Pulling with half ton!

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 helps

Mike

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 RATIO
GT4 -- AXLE REAR, 3.73 RATIO
GT5 -- AXLE REAR, 4.10 RATIO

By 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.

i used to have a ezlift dual cam system for my 32' trailer. 1200lb bars. they looked like the reese system of dual cam bars. the dual cam links were mounted different and the dual cam bars were longer.
i would suggest adding the dual cam system to your weight distribution system. i also used a friction sway control. but it didn't do much for the passing trucks or side wind. the dual cam system made a hugh difference.

I towed a 29' 5500# trailer with a 2011 Avy LTZ. I was usually over on payload by one or two hundred pounds as payload for my truck was 1,060# or something like that. I had the six speed trans and I swapped in a 3.73 gear. Power wasn't a problem in flat Florida but the towing experience wasn't the best. The suspension on the LTZ was a bit soft and the p-series tires didnt help either.

I think the trailer you referenced will be a bit much for that truck. I don't think you'll be happy with that combination. I bought a 2500HD and the difference is night and day.

Get a good hitch with integrated sway control. I would not settle for the friction bars with that long of a trailer. Reece dual cam, EQualizer, pro pride, Hensley

Shal36 wrote:
I towed a 29' 5500# trailer with a 2011 Avy LTZ. I was usually over on payload by one or two hundred pounds as payload for my truck was 1,060# or something like that. I had the six speed trans and I swapped in a 3.73 gear. Power wasn't a problem in flat Florida but the towing experience wasn't the best.

And yet the OP's Av has the older wide ratio 4-speed, as does my own Av and as did my previous Silverado ... even a 3.73 coupled to that 4-spd won't make for a pleasant towing experience with a trailer as heavy & long as he's intending to tow with this truck. :( Could it be equipped with a 4.10? ... possibly, but I doubt it. ;)

Thanks everyone! This is helpful. I realize I may be at the higher edge of towing tolerance, and may consider a ram 2500 cummins for next truck. So far I plan to camp nearby (I live near the rockies) and won't pull long distances but that's only a short term solution.

The sticker in the glove box of my Avalanche has 93 codes in 11 rows and the only "G" code is "GT5" which indicates a 4.10 gear ratio... Correct? So I may have that more rare Avalanche designed for towing???