I have some questions about towing a RV. I'm thinking about buying a 27' Starcraft travel trailer. It's called the Toybox. It has a tailgate and a garage area for transporting ATV's, MC or whatever. The weight of the trailer is 5400 empty and 10,500 Gross. The tongue is 750.

According to Chevrolet my current truck can tow 8300 and handle the tongue weight. I was going to get a leveling hitch for releasing some of the weight on the tongue and add an extra leaf to the springs of the truck. I was told the springs would add roughly 900 pounds capacity. So I should be good? Provided I don't exceed 8300 pounds. Does anyone have any ideas that might help?

The one thing I'm worried about is the power of the truck. It's a 99 1/2 ton 2-wheel drive with the 5.3 automatic and 3.73 with limited slip. Will I have enough to go up hill or maintain hwy speeds? I just need to know if I should bite the bullet and get a 3/4 ton with a 6 liter. The only problem with that is, even with the 4.11 gears it still an 8600 GVW truck. If I get the 2500 HD it's 9600 (I think). I should be close to that with the extra spring. Or am I thinking about this all wrong?

 

I tow a 24 foot COACHMEN travel trailer with a 97 Chevy 1/2 ton ext cab,5.7L auto. When I tow I normally have quad in the truck, kids, gear, coolers. I have the hitch equalizer and a anti sway bar. It pulls fairly well. It is not a struggle or anything. You not going to be able to run 75 mph all day long. I have seen people pulling 27-29 foot trailers with Dodge Dakota's. I would not recommend that. I would consider the equalizer/sway bar combo no matter what you end up pulling it with. I believe that your truck has a higher pull rating than mine.

 

Number #1 thing I would do is take the trailer to a public scale and weight it. From my past experience every trailer I have bought has weighed more than the "stated dry weight". The dry weight of my last trailer (29' 5th wheel) was close to what you noted (5,700). I too was told that my 1/2 ton Chev Z71, 350, 373 gears could pull it. I also had overoads and an equalizing hitch. Bottom line it could pull it, but the suspension was really taxed (mushy) and the brakes didn't feel like they had the stopping power needed. My truck was only 2 years old with 25K miles on it. Also you would be very surpised at the total combined weight of your AtV's and "every" item you load into both the truck and the trailer. Anyway I ended up selling my 1/2 ton and bought a 1 ton crew-cab dually. Yes the 1 ton was over kill, but in my case I knew I'd be buying a larger trailer in the very near future. You in my opinon would be better off with a 3/4 ton. The 3/4 ton would have stiffer suspension and larger brakes than the 1/2 ton and so could handle the load better without as much strain. Also if later on you buy a larger trailer you'd probably be covered. I highly recommend having a slightly larger truck than what the application calls for as It adds a nice confort level as I mentioned above.

Rude Dog

 

Hiofcer.....I have a 98 Chevy. Once you get past 5,000 pounds you will definitely know you are towing something. Based on the weights you have given, it will be a strain on the truck. It can handle it, but you will probably be wanting more power. You will be able to cruise at 55mph pretty good. But any higher than that and you will notice a strain on the truck. And if you get into a lot of hills/mountains you'll definitely be wishing you had more power.

Suggestions: in case you don't want to buy a new truck. They make a supercharger for the truck for about $2,500.

p.s. I was thinking about getting a travel trailer this year around the same size that you are getting. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to tow some boats (about 20) to the boat show, all various sizes and weights. In doing so, I got a good feel for the kind of weight the truck can handle with no problem, i.e. 5,000 pounds or less

 

Do you have the tow package on your 99?
I assume the travel trailer has elect. brakes.
The only real problem I have towing my enclosed trailer with a 1/2ton small v/8 pick-up is in the mountains in Colorado.
Also, you might consider a trans. cooler if you are using an automatic. My truck is in the shop at this time due to trans. problems.
I know from my own experience, I wish I had a little more H.P. and the trailer tow package on my truck.

