*Truck and Towing thread........ask your questions here.*

[peg110]

Found me a 2015 Silverado 2500 4x4 crew cab with a 6.0 in it for only $25,000.

I don't know, but that seems like a low price.

I have a 2014 F-250 4x4 Crew Cab with 50K+ miles on it and KBB (for "Trade in") in "Good" condition is still mid $30's. Now granted it's the Lariat model, but I would have thought even a moderately equipped 2015 2500 Silverado (4x4 crew cab) would be close to that, unless it's really high miles or in rough shape. Also mine is GAS as well. I too would like a Diesel, but my wallet must have talked with yours, because I think it has the same opinion.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

I don't know, but that seems like a low price.

I have a 2014 F-250 4x4 Crew Cab with 50K+ miles on it and KBB (for "Trade in") in "Good" condition is still mid $30's. Now granted it's the Lariat model, but I would have thought even a moderately equipped 2015 2500 Silverado (4x4 crew cab) would be close to that, unless it's really high miles or in rough shape. Also mine is GAS as well. I too would like a Diesel, but my wallet must have talked with yours, because I think it has the same opinion.

LOL, our wallets probably sat down and had a beer together!

It is a great price, I work for the state of NC so we get incentives through Chevrolet and Ford since the government buys so many trucks from them. We also have a state employees lot where we can get brand new trucks that didn't sell in their model year.

 

[Teamubr]

I don't know, but that seems like a low price.

I have a 2014 F-250 4x4 Crew Cab with 50K+ miles on it and KBB (for "Trade in") in "Good" condition is still mid $30's.

That's because your comparing a Ford. KBB understands the value of a Chevy.

Clifton,

The gasser 6.0 should pull a 33 ft TT fine. Expect it to drop out of OD more than a diesel and make sure it has a decent trans cooler. The concern will be if it will tow the next camper.

I started pulling a 20 ft hybrid with an Explorer. Bought a V8 explorer and traded the hybrid for a 33 ft TT. Traded the Explorer on a F250 diesel. With a "real" truck I could get a 5er. Traded the TT for a 30 ft bunk house with slides. Kept it for 13 years. But in the mean time, I went through 2 trucks and have a F350 dually diesel now, so the 13 year old 8000 lb 5er went for a 42 ft, 14,400 lb 5er.

See a pattern there?

j

 

[Clifton Tesh]

Lol, a 5th wheel is already in the plans, but those plans are 10 years down the road so we're aiming for what my wallet agrees with for now.

Hopefully, if all goes well, Detroit will have their 4 cylinder released by then and I can find something to run it in.

I'm not a fan of a power stroke, duramax, or Cummins... I work on them everyday, I see how crappy they are. If I had to choose one of those to buy though, it would be the Cummins... But I'd never own a dodge and I'm not at all a fan of the V8 Cummins or any V diesel for that matter.

Diesel was designed for torque, you get the best torque from an in line setup. Unfortunately, unless you buy a dodge, your only option for diesel on small trucks is a V engine...unless you go really small and get a duramax 4 Cylinder.

 

[tripleb]

Clifton Tesh,

I have a 2015 Silverado 2500HD/6.0L/Crew Cab/LTZ/Z71 that I use to pull a 31' fifth wheel. Pulls it just fine, except for the gas mileage. I get between 7 - 9 MPG Anyway, the thing you should be careful of is the Cargo Carrying Capacity of the truck you buy. Take a look at the yellow sticker on the driver side door pillar. The same sticker that gives tire information. It will list the CCC. Using that number, start subtracting loaded tongue weight, weight of WD hitch, full gas tank, and equipment/bodies in the vehicle. RVer's can overload a tow vehicle pretty quick.

Here's a pic of my rig:

 

[Teamubr]

If I had to choose one of those to buy though, it would be the Cummins...

I have to agree. Although my current 6.7 PSD is pretty good. First (of 3 different diesels) truck I haven't felt a need to mod.

If I was putting a perfect non-commercial truck together, it would probably be a Ford crew cab chassis, Cummins I-6 and the Allison trans.

j

 

[Clifton Tesh]

I have to agree. Although my current 6.7 PSD is pretty good. First (of 3 different diesels) truck I haven't felt a need to mod.

If I was putting a perfect non-commercial truck together, it would probably be a Ford crew cab chassis, Cummins I-6 and the Allison trans.

j

I can say I've heard wonderful things about the 67 but i haven't personally worked with one yet .

I couldn't agree with you more on the perfect build, unless detroit starts making an engine for small trucks. We have a Detroit at work that we run in parades and stuff, it's a1967 (in a GMC Buffalo bus), and the thing has over 2 million on it and runs perfect. We have quite a few of the 6.2 detroit's from the 80's still on the road running like they're brand new. I love me a detroit.

 

[Teamubr]

I can say I've heard wonderful things about the 67 but i haven't personally worked with one yet.

