Anyone towing with a late model Silverado with a Max Tow Package 11,200 tow capacity?

dsatwork

We bought a 2015 Silverado with the 5.3 and the Max Tow Package, because we bought an 27' Airstream to live in and will need to take it out periodically. We intend to continue camping in our Tab and took it on 3700 mile trip to Burlington and Spokane, WA, then back through Oregon and Northern California. From the very beginning the truck would bounce from front to back anytime we encounter bumps in the road. It was worse at low speeds and of course campsite roads are slow and bumpy. While we were staying Larrabee State Park installed a set of Timbren rear suspension system which replaces the jounce bumper that sits above the axle. These reduced the bouncing significantly, by settling down the the bouncing much quicker. Once I got back and was going through the storage area in the back and realized that I had some extra weight and that may have made it worse. I would be interested to hear if anyone else is towing with the Silverado and the Max Tow Package and what your experience has been. 

rkj__

My trailer only gets bouncy if I don't have enough tongue weight.  How was your T@b loaded?  Where is the spare tire mounted?

ericnliz

@dsatwork, A lot of the bounce comes from not towing level, too much air in the trailer tires, and like @rkj__ said, not enough tongue weight. Sometimes it's just one thing, sometimes a combination of all of the things, and how you're loading not only your trailer, but your tow vehicle as well. I have the same motor in my Avalanche, with factory tow package, and I know from experience sometimes towing seems a lot bouncier depending on the load & HOW I load the truck & trailer.

dsatwork

@ericnliz I certainly had more weight in the back of the Tab than I needed to, that is for sure. Now that I have a truck with more storage in the bed and unlimited tongue weight, I can move some stuff around. I just didn't realize that Tab could have any affect on the way the truck rides, it a truck after all.

ericnliz

@dsatwork, You have to remember, the back end of the truck is actually quite light. Loading the truck with the most weight over , & in front of the wheel wells seems to work best for me. Sometimes, it's just a trial & error thing. I know with my '72 1/2 ton Chevy, I load it with the max weight towards the cab & over the wheel wells. If I don't, it gets quite bouncy.

dsatwork

For anyone following this post, I offer this followup to let you know how I resolved the issue of the bouncing truck. When I bought this used truck, I made some assumptions that were completely wrong in regards to the suspension. I thought I bought a truck with great suspension, because I painstakingly searched for that should have a great suspension. A 2015 Silverado double cab with a standard bed and the Max tow package. That combination would give me the maximum payload for a half ton Chevy and the maximum towing capacity for the 5.3 engine which is 11,200 lbs. So, when I found the truck I assumed it would have a very stiff suspension and so I couldn't reconcile the bouncing I encountered while towing the Tab with 300 lbs of tongue weight.

As you might imagine, it only got worse with the Airsteam's 1000 lbs of tongue weight,
even with the Equalizer weight distribution hitch system. So, I began searching for solutions and trying to dial in the weight distribution system and even replacing the Tembrin jounce bumpers with Airlift 5000 premium air bags. Although I was able to make some improvements, it was still bouncing more than we were willing to live with.

We were ready to give up and even went to Carmax for a  Silverado 2500 test ride. When we were done, I thought to try very rudimentary comparison of the two suspensions.  I got on the bumper of my truck and bounced it, it just kept on rolling back and forth until it finally stopped after 2 or 3 movements side to side. Then I got on the bumper of the 2500 and did the same thing, and it bounced back and forth once and stopped. The lack of dampening made me believe it was the shocks and if I could have figured this out in the beginning, I probably wouldn't have had nearly as much trouble. So, ultimately I replaced my completely worn out shocks with Bilstien 4600's front and back and now when I bounce on the bumper it only goes up and down once then immediately settles down.

In January, we took the Airstream from San Diego to Sedona and back and the difference was night and day. We are selling our Tab, but I can't wait to give that a try too, maybe I'll get to deliver it somewhere. We'll see.

If you are considering shocks for your truck, I highly recommend the Bilstien 4600 or 5100 mono tube design. My worn out stock shocks weren't providing any dampening which exacerbated the problem on bouncing roads. The standard dual tube shocks get worse the harder they are worked, because the shock heats up and the fluid and air mix eliminating any dampening they may have under normal conditions.

I hope someone will find my journey helpful.