Looking at upgrading our TV have some questions

[sellis1053]

So after a lot of thought and looking at a total cost.... we have decided to keep our current Tow Vehicle.. although it is a 2007 gas we only have 15,000 miles on it. Like I said above, it is a GMC 2500hd crew cab with the gas 6.0 ltr engine with a 6 speed heavy duty transmission and towing option... 2wd rear with ltd sllip and 3.73 rear end it is a fully loaded truck, leather and in Perfect condition. Specs are 9200 GVWR, 10,000 max trailer and GCWR is 16,000 lbs We tow our Jayco 26RKS it is a ULVW of 6450 as delivered from the factory.... we probably only load up a few hundred pounds when we travel, some in the truck, some in the trailer. ( I did weight the truck with a full tank of gas and my wife and myself according to the scale, we come in at about 5950lbs). Driving down the road at 65mph I don't even know the trailer is back there... when we hit a hill (they are not that big here in Tn... maybe 4% max in Tow Haul mode, the truck does what it is suppose to do... crank the RPMs up to 4300 RPM (max hp rate) and just chugs up the hill drinking as much gas it can). but, we get up the hill pretty well... comminig down the hill the engine brakes works great and we get back on the straight away and again, don't even know the Trailer is back there.... We go out 2 or 3 times a year.. .our trips are usually not more that 200 - 300 miles one way and 95% on flat roads.... and, we just fly along just fine.

So, this weekend, we went and looked at a Grand Design 287 RLTS... ULVW is 7200 lbs.... and if we loaded it the same... we would probably add a few hundred pounds if that were the numbers.. .we would probably be at 7500 lbs.. Still 25% under the Total trailer weight and way below the GCWR.... yep, it would be slow up the hill and we would have the 4300 RPM roar for the time we were going up the hill... but I think we would be just fine... How about you?

I thought I'd ask if there are any on here that still pull with a Gas TV, and if you have anywhere close to the numbers we have... what your thoughts are...

I am going to call a place this week... they are a shop that change a Rear end to 4.11... .but a friend of mine said that isn't what he would suggests becausee it would lower our gas millage all the time an since we don't tow that much that I should just stay with the 3.73...

OK, so, I know that everyone would say... .Get a Diesel.. .but I did go look at them.. $60 or 70,00 for a car just to tow a few times a year just does not make good "Money Sense" to me.... by the time I'd buy a trailer for about $100,000 Just not something I want to do... (Id rather buy a new tractor for our farm) ...

But, I'd like to hear from others pulling with a gaser.. I know and realize the diesel would be so much better... but again.. towing less that 1500 miles in a year just doesn't pen out for me!

Thanks in advance for any feedback... and I look forward to hearing your experience.. .

I tow a 303RLS 5th wheel with a gas truck. It struggles on steep grades but other than that it tows fine.

[Davidki]

Steve, thanks for that information, Wow, just looked up the specs... I will have to go and look at the specs of the Ram... I wonder how different the Truck is from ours.. . Like what is the max tow rate of the truck? Also, I wonder it being a 5th wheel if that plays in to it! Where do you usually travel? Here in Tennessee, the hills are not what I would call big mountains!

Again, thanks for the information, and safe travels
Dave

[sellis1053]

Steve, thanks for that information, Wow, just looked up the specs... I will have to go and look at the specs of the Ram... I wonder how different the Truck is from ours.. . Like what is the max tow rate of the truck? Also, I wonder it being a 5th wheel if that plays in to it! Where do you usually travel? Here in Tennessee, the hills are not what I would call big mountains!

Again, thanks for the information, and safe travels
Dave

I live in NC and have pulled all across the U.S. and Canada. Last year went out west and then to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada. We're now on our way back from Nova Scotia.

[Keebler]

Given that you have a truck that you do not drive very much and that truck is not over loaded and is safely getting the job done, I can't see spending the money for a new truck (neither gas nor diesel).

Now, if you are dead set on buying a new truck, we can certainly help you spend your money

[Davidki]

Given that you have a truck that you do not drive very much and that truck is not over loaded and is safely getting the job done, I can't see spending the money for a new truck (neither gas nor diesel).

Now, if you are dead set on buying a new truck, we can certainly help you spend your money

Well, since we have 15,000 on our current truck (2000 miles this year on a trip with out the TT)... I just can not convince myself to spend another $60k to 80k on another truck for 2 or 3 trips a year in our local area... Sure, it would be cool to tow with a Diesel... but, I just can't convince myself that is what I should do.... If it came down to that.... Our smaller Jayco looks pretty darn good!

[bucketman]

I would stick with what have for as much as you tow. You would have to upgrade your tt quite a bit before you would be outside your towing and payload limits.
Your warranty would be up and you would only have 12k miles on the truck.

[SolarPoweredRV]

So after a lot of thought and looking at a total cost.... we have decided to keep our current Tow Vehicle.. although it is a 2007 gas we only have 15,000 miles on it. Like I said above, it is a GMC 2500hd crew cab with the gas 6.0 ltr engine with a 6 speed heavy duty transmission and towing option... 2wd rear with ltd sllip and 3.73 rear end it is a fully loaded truck, leather and in Perfect condition. Specs are 9200 GVWR, 10,000 max trailer and GCWR is 16,000 lbs We tow our Jayco 26RKS it is a ULVW of 6450 as delivered from the factory.... we probably only load up a few hundred pounds when we travel, some in the truck, some in the trailer. ( I did weight the truck with a full tank of gas and my wife and myself according to the scale, we come in at about 5950lbs). Driving down the road at 65mph I don't even know the trailer is back there... when we hit a hill (they are not that big here in Tn... maybe 4% max in Tow Haul mode, the truck does what it is suppose to do... crank the RPMs up to 4300 RPM (max hp rate) and just chugs up the hill drinking as much gas it can). but, we get up the hill pretty well... comminig down the hill the engine brakes works great and we get back on the straight away and again, don't even know the Trailer is back there.... We go out 2 or 3 times a year.. .our trips are usually not more that 200 - 300 miles one way and 95% on flat roads.... and, we just fly along just fine.

