Hey gang. New to the site, and surprisingly for being Canadian, new to RV'ing. Just buying a 2007 Jayco JayFeather 29D. GVW is 7050 lbs. My question for you experienced towers is this: I have a 2006 Chev Avalanche (don't judge me, normally I'm a Ford guy), it is the 5.3 V8 1500 and I am almost certain the gear ratio is the 4.10. What can you tell me about using this truck to pull my about to purchase 29' featherlight TT? Thanks for your wisdom!

My first TT was a jayco jayflight 29 footer, about 5500 dry and 6500 loaded for trips. Might have pushed 7000 lbs the odd extended trip. My tow vehicle was a ram 1500 with 3:55 gearing 2wd. Truck was decent towing/stopping but even with an equalizer brand hitch properly matched to rig got occasional sway with passing semis/busses. The 3:55 gears was a mistake as hills and headwinds taught me what white knuckle driving meant! Im thinking you will have a decent setup with your gearing but may not enjoy all aspects of towing. Get a good hitch, learn to do proper set-up on it and dont overload your rig on the may long weekend. Get out and give it a try...and trust me 7000 lbs should never be called a featherlight! Enjoy the rig, and welcome to the site. Daryll

I used a Dodge Dakota WITH 3.92 gearing to tow a 6800 lb. trailer and yes on hill I had to kick the trans down but it still pulled hills at 55-60 thru the Catskills in Eastern NY. For a novice tower though I would not recommend it.

Related post from a couple of days ago.Bill

Start off by determining your cargo carrying capacity for the truck. Should be on the sticker on the door jam. With a 7000 GVW trailer, your tongue weight will be somewhere in the 900 to 1000lb range.Take the number off the sticker on the door. Subtract 900 (best case tongue weight), the remaining balance is what weight is remaining for you, your passengers, any cargo, fuel weight (8lbs per gallon), and weight of your WD hitch (75-100 lbs). You may find out that you exceed your cargo carrying capacity.After that, it's your judgement on what you want to do. Some folks focus on RAWR (Rear Axle Weight Rating), instead of the GVWR of the truck (which is curb weight plus cargo capacity). Some swear by not exceeding the GVWR of the truck. I won't pass on my personal belief, but I think there's room for both, depending on the situation, and how much weight we are really talking about.One other consideration is the wheel base of the tow vehicle. I don't know what the wheel base of the Avalanche, but with a 29 ft trailer, you could run into issues. Someone I know recently tried to tow his 26ft (I believe) TT with his Jeep Grand Cherokee as a test, and he decide real quick the Grand Cherokee wheel base was too short. He has a 3/4 ton truck but just wanted to know if he could tow it with the jeep, and decided he could not.Hope it helpsMike

Alberta Born wrote:I have a 2006 Chev Avalanche (don't judge me, normally I'm a Ford guy), it is the 5.3 V8 1500 and I am almost certain the gear ratio is the 4.10.A 5.3L Avalanche with a 4.10 axle ratio would indeed be rare so you'd certainly want to verify that by examining the RPO codes shown on the glove box sticker.GU6 -- AXLE REAR, 3.42 RATIOGT4 -- AXLE REAR, 3.73 RATIOGT5 -- AXLE REAR, 4.10 RATIOBy far the most common ratio used in this vintage of Silverado / Sierra / Avalanche is 3.42, just what I had in my 2006 Silverado and now have in my current 2005 Avalanche ... not great for towing, good for a maximum loaded trailer weight of ~ 6000 lbs. That Jayco 29D has a UVW of 5580 lbs so I'd expect you'd be towing at least 6500 lbs loaded and ready to camp, with an average gross tongue weight of ~ 850 lbs which is an awful lot an Avalanche. JMO, but I wouldn't tow a trailer 31' long and weighing this much with an Av.

Pulling with half ton! | Good Sam Community

73 Replies

Hannibal
Explorer
Jun 06, 2017
Congrats on the Ram Cummins! I've owned four of them. I agree on the no need for WDH or sway control. We tow our 32.5' Jayco Jayflight with our F250 with no sway control. With a crosswind, you'll occasionally feel trucks pass but nothing scary. I use a Reese HP trunnion style with integrated cams in the bars in case I decide to buy the sway control arms in the future. The only reason for the WD is to satisfy the 650/1250 lb rating of the OEM receiver. Otherwise, I'd just use a tri-ball rated for 1k lbs tongue weight.
Alberta_Born
Explorer
Jun 05, 2017
So, I've been out 3 times pulling the 29' jayco featherlight with my Dodge 3500 cummins diesel. Pulls like a dream, went to the trailer hitch specialist shop where I live since I already had the WD system. He looked at my set up and said there is no sink whatsoever and told me it would save me the money not having him weld the reese weight distribution system on, as the 1 ton carried the TT with no drop and all was level.

I've not found any sway while pulling the trailer so far. But it's funny what you worry about at night. Does anyone ever worry about the stock receiver system on the truck that you attach your ball to in order to pull? I'm running on the assumption that Dodge designed it well since it's a 1 ton. Am I correct? My trailer is not heavy, but I am going to pull it to the west coast this August over the Rockies and the Coquihalla..
ppine
Explorer II
May 02, 2017
This is the kind of post that reminds of a friend that bought a TT to "save money on motel bills." He had a stick and tin trailer that was around 28 feet and he pulled it with a Jeep Cherokee. Soon he needed a new transmission. Then he went out and bought a Dodge Cummins. So much for saving money on motel bills.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Apr 19, 2017
goducks10 wrote:
Most all the transports guys I see running around Oregon from the Dallas Forest River plant have no WDH on the TT's they pull with their DRW Rams.

