Tow Vehicle for 22,000 Pounds Plus

Texas Roadrunner wrote:
Just wanted to say that I (Texas Roadrunner) am the original poster and I am not a "he". Heat, raw onions, and poisonous snakes are about the only things I hate. As stated initially, just wanted to find out your experiences with towing a heavy fiver, e.g. 22,000 pounds plus with a Ford or Ram. I am grateful to all who took the time to answer my query. Those answers have helped us a good deal. As stated we love our GMC dually, DH really hates to part with it, but we are really concerned about the numbers which tell us we would have problems towing in the mountains, and that is where we go to escape that dreaded heat!

If you can carry the pin weight within specs, why worry about mountains and get rid of a perfectly good truck? The trailer should stop itself and the truck stops itself; if you want extra braking power, install an exhaust brake on the truck. Now, if you're real marginal on the numbers with the current truck, yes, you might want to get a newer truck with a higher payload. Brakes =might= be slightly better, but they might be the same, too. Engines and transmissions can be upgraded relatively cheaply for both performance and longevity (thinking mild "chipping" and/or oil coolers), but towing performance would be about the same, IMO. My '02 2500HD Duramax is a bit anemic in power, so I just slow down and run with the semis on upgrades and watch my speed on downgrades. Here in AZ, we have any number of miles-long grades, so it's just part of RVing here, and you just have to learn to live with it. I'm old enough to know that, while I'd love to have a fire-breathing monster of a truck, I certainly don't need it, and I'm better off without it! :-)

Lyle