Towing my rig with a different tv.

[Studiovette]

Just got back from a 2000+ mile trip and I'm finally getting used to towing and how my Durango handles and drives with the camper behind it. My Durango performed well in high heat and high traffic situations ranging from 8-12 hrs of driving per day for 2 days going and 2 days on the return.

So next weekend I am heading up to the lake George area and want to give the Durango some time off. My friend has offered to bring along his 2017 Silverado 1500 v8 4x4 which can easily pull my camper. I have never driven a pick up before so this should be interesting! 😆 I would think it makes the most sense for me to drive since I have some towing experience and it's my camper.

I'm just wondering what changes I need to make to my wdh if any, and anything else perhaps that I am overlooking. Also I'm not sure if his truck has a built in brake controller and have to look into this prior. If not than it might not even make sense to take the Silverado unless it will work with my P3 I'm using in my Durango. Perhaps it's just a matter of a new plug n play wiring harness I can get on Amazon for $15-20. Being quite new to this I'm not sure what else I need to consider.

Thanks for your help.

[farnik78]

Does the Silverado have a brake controller?

Also you might want to rethink even doing this. I don't know which wdh you have but the Silverado is going to be much taller than the Durango and you are going to have to make some major adjustments to get it to tow level


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[Studiovette]

I have a EAZ lift 1000 made by Camco.

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[repacs0103]

It's a 7000# gvw trailer, which is well within the capabilities of both vehicles. The Chevy is far more capable than the Durango as it is, so I wouldn't worry, WDH or not . And ignore the wight police here on JOF, they have nothing better to do


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[Marcm157]

I have an Equalizer weight distribution hitch and I couldn't just swap it to another vehicle without going through the whole setup process all over again. . It's not a terribly difficult process but not one I'd want to do if I didn't have to...

[SouthCo]

My Blue OX WDH is easy to setup. Love it...

OP let us know how the towing experience changes from the Durango to the Silverado...

[shawnh]

I tow my 2018 264BHW with either a 2012 Ford Expedition or 2016 Ford F150. Surprisingly, no adjustments were necessary. Go through the set up process with the Silverado and see - you may just get lucky.

[Studiovette]

I'm hoping it's just an easy swap. It seems like it will be with my EAZ wdh . I don't really see any adjustments that can be made except on how many links you choose for the bars which is usually never fewer than 2 and I use 3 now on the Durango. Will report back after

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[Wrascal]

And ignore the wight police here on JOF, they have nothing better to do

You, sir, are certainly entitled to your (ill advised) opinion.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by repacs0103

snip....... And ignore the wight police here on JOF, they have nothing better to do

I've been a JOF member 6-plus years and never ran across any weight police here, or seen any tickets issued..., must be another RV forum

Bob

[Midnightmoon]

Set your hitch height, buy a plug and play harness from etrailer or amazon for the Protegy and enjoy your weekend. The only issue you will have will that you will be wanting to trade in your Durango for a truck when you get home. It happened to my buddy the same way. He used to pull his previous trailer with a Durango. He borrowed my truck for one trip and now owns a Ram 2500. Just know you have been warned.

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by Studiovette

So next weekend I am heading up to the lake George area and want to give the Durango some time off.

I'm curious, why do you want to "give it some time off"? It's a machine and it sounds like it did it's job well. It won't hurt a thing to use again and again for towing. Just use it and don't hassle with trying to set up your hitch for another truck for one trip.

I went from a mid-size SUV to my current Sierra. Believe it or not the height of my PU is much shorter than my old Trailblazer was. I had to buy a shorter shank. Not cheap.

If you do choose to try this, I will warn you now, you'll want a full size truck after you get home.

[Studiovette]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

I'm curious, why do you want to "give it some time off"? It's a machine and it sounds like it did it's job well. It won't hurt a thing to use again and again for towing. Just use it and don't hassle with trying to set up your hitch for another truck for one trip.

I went from a mid-size SUV to my current Sierra. Believe it or not the height of my PU is much shorter than my old Trailblazer was. I had to buy a shorter shank. Not cheap.

If you do choose to try this, I will warn you now, you'll want a full size truck after you get home.

My current DD is a Lexus IS lease and going back in a few months so this was part of the reasoning. I love my Durango but wish I had gone with the RT for that extra power. The My current GT does a great job and I'm completely comfortable with it, but I'm not sure how it would do over mountains and hills though.
I was wanting to give it a break since I was planning on carrying 40 gals of water and 3 mountain bikes with me. So estimating about 450lbs heavier than usual. Staying at a state park and not sure how accessible water will be.
As I believe I stated I've never had a pu before so I guess I'm just thinking it's a good opportunity to see how the Silverado performs. ( + I'm a huge Chevy fan) I've been more and more interested in some of the new pu's I'm seeing on the road so I'm leaning towards one when the Lexus lease is up. If not it will be a larger full size SUV like a Tahoe or something equivalent with at least 8500lbs Of towing power.

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[need-a-vacation]

Originally Posted by Studiovette

I'm hoping it's just an easy swap. It seems like it will be with my EAZ wdh . I don't really see any adjustments that can be made except on how many links you choose for the bars which is usually never fewer than 2 and I use 3 now on the Durango. Will report back after

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Vette,

As mentioned, the biggest issue may be due to the ball height. You want he trailer to be level, or ever so slightly nose down. If the tongue is nose high you could potentially have some sway as a result.

Have fla fun trip!!!

[gdiep]

I may be able to add some value here...

I own a 2014 Durango and a 2014 Tundra. I have towed with both. I will only tow with my Tundra now. It has less sway, less bounce and feels much more in control when I tow our trailer. The Durango tows the boat and smaller trailers just fine, but even towing our 4500 lb trailer it is more skittish on the road.

I would need to re-set up the wdh for each of the vehicles because of the different heights of the receivers and to get the front/rear ride heights to level out on each of the different vehicles.

I agree with those that said you will like towing with the truck. Now, I like my Durango, enough so that it is my DD and my wife drives the Tundra as her DD. But I do not have confidence in its ability to tow like I do the Tundra.

[bansai]

FWIW, it took me 20 minutes to adjust my equalizer hitch when I went from 150 to my 250. I knew the difference in receiver height between the two vehicles.

Really the only thing I ended up needing to do was to pull off the hitch head from the draw bar, flip it around, re-install the hitch head on a lower set of 'holes', so the ball on the hitch was as close as I could get it to the same height off the ground I had before.

I haven't scaled this new setup yet, but it definitely 'feels' spot on. I may need to tweak the spring bars a tad, but after a while you can just feel when it's right. I guess I wouldn't sweat it too much if you wanted to put that hitch on another TV. Doesn't mean I would unless I had a very good reason to to each his own on that one.

[ctbailey]

Originally Posted by Rustic Eagle

I've been a JOF member 6-plus years and never ran across any weight police here, or seen any tickets issued..., must be another RV forum



Bob

Bob.... this is going to escalate quickly I'm afraid. [emoji12]LOL


Craig Bailey
New Hampshire
Jayflight 32 BHDS
Chevy 2500HD CC

[SOMBATFAMILY]

I am going to Lake George Battleground Campground in August. I got a site right next to water. There is water at the campground. We usually forget to fill up until we're all setup at our site so I try to get site closest to water.