I know this seems like an obvious topic but.... I am a bit new to this forum, and somewhat new to serious towing (drove a semi in the military) with civillian vehicles. Done some occaisional stuff. I have a 96 K1500 Suburban, 3.73's, 8.5" axle. According to the manual, my truck is rated at 6000# towing capacity. I lunched the weak 8.5" rear and am swapping in a 9.5" axle from a K2500 (same gearing). With the larger axle, do I have additional towing capacity? The K2500 6 lug, has the same size front and rear brakes as I do. Same engine (TBI 350 vs my Vortec 350), same trans (4L60, mine is a 4L60E), and now, same rear axle. The rear end is a common weak link in these vehicles. Do I make the assumption that I have similar GVW/GCVW? What parts, or combination of parts has the most significant effect on towing capacity. What does GM/Ford/Dodge use to determine towing capacity and capabilities? Thanks!
It's not quite that simple. Your only as strong as your weakest link, and most stock trucks will never actually manage to hit their rated towing limits without breaking out in another limit. Fortunately, there is a margin of safety, but best not to depend on it. So, you'll have a better axle, but still be limited by suspension, front brakes (likely smaller on 1/2 ton), chassis/frame, hitch, tires and wheel limits. Assuming the chassis is the same between 1/2 and 3/4 in that year, a set of air bags would help out the suspension without adding 3/4 ton ride harshness. Then add some appropriately rated tires and an appropriate hitch (weight distributing, maybe with sway control) and that would pretty much get you there if the front brakes/suspension and wheels are up to the rating... Edit: I see on looking back that you've already verified the front brakes.
I have heard the K1500 and K2500 used the same frame, but I have not been able to confirm it. Anyone have any idea? Springs/shocks are different, that could be easily upgraded too. But our long term goal is to get a 454 Burb K2500, which has the bigger brakes already. The one we are looking at is a 4.10 K2500, 10K# towing. The other is a K2500 454, but 3.73's. For now, we don't need the 4.10's, but if I have my way, next year we will get a trailer for it for travelling.
I have a old body style K2500 and was wondering why a 1/2 ton lift kit would not fit my 3/4 ton think the frames were the same. I had a 1999 lifted K1500 yukon in my shop and got looking at his and noticed the upper control arms look smaller. So I measured from upper rear mount on the froame to the upper front control arm mount and on the 1500 it was like 9 inches and mine is close to 13 inches. I don't know about the rest of the frame but now I know why they won't work. Oh yeah mine is a 8 lug 2500. I think there are some six lug 2500 as well. They might have the same as the 1500.
On the old style k1500's and 2500s (pre 91) the frames should be the same... after that they were setup the same until the more recent body change... the reason the lift kits won't swap is usually because the u-bolts/hardware for the axles are different sizes... You can load the hell out of a 1/2 ton and not break the axle until you get the suspension completely compressed (assuming you don't drive like an idiot and it's only a short drive)... the 10 bolts are usually only "fragile" when it comes to a bind situation, i.e. pulling a tree stump or other stationary object, climbing a rock (and then it's usually the r&p or the spiders that break)... the axles are not gonna break as long as they can roll... The brakes are the big limiting factor on the trucks though... depending which options package your truck came with will determine the size of the brakes. A lot of the Suburbans, both 1500 and 2500, were available with towing packages that usually listed as the first upgrade, Upgraded Brakes. From what I've seen, this is usually accomplished with a bigger master cylinder, proportioning valve, and rear drums. I've pulled similar loads with my K10 Sub, and my C30 drw truck... the sub can pull just as much as my truck, it just can't keep it going as straight or stop it as fast.
What brake upgrades are there? I want the C3500 rear discs, but can't get 6 lug rotors.... I am happy with drums or discs, but want larger. Most aftermarket brakes are priced out of this world. I am looking at selling my 96 K1500 for a 96 K2500 454, primarily for the 70K miles vs my 221K miles, and next being the brakes w/hydroboost. Safety is a key ingredient. I don't mind paying a bit higher gas bill to be able to stop when I need to. Still cheaper than trying to pay some of this prices on brake upgrades!
True... that'd be the way to go, especially if your talking about overall mileage, 70k on a 454 isn't that much... my '84 454 has over 250k and it's just as strong as ever and has luckily never given me a bit of problems. the most notable brake upgrade as part of a tow package was a larger drum area on the rear brakes... not anything to write home about, but it did make a difference.... I think the pads were 1/2 - 7/8" wider than the non-tow-package trucks. I can't remember for sure. What are you planning on dragging anyway? If you're just pulling a car trailer, RV, 2-4 horse slant, or similar then you shouldn't have too many problems. You'll most likely have at least one brake axle on any type of trailer that would get near your factory tow rating anyhow... Anything more than that and you'd need a gooseneck anyhow which is kinda hard to pull off in a 'burb.
