Towing Question

Paul58 · August 5, 2007

We're looking at a 26' Ultra-Light 5th wheel with a GVWR of 8101 lbs and a Dry Weight of 6709 lbs. I have no idea what the hitch weight is, but assume it to be between 1000 and 1200 lbs. Can I safely tow this TT with my truck?

I have the 2007 NBS GMC Sierra 1500, 2WD, EXT Cab, Standard Bed, with the 5.3L V8 and 3.73 rear gear. Everything I've read says I can tow 7700 lbs, and I doubt I'd ever have it loaded to the max as it's just the wife and I, and we tend to travel light, so we'd realistically be running at about 7100 to 7300 lbs. My concern is a note in the owners manual that says for a 5th wheel or goose neck trailer the limit is 6800 lbs. To further complicate matters, I have taller tires which make my actual effective final rear gear ratio more like 3.55 than 3.73, which probably lowers my towing capacity by about 300-500 lbs.

Will my truck safely be able to tow this rig?

ChevyTech007 · August 5, 2007

I recently rebuilt the rear diff in an Avalanche that pulled a trailer about the weight of yours. The diff had been so hot that it peeled the paint off. The fluid had lost all it's viscosity and was like water. The ring and pinion were literally worn out. We warrantied it but told him we would not warranty it again. The information on the trailer weight was provided by the customer so who knows? All I am saying is to keep an eye on your diff temp. You could even buy an infrared temp sensor and slide underneath after a long haul to make sure its OK. Just my 2 cents worth.

Paul58 · August 5, 2007

I recently rebuilt the rear diff in an Avalanche that pulled a trailer about the weight of yours. The diff had been so hot that it peeled the paint off. The fluid had lost all it's viscosity and was like water. The ring and pinion were literally worn out. We warrantied it but told him we would not warranty it again. The information on the trailer weight was provided by the customer so who knows? All I am saying is to keep an eye on your diff temp. You could even buy an infrared temp sensor and slide underneath after a long haul to make sure its OK. Just my 2 cents worth.

Thanks for the heads up! Every saleman we spoke to said the Forest River Rockwood/Flagstaff Ultralight 5th Wheels could be towed with a 1/2 tom pick-up, but everyone of the 5th wheels they had on the lot had a dry weight over 6500 lbs and loaded weights of 8000+. I suppose it could be done, but my fear is what it is doing to the truck while I'm towing! I guess it's easy to make those claims when they are selling and warranting the trailer, not the truck. I think I'll keep what I have for the time being, I know my truck can handle it, it's only 4900 lbs loaded to the gills! Thanks again for you advice!

mljenkins · August 5, 2007

I tow a gooseneck horse trialer that weighs almost the same as your trailer dry and with one horse. I have a '06 5.3 4.10 gears. If you are on the flat, it pulls fine. Making it up the hills here in WV is painful. Pulling the trailer up steep hills on the backroad (i.e. my parents driveway) is hard on the truck. I suspect the reason Chevy states lower tow ratings for the gooseneck's is because of the weight it puts on the rear axel (a lot more for gooseneck versus bumper pull). I had to add helper springs to keep my truck level with the trailer.

If I had to do it over, I'd keep the gooseneck trailer and get a 3/4 truck. Unfortunately the truck came first and I got a real good deal on the trailer. I like the gooseneck because it feels more solid on the road. Of course, it has a weekender in the front so I have a bed in the gooseneck :-)

If you're on the flat, you'll probably be able to pull it, but don't expect to be zipping around in traffic. If you are going to pull in hilly areas, you'll probably be putting a lot of strain on the truck, especially if you do it often. Just make sure you get a good brake controller and the trailer has good brakes. The brakes on the 1/2 ton are definitely not made for having to stop quick with that much weight. I bought an true intertia brake controller (Prodigity) that works far better than the timed and inertia controllers that still time except when doing an emergency stop. When I got the trailer the brake wires were loose and I had to drive it a couple times with no brakes (on the road and they went out, and a good brake controller lets you know this on the display). You could definitely tell the trailer was back there. I just took it real easy until I got home or a place where I could fix the wiring. Finally fixed it a couple months ago after I found the ground to frame wire was badly coroded (last connection I had not replaced, figures). No problems now.

