What Weight Do You Tow?

[UnlimitedMatt]

Long story short, I'm replacing my 5200 pound (fully loaded) travel trailer with a new, larger camper.  But I'm having a hard time convincing myself that my truck can handle (comfortably) a 6200 pound (dry) camper.  Forgot to add: I currently use, and will continue to use, a weight distribution hitch.

 

My truck: 2018 1500 CrewCab short box, 4x4, 5.3 with 6 speed, tow package (not max tow). 9100 pound tow capacity.  I have the Chevrolet Performance Air Cleaner and the Trifecta Elite tune.  I live outside Denver and tow my camper approximately twice a month in the mountains or Wyoming, 8 months of the year.

 

It would be helpful to me if you could post up the specs of your truck, the weight of what you tow, how often you tow and what part of the Country you live in.  

 

Also, before anyone suggests it, I realize and 2500 would be a better towing truck, but it is not in the cards for me right now.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited September 13, 2018 by UnlimitedMatt

[Roscopcoletrain]

Trailer is about 7500lbs 

We make 5 it 6 camping trips a year. As much as a 2500 would be better suited, I couldn't justify it. So I found the most capable 1500 and it does an excellent job. 

[mn camper guy]

Long story short, I'm replacing my 5200 pound (fully loaded) travel trailer with a new, larger camper.  But I'm having a hard time convincing myself that my truck can handle (comfortably) a 6200 pound (dry) camper.  
 
My truck: 2018 1500 CrewCab short box, 4x4, 5.3 with 6 speed, tow package (not max tow). 9100 pound tow capacity.  I have the Chevrolet Performance Air Cleaner and the Trifecta Elite tune.  I live outside Denver and tow my camper approximately twice a month in the mountains or Wyoming, 8 months of the year.
 
It would be helpful to me if you could post up the specs of your truck, the weight of what you tow, how often you tow and what part of the Country you live in.  
 
Also, before anyone suggests it, I realize and 2500 would be a better towing truck, but it is not in the cards for me right now.
 
Thanks in advance!

You will have no problem.

I have '10 silverado 1500 5.3l and pulls our loaded camper at 6200lbs pretty good. You have more power than i do.

Only real issue i had was 20mph headwind in South Dakota, power wise. Setup wd hitch correctly and you will be fine.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[UnlimitedMatt]

35 minutes ago, mn camper guy said:

You will have no problem.

I have '10 silverado 1500 5.3l and pulls our loaded camper at 6200lbs pretty good. You have more power than i do.

Only real issue i had was 20mph headwind in South Dakota, power wise. Setup wd hitch correctly and you will be fine.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for your input. I did edit my post to include that I use a wdh.

[Darmichar]

13 hours ago, UnlimitedMatt said:

Long story short, I'm replacing my 5200 pound (fully loaded) travel trailer with a new, larger camper.  But I'm having a hard time convincing myself that my truck can handle (comfortably) a 6200 pound (dry) camper.  Forgot to add: I currently use, and will continue to use, a weight distribution hitch.

 

My truck: 2018 1500 CrewCab short box, 4x4, 5.3 with 6 speed, tow package (not max tow). 9100 pound tow capacity.  I have the Chevrolet Performance Air Cleaner and the Trifecta Elite tune.  I live outside Denver and tow my camper approximately twice a month in the mountains or Wyoming, 8 months of the year.

 

It would be helpful to me if you could post up the specs of your truck, the weight of what you tow, how often you tow and what part of the Country you live in.  

 

Also, before anyone suggests it, I realize and 2500 would be a better towing truck, but it is not in the cards for me right now.

 

Thanks in advance!

Not my current truck, but it's what I pull, runs about #6500 dry weight, probably close to #7000 with fuel and gear in it.  Truck shown is a 2014 5.3L that had a 3.23 rear and could pull that thing all day every day.  We take the boat to the lake about an hour away every weekend.  We also try to take it to a lake in Kentucky, 7 hours away a couple times a year.  Where I live is mostly flat to gently rolling hills (prairie), when we go to Kentucky it gets pretty hilly down there, almost mountainous.

 

My new truck is a 2018 5.3L with a 3.42 rear and I wouldn't hesitate to hook that boat to it and take off headed anywhere.

 

*EDIT* Forgot to add neither of my trucks are 'max tow' that I know of.

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Darmichar

[Bigmac]

Before I got my 2018 6.2 max Tow I pulled a 6000lb trailer across the us for 3 months and 10,000 Miles with a 2015 5.3 6 speed Silverado. 3:42   Did great and ended up 10 mpg total. West coast to Maine - Down  the east coast then back home to NW. 

