Chevrolet Silverado 2021 Series Trailering Manual page 8

TRAILERING BASICS – IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The information below is intended to give you some details about the trailer ratings
on your vehicle and a way to ensure that the vehicle you use can handle the load you
want to pull.
Maximum Trailer Weight Ratings and Gross Combination Weight Ratings Engineers
perform extensive testing of acceleration, handling, braking, and thermal and
structural performance to determine the Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR)
and the maximum trailer weight rating for your vehicle. The GCWR is the total
allowable weight of the completely loaded vehicle and trailer including any
passengers, cargo, equipment and conversions. You should not exceed the GCWR
of your vehicle when you tow a trailer.
Chevrolet also calculates and publishes a maximum trailer weight rating for each
model or series of Chevrolet vehicles for comparison purposes. The maximum trailer
weight rating is not specific to an individual vehicle and is most useful for comparing
product lines to one another to help you select a product that will meet your needs.
When you buy a vehicle, you should ensure that the total load (including passengers,
cargo and equipment) you intend to pull with it will be less than the maximum trailer
weight rating of the vehicle.
Because the maximum trailer weight rating is calculated for a line of vehicles, rather
than an individual load situation, some standardized assumptions are made when
calculating the maximum trailer weight rating: that the tow vehicle has a driver, a
front seat passenger, and all required trailering equipment. This value represents
the heaviest trailer the vehicle can tow, but it may be necessary to reduce the trailer
weight to stay within the GCWR, GVWR, maximum trailer tongue load, or RGAWR for
the vehicle.
How to Keep Your Load Within the Capabilities of Your Vehicle It is important that
the combination of the tow vehicle and trailer does not exceed any of its weight
ratings — GCWR, GVWR, RGAWR or trailer weight rating. The only way to be sure to
not exceed any of these ratings is to weigh the tow vehicle and trailer combination,
fully loaded for the trip, getting individual weights for each of these items. You can
then subtract the weight of your vehicle from the GCWR. The difference between
the two is the capacity you have available for your cargo, passengers, trailer, load
and any other equipment you might use to set up your trailer. Put another way,
your GCWR should always be greater than or equal to the weight of your vehicle,
passengers, cargo, trailer (with equipment) and load.
The tongue weight for your trailer is the downward force of the coupler of the trailer
on the vehicle hitch. You can calculate the tongue weight by placing the tongue of the
trailer on an appropriate scale. For conventional trailering, the tongue weight should
be 10–15% of the loaded trailer weight. For gooseneck/fifth-wheel trailering, the
tongue weight should be 15–25% of the loaded trailer weight.
The GVWR is the maximum amount the vehicle itself should weigh, including the
as-equipped weight of the vehicle plus the cargo, passengers and trailer tongue
weight. Put another way, the GVWR should always be greater than or equal to the
weight of your vehicle, passengers, cargo and tongue weight.
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