Make sure you are not over the GCWR of the truck. Not only is it unsafe to yourself and other drivers, it's illegal. There are many weight ratings that are important, but I suspect if you did get pulled over the GCWR is what they will care about most. Of course, how many travel trailers do you see get pulled over by the DOT?

Good luck,

Matt

gssieg · August 8, 2007

Just remember Sales always wants to sell the item. I use to work at an RV dealer, we had a guy with a S-10 that wanted to buy a 28ft 5th wheel. 7200GVWR. We didnt sell him but another dealer in the area did, it wasnt long before he realized it really wouldn't tow.

mljenkins · August 8, 2007

Just remember Sales always wants to sell the item. I use to work at an RV dealer, we had a guy with a S-10 that wanted to buy a 28ft 5th wheel. 7200GVWR. We didnt sell him but another dealer in the area did, it wasnt long before he realized it really wouldn't tow.

Holy cow! It seems someone would have a good lawsuit on their hands there! The guy actually installed a fifth wheel hitch in an S10??

Paul58 · August 8, 2007

Yep, I really question the ethics of some of these sales people! I've been reading a lot of forums (RV and Truck) and the majority of the advice is the same: Nope, too much trailer for the truck! Yet every RV lot I've visited says the same thing: No probablm, the Rockwood/Flagstaff line of 5th Wheels were designed to be pulled by a 1/2 ton pick-up! The smallest in this line has a Dry Weight of 6K lbs and a GVWR of 8K lbs!

Through my research and the help of on-line weight calculators, I have determined a safe maximum tow weight (for a 5th wheel) for my vehicle is about 6100 lbs! so, the majority of this line can't safely be towed by my truck completely empty! Now, unless the wife and I were staying at a nudest colony and eating out every night, I don't see where any of these will work for us!

At this point, I think I'll stick with what I have and wait for the 09/10 model year and see what GM has to offer in a 1500HD or 2500, maybe with a new 4.5L baby diesel!

asilverblazer · August 8, 2007

Saw a guy on the highway last week end towing a 25' minimum fifth wheel down the highway. It was a 96-99 1/2 ton extended cab. Not to mention the bass boat behind the camper. I couldn't believe it. Need less to say I made sure I didn't travel closely to him.

mljenkins · August 8, 2007

Through my research and the help of on-line weight calculators, I have determined a safe maximum tow weight (for a 5th wheel) for my vehicle is about 6100 lbs! so, the majority of this line can't safely be towed by my truck completely empty! Now, unless the wife and I were staying at a nudest colony and eating out every night, I don't see where any of these will work for us!

At this point, I think I'll stick with what I have and wait for the 09/10 model year and see what GM has to offer in a 1500HD or 2500, maybe with a new 4.5L baby diesel!

If you wouldn't mind, could you post the URLs to any weight calculators you can find? I'd like to go through them and send them to some friends.

I agree with waiting for the newer models. I'm also hoping for the same with the baby diesel. I think I will wait until my truck is near paid off (or paid off) and trade in for something with a smaller diesel when they come out. I'm confident that we will see them in the not so distant future.

Matt

C & A s Dad · August 9, 2007

Paul, I think you have made a wise decision. The 1500 with the gears and tires you mentioned would not be a "happy camper" with that kind of weight. I am pulling a 29 ft TT that weighs 6500 lbs loaded. My Yuk XL with 4.10s does well but I would not want to take it anywhere near it's 8700lb max rating.

gssieg · August 9, 2007

Just remember Sales always wants to sell the item. I use to work at an RV dealer, we had a guy with a S-10 that wanted to buy a 28ft 5th wheel. 7200GVWR. We didnt sell him but another dealer in the area did, it wasnt long before he realized it really wouldn't tow.

