Clarification on tow capacity
If a vehicle says it's tow capacity is 9,000 lbs what does that 9,000 pounds include? Obviously the TT plus whatever we have in it and the water in it... But what else?
Forum Discussion
LOL! Honestly, too many folks find this forum while researching how to fix their towing issues, instead of finding it while doing some research in advance of a purchase like you are. So you are already a step ahead.
Look at it another way: towing is not really about bigger motor = can tow more. That's how the mfrs market to us though...and it has some truth when you are towing boats, equipment trailers and the like. RVs put 13% (on average) of their weight on the tongue so vehicles run out of carrying capacity long before they run out of towing capacity. So what you are getting with a 250 or 2500 series is the ability to carry more weight with heavier springs, tires, brakes, axles, frame, etc. A 2500 truck with a 6.0L gas engine can tow a bigger RV because it can carry more tongue weight than its 1500 counterpart, and the gas mileage on the 6.0L and the 5.3L when not towing are not much different.
Contrary to what our dealer told us, the 26' Mallard that weighed 6200 lbs fully loaded was really beating up our 2000 Expedition, so we were forced to trade up to the Suburban and take a big depreciation hit after owning the truck for only a year. The upside was that we could now get the 34' trailer we wanted with 4 bunks and a huge slide. The downside was that the Suburban was sweetie's daily driver for 5 years. When I started working close to home we switched, but it does get driven almost every day. But it's part of the price we pay for the 34' trailer...not just the gas when towing but the extra gas when not towing.
A realistic way to attack this would be to pick a truck that you think would fit your daily needs and post up the GVWR and other ratings from the mfr. Get some opinions here on what size TT you could expect to comfortable tow and then go TT shopping and see if you like anything in that weight range. Do some virtual shopping and stop back here for opinions and advice and you should be able to dial in what will work best for you without having to commit too soon to either truck or trailer.
Look at it another way: towing is not really about bigger motor = can tow more. That's how the mfrs market to us though...and it has some truth when you are towing boats, equipment trailers and the like. RVs put 13% (on average) of their weight on the tongue so vehicles run out of carrying capacity long before they run out of towing capacity. So what you are getting with a 250 or 2500 series is the ability to carry more weight with heavier springs, tires, brakes, axles, frame, etc. A 2500 truck with a 6.0L gas engine can tow a bigger RV because it can carry more tongue weight than its 1500 counterpart, and the gas mileage on the 6.0L and the 5.3L when not towing are not much different.
Contrary to what our dealer told us, the 26' Mallard that weighed 6200 lbs fully loaded was really beating up our 2000 Expedition, so we were forced to trade up to the Suburban and take a big depreciation hit after owning the truck for only a year. The upside was that we could now get the 34' trailer we wanted with 4 bunks and a huge slide. The downside was that the Suburban was sweetie's daily driver for 5 years. When I started working close to home we switched, but it does get driven almost every day. But it's part of the price we pay for the 34' trailer...not just the gas when towing but the extra gas when not towing.
A realistic way to attack this would be to pick a truck that you think would fit your daily needs and post up the GVWR and other ratings from the mfr. Get some opinions here on what size TT you could expect to comfortable tow and then go TT shopping and see if you like anything in that weight range. Do some virtual shopping and stop back here for opinions and advice and you should be able to dial in what will work best for you without having to commit too soon to either truck or trailer.
