#1G
GMC Sierra 3500hd
89The pick — 36,000 lb tow rating, 5,600 lb payload capacity. Strong tow.
Best GMC Trucks for Towing
Every GMC pickup, ranked on tow score.
Here's how the GMC lineup stacks up on tow. Same rubric across every truck — no brand favors.
GMC runs the same proven bones as Chevrolet — same frames, same Duramax-Allison heart in the HDs — and spends its own budget on the cabin you tow from. Mechanically a known quantity, experientially the dressed-up sibling; for long-haul towing, ten hours at the wheel makes the Denali argument by itself.
The scores treat GMC exactly like its hardware deserves: Sierra HDs with the Duramax post the same serious numbers as their Chevy twins, and the Sierra 1500 with Max Trailering climbs the half-ton board the same honest way. The ProGrade trailering cameras earn a practical mention — hitching alone with a load is where multi-view earns its keep.
Walk past if the budget is tight: the Chevy twin does identical work for less, and my score can't see the nicer headliner. Buy the Sierra when the cabin delta is worth its sticker delta for the hours you'll live in it — both answers are respectable, and only one of them is mine to score.
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#2
GMC Sierra 2500hd
7118,500 lb tow rating, 3,300 lb payload capacity. Capable tow.
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#3
GMC Sierra 1500
4513,400 lb tow rating, Max tow package. Marginal tow — occasional use.
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#4
GMC Canyon
417,700 lb tow rating, Max tow package. Marginal tow — occasional use.
Spec table
| Model | Max Tow (lbs) | Max Payload (lbs) | Powertrains |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMC Sierra 3500hd | 36,000 | 7,442 | 6.6L Duramax Diesel |
| GMC Sierra 2500hd | 18,500 | 3,979 | 6.6L V8, 6.6L Duramax Diesel |
| GMC Sierra 1500 | 13,300 | 2,140 | 6.2L V8, 5.3L V8, 4.3L V6 |
| GMC Canyon | 7,700 | 1,609 | 2.7L Turbo I4 |
How Goose scores Towing
Towing is math, not marketing. I read the sticker, not the ad copy.
Towing is math, not marketing. I read the OEM tow rating, payload, powertrain, and hitch hardware straight off the sticker — the same numbers the manufacturer certifies, not what the ad copy rounds up to. A truck that tows 12,000 lbs but runs out of payload at 1,400 gets called out for it, because your trailer's tongue weight doesn't care about the brochure. Higher score, more trailer, fewer surprises at the scales.
Frequently asked
- What's the difference between towing capacity and payload?
- Towing is what the truck pulls behind it; payload is what it carries, including the trailer's tongue weight, your passengers, and your gear. Most trucks run out of payload before towing. That's the number buyers skip and shouldn't.
- Can a half-ton tow a horse trailer?
- Some can, barely, with the right configuration. Two horses plus a steel trailer eats most of a half-ton's rating and nearly all its payload. I'd rather see you in a 250/2500 with margin than at 98% of a maxed-out 150.
- Why do two identical-looking trucks score differently?
- Axle ratio, powertrain, and tow packages. Two trucks with the same trim badge can be thousands of pounds apart in certified rating. That's why I score the actual configuration, not the model name.
- Does a diesel always score higher for towing?
- Usually on the rating, not always on the score. Diesels dominate heavy towing, but the extra engine weight cuts payload — for lighter trailers, a strong gas engine can be the smarter number.
- What's a good towing score?
- 80+ means built to tow heavy as a primary job. 50–79 handles boats, campers, and equipment with margin. Under 50 tows light duty — fine, as long as your trailer knows it.