Towing with a midsize Chevy

Since I already described what new half tons NOT to get…
If you want actual truck recommendations that would be the most bulletproof, and using the same vintage as your truck giver take for budget purposes, this is what you should be looking for. 
Half tons: 

2016-up Rams with the 8 speed. Any flavor any gearing. There are some up to about 2018 that still got the old 65/66RFE. Reliable and fine, but why…Ram just was using up old stock. I have a 2017 like this. Hauls ass and pulls our 6klb boat even with the 3.21 gears. 
The ONLY thing you need to do for these trucks for hauling some weight is throw some bags in the back springs. Not even the heavy duty ones, the $100 1000lb slip in helper bags are awesome. Rams ride the best with the coils but need a little help compared to leaf spring trucks. Cake and eat it with the bags. 
F150 most any Eco boost past about 2015 or 5.0 6 or 10 speed. There are a few quirky years though. You can read up on them. 
GM….meh.  I love them. And I really like Trail boss pickups. But I can’t really recommend any of the 20-teens trucks. If you’re set on one it’s not bad but NO 8 speeds and find one that’s had the valves/lifters/AFM, whatever the issue if the year was, fixed recently IMO. That said I’ve put 100k on a couple 5.3s no problem and I’ve had a couple in the shop with the heads off in under 50k miles. They’re kinda like going to the casino with a bit better odds. 

Now if you want the best value/bang for the buck, bulletproof, capable (compared to your mini truck and half tons) 10 year old +\- truck, F250 6.2L gas and especially the early ones with the big 6r140 are the best, in this category. Period. And I don’t even like Fords. 
Next is GM 2500 6.0/6L90. Any year. Not as good of a trans as the 6R140 unfortunately. But remember Chevy turned into the Dodge of transmissions about 20 years ago and didn’t pull out of it until the 10 speeds. 
Last Ram 6.4/66RFE. Rock solid truck and even though I like the transmission less, it’s arguably better than a 6L90. Again, Ram couldn’t get themselves right in the half ton trans game until 2015 and in the H.D. trucks it took til 2018/19 to get a 8 HP behind the big gassers which is awesome and 2025 to get a great trans behind the diesels. 

Or take the Colorado and glue a Virgin Mary statue to the dash. Especially since you’ll be in Mexico half the time. She may help keep your transmission alive and as a bonus you’ll get some more respect from the locals and maybe assistance which you may need.