 

There is a difference between pulling a trailer & pulling a trailer comfortably. Your half ton will get the job done, but a 3\4 ton or 1 ton with the bigger engine will make it a much nicer travel day. I always believe in having more tool than necessary to get any job done. Fighting a strong headwind all day long in your half ton will have you begging for more power. I have personally pulled 10,000 lbs with my half ton Ram with a 5.9 ltr. It does okay most of the time, but I spent one frustrating afternoon bucking a headwind & went shopping for a diesel the next day. I just couldn't bring myself to spend the extra 5 k for the occasion pull but that is up to you.

 

1. Biggest Tranny and engine oil cooler. Must haves. A deeper tranny pan wouldn't hurt either.
2. Solid cooling system. Must have.
3. Good load rated tires. Overloaded tires run hotter and can be dangerous.
4. Rear sway bar. Wait till the wind blows.
5. An aftermarket air intake system not just an air filter. You'll neeed the extra air and trottle response.
6. Good headers(tri-y's) and a cat-back system. More power, better mileage, easy to do.
7. I have a supercharger on my truck. Great power but it needs premium all the time and is detination prone in the heat or really heavy loads. Your call.
8. upgraded throttle body and mass air unit if you want even more power.
9. HD shocks and springs. All four corners.
10. You want to stop right? Fresh brakes/rotors/and fluid. All 4 corners. Electric brake controll for trailer too.

I say all of this because lets face it you will be spending more time in the mid to upper range of your power band towing this much weight. You will need to move more air/fuel and do it quickly. The by product is heat. You must be able to get rid of that too. I've built motors for racing and towing my race truck. My 86 D250 Ram is bullit proof in the engine/tranny/rearend department. I followed the same formula above. I've towed well above the factory ratings with this combo. If it's not in your mind to modify your truck then buy a 3/4 or 1 ton. Everyone makes a great deisel now. Duramax, Powerstroke, and Cummins turbo are all good choices for serious towing. If not get the biggest gas motor you can find. Hope this helps some.

 

Hey, One good rule is that if you tow anything over 5000 lbs you should have a 3/4 ton truck, reasons - Larger brakes (most important), larger cooling system (trans cooler), More power (if you select right engine and rear end) and your 1/2 ton may do fine until you take a trip to the mountains and at 10,000 ft youv'e lost almost 20% of youre h.p. , brakes over heat and so may your'e engine. Hope this helps you out and if you can't get a larger truck right now go with the air bags (air lift) increases payload to 5000lbs and keeps your truck level while towing. Camping world sales them and most hitch and truck acessories stores probably do to. Enjoy your'e rig and Happy Trails , Dave

 

I used to work at an RV and Camper manufactureing facitily. 1 thing that all the trucks used to transport our outgoing product was this. They were all 1 ton dually DIESEL's. If you plan on hauling your trailer any more than 5-10 times a year, It would be a wise idea to invest in one (diesel) . Make sure you get the trailer (jake) brake installed though, as this will almost eliminate the need for using your standard brakes, adding miles to the life of them.A turbo or twin turbo is also a must if you want to do any sort of real driving in it too. With a bit of research you will see that (as long as you are seriously looking into buying a new truck) a diesel powered pickup is the way to go, Fuel economy is better, more power, less "stress" on the vehicle,ect.

 

First, I just want to say thanks to all that responded. Although my current truck could tackle the job it would need some minor modifications. It’s currently equipped with all the tow goodies from Chevrolet. Hitch, oil and Trans coolers and it’s pre-wired for trailer brakes. But it still would need more power, spring and brake to make me feel comfortable towing it knowing I’m not causing damage to my truck.

So I have decided to get a new-used, 3/4 or 1 ton crew cab, long box 2-WD. Sorry no doolies. This will be a tough find in MN… As for the GAS vs. DIESEL debate I’m torn. I want fuel economy and power. But I don’t want the added cost of a diesel just to purchase it and then the maintenance costs are tremendous as well. Plus diesel fuel here is the same cost or more than the Premium gogo juice. It would probably take me close to 100K just to start to make the diesel’s added cost start to pay off. Thought’s on this debate???