Towing vehicle help!

[wcowan]

That sounds like quite the trailer! It should be fun with the three kids! Looking at your post and comments, it's clear you are very focused on saving for a house and that the trailer will not move too often. Would it make sense to borrow a truck that could move the trailer from a friend whenever you were actually going to move the thing? That way, you could buy any kind of used vehicle and save money.

If it really matters to have a suitable truck, the other option might be leasing a new truck that meets your needs. That way you would be locked in to the payments only for the term of the lease rather than having a big loan hanging over you. You also wouldn't have to worry about repair costs since the truck would be new and under warranty. Of course, a lease would still have a significant monthly cost impact so that might not work for you.

Just some outside-the-box ideas. Good luck to you and your family and enjoy that trailer!

[alwalk63]

Originally Posted by wcowan

That sounds like quite the trailer! It should be fun with the three kids! Looking at your post and comments, it's clear you are very focused on saving for a house and that the trailer will not move too often. Would it make sense to borrow a truck that could move the trailer from a friend whenever you were actually going to move the thing? That way, you could buy any kind of used vehicle and save money.

If it really matters to have a suitable truck, the other option might be leasing a new truck that meets your needs. That way you would be locked in to the payments only for the term of the lease rather than having a big loan hanging over you. You also wouldn't have to worry about repair costs since the truck would be new and under warranty. Of course, a lease would still have a significant monthly cost impact so that might not work for you.

Just some outside-the-box ideas. Good luck to you and your family and enjoy that trailer!

You make a good point. Plus he wouldn't be the first person to buy a trailer and then realise they screwed up and no longer want or need a truck once the trailer finds a new home.

[bluegill1]

2500 gas (any brand) is a good fit, that’s a big trailer.
I’m pulling a 34RSBS (37’ overall, 11k with a 2014 Ram 2500 and I wouldn’t think of pulling it with anything less.
I’m not an expert but I believe Ford and Ram have better payload than GM , might do some research.

[nynethead]

i have a friend who tows a 42 foot 5th wheel(13.5-14K) with a chevy 6.0 gas truck, he says he has no issues i'm not sure I believe him but your TT should be easy then.

[tazz46]

I had a 04 chevy 2500 6.0 L cc long box pulling a 32 ft 5ver, ( 9800 lbs dry ).
It struggled on hills and sucked up the gas ( I had to carry gas cans in the bed to guarantee I could make it ). After 2 years of towing, the rear end went $2500 to fix. You should NEVER exceed 80% of your tow limit!!!
Sold it and bought a 3500 diesel, no regrets

[CAG]

Originally Posted by MacJayco

The truck i just mentioned the 2006 is CLEAN 1 owner 105k miles 4.10 but dude wants 22k for it, not saying he's completely wrong but i just sold my 2014 1500 i loved too death and dont want another 20k loan

Big difference between a 1500 and a Duramax. Diesels are more expensive when you buy them. I would suggest going here https://www.dieselplace.com/forums/ and reading through the thread for your year and engine. The two available engines for that year Duramax were the LBZ and the LLY. The previous engine LB7 had injector issues. These two I don't know about but keep in mind you will hear all the bad in the threads because people are coming there to get problems solved.



One thing I would want to know with the 06 would be does it have a lift pump added, was the filter head every rebuild, and did it every have injector issues. If you drive it or view it and at idle it smokes walk away, quickly.



I don't recall any Duramax with 4.10 gears but that I am not sure of. And a 10K trailer is nothing for a Duramax and I had two short beds and never had an issue towing nor did I find them to be unstable on the road.


Oh, and I sold my 04 with just over 100K 4 years ago for $20K.

[CAG]

I had to do a little research but 4.10 gears had to be special ordered IF they are OEM. OEM most all are 3.73.

