New tow vehicle

[Mike Dickinson]

Good Morning We have bought a 2014 Chevy Silverado LT for the wife. This is a full size Chevy pickup with the complete towing package, (hitch tube, 4 and 7 plug trailer connection, brake controller and a trailer button on the gear shift. Yes all the bells and whistles!!
My old tow vehicle is a 2012 Chevy Colorado. What do we need to do to her truck to be able to tow our Jayco hybrid jayfeather. I am concerned about the ball height because her truck is full size and mine is the smaller size and only five cylinder. Thanks Mike Dickinson

[DocBrown]

Congratulations, you'll love that truck.

Nothing to do really. You're good to go as it is, provided the truck is rated for it, but I doubt you'd have an issue. Unless it's the V6, but even then I think you'd fine. Look in your owners manual for the towing capacity. There are a number of pages that list all possible configurations of the truck and resective towing capacities. You'll need to know your gear ratio, found in an RPO code in your glove box. My 2016 Silverado LTZ has code GU6 which is 3.42 gears, and probably the most common. You'll want to also check what towing package and components you have. You say "all the bells and whistles", but there is a Max towing package that usually only came on LTZ or High Country trim levels. Mine is an LTZ and I don't even have the Max towing package.

Do you still have the Colorado? Measure from the bottom of the inside of the receiver on both trucks. The difference in height is how much you have to move the ball mount on the shank. My 2016 Silverado's hitch actually sits 1.8" lower than my old '08 Sierra. Fortunately I had a shorter shank that was not being used. A new shank is about $100.

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

Congratulations, you'll love that truck.

Do you still have the Colorado? Measure from the bottom of the inside of the receiver on both trucks. The difference in height is how much you have to move the ball mount on the shank.

The difference in height may not be quiet that simple, as the suspensions on the two TVs may not be close to the same, but it is a great place to start, as you will want to tow close to level.

You may need to purchase a new drop shank and reset up the WDH, That can take an hour or two. The hardest part of that job might be reaching the torque setting for the bolts.

[DocBrown]

One thing to add, you didn't say how many miles are on it. If you don't have a service history, at a minimum change the transmission fluid and filter. Should be done at 45k, and every 45k after. Same for transfer case fluid (if 4wd) and front/rear differentials.

[Big1]

Congrats!

[TxLoser]

That’s great. You’ll like towing with that much more than the Colorado. I’ve driven both the Silverado and the Colorado as loaners and I’d chose the full size all day for towing. The Colorado was a nice around town vehicle.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

My 2016 Silverado LTZ has code GU6 which is 3.42 gears, and probably the most common.

Congratulations! I have the same truck. It's a great truck.

Here are the RPO codes for the different transmissions you could get on that truck.

GU4 is a 3.08
GU5 is a 3.23
GU6 is a 3.42
GT4 is a 3.73
GT5 is a 4.10

The 3.08 was standard that year and is what came on my truck. It allows you to pull 6500 pounds, which should be enough for your trailer.

[Mike Dickinson]

Good Morning The 2014 Silverado has over 99,000 miles. I know that is a lot of miles. What I found on the internet was Maintenance Maintenance Maintenance. We intend to keep a record of the Maintenance. The Colorado receiver tube is 13" at the top of the tube, The Silverado is at 17". When we bought the hitch we got one that is adjustable (multi holes). So I hope it is just a matter of selecting the correct hole.

Thank you everyone for all your help. Mike Dickinson

[muckinfuss]

Not a lot of miles if it was maintained reasonable well. Looks like you're in rust country. Look underneath, that will tell you alot of how the previous owner respected the machine....clean with low rust=good. Thick rust, maybe not so good. But in any event, most trucks have a 250000 mile run built in if taken care of and it goes down from there. Happy trails

[85vf500rr]

Stay on top of maintenance and you'll be fine. We didn't get our trailer until after my truck hit the 150K mark. At 187K now and running strong. I've seen several Silverados and Sierras go past the 300K mark, so take care of it and it will take care of you. Enjoy towing with a larger truck, it shouldn't even break a sweat with your Jay Feather.