# Question about my truck....



## cobra

I have a 1990 Chevy 3500 Dually, 454 big block, 1 ton truck. The door sticker is gone, so i cannot see what the towing capacity is. I have tried looking around online, and the best figure i have come up with so far is around 9000, does that sound accurate? I am trying to figure if i can safely tow this trailer i am considering purchasing. The trailer is a 3h slant load stock type gooseneck, with a small tack area in the front (no LQ or anything like that). I believe it is a '95 model Colt. Not sure of the exact weight, seller said she thought it was around 3500. Fully loaded, with 3 horses, tack, feed, etc that would be around 7-8000 roughly. It will not be fully loaded usually, normally 1-2 horses. Does this sound about right, or am i pushing the limit of my truck too much? Thanks for any input


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## SouthernTrails

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Depends on final gear ratio, spring setup, trans cooler, etc. but between 9,000 and 10,000lbs. for that year model and engine.

.


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## Wallee

cobra said:


> I have a 1990 Chevy 3500 Dually, 454 big block, 1 ton truck. The door sticker is gone, so i cannot see what the towing capacity is. I have tried looking around online, and the best figure i have come up with so far is around 9000, does that sound accurate? I am trying to figure if i can safely tow this trailer i am considering purchasing. The trailer is a 3h slant load stock type gooseneck, with a small tack area in the front (no LQ or anything like that). I believe it is a '95 model Colt. Not sure of the exact weight, seller said she thought it was around 3500. Fully loaded, with 3 horses, tack, feed, etc that would be around 7-8000 roughly. It will not be fully loaded usually, normally 1-2 horses. Does this sound about right, or am i pushing the limit of my truck too much? Thanks for any input


 That sounds like it would work fine to me I have hauled alot more on my 1500 chevy!


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## Darrin

Should be rated at 19,000-20,000 GCVW (truck plus trailer) as a 1 ton and your pickup is ~6000 pounds. Most likely rating for towing is 10,000 pounds. So from that angle you are good.

A slant load steel stock trailer goosneck should be in the 4000-5000 pound range empty. Toss in 3 horses with gear and you'll add another 3500-4000 pounds. That will put you in the 7500-9000 pound range. So from that angle you should be good. Make sure your axles and tires on the trailer are rated for those kind of numbers. Trailer makers often toss lower rated axles and tires on to save money. Not unusual to find two 3500 pound axles on a 3 horse trailer and that is to light in my opinion.

Really your biggest problem with that pickup is has it been kept up?


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## Phly

Is your truck a c3500 or a k3500 also is it a cab n chassis or a pick up? Standard cab-4door-ext cab? Honestly all those things make a difference. Since cab n chassis can be spec'd They vary widely. I personally haul our stock trailer with a "85" Chevy c3500 cab n chassis, long wheel base (haven't bothered to measure cab to axle) with a 454 and turbo 400, 3:73 gear. Being a spec'd truck (and the sticker from the body builder is still intact) I know my truck is rated for 10000lbs. All that being said, we can tell ya if we get all the info, but till then I see no reason at all that your truck won't do what you ask of it, and without much effort.
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## Joe4d

unless that trailer is aluminum, I doubt its 3500, my two horse aluminum over steel frame with 4 foot dr room is 3600. The term "stock" trailers can sometimes be used to get around minimum standards for horse trailers. While I am sure the vast majority are fine, as was noted above it pays to check the axle ratings and brakes. I am assuming truck has a added brake controller, I dont see why you would have an issue with 9k.


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## cobra

@ Southern Trails GA - thanks  9000 was a figure i had seen when looking it up, wanted to be sure that was accurate.

@ Wallee - i just dont want to stress the truck, or put the horses and myself in an unsafe situation by asking it to pull too big a load. That is why i am trying to get this info before purchasing the trailer. 

@ Darrin - truck seems to have been kept up well. I have owned it for a short time (about a yr), and it seems to have been well kept up as the seller stated when i bought it. Obviously, i cannot say for certain. 

@ Phly - standard cab not extended, c3500, pick up. Has a 454, not sure about the trans. 

@ Joe4d - yes, the truck has a brake controller. Not sure the exact weight of the trailer, just going by the estimate the ppl at the trailer dealer gave me. 

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful  Will probably be picking the trailer up soon....


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## Phly

This got me thinkin, so I went and looked at my sticker. It says rated for 10000lbs gvwr but then list the axle ratings which add up to 11300lbs. I like over built! 








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## Darrin

I like over built myself. I have a 3 horse bumper pull trailer with two 7,500 pound axles under it. Basically the only way it can be over loaded is by tossing a piece of heavy equipment in it. No way can it be overloaded with horses and tack, just doesn't have the interior space for it.


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## Jim Andy

I'm sure you will not even know you have a trailer behind you I pull a 3 horse with LQ with my half ton truck.


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## thenrie

GVWR and towing capacity are not the same, just to be clear. My Dodge has a gvwr at about 14K, but towing capacity is somewhere around 22K. Most of a trailer's weight is on the trailer axles, not the truck. The only part of the weight of the trailer that is calculated as part of the truck's GVW is the tongue weight. 

Calculating the tongue weight on your gooseneck depends a lot on the position of the axles, etc. To know for sure, you'd have to go to a scale and weigh your truck then hitch up the loaded trailer and weigh the truck without the trailer wheels on the scale. I've heard figures like 15% and 20% of trailer gvw for a gooseneck, but like I said a lot depends on the configuration of the trailer.


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