I’m new to GD and RVing in general.

Don280

New Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2024
Messages
2
Location
New Hampshire
I did rv years ago out of Chula Vista, Ca. But most of anything I learn has been long forgotten. Now I’m out of New Hampshire and just bought an Imagine XLS 22 MLE. I haven’t even picked it up yet. Delayed picking it so I don’t have to deal with it and snow. I’ll be towing it with a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 with a tow package. It has a 10,000 lbs capacity. I’m going to be using hitch stabilizer kit. I’m hoping to get some comments or advice from others. I’m being told by GMC and salesman of the dealer in will handle this trailer fine. I told trailer has a max gvw of 7000 +/-. I’d like to heard what the experienced have to say. Do I need to stiffen my truck up or maybe go to a heavy duty truck. Thanks for you who offer their advise to a rookie. Don
 
I did rv years ago out of Chula Vista, Ca. But most of anything I learn has been long forgotten. Now I’m out of New Hampshire and just bought an Imagine XLS 22 MLE. I haven’t even picked it up yet. Delayed picking it so I don’t have to deal with it and snow. I’ll be towing it with a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 with a tow package. It has a 10,000 lbs capacity. I’m going to be using hitch stabilizer kit. I’m hoping to get some comments or advice from others. I’m being told by GMC and salesman of the dealer in will handle this trailer fine. I told trailer has a max gvw of 7000 +/-. I’d like to heard what the experienced have to say. Do I need to stiffen my truck up or maybe go to a heavy duty truck. Thanks for you who offer their advise to a rookie. Don

Hey Don, welcome to the forum from a fellow New Hampshirite. The number you'll want to look at is payload more than towing capacity. Of course, your GMC will be able to pull the 22MLE, the question is will it be able to tow it safely and handle crosswinds and grades? Your vehicle should have a sticker inside the door that lists the payload based on that truck's build. Start with that number, delete everything you'll be carrying inside the truck, and you'll have the payload left for the trailer. Personally, I'd want more truck to tow that trailer but you may be fine.
 
I did rv years ago out of Chula Vista, Ca. But most of anything I learn has been long forgotten. Now I’m out of New Hampshire and just bought an Imagine XLS 22 MLE. I haven’t even picked it up yet. Delayed picking it so I don’t have to deal with it and snow. I’ll be towing it with a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 with a tow package. It has a 10,000 lbs capacity. I’m going to be using hitch stabilizer kit. I’m hoping to get some comments or advice from others. I’m being told by GMC and salesman of the dealer in will handle this trailer fine. I told trailer has a max gvw of 7000 +/-. I’d like to heard what the experienced have to say. Do I need to stiffen my truck up or maybe go to a heavy duty truck. Thanks for you who offer their advise to a rookie. Don

Chances are you probably won't load to the max GVWR of 6995 lbs. Probably more in the 6300-6500 range. You'll need a tongue weight in the 800 lbs range for optimal towing. GD's are notorious for low TW from the factory so it can be a challenge to get it higher if you're a light loader.
You'll want a good weight distribution hitch that has built in friction sway control. Not one of those chain up types with an added friction bar. Those are just extra work and aren't nearly as effective.
Next is to read your trucks manual and see what the MFG requires for weight transfer back to the front of the truck after hitching up.
The dealer will probably setup the WDH but 90% of the time it's not right because the TT is empty. And many times they just do a generic hitch install to get you on your way.

No doubt a 3/4 ton truck would be nice and definitely more proficient. IMO try what you have 1st and go from there. The TT's only 26' long so that will help.
 
Hi, Don. Welcome to the forum. You'll find a good group of folks here. Any questions? - just reach out and ask - chances are really good someone has already experienced something you come across.

Enjoy your travels.
 
Welcome aboard.
We pulled ours since new (2021) with a 2018 1500 Silverado. Small (5.3L) motor and a 6 speed tranny. I had air bags (for work purposes) already on the truck when we got the MLE. It pulled it very well. We have since purchased a 3/4 ton Silverado and will be taking a short trip in April. This will be a shake down cruise prior to our month long trip to the Great Lakes area.
I’ve towed with a 3/4 before but with a larger trailer so I’m curious to just how much improvement we’ll see. That stated, your TV will do well. We checked our tongue weight, TV weight and TT weight on each trip with a tongue weight scale and the neighborhood Cat Scales. We maintained 80% of our towing limits, including payload and the 1/2 ton worked just fine. I bought the new truck because I wanted the 10 speed transmission and a larger (6.6L) motor.

Good luck.
 
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Congratulations on your new 22MLE. We also have that floorplan as do a number of other folks here on the forum. For my wife an I it is just about the perfect plan.

One thing to be aware of is its shipped weights will be more than the published dry weights. Ours was about 200 lbs heavier before we added batteries, filled the propane tanks and loaded it. Our typical trip weight is 6000 lbs +/- and the tongue varies between 700 - 750 lbs. That's 11.5% - 12.5% which is around my target of keeping the tongue near 12%. Assuming you have reasonable payload you should be fine.

For the weight distribution hitch I prefer the fixed bars type such as you have on the Equal-i-zer or my current hitch a Weigh Safe. They have built in sway control and track the trailer well. I've found they are a good compromise between cost and performance when compared to ultra expensive and low end hitches.
 
That should be a nice setup I would think. When we had our 22MLE we were running at 12% hitch weight. The nice thing about that trailer is you have good CCC. With full water we were generally about 6,500# so still had headroom. Unfortunately for our 2003 F150 we ended up being overloaded and weren't carrying much in the truck. But at 750# on the tongue it sucked up quite a bit of our 1,300# CCC on the truck. And the older truck didn't have nearly the power of newer trucks. It took us one trip to realize that combination wasn't going to work for our plans to spend months in Colorado, Alaska, each winter to/from FL, etc. You'll know as soon as you hit some hills and/or headwind/sidewind whether you are happy with the combination. Congrats and best wishes!
 
Depends on the combination of course. Most 5th wheels won't be towed by a 1/2 ton so the ratio of weight to payload may not be that much different between the two when it comes to the tow vehicle vs trailer. But I hear you. :)
 

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