Can My Sierra Denali Handle a 30' Classic SO

[Big Dee]

Wow! That was so needed! I have always been imtimidated by the truck scales but NOW I know how to do it! Thank you, you are the RoadKing!

[RoadKingMoe]

With a 30 slide-out, your sticker in the cabinet should look something like this (IIRC). Jack can give you exact numbers.

 9100 Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
-7877 Unloaded Vehicle Weight
- 500 60 gallons of water at 8.4 pounds per gallon
-  60 14 gallons of propane at 4.3 pounds per gallon
-----
  663 Net Cargo Capacity

The water includes the 6 gallons in the water heater.

Whether the cargo is ahead of or behind the center of the axles determines whether it adds or subtracts from the tongue weight. Its relative distance between the coupler and the center of the axles (actually the center of mass, but this will do) determines how much it adds to the tongue weight. For example, most of the weight of the propane should add to the 1240 lb tongue weight. Its distance behind the center of the axles determines how much it subtracts from the tongue weight.

The Hensley Arrow is rated to carry 1400 lbs of tongue weight. If you're at 1300 lbs, when you add the Hensley's approximate 200 lbs (including the drop bar) to that, you should have a receiver rated for a tongue weight of at least 1500 lbs weight distributing.

[gklott]

For our 30' Classic, we went first with wheel base. Figured we needed about 154, given that the 30' Classic is closer to 31'.

We then went for no more than 70-75% of the rated towing capacity, which gives about 12000 for the hitch.

Result - we needed a 3/4 ton pickup.

With the Hensley, our rig tows really well. That's what we wanted. We have margin. We've driven coast to coast, 25000 miles in our first 8 months, and we have had no towing issues: stopping, stability, turning, bucking, comfort,...

I believe Maurice provides a good practical approach for quantifying your load for you vehicle.

Reasonable margin is good to have.

73/gus

[overlander63]

Originally posted by 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?

Looks like 14345 pounds, within less than 50 pounds of capacity of what Big Dee's tentative rig will weigh.
Now let's see what the magic ticket says after weigh-in.
Terry

[joshua32064]

Terry,

I may be getting confused, but what does your 14,345 number represent?

Josh

[Big Dee]

Ok, went to the scale last night. Armed with Maurice's know how, I drove right on that scale and pushed the button with confidence that I knew what I was doing. Again, thanks Maurice!

With full tank & 2 passengers the Denali weighed in at
6120

[Big Dee]

With everyone's advice, I decided against the added weight of the slide particularly that huge tongue weight.

So here are the new numbers:

30' Classic
GVWR 8700
UBW 7230
NCC 1470
Hitch 730

Weighed the Denali at 6120 + 200 cargo + 750 tongue

Total Denali 7070
Classic GVWR 8700
Total 15770

Tha'ts only 230# under GCWR but that is a worse case senerio. I will never have the AS at 8700#. So I am confident my Denali will handle a 30' Classic. Anyone disagree???

[j54mark]

Actually you are doing somewhat better than that as tongue weight is included in the UBW. Whatever the actual loaded weight of your coach, that portion of it which is tongue weight is not a consideration in figuring combined vehicle weight.

I think you are going to have a much better towing experience than you would have with the extra weight of the slide. I also suspect (sorry THOR) that you will enjoy it as much or more than the slide model. Unless you like to dance in your trailer.

Mark

[Big Dee]

Thanks Mark! That's good to know. So that's 730# less. Now I am really confident. Still wondering if I need the Hensley (other thread)?

[joshua32064]

Like Big Dee, I went to the scales last evening with a full tank of gas and some passengers and found out that I weighed in at 6,375 punds.

The reason I am posting my results in this forum is because I believe that my truck and Big Dee's Denali are very close in a lot of ways.

My truck is the following:

2003 GMC 1500 HD with Quadrasteer

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

My Airstream is the following:

28CCD

Factory weight: 5745
Hitch weight: 887
Additional allowable weight: 1555

From the calculations that I am doing, everything seems to be OK, but as I previously stated, I would not want to be towing any more weight.

What are your thoughts about my ratios?

[wahoonc]

Josh,
What is the GVW of your 28CCD? What I do that gives me a quick check of the numbers is add the GVW of the truck and the trailer together, then subtract from the GCWR . If the number is a positive I am good to go, if the number is the same or negative it bears taking a closer look at. There are a lot of variables that come into play. I am currently towing my 31' Sovereign with a Ford F-150 4.6 V-8, 3.73 LS. By the GVW's from the GCWR I am over my limit by about 300#, in actual weights, I am within the towing capacities and load capacities of my truck. Do I want to tow from NC to CA? I would not even try. But for a couple of hours or so up and down the East Coast, I will. BTW the rig handles just fine, just a little slower than some others. But then again..."I may be slow, but I am going camping"

Aaron

[joshua32064]

Aaron,

The 28' CCD has a factory weight of 5,745. The hitch weight is 887 and the allowable weight is 1,555.

I assume it could then be computed that the total allowable weight for this trailer is 7,300.

[Big Dee]

Josh,
Your truck weighs 6375 but you got to add more for any cargo you throw in the truck bed.
Even without that weight- take 6375# + GVWR of the 28' CCD 7300# you get a grand total of 13675. Your truck has a combined total (GCWR) of 14000.

That puts you near the limit like mine but under by 325#. But what about that cargo?

You should weigh your loaded 28' CCD to see what it REALLY weighs. I bet you are not near 7300#. If you do weigh the CCD, I would be curious how much over the UBW it is.

[joshua32064]

Big Dee,


Although the GVWR of my Airstream is 7,300 pounds, I rarely bring anything along other than my travel bag which is filled with some clothes.

What I am going to do the next time I am out on a trip is take my truck and airstream to a scale before I leave and find out where I really am.

Josh