That's a good thing. I have a 2011. First year of the 6.7. I'll turn over 100,000 miles this weekend when I go up to Indiana Dunes. And 70% of that has been towing 16-21,000 lb race car haulers or my measly 14,400 lb 5er. The only issues I've had are a fan clutch and a DEF injector. The DEF injector would have been covered under warranty, but I was 6 months beyond the 5 years.

My first truck had the 7.3. Once I modded it up over 800 lb/ft of torque, it was a nice truck. It sadly developed electrical issues at 180,000 miles and I mistakenly traded it on a new 08 with the 6.4 during a race trip in Daytona. I hated that truck from the first tow. First year of the DEF/DPF engines. OK power, but HORRIBLE fuel mileage. Kept it less than 3 years and traded on my current truck figuring the new 6.7 had to be better than the 6.4. I was right. As much power as my modded 7.3 and much more refined. Nice transmission too. Not an Allison, but OK.

j

 

[PaHunter]

https://rvingwithmarkpolk.com/2012/03/21/caution-why-truck-tow-ratings-dont-add-up/

This site has a lot of towing information on it about towing, weights, etc... just as an fyi.

 

[tripleb]

That's good info PaHunter. I personally believe that there is a very large number of RVers towing beyond the capacity of their tow vehicle.

 

[PaHunter]

That's good info PaHunter. I personally believe that there is a very large number of RVers towing beyond the capacity of their tow vehicle.

Sadly the salesman is only interested in selling you the biggest most expensive unit. He is not putting his family in the vehicle, and chances are slim that if your brakes fail he will be around with his family.He will not be around when the trailer starts to wag the tow vehicle. Last campground we were at saw a SUV towing a hybrid camper, no WDH, was dangerously light in the front and at max capacity or over. I know some people that tow at their max, and some above it. I have always wanted to tow safely, for my families sake and for the sake of others we encounter on the road.
One of our upgrades next year will be changing out the brakes on the trailer to disc brakes. It is expensive, but will help stop all that weight better.

 

[tripleb]

Yep, I have seen similar overloaded vehicles ... a few months ago, we had a guy with wife and two children, pull in next to us with a 39' TT being pulled by a 1/2 ton Dodge. If that "load" wasn't scary enough, he had a single point attachment bumper mount bike rake on the TT carrying 4 bikes ( 2 adult/2 children's ). They had stopped for the night on their way to Disney.

You're thoughts of disk brakes are spot on although I am sure you're not overloaded. The problem with overloaded tow vehicles is not necessarily pulling the load but rather stopping the load.

 

[PaHunter]

Yep, I have seen similar overloaded vehicles ... a few months ago, we had a guy with wife and two children, pull in next to us with a 39' TT being pulled by a 1/2 ton Dodge. If that "load" wasn't scary enough, he had a single point attachment bumper mount bike rake on the TT carrying 4 bikes ( 2 adult/2 children's ). They had stopped for the night on their way to Disney.

You're thoughts of disk brakes are spot on although I am sure you're not overloaded. The problem with overloaded tow vehicles is not necessarily pulling the load but rather stopping the load.

With the 3500 I can tow up to 22500lbs and am well within my limits payload wise on the truck also. Just like the disc brakes as an upgrade to the trailer as a helpful measure. We never tow with a full water tank, just our everyday stuff in trailer and food stuffs, so while we add some weight inside the trailer we are not maxing out the trailer weight either. We have some more camping trip coming up and will check tire temps during those. Then we will be on the road to Disney, soon.

 

[tripleb]

Sounds like you got a handle on it PaHunter Surprisingly, my 2015 Silverado 2500HD/Crew Cab/4WD/Regular bed 6'7" is close to max payload with our new FW. Max payload on my truck is 2728 lbs, although max towing is 13,000 conventional and 14,000 FW. My FW delivered weight is 7,945 lbs. That puts the pin weight slightly less than 2,000 lbs using the 25% rule (Jayco claims 1,580 lbs). So in theory, that leaves me about 728 lbs of payload. Not a whole lot considering the FW hitch weights 150 lbs and a full tank of gas weights around 300 lbs, I weight 178 lbs, and the wife wont say what she weights ;-)

 

[Clifton Tesh]

Sadly the salesman is only interested in selling you the biggest most expensive unit. He is not putting his family in the vehicle, and chances are slim that if your brakes fail he will be around with his family.He will not be around when the trailer starts to wag the tow vehicle. Last campground we were at saw a SUV towing a hybrid camper, no WDH, was dangerously light in the front and at max capacity or over. I know some people that tow at their max, and some above it. I have always wanted to tow safely, for my families sake and for the sake of others we encounter on the road.
One of our upgrades next year will be changing out the brakes on the trailer to disc brakes. It is expensive, but will help stop all that weight better.

