how much can a 69 c10 tow?

[Coronadj]

I have a 69 c10 I'm building and I want to tow a 22ft wakeboard boat in the future that is around 4,500 when loaded. I was just wondering is the wheel base in to short for this load? or should it be fine? the trailer has surged brakes and Im gonna do front disc brakes on my truck and put either a 350 abc or a 5.3 ls swap.

[haysonj]

Here is mine, the boat and trailer weigh 5000 Lb. I tow all over Calif and never had a problem. 385 FI with AFR Alum. heads T400 with GV OD and 4:09 gears. With the long boat trailer (22 ft) it handles nice. My trailer has elect brakes on one axle and surge brakes on the other.

[Mike C]

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[Mike C]

Brakes, gear, motor, trans, how fast you want to drive all dictate load carrying abililty. With good parts it should be well within the realm of a C10. But the killer will be two wheel drive at the boat ramp. Positration will be mandatory, and a granny gear trans would help as well.

My Jimmy with the 4 speed had no issues pulling my ski boat in two wheel drive, but my 70 C2500 Sierra Grande with the big block and TH400 would spin the crap out of the tires. The converter made modulating throttle difficult to say the least.
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[hamjet]

You'll need disc brakes, I thought drums were fine for most aplications till I had to make a quick stop going down a grade at 60 MPH. After about 5-8 seconds they started fading on me. very firm pedal, but it got to the point I was pushing very hard to stop in time. I think I'm going to have to go disc myself in the near future...

[northerngmc]

Here is the 69 chart, can't be much different.

[Coronadj]

thanks guys for all the info!! I will probably run the same 12 bolt with 4:10s and a posi. and run a 700r4 with a big cooler.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by northerngmc

Here is the 69 chart, can't be much different.

So according to this, my 1972 (3ott, 250 I6, 4.11) will pull up to about 7K pounds?

[cooperhw]

It kinda depends on terrain as far as I am concerned. By that I mean the real question is "how much can a 69 c10 STOP IN A PANIC SITUATION". 1/2 ton pickup can tow a lot, and if you are on flat country where steep hills are not to be encountered, no problem. But if you are going to go up and down the steep mountain passes with an automatic that you cannot count on engine braking, you need to reassess.
As mentioned earlier, good disc brakes will help a lot. Ability to bail off a hill in a lower gear and ride that to the bottom without touching the brakes best. The load you mentioned in somewhat flat country should be ok. JMO

[Ruscal]

Any kind of heavy trailer should have brakes controlled by an electric brake controller in the cab. That should handle any panic stops along with the truck brakes. On long grades brakes will overheat, so compression braking is important. If you have an auto trans down shifting to 2nd will slow you down, but you should have a large auxiliary cooler to handle the heat from running the trans so long in low gears.
That said, I have no idea what the ultimate limit would be weight-wise for a C10. I am planning to tow a 2900 pound Scamp travel trailer with my '67 short step side. It will get the big trans cooler and have new disc brakes in the front and new drum brakes in the rear. The brake controller can provide enough voltage to lock up the trailer brakes for panic stops. I think it will do the job fine, but don't know the rated capacity of the truck. It will also have air bag helpers inside the rear coil springs to control level when towing. The bags will keep the headlights aimed as well. Right now my truck has a T400, so I will probably lower the rear gears from 3.08's to 3.73's and add positraction for those campsites with less than ideal traction. If I were to be launching a boat even lower gearing would probably be necessary to yank the boat up the ramp. Four wheel drive with compound boxes are great for that use.
Russ

[BossHogg69]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

So according to this, my 1972 (3ott, 250 I6, 4.11) will pull up to about 7K pounds?

That chart is referring to the combined weight of the truck and trailer (gross weight), not just what the truck can pull.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by BossHogg69

That chart is referring to the combined weight of the truck and trailer (gross weight), not just what the truck can pull.

Aha! Now that sounds more reasonable. Too bad my truck already weighs 6,500 pounds!

Just kidding. I'm fairly close to original weight but the 1/8" steel bed and bedsides has to add quite a bit more.

Most I ever intend to pull is a light cart or an enclosed single axle box trailer.

[Coley]

That's a great chart and falls in line with the truck tow 'rule of thumb' approximation which is that they can generally tow about 1/2 their own weigh safely.
ie: 4000lbs....should be able to tow 6000lbs, etc.
Coley

[Lees68GMC]

That's kinda like, How much Wood can a Wood Chuck, Chuck isn't it?

[Coronadj]

see now I'm confused because some people are saying yeah it should be fine but some people are saying that i should only tow of the weigh of the truck on my driver door it tells met can tow up to 5,000 lbs. which is around what the boat should way after it being loaded.

[Coronadj]

Originally Posted by Lees68GMC

That's kinda like, How much Wood can a Wood Chuck, Chuck isn't it?

see thats a cool set up! see i don't think the boat should way more that that truck on the trailer.

[Lees68GMC]

So what if you're using other "variables" like a Reese equalizing hitch. Dual axles with electric trailer brakes on all four trailer wheels? There's a lot of factors beyond basic manufacturers specs, but SAFETY is the real objective.

[jabborabbo]

Originally Posted by hamjet

You'll need disc brakes, I thought drums were fine for most aplications till I had to make a quick stop going down a grade at 60 MPH. After about 5-8 seconds they started fading on me. very firm pedal, but it got to the point I was pushing very hard to stop in time. I think I'm going to have to go disc myself in the near future...

Yup...here's my brief experience with drum brakes towing a Volvo on a Uhaul dolly:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...7&postcount=16

[davepl]

How much does gear ratio affect this? My 396 Longhorn is rated at 7500, but that was with 3.54s I think and with the deeper first gear of the overdrive trans would be more like 4.88:1 in first.

[brad_man_72]

gotta ditch the wakeboard boat..
The skidsteer was a bit sketchy without trailer brakes.
I tow the brown boat 3-4 hours at a time with no issues