1/2 ton Tundra pulling 8200 lbs
I inherited my father's Beautiful 30' Blackstone TT,I have pulled it maybe a dozen times with my paid for 2007 Tundra which seem's to pull and brake it just fine.But I get grilled all the time at Rv p...
Forum Discussion
For what it’s worth….
My camper is just a shade under 6,000 lbs. loaded and I used to pull it with a ½ ton Silverado, 5.3l motor, and a tow package using an Equalizer hitch. Over the weekend I got a chance to hook up with my ¾ ton Silverado, Duramax 6.6l I bought last fall. I pulled the camper about 60 miles Saturday and another 40 or so today.
All on mostly flat ground with a few small hills and with a 25-30 mph wind. That’s not a real exhaustive test, but it was enough to let me see what I’ve been missing. Pulling the same camper, same weight, with the same hitch setup there’s no comparison. In fact, it’s not even fair to compare the two trucks. The suspension is far heavier and the power difference between the Duramax and the 5.3l is just worlds apart.
To get an idea how much more substantial the suspension is on this ¾ ton, when I set the tongue of the trailer (about 700 lbs.) on the hitch ball the back fender sunk 1 1/8 inch and the front fender rose 3/8 inch. The ½ ton was about twice that. Acceleration with the Duramax from a dead stop or while cruising with this camper isn’t a whole lot different than when the truck is empty. Just going down the road it would be easy to forget it was back there. All I can say about braking is it’s phenomenal.
Actually, I don’t think pulling this particular camper with this truck was much of a test for the truck, partly because the truck outweighs the camper by around 1,000 lbs. I’m sure it’ll handle a lot more comfortably. We’re heading to Kentucky and on to Tennessee at the end of the month, so we’ll see how it does then.
So in MY world and MY world only, pulling the same camper with a ½ ton and a ¾ ton…there was a HUGE difference.
My camper is just a shade under 6,000 lbs. loaded and I used to pull it with a ½ ton Silverado, 5.3l motor, and a tow package using an Equalizer hitch. Over the weekend I got a chance to hook up with my ¾ ton Silverado, Duramax 6.6l I bought last fall. I pulled the camper about 60 miles Saturday and another 40 or so today.
All on mostly flat ground with a few small hills and with a 25-30 mph wind. That’s not a real exhaustive test, but it was enough to let me see what I’ve been missing. Pulling the same camper, same weight, with the same hitch setup there’s no comparison. In fact, it’s not even fair to compare the two trucks. The suspension is far heavier and the power difference between the Duramax and the 5.3l is just worlds apart.
To get an idea how much more substantial the suspension is on this ¾ ton, when I set the tongue of the trailer (about 700 lbs.) on the hitch ball the back fender sunk 1 1/8 inch and the front fender rose 3/8 inch. The ½ ton was about twice that. Acceleration with the Duramax from a dead stop or while cruising with this camper isn’t a whole lot different than when the truck is empty. Just going down the road it would be easy to forget it was back there. All I can say about braking is it’s phenomenal.
Actually, I don’t think pulling this particular camper with this truck was much of a test for the truck, partly because the truck outweighs the camper by around 1,000 lbs. I’m sure it’ll handle a lot more comfortably. We’re heading to Kentucky and on to Tennessee at the end of the month, so we’ll see how it does then.
So in MY world and MY world only, pulling the same camper with a ½ ton and a ¾ ton…there was a HUGE difference.