The sales people around us will not sell you something over your tow rating. One of the lots won't sell you something that's over 85 percent of your tow rating. I respect and admire them for that. They also will not let you leave the lot without weight distribution if your vehicle's manufacturer requires weight distribution.

 

[bama_ed]

Question here to help me plan for the future-

My 2005 Chevy Suburban is doing fine with over 200k miles now but I know it won't last forever. I am looking for suggestions on a future tow vehicle with the understanding that my little Aliner doesn't require a lot of tow muscle. My Suburban is rated for 8,000# and a minivan, properly equipped, can pull 3,000#. Is there something in-between that I could consider for the future? I don't need to pay for a vehicle that can do 8k-10k# (got the Suburban during the Boy Scout years hauling backpacks and boys, lots of 'em-it did the job) but is there something in the 5,000# range? Expense seems to follow the weight limit with both going up as the numbers get bigger. I'd like to keep them smaller.

FWIW my Aliner has a 3300# gross weight so I don't think I would need more than 5k# or 6k# tow rate.

What say you?

Bama Ed

PS - I would plan to buy a few years used (4-5 yrs)

 

[Clifton Tesh]

Question here to help me plan for the future-

My 2005 Chevy Suburban is doing fine with over 200k miles now but I know it won't last forever. I am looking for suggestions on a future tow vehicle with the understanding that my little Aliner doesn't require a lot of tow muscle. My Suburban is rated for 8,000# and a minivan, properly equipped, can pull 3,000#. Is there something in-between that I could consider for the future? I don't need to pay for a vehicle that can do 8k-10k# (got the Suburban during the Boy Scout years hauling backpacks and boys, lots of 'em-it did the job) but is there something in the 5,000# range? Expense seems to follow the weight limit with both going up as the numbers get bigger. I'd like to keep them smaller.

FWIW my Aliner has a 3300# gross weight so I don't think I would need more than 5k# or 6k# tow rate.

What say you?

Bama Ed

PS - I would plan to buy a few years used (4-5 yrs)

Get you a Chevy Colorado or Toyota tundra, when properly equipped they have a 7000# tow rating.

 

[tiggerdad]

Question here to help me plan for the future-

My 2005 Chevy Suburban is doing fine with over 200k miles now but I know it won't last forever. I am looking for suggestions on a future tow vehicle with the understanding that my little Aliner doesn't require a lot of tow muscle. My Suburban is rated for 8,000# and a minivan, properly equipped, can pull 3,000#. Is there something in-between that I could consider for the future? I don't need to pay for a vehicle that can do 8k-10k# (got the Suburban during the Boy Scout years hauling backpacks and boys, lots of 'em-it did the job) but is there something in the 5,000# range? Expense seems to follow the weight limit with both going up as the numbers get bigger. I'd like to keep them smaller.

FWIW my Aliner has a 3300# gross weight so I don't think I would need more than 5k# or 6k# tow rate.

What say you?

Bama Ed

PS - I would plan to buy a few years used (4-5 yrs)

A Toyota 4Runner like Stacey's is rated at 5000#.

https://www.toyota.com/4runner/features/weights_capacities/8642/8646/8670/8672

 

[tripleb]

The sales people around us will not sell you something over your tow rating. One of the lots won't sell you something that's over 85 percent of your tow rating. I respect and admire them for that. They also will not let you leave the lot without weight distribution if your vehicle's manufacturer requires weight distribution.

Our Camping World has a book that they look at prior to purchase. Problem with the book is that it does not list payload, only tow rating. If you think about it, I could purchase a 13,999 lb FW that would meet their books tow rating for my truck (14,000 lb FW tow rating).

 

[Teamubr]

I generally steer clear of tow rating threads. They tend to go to the dark side pretty quick. That said, nice job keeping this one productive.

It is admirable that some dealers try to help out by not letting anyone purchase above 85% (or whatever number), but the only way to really tell if you are over/under on all the various weight limits manufacturers put on their vehicles is to put it on the scales loaded they way you would tow with it. Front axle, rear axle, combined weight, gross vehicle, hitch/tongue weight, payload, TT vs 5er, WD or not. Too much for most people to try comprehending. I even found one obscure listing for my 2nd F250 that said if the 5er hitch was mounted in front of the rear axle it was one number. Over or behind it was a lower number. It makes sense, but come on.

I won't even start in on how and where you put things in the trailer can dramatically effect all these numbers. We put 2 Mustangs and a bunch of tools and spares in a 48 ft enclosed car hauler. It came in around 21,000, under the tow capacity of my truck by a 1000 lbs or so. One of the Mustangs weighed about 300 lbs more than the other. We could alter the pin weight by 500 lbs or more depending on which car we put where in the trailer. The second car was over and behind the axles on the trailer. Putting the heavier car in the rear would pull several hundred pounds off the ball. No worries, it still had over 5,000 on it.

j