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

Trackrig
Explorer II
Feb 06, 2017
Related post from a couple of days ago.

Bill
We_Cant_Wait
Explorer
Feb 06, 2017
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.
FLY_4_FUN
Explorer
Feb 06, 2017
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

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Pulling with half ton!

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