A little help from the PU crowd please

My son is towing a similar sized trailer. Maybe a bit smaller/lighter.

He started out towing with a Toyota Highlander. It worked, but struggled on long steep grades.

Last year I gave him my 2oo8 GMC crew cab, long bed, 4x4 gasser. It does much better, but he is jealous of my diesel.

This is not to say that I recommend the diesel. There is a lot of extra cost to step up from gas to diesel. Only you can justify that incremental cost of purchase and maintenance.

I am 9300 pounds empty and 11,000 loaded . Trailer is 35 feet.

You will NEVER regret getting a diesel

DRWs add about 15 inches to truck width making drive ins...banks, fast food...and parking in general more challenging. I wouldn’t go DRWs unless required by weight. They look funny too!

Thanks. I’m just trying to rap my head around DEF fluid and there doesn’t seem to be anything cheap about it!

ford up wrote:
Thanks. I’m just trying to rap my head around DEF fluid and there doesn’t seem to be anything cheap about it!

You will burn far more gas than you will use diesel and def.

1100 pounds hitch weight seems a tad light for that trailer, Assuming that is dry weight. I am 1300 dry.

My Yukon has a serious drinking problem. Just drove from Huston to Vancouver and averaged a best ever 7 mph. No head winds and 55 in CA probabily helped. The problem is it’s only 9 mpg as my daily driver in city’s

a dually is NOT needed but real nice

diesel .. fuel is higher, maintenance is almost twice the price plus the Up charge... but will Tow alot more.

1100 hitch... not likely.. my 8,000 travel trailer is 1200

Any of those trucks will easily handle the trailer and be a huge upgrade form what you have. A dually is not required and probably not desirable for your situation. A diesel will make the towing experience much nicer due to the power and the exhaust brake. However, a diesel truck will cost more to buy and more to maintain.
If you have the money and tow a lot then get a diesel. If you are on a rather normal budget and don't tow every weekend I'd probably just get the gas truck.

ford up wrote:
After 8 great years and 210K miles its time to retire the 2003 Yukon XL 8.1/4:10. I just acquired a 38' bumper tow that weighs about 9500 empty, with a hitch weight of they say 1100 lbs, but it feels a little heavier. The three vehicles I am looking at are a 2018 Sierra 3500 srw gasser for $66k CDN, a 2017 Sierra 3500 DRW gasser for 56k and a 2015 drw diesel for 61K-both used trucks have about 20k miles on them. I've never towed with a pu. Any recommendations?
Thanks

Go with the dually.

Dam that is long bumper trailer. It is as long as my fifth wheel Fuzion. I would go with a dually. It would be very helpful in the wind. I would go diesel. DEF is no issue to speak of.