New Tires? New Truck?

snowgoer1998 · 02-19-2018, 12:37 PM

We just got back from our first outing and now I have some questions. Here is our rig:

- 2016 GMC 1500 Denali w/6.2L
- 3,950# axle rating (F & R)
- 7,200# GVWR
- 15,000# GCWR

- 2018 Jayflight 29 BHDB (empty tanks)
- CAT weight 7,600#
- 9,250# GVWR

Fully loaded (empty tanks) CAT weights
- Front Axle - 3580#
- Rear Axle - 3620#
- Trailer Axles - 6,940#
- GCWR - 14,140#

WDH - Blue OX Sway Pro

Tow Vehicle has 'P' rated Wrangler SR-A - P275/55R20 which I ran at 47-48 psi (max sidewall is 51 psi)

Average top speed 60-63 mph

We towed from DFW to Houston going down HWY 6. I never felt out of control, however the truck felt like it was riding on 4 clouds instead of tires.

Here's my situation...We'll be going out roughly once every 1-2 months for a long weekend and 2-3 weeks during the summer. I'm debating right now if this truck is enough to pull this trailer. The engine has no problems...it's the payload and weight ratings that have me up at night as well as the 'floating feeling' when towing. I have a feeling this 'floating feeling' is because the truck is maxed out.

WWYD? New Truck? E-Rated Tires? No change?

wabirch · 02-20-2018, 06:16 AM

You will exceed with a fuller trailer, saw some new GMCs at auto show. Get a 3/4 for the higher load capacity maybe.

Magnolia Tom · 02-20-2018, 07:34 AM

I would go back to the scales with a fully loaded truck and trailer to find what your ready to camp weight. Then you’ll know what you are really dealing with. My guess is you’ll be very close to the payload capacity but over the GVWR. If you’re only going out once a month (and close to home) I personally would get the LT tires and just watch how much I load up. Others will chime in saying you need a bigger truck. If you head west to the mountains of Texas, a bigger truck would be in your best interest, but you should be fine on the flats with your current truck. JMHO

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curver900 · 02-20-2018, 07:40 AM

P-rated is not a truck tire just a passenger tire.. you should look at an XL or D rated tire...I got a set of cooper ATP's, I hear the AT3's are pretty good too they go to 55 psi and a load rating of 114... that will take away all the floating feeling you are getting...

RedHorse1 · 02-20-2018, 08:25 AM

Your TV is pretty new so changing tires might make the most sense. I’d expect switching to LT tires would make a big improvement.
However, if you expect contracting a case of “two foot- itis” maybe a TV upgrade could be argued.

DonaandDon · 02-20-2018, 10:28 AM

I agree with a D-rated tire. You should check your tire sidewalls for cracks and press them to max air. I had p-tires on my (2008 Tundra w/p255s) before I switched to LTs. You could add airbags or Timbrens to help handle the extra cargo load. Your truck is new enough to pull that beast.

LiftedAWDAstro · 02-21-2018, 06:37 AM

If trading in on a 3/4 ton gasser doesn't make sense financially, a set of LT rated tires will make a significant change in the way it feels and handles. You will still be close to max weight but you are within specs otherwise. I ran a set of LT Cooper AT3's on my Tundra while towing my 28BHBE and it made a huge difference. In the non-towing season, I switched back to the stock P255/70R18 Michelins which were like riding on a cloud. The truck empty felt a lot more stable with the LT's.

CampNow · 02-21-2018, 12:41 PM

Need to know your truck's scale weight vacation-ready without the trailer hitched vs. scale weight of your entire vacation-ready rig to accurately determine your vacation-ready tongue weight. To get a really accurate picture of what's going on, ideally you'd scale your entire vacation-ready rig with and without the WDH activated.

Too little tongue weight can result in a mushy, "cloudy" ride. The tongue weight may not be low enough to induce sway, but low enough to be mushy or "cloudy". Just something to consider checking before spending a whole lotta money on tires.

snowgoer1998 · 02-21-2018, 01:00 PM

Thanks for the replies. The insight helps.

From the volumes of information I've been reading over the last few days, I have confidence that a new set of proper towing rated tires would help with the 'squishy' handling.

What the tires don't help with is the weights I'm towing at. The truck is maxed out at factory ratings with the GVWR of 7,200# (fully loaded for camping) and the GCVWR is sitting with a little headroom at 14,140# (15K max)...so any extra weight we take on a trip MUST go over the trailer axles.

IF (big IF) I would upgrade the tow vehicle, I'm looking at a 1-ton Diesel Crew Cab short box - single wheel (it fits in the garage - otherwise I'd go long box)...1-ton simply for the extra payload for not much $$$...Diesel because if I'm going large, I'm going large...

As far as upgrading the RV...this will not happen for at least 10 years when the kids are not longer in the picture...we've spent the last 4 years looking at RV's to figure out what works best for our family at this time...

Wish I would have waited a little longer on the vehicle purchase, but...20/20 hindsight and all that...

So, the million dollar follow up question...

Given what you know today and the years of RV'ing you've done, would you bite the bullet and upgrade the tow vehicle now or get new tires and travel light?

need-a-vacation · 02-21-2018, 01:04 PM

As Camp posted, you need to weigh the combo more to be able to figure all thof weights.