[Kubs]

I have an '18 Max Tow with the 5.3L and 8 speed.  I tow my race car on an all steel open trailer with a total weight around 5500lbs.  I usually have the bed loaded down with another 1000lbs of spare fuel, tires, tools, etc.  This truck doesn't even know it is working most of the time.  I live in Ohio so most of the highways are pretty flat, but I have drivin south into some of the hills in Virginia and it did great, never struggled.

 

IMG_20180530_200629018 by Mike Kubiak, on Flickr

 

IMG_20180601_140227534_HDR[1] by Mike Kubiak, on Flickr

Edited September 13, 2018 by Kubs
added photo

[SILVER SLED]

42 minutes ago, Kubs said:

I have an '18 Max Tow with the 5.3L and 8 speed.  I tow my race car on an all steel open trailer with a total weight around 5500lbs.  I usually have the bed loaded down with another 1000lbs of spare fuel, tires, tools, etc.  This truck doesn't even know it is working most of the time.  I live in Ohio so most of the highways are pretty flat, but I have drivin south into some of the hills in Virginia and it did great, never struggled.

 

IMG_20180530_200629018 by Mike Kubiak, on Flickr

 

IMG_20180601_140227534_HDR[1] by Mike Kubiak, on Flickr

Ever heard of a guy named Troy Willoughby?   He autocrossed a yellow 04 Vette

[bills]

I have a 2014 Sierra 1500 crew cab 4x4 with the standard box and max tow package and the 6.2L gas engine.  The listed max tow capacity is 11,700 lbs for my truck.  I tow my travel trailer at about 10,000 lbs without any problems at all.  We've been all over the central part of the U.S., up and down mountains and just love this truck!  On flat ground I get about 9 MPG at 65 MPH. 

[Kubs]

3 hours ago, SILVER SLED said:

Ever heard of a guy named Troy Willoughby?   He autocrossed a yellow 04 Vette

I have not.  What region is he from?  I tend to do more track events than autocross.

[SILVER SLED]

37 minutes ago, Kubs said:

I have not.  What region is he from?  I tend to do more track events than autocross.

Northwest Ohio.  Not sure actually what it's called, but he'd go to large parking lots and would have cones mark off the course.

[Bikemobile]

I tow a 24 foot travel trailer. 4233 pounds dry. It tows full of gear and water around 5k. I live at 7800 feet in Colorado and I have to go over 9000 feet west or 11000 feet east to get out of the valley I live in. My 2017 Crew Short bed 5.3/8 speed 3:42 tows it great. I figure the trailer is a bit over half the towing capacity of the truck. So with a full tank of gas, family of four+dog  and a bed full of gear, i’m pushing 6k. Its a comfortable weight to pull in the mountains in Colorado. 

 

The scary rigs I see are the 28 foot travel trailers behind grand cherokees and 4runners. I cant believe those people make it home most of the time. 

 

I have told my wife that when she wants a bigger camper we will need a 2500 or a 6.2/10 speed. 

[Logan Lanfear]

A half ton will tow it.  Just not the fastest and the ride wont be the most comfortable.  We had a 2008 that we towed around a 7500-8000lb TT with.  We were never afraid of it letting us down but the engine was constantly floored and moving in 2nd gear.  Trucjk was optioned with max tow and had 3.73s.  The trans never went about 220 and we ran it in drive with tow haul on.  If we had kept the camper we would have stepped up to a 3/4 diesel.  For around 2000lbs less, I would not be afraid of the half ton unless youre towing everyday.  Weekends are fine.  I know your truck has a tow package but whats the rear gearing?  I bet it will tow it just fine.  

[Lgetz]

Have towed both an enclosed trailer right about 5500-6000 pounds loaded and a car trailer which was at about 9000 pounds loaded with my Hummer H2.  Granted only towed the H2 around 40-50 miles or so and the 6.2 did fine.  Purposely made that trip in early AM as I did not want to contend with early morning commute traffic. 

Have pulled other trailer around 700 miles round trip and even without a brake controller had no issues slowing truck.  I only ran 68-72 mph as trailer would begin to sway heavily at higher speeds.  Got right about 8.5-9 miles per gallon.  Only complaint is fuel tank is not big enough.

[dsatwork]

I tow a Airstream Int'l Sig 27FB 7600 GVW initial trip weighed in at 6900 lbs with my 2015 Silverado 5.3 with the max tow package rated at 11,200lbs.