Dont know jack about towing. Got a few questions...

[Silver84k5]

Girlfriend is asking me Towing questions and im not too confident in my answers... She is looking to buy a mid 90s Chevy pickup.. i tell her that if she gets a half ton. We could put a 3/4 ton rear axle and 3/4 ton rear springs in there if we need to... But my question is.. How well would a half ton pickup tow.. As Far as the Brakes and the Suspension? More then likely itll have a 350 in it.. She will be towing a horse trailer with up to 3 horses in it..

Thx for any help /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[Fubeca]

I think it would be pretty uncomfortable and probably unsafe to tow 3 horses with a 1/2 ton truck. Three relatively small horses are going to weigh around 3,300 lbs. and the trailer and tack will likely weigh around 2,500 – 3,000. So already you will probably be towing well over 6,000 lbs. It would probably work around town but I wouldn’t do it on the highway.
Part of the problem is that the horses move and the weight distribution changes.
If she is planning to tow the horses often or for any distance – I’d suggest a ¾ ton truck for sure.

 

[lason]

I drive one of the new 1/2 ton Dodge quad cab hemi's and Im always towing. It does real good doing a normal car on a heavy trailor but even when I did my K5 which was probably about 5500 lbs plus a HEAVY 20ft. trailor , 2500 lbs, it still did good as long as I kept it under 65mph. I would maybe step it up to a 3/4 ton diesel if she plans on doing ALOT of towing but a 1/2 ton will deffinetly pull fine.

 

[Thunder]

I would never tow a 3 or more place horse trailer with a half Ton. You are asking for trouble. Those critters are heavy and if they move around a little they can cause all kinds of problems.Like loss of control and a rollover. Just get a good 3/4 or 1 ton truck and be safe.

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

I never tow anything with a 1/2 ton truck anymore. Learned my lesson, screw that.

 

[BlazerGuy]

Get at least a 3/4 ton pickup for horses. I used a 93 1/2 ton ext cab long bed to haul 3 horses in an aluminum gooseneck wheel once. I had to pull it about 400 miles (Paris to San Antone) and it was the scariest drive of my life. I couldn't go more than 55 mph, and I had to start braking from a long ways out. Not to mention the trailer was pushing the truck all over the place. Now I towed the same trailer with the same horses back to Paris with a 03 F250 PowerStroke crew cab and it was a world of difference.

Is your trailer steel or aluminum? gooseneck or bumper-pull? I'd only use a 1/2 ton to tow a golf cart or a jet ski...

 

[Silver84k5]

trailer is steel, bumper pull.

 

[Silver84k5]

Thx for all the responses... Shes definatley gettin a 3/4ton