[Mad5581]

I had an 06 2500 hd chevy with the 6.0. It was a crew cab long bed with 4x4. I used to tow a 34 foot Denali trailer with it. It was 9500lbs ish loaded . I took that combo from Northern Oregon to Central California 1500 miles round trip. No issues at all. The only downside was the 7ish mpg I got. The truck didn't hit overdrive much any inclined or head winds and it was out of OD. I'm not sure if I was over weight I never scaled it to see. I also had airbags on the back so the ride was actually not bad at all. That said I climbed the mountains at 55 to 60 no problem.

So to answer your question yes the short bed will give you more payload. As will going 2wd vs 4x4. The 9200 lb gvwr is the same no matter what configuration you have. So the lighter your truck is the more gvwr you have available for weight. The down side is with 7mpg the short bed is only gonna have a 24 or 26 gallon tank vs the long bed will have I believe a 32 gallon gas tank. So your range will not be far when towing.

I got about 13mpg not towing and around 7 to 8 towing. Truck had the 4.10 gears. I also leveled it and went up 2 tire sizes. I think I was closer to 15mpg stock. Honestly I was reluctant to buy the truck thinking the 6.0 wouldn't be enough engine. I was wrong. It was plenty of engine. I wasn't gonna win any race or pass many gas stations but the truck was flawless and pulled or hauled anything I put behind it. It was comfortable and reliable. I would still have it if I wouldn't have got a 43 foot 5thwheel to haul. I upgraded to a dirty max and ill tell you what its amazing. The L5P duramax will win races and passes many gas stations. I know its more $ but its worth every penny. That said I'm also a truck driver and I was extremely anti diesel because I had seen all the issues my company has had with the newest diesels. 40k miles on my new truck and not one issues so I'm pretty well sold on them now.

I would not hesitate to pull your rv with a 6.0 chevy in any configuration (4x4, 2wd, crew cab, long bed, short bed). I would recommend if you can afford it I would go newer then 06, 07. I'm not sure what year they bumped the power up on the 6.0 but I wanna say it was 08 to 10 somewhere in there. The 06 I had got it done but even just a little more power would have been nice.

[spark of insanity]

You are going to need something that can tow over 10K GVWR. It would have to be a truck because even though Chrysler just made a Grand Cherokee that can tow 10K I would not recommend it. If it is on occasion might want to consider a rental? Just a thought and good luck.

[imjustdave]

How often are you going to go camping? when your living camping? traveling around the USA is a bit different.

The 1 thing that spoke out to me is your looking at a 37 foot trailer... AWSOME for sleeping 5 people, but thats big for some camping parks near me. It's also sometimes a pain to tow. It's not so much the weight, but the massive sail that is behind you, and tail wags the truck type feeling. Length and weight that easily leverages the truck.

IF your really only going to move on occasion and dont need a truck otherwise... there are places that rent Full size pickups National is one and the are usually newer low mileage trucks. Go on vacation the kids have cool new truck to ride in you and the other half aren't worried about breaking down, having too small a truck ETC. Good way to see what you can and can't get away with as well.

IF you want to buy I would say 3/4 or 1 ton only because the weight of the truck will help

[MacJayco]

Well I found a truck everyone. I get where all of you are coming from with all your different answers and I love it. I may not need a giant truck but as I’ve seen one of you say, go big or go home. I found a 1 ton 3500 crew cab long bed that I absolutely love. Owned actually by my buddy who is a master diesel mechanic and has every receipt from anything he’s every done too it very well kept. He hasn’t done anything crazy too the truck because he’s realistic lol. But he has done plenty where I won’t have too do or upgrade anything, including new/upgraded injectors this year and I will just have to do regular maintenance and it should be good for a very long while (knock on wood)

[MacJayco]

Also, it has 170k miles and I’m stealing it from him for 15k lol. He originally wanted 20k

[Midnightmoon]

Nice find. Enjoy

[clutch]

Congratulations. I'm sure you will like it.

[Flyrotor]

That looks nice, what year is it?