Trying to decide on the 1500 Max Trailering or a 2500 diesel.

[bills]

I have a 2014 crew cab with the 6.2L and max tow pkge. I pull my travel trailer that weighs in at just under 10,000 lbs (according to the CAT scales) with no problem at all. I thought about getting the 2500 but it was a no brainer to get the 1500 when Mama saw all the creature comforts we could get. The ride is also much better in our truck. I have no regrets at all and love my truck!

Good luck with your decision.

[Hockeylover86]

HD for sure.

 

As said above, if you are a "flatlander", the 6.0 would be fine for you.

 

However, If the extra $10k is no big deal to you get the diesel, you will enjoy it more, especially if you are a car guy and like to mod things.

 

Throw another few grand at the diesel for tune and deletes, you will have your hot rod AND a capable heavy tow vehicle that would make you forget about the 6.2.

[2004lebanshee]

D-Max and its not even a question. If you towing a lot I wouldn't get a 6.2. There is a reason GM keeps the 6.0 as the gas work version of a 3/4 ton. Besides the motor set up it's the brakes, suspensions ect on the 1500 that are not going to hold up or perform over time as well as the parts on a 3/4 ton. Test drive a heavy load behind a 3/4 D-Max and you'll see a huge difference over a 6.2. Its just not in the same league. Nobody who has drove a Diesel with a heavy load would argue otherwise. Towing 10,000 with a 1500 max tow is just boarder line. There is more to towing then pulling power. Even though GM says it can handle it you too close to the tow max IMO. Especially if it is a common thing. The max tow 1500 isn't even in the same league. Not to mention you a chip away from having a better tow vehicle and a faster truck then any 1500. Don't take advice from anyone who has not actually towed with a 3/4 Diesel. Also if your keeping the truck the value of the diesel will hardly even go down over time. Unlike every gas truck.

[vetracer]

+1 Go for the Duramax. You have too many heavy toys for a 1/2 ton.

 

 

[muddkatt]

Being raised on a farm and towing more farm equipment than I care to remember, here is my input. Towing a trailer with a tractor and implements is much different than towing a travel trailer. First the trailer...does it have trailer brakes? electric or surge? how much tongue weight when you load the tractor? You mention that you were not comfortable when you tried towing it with the Yukon, why? Was it lack of acceleration? Did the trailer want to sway at speed? Was the front end of the Tahoe picked up so that steering and braking made you nervous?

 

Either truck you mention will pull the load, but like "Panik" mentioned, not being able to stop the load is the real issue.

 

In all my years of towing trailers, I only swapped trucks one time because I was too "nervous" about the load. That time I could not get enough weight off the tongue so I borrowed an F350.

[Johnnyee]

I owned a 2014 Chevy with the 6.2 and the Max Tow package for a year. I loved the power, performance, and it's ability to tow my trailer "comfortably". But in my case, I hated the mileage and it's need for premium fuel. I bought a 2015 2500HD w/Dmax, and wow. It's absolutely awesome. It may not be as fast as the 6.2, but it beats its hands down in all other categories. As for towing, I forget there is a trailer behind me. It makes everything so much easier.

[99-ls1-ss]

Being raised on a farm and towing more farm equipment than I care to remember, here is my input. Towing a trailer with a tractor and implements is much different than towing a travel trailer. First the trailer...does it have trailer brakes? electric or surge? how much tongue weight when you load the tractor? You mention that you were not comfortable when you tried towing it with the Yukon, why? Was it lack of acceleration? Did the trailer want to sway at speed? Was the front end of the Tahoe picked up so that steering and braking made you nervous?

 

Either truck you mention will pull the load, but like "Panik" mentioned, not being able to stop the load is the real issue.

 

In all my years of towing trailers, I only swapped trucks one time because I was too "nervous" about the load. That time I could not get enough weight off the tongue so I borrowed an F350.

 

Thank you for your input. I will have the 20' version of this trailer. It has electric brakes. I would guess that the tongue weight would depend on the position of the tractor on the trailer but, to answer your question, I don't know for sure.

The reason I wasn't comfortable with the Tahoe pulling that much weight was trailer swayed and the brakes on the trailer weren't working or working correctly. The Tahoe struggled to stop when loaded. I tried to position the tractor on the trailer in a way that it didn't lift the front of the Tahoe too much. If I would have had to panic stop it would have been bad. The Tahoe did struggle some as far as acceleration goes but, that didn't bother me. I wasn't in any hurry.

