Seasoned drivers know that towing is great … until it isn’t. To help, the new 2019 Silverado 1500 will introduce several levels of features to improve customers’ trailering experiences.

In developing the all-new Silverado, Chevrolet spoke with no fewer than 7,000 customers. Sixty percent of those surveyed named towing as a key purchase consideration. An associated recurring theme? The difficulty many customers have with certain aspects of trailering and hauling.

To address this, the 2019 Silverado 1500 will offer four bits of tech (plus a sticker!) to help with trailering. They are designed to provide customers more confidence, easier trailer hitching, and improved connectivity between the truck and trailer.

“Ultimately, these technologies serve to eliminate common pain points of towing and help provide customers with a less stressful experience while trailering,” said Tim Herrick, executive chief engineer, Full-Size Trucks, General Motors.

Appy Hour

Included with the purchase of all 2019 Silverado 1500s, the myChevrolet smartphone app will offer as pre-departure step-by-step towing checklists and a glossary of towing terms. Critically, the app also allows drivers to conduct a trailer light test.

This handy tool uses an automatic exterior light sequence to help confirm the trailer is properly hooked up. In the past, this was a two-person job. Now a single individual can properly connect a trailer and check the lights. The trailer light sequence can also be activated via the Advanced Trailering System.

Advanced Trailering System

Speaking of, this feature will be great for those who are more than casual haulers. The system is standard on LTZ and High Country trim levels and available on LT, RST, and Trail Boss trims. The system includes Auto Parking Brake Assist, Hitch Guidance with Hitch View, and a Trailer Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

The latter is cool but self-explanatory and will apparently require some dealer installation. Hitch View simply adds a dynamic backing guideline to the Rear Vision Camera system to help customers line up their hitch. Brake Assist is the best of the trio, setting the truck’s brakes automatically to help avoid vehicle movement after the customer lines up the truck and trailer and then shifts to park.

Advanced Trailering System Infotainment App

Paired with the system listed above is an app that allows customers to track the mileage, fuel economy, and transmission temperature of their truck while towing. Brake gain memory is part of this system and works with the Integrated Trailer Brake Controller to let the customer set and save the controller’s brake gain setting for each trailer within their five-trailer profile.

Trailer Theft Alert, integrated into the app, can activate the truck’s lights and horn if the harness of the trailer attached to the truck is disconnected. Info from the available wireless trailer tire pressure is also reported by the app.

Trailer Camera Package

This kit enhances trailering views with three cameras to provide a 270-degree view. The image is stitched together by a standard rear vision camera and two side view cameras mounted in the side view mirrors. An optional fourth accessory camera that mounts to the trailer can be added to the system.

Trailering Label

Yes, it’s just a sticker. It may be one of the most handy real-world items listed here, though. Towing limits for a particular model of truck can vary wildly based on the equipment with which it has been opted. Two Silverado pickups can look visually identical but have significantly dissimilar towing capacities thanks to different rear-end ratios, for example.

To address this, Chevrolet has created a trailering label that is located on the driver’s side door jamb of all next-generation 2019 Silverado pickups. This label provides customers with the information they need to calculate their pickup’s exact capacities.

This label should take the guesswork out of towing and hauling as it’ll be tied to the truck’s VIN. It will provide standard info such as GVWR, GCWR, and rear GAWR. Helpfully added will be the pickup’s maximum payload and maximum tongue weight. Curb weight will be listed, too.

The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado goes on sale in the fall of 2018.