How much weight can the all-new 2019 Chevy Silverado 1500 Trail Boss tow and haul? Specialty off-road trucks are becoming more common. The new Trail Boss has a two-inch factory suspension lift, specially tuned off-road Rancho shocks, and aggressive Goodyear Duratrac tires. In general, a suspension lift, softer tuned shocks, and off-road tires can decrease hauling and towing capability of a truck. Can the Trail Boss still do the daily truck work that we all expect? The short answer is yes, but you need to look at the specs to see for yourself.
2019 Chevy Silverado 1500
The 2019 Trail Boss benefits from a redesigned frame, suspension geometry, and a longer wheelbase (147.5 inch for this crew cab short bed). These are all good things for towing because the longer wheelbase and stiffer chassis makes for a more stable trailer towing platform.
Trailering
New for 2019 is the VIN-specific weight specification sticker in the truck’s door jam. It calls out maximum trailer tongue weight, which is 950 lbs for this LT Trail Boss you see here. Considering that tongue weight makes up 10% of total trailer weight for conventional “bumper-pull” towing – the maximum trailer capacity is 9,500 lbs.
9,500 lbs is far from the maximum 12,500 lbs configuration for the 2019 Silverado, but it’s a capacity that a vast majority of half-ton truck owners are happy with. How does it compare to the competition? The 2019 Ram Rebel can be configured to tow more – namely 11,340 lbs for a crew cab short bed. The Ford F-150 FX4 is more of a mild off-road package, and thus it has a higher towing rating as well. However, the Nissan Titan PRO-4X and the Ford Raptor are rated lower.
2019 Ram Rebel max towing: 11,340 lbs
2019 Chevy Silverado 1500 Trail Boss max towing: 9,500 lbs
2019 Nissan Titan PRO-4X max towing: 9,230 lbs
2019 Ford F-150 Raptor max towing: 8,000 lbs
2019 Toyota TRD Pro max towing: (not available)
Payload
The 2019 Silverado 1500 is designed to be a lighter truck. GM utilizes the use of high-strength steels and aluminum hood, doors, and tailgate to reduce the curb weight and increase the payload by approximately 14% or 340 lbs. Indeed, the payload of this Trailboss sits at an impressive 1,635 lbs. Why is this impressive? It allows for maximum trailer tongue weight of 950 lbs with 685 lbs left over or people and other cargo. It’s very difficult to find an off-road ready truck with over 1,500 lbs of payload rating.
We will be doing more towing reviews with the latest 2019 half-ton trucks, but you can also enjoy the Trailboss on our Cliffhanger 2.0 off-road trail.
