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Towing question

jorge1958

By jorge1958
in Towing, Hauling & Hitches

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garagerog Enthusiast

garagerog

Posted
Posted

People, heed Cowpie's advice, in addition to the reasons he listed, you want to be able to see what's going on in front of you which you can't do when following  a tractor/trailer to closely, I like to be able to see at least 1/4 mile ahead. And , if you ever find yourself behind a tractor pulling a lowboy, get around that sucker as fast as you can safely, invariably a lowboy trailer will have some debris on it, an errant nut or bolt, piece of chain, etc. Roughly 10 years ago in eastern Wa. state a woman was killed when a pin from a dozer track roller flew off the back of a low boy trailer and penetrated her windshield.

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Blue2500CC Enthusiast

Blue2500CC

Posted
Posted
On 12/9/2017 at 8:37 AM, jorge1958 said:

Hi folks I am new to this forum. I had a question about towing with my 2015 Silverado 1500. My truck came with the factory tow package. It has the 5.3 V8 with 3.21 gears. My camp trailer is 26ft and weighs about 5200lbs dry. I had a 2014 Ram 1500 Hemi with 3.55 gears that I traded in for this Silverado. Do any of you have the same set up as I have on my truck. If you do how does it tow. My Ram didn't seem to have any problems towing this trailer but I am a little concerned with the gear ratio in my new truck. I just hope it doesn't labor to much to tow my trailer. Let me know your thoughts and experiences. Thanks

 

Welcome!!!

 

Your new truck should handle the tt just fine. Just remember to let the motor breath when needed by dropping a gear or two, and allow the motor to rev

shane.lawrence.311 Enthusiast

shane.lawrence.311

Posted
Posted

I definitely recommend the equalizer WD set up...I added air bags to my truck as well...I have the 3.73 gears in my truck and I still won't go through the Jellico mountains...my camper is a little over 7k so with the truck and camper packed with people and gear I'm well over 8k...and I stay away from the 18 wheelers as much as I can...I'm not getting taken out my tire shreads...happy camping...!

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Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 8:25 PM, Cowpie said:

Oh. So you are following at about 5-6 full vehicle lengths behind the nearest truck then.   Wouldn't be good to eat a 100 lb of tire tread that flies off the back wheel of the trailer and turns your pickup into a convertible.  I have seen that happen.  I have even thrown a tread sideways into a car that couldn't figure out how to get around my semi in a timely manner.  They did that 1 mph faster than me type of passing and the tire blew up right at their front fender.  For any appreciable "drafting" effect to occur, the distance has to be within 3 feet.  Else turbulence takes over.

I've ridden motorcycles most of my life and have seen 'gators' take a 'hog' out in a blink.  You can't unsee that sort of thing. 

It shouldn't happen at all but is more prevalent than road kill deer and just as deadly. I keep my distance, especially when passed by a truck that has a tire thumping. 

 

Clint623 Enthusiast

Clint623

Posted
Posted

I can certainly say that I give more distance than the truckers give each other


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Cowpie Senior Enthusiast

Cowpie

Posted
Posted

Truckers are as bad as anyone else. Actually, I find myself bellyaching about truckers more than the 4 wheelers.  We, as commercial truckers, should know better.  The common motoring public doesn't have nearly the miles under their seat, nor the battery of testing to get their license.  It is not reasonable for the majority of them to understand all the nuances of what goes on out on the road. 

minelson33 Enthusiast

minelson33

Posted
Posted

Agree with others.  The truck will be just fine.   I tow a Jayco 25BH, about 6700# loaded with my 2017 Silverado Double Cab,5.3 with 3.42 gears, with tow package.    I towed about 5,000 miles since buying it and have had no problems.    I did add proper towing mirrors and have a WDH that I have spend hours painstakingly getting adjusted properly.

 

I also agree that truckers are very helpful.    I stay very clear of them for the aforementioned reasons, but typically find myself in a pack of them.    In that pack, I get a feel for how they manage their fuel and load as they allow gravity and hills to affect their speed.     So my goal is not drafting, but rather strength in numbers as I try to get where I'm going without spending a fortune (while maintaining 70 mph no matter what) and enjoying my drive (without white-knuckling my wheel the whole time). 

RP53 Enthusiast

RP53

Posted
Posted

i think one thing most don't understand about towing is it really doesn't matter how much truck you have is that when traveling in the mountains you are more than likely no be able to maintain the speed you do on a flat hwy. (unless your towing a 1000lb   trailer with a 2500 or bigger diesel,  how many big trucks do you see going up a 7% grade without slowing down 

garagerog Enthusiast

garagerog

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, RP53 said:

i think one thing most don't understand about towing is it really doesn't matter how much truck you have is that when traveling in the mountains you are more than likely no be able to maintain the speed you do on a flat hwy. (unless your towing a 1000lb   trailer with a 2500 or bigger diesel,  how many big trucks do you see going up a 7% grade without slowing down 

Not sure that I've seen any 7% grades that you'll find any tractor-trailers on, a few 6%. Speaking of 18 wheelers, I've noticed since I've moved out east it doesn't take much of a hill to slow said rigs down. Out west on I-80 in Utah and Wyoming, the tractors must have the most powerful diesels made as they will run you over unless you're going at least 80 mph climbing the Rockies.

Cd264 Enthusiast

Cd264

Posted
Posted

Highway 5 in British Columbia is the road I travel camping. Also known as the highway through he'll.

Screenshot_2017-12-26-16-50-49.png

RP53 Enthusiast

RP53

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, garagerog said:

Not sure that I've seen any 7% grades that you'll find any tractor-trailers on, a few 6%. Speaking of 18 wheelers, I've noticed since I've moved out east it doesn't take much of a hill to slow said rigs down. Out west on I-80 in Utah and Wyoming, the tractors must have the most powerful diesels made as they will run you over unless you're going at least 80 mph climbing the Rockies.

I 26 between johnson city tn and asheville nc

Cowpie Senior Enthusiast

Cowpie

Posted
Posted
On 12/26/2017 at 6:46 PM, garagerog said:

Not sure that I've seen any 7% grades that you'll find any tractor-trailers on, a few 6%. Speaking of 18 wheelers, I've noticed since I've moved out east it doesn't take much of a hill to slow said rigs down. Out west on I-80 in Utah and Wyoming, the tractors must have the most powerful diesels made as they will run you over unless you're going at least 80 mph climbing the Rockies.

Only some independents and maybe some local fleet trucks.  Otherwise, the same trucks doing I26, I40, I81, etc out east are the same trucks doing I70 in Colorado.  There is a maxim in real estate that it is all about location, location, location.   In commercial heavy trucks, it is all about gearing, gearing, and gearing.    When done right, a little 13L diesel in a semi can put to shame any 15L on a hill pull.   I do it every day with the 12.7L Detroit in my semi truck.  But I spent a lot of time in tweaking the trans ratios, the diff ratios, the tires sizes, etc to get the most out of a nice neat package.  Not only can I walk ahead of many other "fleet spec" trucks on the road, I can pretty handily beat most of them in fuel economy as well.  Now if only we had the same ability to tweak specs in pickup trucks.  I think we would find a lot more happy folks.  This OEM cookie cutter, one size fits all stuff is why there is discussions such as these.

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