Holy cow! It seems someone would have a good lawsuit on their hands there! The guy actually installed a fifth wheel hitch in an S10??

Oh yea, they actually made some fifth wheels for S-10s and Rangers at one point. They were light weight, 6inches thinner and shorter. I think the biggest one was a 24 foot. Needless to say they didnt go over very well.

Paul58 · August 9, 2007

Through my research and the help of on-line weight calculators, I have determined a safe maximum tow weight (for a 5th wheel) for my vehicle is about 6100 lbs! so, the majority of this line can't safely be towed by my truck completely empty! Now, unless the wife and I were staying at a nudest colony and eating out every night, I don't see where any of these will work for us!

At this point, I think I'll stick with what I have and wait for the 09/10 model year and see what GM has to offer in a 1500HD or 2500, maybe with a new 4.5L baby diesel!

If you wouldn't mind, could you post the URLs to any weight calculators you can find? I'd like to go through them and send them to some friends.

I agree with waiting for the newer models. I'm also hoping for the same with the baby diesel. I think I will wait until my truck is near paid off (or paid off) and trade in for something with a smaller diesel when they come out. I'm confident that we will see them in the not so distant future.

Matt

Matt,

I'll check with my wife, she found them, I just fed her the numbers!

Paul58 · August 9, 2007

Paul, I think you have made a wise decision. The 1500 with the gears and tires you mentioned would not be a "happy camper" with that kind of weight. I am pulling a 29 ft TT that weighs 6500 lbs loaded. My Yuk XL with 4.10s does well but I would not want to take it anywhere near it's 8700lb max rating.

I think my wife is seeing this as well. She just didn't want to see us get rid of our current TT for another TT when ultimately she would like a 5th wheel. But, we just need a bit more space so I think we may end up going with a bit larger TT with a slide. The make some nice 26' - 27' trailers with a 13' slide with a GVWR under 7K lbs. They really open up the floor space which is what we're missing in our current one, and I think I figured our max towing capacity at 7500 lbs with the taller tires. We travel light, so we'll probably never get close to the 7K lbs which will give us a decent safety buffer. Once the new 4.5L diesel is released, we'll look at a 3/4 ton with that engine and should have no problem with an ultra lite 5th wheel!

BTW, Popular Mechanics had a short article about the 4.5L Baby Diesel, claimed 310 HP, 520 Ft Lbs of torque, and a 25% increase in fuel economy. I don't think they mentioned which engine it would get 25% better economy over, so I don't know if they were referring to the current Duramax, or one of the gas engines, probably the 6.0L.

Thanks again for all the inputs!

C & A s Dad · August 9, 2007

Paul, if you are looking into a new TT and have a Sunnybrook or Mobile Scout dealer (same co.)in your area, I would highly recommend the brand. I researched this for 2 years before we bought and we ended up with a Sunset Creek by Sunnybrook. It is a 269BH and is 29 ft, 6,100lb (dry) TT with a super slide. We have had no issues with it in our first year of ownership.

Paul58 · August 9, 2007

Paul, if you are looking into a new TT and have a Sunnybrook or Mobile Scout dealer (same co.)in your area, I would highly recommend the brand. I researched this for 2 years before we bought and we ended up with a Sunset Creek by Sunnybrook. It is a 269BH and is 29 ft, 6,100lb (dry) TT with a super slide. We have had no issues with it in our first year of ownership.

Thanks for the tip! We've been looking mainly at the Forest River line, Rockwoods and Flagstaffs, but other options are always nice. I'll do a search and see if we have a dealer in our area. I was also considering the Hi-Lo and another brand that raises to become a full sized trailer. They are supposed to be really light weight and tow well, with the added bonus of a very low profile which helps with gas mileage.