 

The trailer I used was a medium duty single car hauling trailer. It's an older trailer so I don't have the specs on its capacity but, if I had to guess I would say the tractor probably exceeded it. I've hauled cars on that trailer many times with no issues and I'm comfortable hauling trailers. The combination that I had that day wasn't safe.

[99-ls1-ss]

I owned a 2014 Chevy with the 6.2 and the Max Tow package for a year. I loved the power, performance, and it's ability to tow my trailer "comfortably". But in my case, I hated the mileage and it's need for premium fuel. I bought a 2015 2500HD w/Dmax, and wow. It's absolutely awesome. It may not be as fast as the 6.2, but it beats its hands down in all other categories. As for towing, I forget there is a trailer behind me. It makes everything so much easier.

Braking isn't an issue with 10,000 lbs behind you? The way the 1500 stops and handles a trailer that weighs that much is THE unknown for me. I have no doubt that the 2500 will handle that weight just fine. I just wish I knew how the 1500 would.

[99-ls1-ss]

I owned a 2014 Chevy with the 6.2 and the Max Tow package for a year. I loved the power, performance, and it's ability to tow my trailer "comfortably". But in my case, I hated the mileage and it's need for premium fuel. I bought a 2015 2500HD w/Dmax, and wow. It's absolutely awesome. It may not be as fast as the 6.2, but it beats its hands down in all other categories. As for towing, I forget there is a trailer behind me. It makes everything so much easier.

Your comment holds a lot of weight with me. You have actual experience with both vehicles. Thank you very much for you post.

[muddkatt]

1. Working trailer brakes is a must with a heavy load.

2. The trailer in the link has a LOT of tongue weight. You can add load leveling springs and a hitch if needed, something like this:

 

http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Curt/C17322.html?feed=npn&gclid=CJuUoJr2qMgCFQ8YHwodjkMO8Q

 

3. Make sure that the tongue actually has about 500 pounds of weight on it. If the load is centered on the trailer axles, or the tongue has negative weight, it WILL sway and can cause loss of control/wreck!

 

My current tow vehicle is a 2001 GMC 1500 with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears. I bought it new, it now has about 306,000 miles on it and at least 250,000 of them are with a trailer being pulled. I have never felt a need for more power except for pulling a 30 ft TT in the mountains. It still pulled it at highway speeds, but was in second gear basically red lined. And for those that want to know, it still has the original transmission, with only 1 fluid change, but it is getting weak. I don't have the TT any more and I just bought the Mrs. a 2015 Silverado with the 5.3, 6 speed and 3.42 gears. It has 1400 miles on it and I used it on 1 trip to tow the day it was bought. I pulled an empty 16 ft flat bed and came back loaded with about 6000 pounds on it. Never knew it was there except for the 13 MPG I got...well I did know when one of the brand new Chinese trailer tires blew out, after dark, on a 2 lane road with no shoulders. But that is a whole different topic.

[SouthpawHD]

1. Working trailer brakes is a must with a heavy load.

2. The trailer in the link has a LOT of tongue weight. You can add load leveling springs and a hitch if needed, something like this:

 

http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Curt/C17322.html?feed=npn&gclid=CJuUoJr2qMgCFQ8YHwodjkMO8Q

 

3. Make sure that the tongue actually has about 500 pounds of weight on it. If the load is centered on the trailer axles, or the tongue has negative weight, it WILL sway and can cause loss of control/wreck!

 

My current tow vehicle is a 2001 GMC 1500 with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears. I bought it new, it now has about 306,000 miles on it and at least 250,000 of them are with a trailer being pulled. I have never felt a need for more power except for pulling a 30 ft TT in the mountains. It still pulled it at highway speeds, but was in second gear basically red lined. And for those that want to know, it still has the original transmission, with only 1 fluid change, but it is getting weak. I don't have the TT any more and I just bought the Mrs. a 2015 Silverado with the 5.3, 6 speed and 3.42 gears. It has 1400 miles on it and I used it on 1 trip to tow the day it was bought. I pulled an empty 16 ft flat bed and came back loaded with about 6000 pounds on it. Never knew it was there except for the 13 MPG I got...well I did know when one of the brand new Chinese trailer tires blew out, after dark, on a 2 lane road with no shoulders. But that is a whole different topic.

Gotta say, that's a strong endorsement for the NHT packages. So many nay sayers state a 1/2 ton can't do what you do, but clearly with the right set up (gears, trans cooler) it can be done!!