So, this weekend, we went and looked at a Grand Design 287 RLTS... ULVW is 7200 lbs.... and if we loaded it the same... we would probably add a few hundred pounds if that were the numbers.. .we would probably be at 7500 lbs.. Still 25% under the Total trailer weight and way below the GCWR.... yep, it would be slow up the hill and we would have the 4300 RPM roar for the time we were going up the hill... but I think we would be just fine... How about you?

I thought I'd ask if there are any on here that still pull with a Gas TV, and if you have anywhere close to the numbers we have... what your thoughts are...

I am going to call a place this week... they are a shop that change a Rear end to 4.11... .but a friend of mine said that isn't what he would suggests becausee it would lower our gas millage all the time an since we don't tow that much that I should just stay with the 3.73...

OK, so, I know that everyone would say... .Get a Diesel.. .but I did go look at them.. $60 or 70,00 for a car just to tow a few times a year just does not make good "Money Sense" to me.... by the time I'd buy a trailer for about $100,000 Just not something I want to do... (Id rather buy a new tractor for our farm) ...

But, I'd like to hear from others pulling with a gaser.. I know and realize the diesel would be so much better... but again.. towing less that 1500 miles in a year just doesn't pen out for me!

Thanks in advance for any feedback... and I look forward to hearing your experience.. .

From your first post, I was thinking "Keep The Current Truck". If your new Coach is within the towing capabilities of your existing truck, then keep the truck and get your new coach. There is not enough difference in fuel mileage to justify buying a new diesel.

As for experience towing with a Gasser, I pulled a 7,500 lb Coachman (with 9,599 GVWR) with a 2003 Ford E250 Van, 5.4l Engine, 3.73 Rear End, and had no problems pulling that camper anywhere, granted I did not pull it over the Rockies on any big passes, but, I am sure the Van would have made it up the passes safely, albeit maybe a little slow due to the lack of Oxygen at altitude.

The only reason we moved up to a new truck is because we upgraded to a 5th Wheel and Diesel made sense for full timing.

[James Callahan]

Good Morning Group, were new here so hopefully this isn't a question that has been asked many times.... but here goes.

We currently have a GMC Sierra 2500HD 2wd, Crew Cab with the 6.0ltr engine and auto trans with Tow Haul Mode... It is a 2007 (short bed 6.6) although we have had it since new we only use it to pull our Jayco 26rks which has a ULVW of 6500lbs 8400 GVWR and we probably don't carry much more that 500lbs.. So, the truck has less than 16,000 miles on it. On a recent trip to the Smokey's (some slight grade of 4% on the way from Nashville we got 9.1mpg (per the truck meter) I know that using the truck MPG numbers are probably off but give me an idea... Not pulling on a recent trip to Canada we got 18mpg.

Now my wife and I are considering a GD Reflection 2600 which is about 9600 GVWR and about 7500 unloaded. So, were thinking of buying a new tow vehicle our local GMC/Chev dealer has some great deals on the 2019 Sierra 3500hd with the diesel engine... and we were thinking that it may be a good time to upgrade to a new TV to go with the new trailer...

Since it seems like there are quite a few folks here towing a larger trailer (in this case just under 10,000) GVWR will the diesel be worth the upgrade... Our truck pulls our Jayco just fine, it just slows a bit and revs high on the hills... but with the tow haul mode kicked in it seems to pull it fine... it goes back to a nice cruiser when not climbing the hills.. Of course the diesel will eliminate some of that screaming engine... and of course going to the 3500 just increases our overall capacity in the event we want to go bigger in the future.

So, My questions.. what can one expect in fuel millage while towing the GD Reflection 2600 moderately loaded? (yes we have a good WD hitch).. although it isn't that important I guess but I'd love to hear what you folks get.. I know wind, road, and alot of other things affect it but in general when towing down the highway at 65mph in moderate conditions what can we expect. We pay $2.19 per gallon for Regular gas.. Diesel is in the $2.90 range so almost 30% more.. so, would we see a 30% increase in fuel milage (frome 9.1 mpg) to the Duramax? And, what do you get when not pulling a trailer?

If we make the jump, I may post our current TV here, it is in great shape, we usually only tow around 200 - 400 mile per trip and average 3 trips a year.. we bought out TT 5 years ago.

Hope to hear some real numbers on what the newer GMC - Chev engines are gettinig and if we really need to jump to a Diesel....

Thanks in advance..

Currently towing Reflection 5th wheel with Duramax, get 12-13mpg towing, without trailer 18-20. One thing to consider is the stoping power of the Duramax, with exhaust brakes on it pretty much will hold trailer back without applying trailer brakes

[Ra&Ta350]

Allpar’s website states the manufacturer payload numbers are largely a “comfort” issue as opposed to a capacity or capability issue. The axle and bearing manufacturers list much higher capacity. JMHO.

[cookinwitdiesel]

Allpar’s website states the manufacturer payload numbers are largely a “comfort” issue as opposed to a capacity or capability issue. The axle and bearing manufacturers list much higher capacity. JMHO.

I would worry about tires and springs more than axles and bearings on the load ratings. Brakes can also come into play.