5th Wheel Hitch Recommendation For 2018 Chevy Silverado 2500 Short Bed & Capacity

Question:

Good afternoon! I recently purchased a 2018 chevy silverado 2500hd, 4x4, crew cab, regular bed, regular ride height, tow package and with the 6.6 li duramax. I have a tow hauler that weighs 7,400lbs dry and has a regular hitch. I cant find a actual towing max capacity for this truck, I keep seeing 14,900lbs which just can not be correct. I am also interested in looking into adding a gooseneck/5th wheel as we want to upgrade to a larger tow hauler. Are you able to provide me with the tow max capacity as regular hitch and what it would be adding a 5th wheel? Possibly what the 5th wheel addition would cost as well? Thank you very much for your time!

asked by: Brian W

Expert Reply:

Let's start with the capacity, and according to the Chevy towing guide I looked up online, based on all the factors you mentioned (which all come into play in regards to capacity), your 2018 Silverado 2500 with all those factors has a 13,000 lb standard towing and 13,500 lb 5th wheel towing capacity. I strongly recommend verifying this with your local Chevy dealer.

In regards to the 5th wheel hitch for your 2018 Silverado 2500 with a standard bed (which for 5th wheel towing purposes we refer to as a short bed), what you'll need are a sliding 5th wheel hitch and base rails for it to mount on. Hitches generally bottom out at 16,000 lbs in capacity, and that's what I recommend going with since the less capacity, the more economical hitches are. The best options are the following for your truck:

- Curt A16 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch with R16 Slider # C16521

- Curt Custom Fifth Wheel Installation Kit for Chevy/GMC # C16411-204

- Curt 5th Wheel/Gooseneck Custom Wiring Harness # C56070

The A16 is a great hitch that uses a unique interlocking dual jaw system that encompasses the king pin, and its full contact ensures the play and rattle that is persistent on other hitches won't occur. The base rails and install kit are perfect because they do not require any type of drilling into your truck's frame to install, and the wiring is designed to plug right into your factory wiring.

I have added links below to video reviews for you to check out as well if you'd like to take a look.