clint.settle wrote:
Wife and I purchased a 2014 Keystone Passport 2650BH (31ft w/ hitch, 4800# dry weight)and need some additional advice on towing with our 2011 Tahoe, 5200# tow capacity, 5.3L V8, 3.08 rear ratio. Dealers said we can do it, so here we are, but nervous about being at our max.
That salesmen should be fired. The dry weight is only 400 pounds under your tow rating. The yellow sticker as equipped weight is probably another 200 pounds higher. You'll add 200 pounds of clothes let alone food, toys, camping chairs, pots and pans, dishes, coffee pot, etc. The average RVer adds 1200 pounds to MFR dry weight according to a survey done here from people who actually weighed their setup. You'll be every bit of 6k pounds, and closer to 6500 for a week long family trip. But you got what you got so now what?
GM never offered the HD towing package with the 3.08 axle you have.
Here is a reference thread on a similar situation. It is not ideal; 3.42 would be better. But you can choose to spend $200 on a trans cooler or spend far more in just sales tax switching the whole truck.
Towing a high walled RV is hard work. Hard on engine, hard on trans. That's why they use twice the fuel (10mpg vs. 20mph) as non-towing at 65mph. Weight does not matter much for fuel economy as you are pulling two sheets of plywood through the air. The transmission shifts a lot more and unlocks the torque converter more than non towing, thus the need for better cooling. The part is like $60. Labor an hour or two for a competent trans shop.
There is the Tahoe's 1000 pound receiver limit and payload issue near 1500 pounds, but you will probably be under those.