[99-ls1-ss]

1. Working trailer brakes is a must with a heavy load.

2. The trailer in the link has a LOT of tongue weight. You can add load leveling springs and a hitch if needed, something like this:

 

http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Curt/C17322.html?feed=npn&gclid=CJuUoJr2qMgCFQ8YHwodjkMO8Q

 

3. Make sure that the tongue actually has about 500 pounds of weight on it. If the load is centered on the trailer axles, or the tongue has negative weight, it WILL sway and can cause loss of control/wreck!

 

My current tow vehicle is a 2001 GMC 1500 with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears. I bought it new, it now has about 306,000 miles on it and at least 250,000 of them are with a trailer being pulled. I have never felt a need for more power except for pulling a 30 ft TT in the mountains. It still pulled it at highway speeds, but was in second gear basically red lined. And for those that want to know, it still has the original transmission, with only 1 fluid change, but it is getting weak. I don't have the TT any more and I just bought the Mrs. a 2015 Silverado with the 5.3, 6 speed and 3.42 gears. It has 1400 miles on it and I used it on 1 trip to tow the day it was bought. I pulled an empty 16 ft flat bed and came back loaded with about 6000 pounds on it. Never knew it was there except for the 13 MPG I got...well I did know when one of the brand new Chinese trailer tires blew out, after dark, on a 2 lane road with no shoulders. But that is a whole different topic.

Thanks for the link to the load distributing hitch. I will get that with the trailer. Also, in retrospect, I think I caused some negative tongue weight induced swaying by not balancing the load correctly. I will do more research on that topic before I tow my tractor again.

 

How heavy was the trailer that your 1500 pulled frequently? Did it stop ok? Is there a reason you don't use a 2500 instead?

[jamin87ss]

I pull 10500 with my 5.3 3.42's no issues, its a boat, so aerodynamics help, but honestly it pulls great, I certainly don't look to set speed records, but my daily driving outweighs my towing, I think a max tow would be sweet, maybe next time

[Panik]

Being raised on a farm and towing more farm equipment than I care to remember, here is my input. Towing a trailer with a tractor and implements is much different than towing a travel trailer. First the trailer...does it have trailer brakes? electric or surge? how much tongue weight when you load the tractor? You mention that you were not comfortable when you tried towing it with the Yukon, why? Was it lack of acceleration? Did the trailer want to sway at speed? Was the front end of the Tahoe picked up so that steering and braking made you nervous?

 

Either truck you mention will pull the load, but like "Panik" mentioned, not being able to stop the load is the real issue.

 

In all my years of towing trailers, I only swapped trucks one time because I was too "nervous" about the load. That time I could not get enough weight off the tongue so I borrowed an F350.

 

 

Valid questions and points. Just to make sure things are clear, the issue of stopping was with the Jeep Commander and no the current setup with the 1500 and the equipment trailer. I've never had an issue with stopping the 20' equipment trailer while towing behind my truck. The bigger axles and brakes are one of the reasons why I over bought in terms of capacity when I was trailer shopping. BTW I'm using a 20' version of one of these: http://www.kaufmantrailers.com/equipment-trailers/equipment-trailer/10000-gvwr-standard-wood-floor-equipment-trailer/

 

OP, have you had the chance to drive any of the vehicle models your interested in? Without a doubt the 2500 will handle what your talking about significantly better than a 1500 max tow and a D-max will do the job even better. However there are some trade offs, generally in terms entry costs.

 

I mean if you're into that type of thing the difference in price between a new D-max and a 2500 could be the cost of hydraulics and a grapple for that "L" you're pulling or a top-n-tilt for setup for the 3 point. If you don't mind sharing, have you thought of what a realistic budget might be?

[Johnnyee]

Braking isn't an issue with 10,000 lbs behind you? The way the 1500 stops and handles a trailer that weighs that much is THE unknown for me. I have no doubt that the 2500 will handle that weight just fine. I just wish I knew how the 1500 would.

I am towing a 10,000 lb fifth wheel. It's not going to stop on a dime, probably not on a large silver dollar either. But it will stop better than the 1/2 ton did. Remember that the 3/4 ton weights empty what the 1/2 ton weighted loaded. Far heavier truck with better brakes. A vastly better towing experience. And I owned a 2010 Tahoe before these pickups. It scared me to death pulling my former trailer. The Tahoe's towing capacity was okay, but the wheel base was too short to make the towing experience "comfortable".