GM maintains max. tow capacity with 2015 pick-ups

By CTAR Staff Detroit, Michigan — July 2, 2014 — General Motors has announced its 2015 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty pick up trucks will maintain a maximum tow capacity of 12,000 lb as the company transitions towards SAE compliance. “We engineered the new Silverado and Sierra 1500s to be our most capable light-duty pickups ever,” GM Executive Chief Engineer Jeff Luke said in a company release. SAE International is a global association consisting of more than 138,000 engineers working within a number of vehicle-based industries with a mission centred around ensuring vehicle safety, maintenance and energy resources conservation. In 2012 SAE released the “Performance Requirements for Determining Tow-Vehicle Gross Combination Weight Rating and Trailer Weight Rating” report. The guidelines within the report require vehicles to be tested under consistent conditions and safety-based parameters with the purpose of providing consumers with accurate information when comparing the weight-bearing capacities of similar pick-up models. The report outlined revisions to standard trailer weight range descriptions and clarifications of test setups, ballast procedures and test requirements in several areas. These standards are intended to be applied to passenger cars, multi-purpose passenger vehicles and trucks with a gross weight rating of up to 13,000 lb. GM, the first of the major automobile manufacturers to base their pick-up lines from SAE trailer ratings, will be maintaining the tow capacity on some of its 6.2L V-8 engine vehicles that come equipped with special tow packages. While these lighter-duty trucks will maintain a 12,000 lb capacity. GM says its 4.3L V-6 engined pick-ups will however drop their maximum capacities of 6,400 to 6,100 lb. “Silverado 1500 will continue to offer trailer weight ratings up to 12,000 pounds,” said Luke said in a GM release detailing the Silverado’s SAE compliance. “And, we will offer a number of configurations with trailer weight ratings of 9,000 pounds or more, enabling light-duty pickup customers to choose exactly the right truck for their towing requirements.” GM’s other major pick-up, the GMC Sierra, will continue following the basic redesign of the 2014 model. Both the Silverado and Sierra will be capable of towing 10,800 lb under the new standards, decreasing from just over 11,000 lb. “For 2015, we will build on that strong foundation to implement SAE J2807 while maintaining robust towing capability across the lineup,” Luke stated. For more information on GM, please visit GM.ca. To learn more about SAE standards, please visit SAE.org.