Towing with Silverado...am I delusional?

Get a 2500, gas or diesel is the big question. Gasser will be about 8K cheaper.

I towed my new 2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS 5th wheel for about 250 miles which did pretty good. The salesman of course said I would not have any problems towing this baby.... Then I got brave and started a trip from VA to Gatlinburg TN on I81 which has a couple of long grade mtn passes on it... Made it up the mtn pass just fine but coming down the other side was a death grip on the steering wheel. I was sweating bullets before I got control again.

It was just not enough truck to handle the weight of the trailer which was listed as 8800lbs...

Now if I grew up pulling trailers I probably would not have any problems at all but this was all very new to me towing something this large behind my F150 class truck...

I turned around and had to go through the same thing again to get back home and thats when I parked it in my back yard next to the woods where it still sets today. When i traded trucks later I never moved the fifth hitch over to the new 2010 truck...

It is now our get-away trailer setup here at the house. Grandkids love it when they came show up for overnites here.

Please make good judgement choices here... I still see the F150 truck towing similar trailers on the road but didn't work out for me. I chickened up pretty quick.

Roy Ken

When you go down your first steep mountain pass make sure to have your dash cam on, should make for good watching.


The information is out there, all you have to do is let it in.

3/4 ton gas or 1- ton diesel. I do not think a 3/4 ton diesel will hae enough payload for 1100 pounds of TW and 1100 pounds of golf cart, plus people in the cab.

In short it's time to step up. In addition to going diesel you also need to upgrade to a 3500 vs. the 2500 for the additional payload cost is minimal to go from 2500 to 3500.
If we avoid the payload issue and focus on the motor the 6.0 will get you there however you have performance expectations as well which means Duramax

Lantley wrote:
In short it's time to step up. In addition to going diesel you also need to upgrade to a 3500 vs. the 2500 for the additional payload cost is minimal to go from 2500 to 3500.
If we avoid the payload issue and focus on the motor the 6.0 will get you there however you have performance expectations as well which means Duramax

Perfect...good advice. You won't regret it for what you want to carry/tow and for the cross country trip you are planning.

27 foot TT your half ton will do that. A 2500 and 3500 is the same drive train so you should do a 1 ton. But gas would easily handle that, unless you are looking for an excuse to buy a diesel then you get to spend 8k more.

If you want a diesel get one, but a 27 foot TT wouldn't be the reason :-)

Look at SRW 3500's and if you don't golf, sport side x sides are a lot more fun than any cart.

Thanks for the feedback. I want to take the cart only to move around the campground with kids. I am not opposed to going 3500 with a diesel, actually I am leaning that direction. I think the extra cost of the diesel will pay for itself in the long run and if we upgrade our TT when our kids get older and bigger we will have the flexibility to do so.

Regards,

Grub

Grub32 wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. I want to take the cart only to move around the campground with kids. I am not opposed to going 3500 with a diesel, actually I am leaning that direction. I think the extra cost of the diesel will pay for itself in the long run and if we upgrade our TT when our kids get older and bigger we will have the flexibility to do so.

Regards,

Grub

Looks like you got it figured out! Yes, if you are hauling the cart, carrying passengers, and want to pull the trailer 65-70 mph, you do need a 3500 diesel.

You will be ready for bigger TT, or FW at some future point.

Happy travels,
Jerry