What’s The Best Hitch For My Sierra 1500?

Towing is a major thing and should never be taken lightly. Always ensuring that your vehicle is able to tow a certain amount of weight, checking your tow hitch, making sure your brakes are in good working order, and having the proper pressures in your truck and trailer tires, among other things. 

Engine Choices & Towing Capacities

The GMC Sierra 1500 is a very capable truck, and with your choice of TurboMax I4, 5.3-liter V8, 6.2-liter V8, and Duramax 3.0-liter Turbo-Diesel 6-Cylinder, it can tow anywhere from 9,200 lbs all the way up to 13,200 lbs with the Duramax Turbo-Diesel. Because of this, sometimes you will want to use a Weight-Distribution Hitch. 

What Is A Weight-Distribution Hitch?

What is a Weight-Distribution Hitch? Simply put, it allows you to put more of the towing weight back onto the front axle instead of having the rear axle take all of the load. When towing, you are essentially putting load on the rear axle, and if there is too much weight, the front end can start to get light, meaning braking performance is worse, steering becomes less precise, and you have a recipe for potential disaster that can cause real harm to you and others on the road. 

What is FALR?

Using a hitch that distributes the weight does what’s called Front-Axle Load Restoration (FALR), and it means a set of equalizer bars or arms are placed from the trailer hitch to the a-frame of the trailer you’re towing. These are typically placed about 25-35 inches from the coupler. The coupler is the part that goes from the trailer and locks onto the hitch ball from the towing vehicle. Changing the height of the hitch ball/head can further change the distribution of weight. 

When using the FALR technique, you can put back anywhere from 50% up to 100% of the distributed weight back to the front axle. Just remember, adding too much weight back to the front axle can have adverse effects on the rear axle, by inducing slippage. The rear tires will have less traction, and this can cause the trailer to become unwieldy. 

When Should I Use A Weight-Distribution Hitch

When should you use a weight distribution hitch? Well, GMC recommends that you use one on any trailer over 7,000 lbs, and also with a 50% FALR. 

Practice Towing Safely

Keep all of this in mind when you are getting ready to tow a trailer. Towing can be very daunting at first, but once you’ve done it in a safe manner a few times, you will absolutely get the hang of it and not feel so stressed. So whether you’re towing horses, cars, motorcycles, boats, jet skis, furniture, mulch, or anything else, just stop and do the math. 

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