The stock 1/2ton and light 3/4t brakes are 11.5" x 2.75". The light 3/4t have a deeper drum, but same braking surface area. The 3/4t Burb and 3/4t heavy have 13in x ?" And larger front brakes. We are pondering it. They guy with it is getting nearly the mileage we get with the 96 K1500 350 and he has a 96 K2500 454, 3.73's on both. We are looking to drag a camper to house us on vacations. Something we can go camping with. But being we have 6 in our family, not sure how big we need vs how big the Burb can tow. I think the 3/4t 454 is rated at 10K, but that is likely 4.10's. Anyone know 3.73's?
just drag it till something breaks! we're looking at campers too... I think we're gonna go on the smaller side because the kids still want to take their tents everywhere we go... it's a PITA, but they're getting better at setting them up themselves. I'm gettin too darned old to sleep on the ground anymore, and we all about died over 4th of July weekend this year at the lake with no a/c. Our motor home is in semi-retirement. It is setup with a king overhead bunk and a flip out couch bunk that'll sleep 4 comfortably. We had 5 the last time we took it out and it was alright. The little one was only 8 weeks old though, so that made a huge difference. Wish it was setup to tow, but the poor thing's so underpowered I don't think it could get the boat back up the ramp, and I'm too scared to try to find out.
That's a thought! I have heard though that exceeding your max towing weight if you get into an accident it is automagically your fault. Not too keen on that. I guess if we get serious into towing I will look at swapping to 4.10's. We are leaning towards this burb more and more. The low miles are a nice selling point, and from a friend, I have done all the work on it since he bought it except the front brakes. Most stuff on it is still OEM. I did have to replace the water pump already for him, it was leaking at a very young age. Else it is in good shape, seems like it did a lot of sitting. It was ultimately a repo vehicle and he bought it from auction. Even has brand new tires on it that he just put on (stock size though , I like 265 70 16's.... It has the 245 70 16's... Oh well, I have a set of Class E 265's in the shed.... my kids are finally old enough I am ready to start camping with them, 11,10,5,3, so we should be ok. My back can't take it on the ground anymore, I did that in the Army and it sucked then too! I spent 6 months in Desert Storm like that (tents, cots, floors of trucks, seats of trucks, you name it, for 6 months), it sucked....
hmmm... dunno how they could claim it was automagically your fault if somebody came up and hit you, you gave them a bigger target? ... I'm sure if anything else they might ticket you at the accident for being over limit, but most "city" officers really don't know that much about what trucks are rated either. My father-in-law is one of the dumbest persons ever when it comes to cars, but he's retiring from our local police force in a couple weeks. All his cop "huntin buddies" aren't any better. I'm always getting requests to fix their huntin rigs' problems this time of year. Sounds like a good rig to me... I think you've convinced yourself you like it and want it. The only other reason I wouldn't buy a particular rig is if it was painted up in football team colors that I didn't like. I made that mistake on my burb. Everybody's always telling me, "so, you must be a cowboy's fan, huh?" I'm waitin for the weather to warm up so I can paint it white.
My wife is leaning pretty hard that way. Rare enough to get one with low miles and in good not worn out shape. I don't know how they determined weight (especially after accident) unless it was own admittance and they officers checked GVW/GCVW and made that determination. I can see you exceeding the brake capacity and that being an issue. Like if I was hooking my my K1500 to my mom and dad's RV @ 30K# and got it up to 60 mph, there is no way on God's green earth that I can stop it safely unless the RV's brakes were fully functional. But if I have a K2500 burb that is rated at 8K# with 3.73's and drop on 10K#, the brakes ARE rated for that, the limit is the gearing. I say I am ok. I guess it really comes up to common sense. Or if the new Burbs with the 496 are rated at 12.5K# and have the same brakes, I should be able to SAFELY tow that with my brakes (obviously this is assuming a properly setup towing rig/trailer). This one is green and tan/gold on the bottom. I may be north of the cheddar curtain, but that isn't my favorite team! My current one is green/silver bottom. My wife won't let me even look at a white one, she hates white on cars/trucks! Well, this one would setup us up to serious towing and give us a newer truck too. And we have some short known history and some of the bugs already worked out. That helps a lot.