About the 50's, 60's and 70's. My dad had a 66 Ford Custom 500 289 3 sp AT and towed an Aloha TT around 16'-18'. The Ford obviously hand no OEM receiver. The guy at the local Chevron gas station (Remember when gas stations worked on cars) welded a receiver on the car for him. Towed it all over the place. Heck my sister an I used to ride in the back seat with out seat belts. Shame on us. :)

Of course a lot of cars didn't have seat belts in the back seat then so you are forgiven.
Camper_G
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
Alberta Born wrote:
SoundGuy wrote:
JCR-1 wrote:
I have a 2008 Avalanche 5.3 and no way should you should tow that weight.

Did you not read the previous posts in this discussion? :h The OP said 3 weeks ago - "Well, I caved and we traded in the half ton Avalanche. I now have a Dodge 3500 with the 6.7 Cummins Diesel." I don't think he's going to have a problem towing anything. :W

Yeah, so I did decide to get away from the half ton Avalanche. Got a Dodge Ram 3500 with the Cummins 6.7. Pulled the TT around a little to get a feel for it. Pretty sure I heard the Cummins sigh and say b!tch please!

I'm sure it pulls your trailer very well
Alberta_Born
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
SoundGuy wrote:
JCR-1 wrote:
I have a 2008 Avalanche 5.3 and no way should you should tow that weight.

Did you not read the previous posts in this discussion? :h The OP said 3 weeks ago - "Well, I caved and we traded in the half ton Avalanche. I now have a Dodge 3500 with the 6.7 Cummins Diesel." I don't think he's going to have a problem towing anything. :W

Yeah, so I did decide to get away from the half ton Avalanche. Got a Dodge Ram 3500 with the Cummins 6.7. Pulled the TT around a little to get a feel for it. Pretty sure I heard the Cummins sigh and say b!tch please!
goducks10
Explorer
Mar 24, 2017
Most all the transports guys I see running around Oregon from the Dallas Forest River plant have no WDH on the TT's they pull with their DRW Rams.

About the 50's, 60's and 70's. My dad had a 66 Ford Custom 500 289 3 sp AT and towed an Aloha TT around 16'-18'. The Ford obviously hand no OEM receiver. The guy at the local Chevron gas station (Remember when gas stations worked on cars) welded a receiver on the car for him. Towed it all over the place. Heck my sister an I used to ride in the back seat with out seat belts. Shame on us. :)
ppine
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2017
You don't mention what part of Canada you are from. Seven thousand pounds is a lot for a 1/2 ton to pull in the mountains of Alberta and BC. The rest of the provinces might be okay since you have the 4:10 rear end.
BadgerMcAdams
Explorer
Mar 24, 2017
1stgenfarmboy wrote:
Just a little thing to think about.

I rebuild electric hoists in our shop, we have to see what thay will pick up before we let them go " load test" a 1 ton hoist will pick up 2 1/2 tons before the load clutch slips, and the load brake holds way way more than that.

my point, you guys don't really think they only test these trucks with only the advertised max load right, they test them way over that and under rate them to " if you will " cover there rear.

I know why they did it, they think people don't have a lick of common cents these days " and I do think it is falling off a bit " but use a little common cents and have fun camping, stop loosing sleep over beeing 500 of 1000 lbs over weight.

In the last 20 years we have gone so far overboard with safty regulations and ratings we almost can't tow anything with a truck and stay within the limits of the door sticker.

how did anybody survive the 50's-60's-70's pulling 14-20ft TT's that were built with wood and steal with station wagons and half ton trucks.

I get so tired of seeing, OH LORD YOU PULL THAT WITH A 1/2 TON......YOUR GONNA DIE AND KILL THE REST OF US "

I had relatives that hauled around a 30+ foot Airstream trailer with a Lincoln MkVII...It has been MANY years since I saw it, so memory fails me some, but they had NO problems towing that trailer all over Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Maybe they were just lucky too...
1stgenfarmboy
Explorer
Mar 24, 2017
Just a little thing to think about.

I rebuild electric hoists in our shop, we have to see what thay will pick up before we let them go " load test" a 1 ton hoist will pick up 2 1/2 tons before the load clutch slips, and the load brake holds way way more than that.

my point, you guys don't really think they only test these trucks with only the advertised max load right, they test them way over that and under rate them to " if you will " cover there rear.

I know why they did it, they think people don't have a lick of common cents these days " and I do think it is falling off a bit " but use a little common cents and have fun camping, stop loosing sleep over beeing 500 of 1000 lbs over weight.

In the last 20 years we have gone so far overboard with safty regulations and ratings we almost can't tow anything with a truck and stay within the limits of the door sticker.

how did anybody survive the 50's-60's-70's pulling 14-20ft TT's that were built with wood and steal with station wagons and half ton trucks.

I get so tired of seeing, OH LORD YOU PULL THAT WITH A 1/2 TON......YOUR GONNA DIE AND KILL THE REST OF US "