Follow the CAT Scale how to in my signature link for an in depth how to. Then post back with your results of the ready to camp weights. Then with all the weights you are armed to decide if a set of LT tires will be enough for how you camp, or if a bigger tv is needed.

snowgoer1998 · 02-21-2018, 01:09 PM

CampNow

Truck Alone (Vacation Ready) - 6200#
Truck w/RV w/WDH fully hitched - 7200# (RV Axles 6,940#)

so based on those numbers I've got rougly 1,000# on the hitch with WDH fully set up

The one number I am missing is the rear axle of the truck WITHOUT the WDH activated...we just ran out of time the day we were at the scale

SOMBATFAMILY · 02-21-2018, 01:15 PM

Not enough tongue weight. I have p tire with load rating of 2601# and heavy trailer with no issues. Your limitations would be axle rating.

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CampNow · 02-21-2018, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowgoer1998

. . . So, the million dollar follow up question...

Given what you know today and the years of RV'ing you've done, would you bite the bullet and upgrade the tow vehicle now or get new tires and travel light?

Can you "afford" to upgrade to a 1-ton Diesel right now? If you can, give it some serious consideration. The improvement in stability will be dramatic. These trucks weigh 2,500 - 3,000 lbs. more than most 1/2-ton trucks---simple physics.

We towed with a 1/2-ton truck for years. Doable, but for us, always felt like a compromise situation.

We now tow a 35 ft. travel trailer (that only weighs about 800 lbs. more than your trailer) with our 1-ton SRW diesel. The good: Stable as a rock. Low drama---rarely, if ever, downshifts. Good fuel economy. Zero-sway, even with 30+ MPH cross-winds. Excellent weight distribution even without a WDH. The bad: diesel costs more, higher maintenance costs, and not quite as nimble as 1/2-ton truck. For us, a very fair trade.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

ROC-REQS · 02-21-2018, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowgoer1998

... So, the million dollar follow up question...

Given what you know today and the years of RV'ing you've done, would you bite the bullet and upgrade the tow vehicle now or get new tires and travel light?

As CampNow mentioned, if you can afford to upgrade the TV to a 1-ton, you will be happy.
Pros:
> the towing, stopping and payload of the TV will be very much improved.
> You'll have no worries if you take a trip where you have hills or mountains.
> You say now that you have no plans of upgrading your TT - I've said that many times and eat my words. With the 1-ton you have the TV if and when you upgrade the TT or go to a FW.

Cons:
> The cost to upgrade.

If you stay with what you have, as other's have suggested, upgrade your tires to LT tires.
Check the distance from ground to fender at the center of the front and rear TV wheels both before and after hooking up with the WD hitch.
You should have a drop in distance at both front and rear if the WD hitch is setup properly.
If you're getting an increase in the front, the WD hitch is not transferring enough weight to the front wheels. That would cause a feeling of floating.
Adjust your WD hitch to transfer more weight to the front of the TV.

Good luck.

LiftedAWDAstro · 02-21-2018, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowgoer1998

So, the million dollar follow up question...

Given what you know today and the years of RV'ing you've done, would you bite the bullet and upgrade the tow vehicle now or get new tires and travel light?

Since I just did this last year...upgrade to the diesel now! You will not regret it and you don't have to worry if you want to tow with water or if one of the kids brings a friend along or the growing kids bring bikes or you want to haul firewood...you get the idea.

SkyBound · 02-25-2018, 03:58 PM

Of course if it's in your budget, buy a bigger truck. If you want to make due, put a set of LT load range E tires on and run them 50-60psi, get some sort of rear suspension enhancement such as RoadMaster Active Suspension, Air Bags, Timbrens, or add-a-leaf, and put a set of premium gas shocks and struts on it. It will cost you a couple grand but may just be what you're looking for outside of a truck upgrade.

snowgoer1998 · 02-26-2018, 01:32 PM

For now we've decided to get the LT tires and see how it goes.
I would say the cost of upgrade to the 3/4 - 1 ton was the deciding factor. We figured that it would be money well spent on the tires to make sure that this was the weak link in our set up.

We know we're at the payload limits of the truck, but we don't tow enough in our current situation, in our minds, to justify the cost.

After we tow, I'll report back so there is some type of conclusion for this tread.

Mad Cow · 02-26-2018, 05:05 PM

I would concur, try a set of LT tires on the pickup before going to the extreme of getting another one. I am very partial to my gasser 2500 Chevy, but your 1500 is no slouch. There are little things that can help. I am partial to SumoSprings, which are cellular foam units that replace the factory rubber bump stop on the Chevy pickup. There are other versions, but the bump stop ones are easy to install and really provide some great ride support and cushioning on rough roads. I put them on in about 15 minutes and they made a whale of a difference on my 2500 with a load on.

https://www.supersprings.com/products/sumosprings/

quantum743 · 02-26-2018, 09:16 PM

I put new tires on my 2009 chevy 1500 hoping to fix the problem, it ended up being money lost when I upgraded my truck a month later. If you're already worried about weight I would be cautious of sinking money in, you likely won't get enough improvement to be satisfied.

Just my 2 cents.

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snowgoer1998 · 03-05-2018, 10:01 AM

This past weekend we tried out a new set of tires...

Long story short...a new truck is in the future

Good thing is that the tires we tried out had a trial period...so a few bucks for balancing and installation is all we're out of pocket.

The tires we tried out were General Grabber HTS60...they rode (and towed) considerably better than the stock Wrangler SRA that are currently on the truck, however it was not enough to overcome the tail wagging the dog.

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