'll let you all know what the big number is.

[ctdair]

I have to ask a tounge weight question here to see if i understand correctly. tounge wght on slide out listed at 1240?
Hitch on truck rated for 1000 but with wd bars i am levering some off? and placing on front wheels?. 1240 is wght is what ive seen posted on the forum , i have not weighed it. Pully with 1 ton dodge dually cummins diesel . is this over limits of the hitch as seems to be what every one is implying. Bought hensley but have only towed a 5 mile or so shake down cruise before winter. Before hensley have been to smoky mts. and poconos mts. Definetly no lack of power hills 4:10 rear end 4x4 auto trans towing capacity listed at 10,000 . is tounge wght limit a matter of suspension as i interpet or a function of hitch weld strength and hardware attaching it to the vehicle.

[joshua32064]

Big Dee,

I am curious to find out what you found out at the scales. I have to admit that when I purchased my trailer, I did not run all the computations.

With that said, I just took a look at my truck and found the following:

2003 GMC 1500 HD with Quadrasteer

GVWR = 8,600
GAWR Front = 4,410
GAWR Rear = 6,000
GCWR = 14,000

Just out of curiousity, I am going to go to the scales this week and see where I am at. I am assuming that my truck is more than ample to pull the 28' CCD but it would be nice to run Maurice's calculations and see exactly where I am.

For anyone that is reading this, any guess on how good or bad my ratio is?

[joshua32064]

By the way, I should have mentioned that I am pulling a 28' International CCD with a factory weight of 5,745.

[jcanavera]

Originally posted by ctdair
I have to ask a tounge weight question here to see if i understand correctly. tounge wght on slide out listed at 1240?
Hitch on truck rated for 1000

Most receivers have two weight catagories. One is the dead weight capacity, that means no equalizing equipment and is usually 50% of the equalized capacity. The second is when using equalizing equipment. The answer is that the receiver, hitch and related componets that hold it all together are rated for this weight. No matter how burley your tow vehicle is, the weakest link is what will take you down. I saw my GM factory 1000 lb tongue, 10,000 lbs. capacity receiver sitting next to my class V 1,400 lbs. tongue 14,000 lb. capacity Hidden Hitch. The anwer is that the receiver is heavier, the bolts are larger. It is very obvious when you look at the receivers side by side. Not obvious at all once its bolted in.

I'm not a Hensley expert so I'm not sure what that hitch is rated for. Bottom line its a safety thing and you don't want to skimp on this issue by using undersized equipment.

Jack

[Big Dee]

I am going to wait til tomorrow to weigh so I can take my 25' Safari. I would like to see how much the Safari weighs over the UBW. This will tell me how much my junk weighs.

Jack- Do you know how much heavier the class V receiver is? I mean what's the difference in weight between class IV and V? I hope it's not a big difference.

BTW, looking at the NCC of the 30' slide, 1233lbs doesn't seem all that much. How much does a gallon of water weigh? A 15-20"tv must weigh, what? 20 lbs? What about tools? 10 lbs? DVD player? 15 lbs? Ice chest? 20 lbs? Man, the list goes on... So 1233lbs doesn't seem like much.

And thanks everyone for this education. I feel like I am finally getting a grip on this important tow weight issue.

[RoadKingMoe]

When you go to the scales, it is important that the truck be fully fueled, and actually loaded with the people and cargo that will be in it while towing. Unless you are a USAF loadmaster, it will be difficult to determine how much of any additional weight goes to each axle later.

When you pull up on the scale, try to get the front and rear truck axles, and trailer axles as centered on each of their scale pads as possible. This is a compromise and you may not be able to get any of them centered. Just try to get them the same percentage of scale pad length from center.

Bring along a broom pole so you can hit the button to call the operator from the driver's seat where your weight will normally be. When the operator asks for your ICC number, just tell them "private vehicle." Once the operator tells you they have the weight, pull the rig off to the side, pay for the weight ticket, and tell the operator you would like to get a reweigh (cheaper).

Unhitch the trailer and take the truck back across the first two scale pads. Push the button, tell the operator "reweigh, private vehicle." Go pay for your second ticket.

If you really want to see what the weight distribution hitch is doing, and what the real tongue weight of the trailer is before weight distribution, you'll have to get a reweigh in between the two above, with the trailer still on the truck, but with the weight distribution bars loosened.

Hope this helps,

[jcanavera]

Originally posted by Big Dee
Jack- Do you know how much heavier the class V receiver is? I mean what's the difference in weight between class IV and V? I hope it's not a big difference.

I really don't even venture a guess. On a 3/4 ton vehicle I really wasn't too much worried what the weight penalty was. I didn't have much of a choice in having to make an upgrade. It wasn't till after I placed my order for the Classic did I find out what the 2004 hitch weight was. I was working from a 2003 catalog which showed the slide out having a 925 lbs hitch weight.

After finding out I asked my dealer for the receiver and hitch upgrade at his cost. He agreed.

Jack