Truck for a 5000# travel trailer
This is my first post to this forum. I'm sure many of you have seen this type of question posted before, but I'd appreciate your input.
My wife and I retired last year and bought a 2011 Gulf Stream Gulf Breeze Sport 22 TRB travel trailer. My current truck is a 2009 Silverado with the 4.8L engine, which has a trailer capacity of 5800 pounds. The dry weight of the trailer is reported to be Gulf Stream site says that this model has a dry weight of 3640 pounds, so when we bought it, I figured that the Silverado should be able to handle this size trailer. We’ve taken it on a couple of trips from our home in southern New England, up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, out to Cape Cod, down to Assateague in Maryland, and out to the Catskills, and it is apparent that the engine is underpowered for this trailer. On our most recent trip to Upstate New York, we took the Mass Turnpike through the Berkshires, and the truck was able to go around 42 mph over the hills of western Mass. Of more concern, I was monitoring the transmission fluid temperature, which would peak a little above 200 on some of the hills and reached 228 F as we topped the highest hill. (The truck has the factory transmission cooler). When we returned, I weighed the trailer fully loaded with fresh water tank, propane, all of our outdoor chairs, awning, bicycles, food, and clothing (the gray and black water tanks were empty) - 4860 pounds. We like to dry camp, so we want to carry fresh water with us.
Our long range plans are to take this trailer out west – the Rockies and on to the west coast - for longer periods of time, which this Silverado clearly won’t be able to handle. So I’ve begun looking for a more capable truck. My budget is around $25k for a used truck, but that number could go up. I want a truck that can handle hills, and I think that I would I would like to be able to cruise at 65 with the engine in the low 2000 RPM range. I don’t like going too slowly and having cars zipping by at 30+ mph faster because I think the speed differential can be dangerous.
I believe that I should be looking for a truck that has significantly higher torque than my current 4.8 L in the RPM range that I want to cruise in. In the 2500 RPM range, the 4.8L turns around 270 ft-lbs, and I am thinking that I want to be looking for something in the 350+ ft-lb range. Does that make sense?
Basically, how much truck should I be looking for to tow a 5000 pound trailer? Diesel trucks would certainly do, but I wonder whether I really need that much truck or their additional up-front and maintenance costs. The Ford Eco Boost engines have what I believe is pretty good low RPM torque like the diesels, but they are somewhat expensive, and I wonder whether those engines will be reliable. Then there are the larger gas engines, 5.3 to 6 Liters. Am I correct in believing that I can only expect less than 10 mpg when towing regardless of the engine? Can you recommend some particular makes, model years and engine/differential combinations that work well for you that I can target?
Thanks,
Chris
My wife and I retired last year and bought a 2011 Gulf Stream Gulf Breeze Sport 22 TRB travel trailer. My current truck is a 2009 Silverado with the 4.8L engine, which has a trailer capacity of 5800 pounds. The dry weight of the trailer is reported to be Gulf Stream site says that this model has a dry weight of 3640 pounds, so when we bought it, I figured that the Silverado should be able to handle this size trailer. We’ve taken it on a couple of trips from our home in southern New England, up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, out to Cape Cod, down to Assateague in Maryland, and out to the Catskills, and it is apparent that the engine is underpowered for this trailer. On our most recent trip to Upstate New York, we took the Mass Turnpike through the Berkshires, and the truck was able to go around 42 mph over the hills of western Mass. Of more concern, I was monitoring the transmission fluid temperature, which would peak a little above 200 on some of the hills and reached 228 F as we topped the highest hill. (The truck has the factory transmission cooler). When we returned, I weighed the trailer fully loaded with fresh water tank, propane, all of our outdoor chairs, awning, bicycles, food, and clothing (the gray and black water tanks were empty) - 4860 pounds. We like to dry camp, so we want to carry fresh water with us.
Our long range plans are to take this trailer out west – the Rockies and on to the west coast - for longer periods of time, which this Silverado clearly won’t be able to handle. So I’ve begun looking for a more capable truck. My budget is around $25k for a used truck, but that number could go up. I want a truck that can handle hills, and I think that I would I would like to be able to cruise at 65 with the engine in the low 2000 RPM range. I don’t like going too slowly and having cars zipping by at 30+ mph faster because I think the speed differential can be dangerous.
I believe that I should be looking for a truck that has significantly higher torque than my current 4.8 L in the RPM range that I want to cruise in. In the 2500 RPM range, the 4.8L turns around 270 ft-lbs, and I am thinking that I want to be looking for something in the 350+ ft-lb range. Does that make sense?
Basically, how much truck should I be looking for to tow a 5000 pound trailer? Diesel trucks would certainly do, but I wonder whether I really need that much truck or their additional up-front and maintenance costs. The Ford Eco Boost engines have what I believe is pretty good low RPM torque like the diesels, but they are somewhat expensive, and I wonder whether those engines will be reliable. Then there are the larger gas engines, 5.3 to 6 Liters. Am I correct in believing that I can only expect less than 10 mpg when towing regardless of the engine? Can you recommend some particular makes, model years and engine/differential combinations that work well for you that I can target?
Thanks,
Chris
