The headline number for the 2026 Colorado is 7,700 lbs, and the configuration that gets there is a crew cab with the 2.7L TurboMax on a 3.42 axle, properly equipped. That last phrase is doing real work here: on a rear-wheel-drive truck the rating is available only with the Trailering Package, and on four-wheel drive it needs the Trailering Package and a limited-slip differential. Gross combination weight rating is 13,250 lbs.

If you tow in this region, the number that decides your weekend is not the maximum. It is what the truck does on a sustained climb with a wet trailer behind it, and what happens on a ramp that drops away down a narrow twisting descent. This page covers ratings by configuration, payload, the packages, the trailering technology, and what a Colorado will realistically pull.

Maximum Towing Capacity by Configuration

Engine and configuration	Axle	GCWR	Max trailer weight
2.7L TurboMax, crew cab, rear-wheel drive	3.42	13,250 lbs	7,700 lbs, with the Trailering Package
2.7L TurboMax, crew cab, four-wheel drive	3.42	13,250 lbs	7,700 lbs, with the Trailering Package and a limited-slip differential
2.7L TurboMax, ZR2, four-wheel drive	3.42	11,600 lbs	6,000 lbs

Two things follow from that table. First, four-wheel drive costs you nothing in rating on this truck, which is not true of every midsize pickup. Second, the ZR2 is the only Colorado that tows less, and it is not a small step down: the three-inch lift, the Multimatic DSSV dampers and the 33-inch mud-terrain tires that make it good on rock bring the rating down to 6,000 lbs. If you tow near the maximum and you also want a trail truck, the Trail Boss is the trim that does both.

One more thing the table does not show, because there is nothing to show: Chevrolet's 2026 trailering document carries a single maximum-trailer-weight column and no other. No gooseneck or fifth-wheel figure is published for this truck at all, so that setup sits outside anything the manufacturer rates.

Maximum Payload by Configuration

Configuration	Payload
Rear-wheel drive, crew cab	1,710 pounds
Across all configurations	roughly 1,445 to 2,046 pounds

Payload is gross vehicle weight rating minus curb weight, and it is the figure most first-time towers forget to check, because tongue weight lives inside it. A trailer near the 7,700-lb rating puts several hundred pounds of tongue weight on the hitch, and every one of those pounds comes out of the same allowance as your passengers, your gear and the cooler in the bed. Whatever this page says, the allowance that actually governs a given truck is the one on its own tire-and-loading label, and that label is inside the driver's door. passengers, cargo, options and accessories reduce what the truck can tow.

Trailering Packages and Features

The Trailering Package is not a nice-to-have on this truck; it is the difference between a 7,700-lb rating and a lower one. On rear-wheel drive it is the sole condition Chevrolet attaches. On four-wheel drive it comes with a second condition, a limited-slip differential, and both have to be present.

Beyond the package itself, the equipment that makes a Colorado a decent tow rig is spread across the lineup rather than locked behind a top trim. The mid-position tailgate, rated to 500 lbs, gives you a place to work from at the back of a five-foot bed. Cargo bed lighting and a built-in tailgate measurement tool are Colorado-wide. Tow/Haul is one of the selectable drive modes when the truck is equipped for it, and it is the one that changes shift behaviour on a grade rather than just the throttle map.

If you are ordering rather than buying from the lot, confirm the Trailering Package and, on four-wheel drive, the limited-slip differential are both on the build sheet. Ask us to check a specific truck before you commit.

Available Trailering Technology

Up to ten camera views are available on the Colorado, and underbody cameras are on the options list. For towing the useful ones are the hitch-guidance view, which turns lining up a coupler into a one-person job, and the bed view. The trailering app runs on the 11.3-inch touchscreen that every trim carries, so the pre-departure checklist and the light test are not locked to an upper trim. The 11-inch digital driver display is where the tow information lives while you are moving.

What Can the 2026 Colorado Actually Tow?

The load	Against a 7,700-lb rating
An aluminium fishing boat on a single-axle trailer	Comfortably inside it, with room left for people and gear.
A pair of personal watercraft on a double trailer	Comfortably inside it.
A teardrop or small A-frame camper	Inside it, and this is the segment the Colorado suits best.
A two-place enclosed snowmobile or UTV trailer	Inside it. Watch tongue weight against your payload label.
A landscape trailer with mulch or a compact tractor	Inside it for most builds. Weigh it loaded if you are close.
A large travel trailer, a two-horse gooseneck, or a car hauler with a car on it	Past this truck. That is a half-ton conversation, and we sell those too.

The build that gets the headline rating is a crew-cab Colorado with the Trailering Package, and on four-wheel drive the limited-slip differential alongside it. Any of the six trims except the ZR2 will carry it. See which Colorados we have on the ground.

Real-World Towing in the Lehigh Valley

Two places settle whether a midsize truck is enough here, and neither is a flat highway.

Beltzville Lake. The Pine Run launch has three ramps and enough trailer parking to turn around in, which makes it the easy one. Preachers Camp is the other test: the road down to it narrows and twists as it drops, and boats well over twenty feet still launch there. Coming back up with a wet trailer is where a truck either holds a gear or hunts for one, and where the 430 lb-ft arriving at 3,000 rpm does the work.

The climb north. The run up the Northeast Extension past the Lehigh Tunnel, and PA 33 toward the Poconos, are sustained grades rather than rises. Anything near the rating finds out there whether a truck's cooling and its Tow/Haul calibration were designed or assumed. This is also the reason the low-range trims matter more here than the brochure suggests: ridge weather turns over fast enough that a truck can leave dry pavement and be in packed snow inside twenty minutes of climbing.

Worth knowing before you plan a trip: Lake Nockamixon has five public launch areas and is open around the clock, but it carries a 20-horsepower motor limit, so it is a sailboat and pontoon lake rather than a ski-boat one. Mauch Chunk Lake is non-powered and electric only. If you are hauling a powerboat, Beltzville is the one to plan around.

Towing FAQs

More on the 2026 Colorado