Expert Towing Advice

[gwhitewv]

I have a 2020 Chevy Colorado LT, Short Bed. It is 4 WD and it has the Towing Package (brakes, etc). It has a towing capacity of 7000 pounds.

We currently are looking at upgrading our camper to a 2020 Keystone Bullet. It is 29 feet long. The dry weight is 5275... GVWR is 7300.
I'm a "novice" towing guy....

My understanding is that the GVWR is if the camper was FULLY LOADED (water tanks full, etc.). We obviously don't plan on filling our tanks when we travel... we'll do that at the campground we visit. It's only my wife and I, so we have clothes and food for,usually, 3 to 4 days. We travel over mountains, etc.

So... here's my question. The long-time towing folks on here.... what are your thoughts on the ability of my truck (V6 gas engine... not diesel) to handle this camper? I know it will be quite a pull... but is it safe to get a camper this size with teh truck we have?

Thoughts????

Thanks -

[donut_dave]

get bigger truck or much smaller/lighter trailer. did not like pulling a 16 footer with a 6 cylinder. went to an 8 cyl and would forget the trailer was back there. pulls our 26 footer all over the country, i know it is there but don't have to worry about white--nuckling it.

[ZINGERLITE]

Curly2001 wrote:
What I would look at is the width of the trailer versus the width of the truck. You don't think it is a big deal but it really is. You will need some big mirrors and when you look back at the trailer, you will be surprised at how much wider it is than your truck. It will push you down hills even if you try and go slow. You will struggle going up some hills and probably get frustrated with the whole deal. I towed a 19' Wilderness with a S-10 Blazer with the 4.3 V6 and would never do it again. The mass of the trailer against the truck just didn't work.
Good luck with your decision.
Curly

The new mid size trucks are pretty similar to the old full-size trucks from 20 years ago. the Colorado is only 5" narrower than the full-size. on paper they compare to some of the older half tons.

[Curly2001]

What I would look at is the width of the trailer versus the width of the truck. You don't think it is a big deal but it really is. You will need some big mirrors and when you look back at the trailer, you will be surprised at how much wider it is than your truck. It will push you down hills even if you try and go slow. You will struggle going up some hills and probably get frustrated with the whole deal. I towed a 19' Wilderness with a S-10 Blazer with the 4.3 V6 and would never do it again. The mass of the trailer against the truck just didn't work.
Good luck with your decision.
Curly

[ppine]

At least a 1/2 ton truck or a smaller trailer is the most expert advice I can give you.

[aftermath]

mr_andyj wrote:
I will wear glove in the winter if I am out for a long period, but just for going outside for a few mins, or in a situation I can put hands in pockets I will not bother with gloves.

Every single thread about towing there will be several people who insist that you need a one-ton truck to pull a jet ski because that is safer. Your truck will be rated for what it can tow, those are your guidelines.

If you really want to do it right and are pulling a big trailer then get a class-8 truck with one rear axle. The motor will last one million miles and your mpg will be around 15. You will never have towing issues, the truck will never be under strain, and unlikely you will have break-downs like you would in a passenger vehicle that is near its limits all the time. Those little class-8s that pull the Coca-Cola trailers are about as small as they come and would be way more than any one-ton.
But, you are making a compromise, so based on what you plan to do that will be how much truck you decide you need.

Boy, I like your input. Of course it is steeped in common sense and lacks testosterone laden claims. I would like to second your comments earlier about having good and well adjusted trailer brakes. The theory is the truck brakes will stop the truck, the trailer brakes will stop the trailer. And, you know, this works well when they are properly set up, maintained and adjusted regularly. The controller is a really big part of the picture and if the built in one in your truck is good, then you are good to go. I tow a 25 ft trailer with a Tundra. Horrors! How I have survived since 2009 must be some kind of miracle. Upgraded to a 2017 a few years ago to get, among other things, a built in brake controller. It was, a piece of S*#@. They put in a timed controller and not a proportional controller. I took it out and installed my old Prodigy. I guess the point here is, if you have a built in controller you probably will be good to go. I did and I wasn't. I can't believe any other manufacture would do what Toyota did back in '17. Glad to hear that you are making decisions with safety and comfort in mind. Your first choice of trailer would have ended up with quite the challenge. I think you are moving in the right direction now . Best wishes.

[TomG2]

ZINGERLITE wrote:

that being said i wouldn't pull a 10,000lb trailer with a ranger or a colorado.

But they have a "tow rating" of 7,000 pounds or more!

Just kidding. That is why "tow ratings" are not the only thing to consider.

[mr_andyj]

I will wear glove in the winter if I am out for a long period, but just for going outside for a few mins, or in a situation I can put hands in pockets I will not bother with gloves.

Every single thread about towing there will be several people who insist that you need a one-ton truck to pull a jet ski because that is safer. Your truck will be rated for what it can tow, those are your guidelines.

If you really want to do it right and are pulling a big trailer then get a class-8 truck with one rear axle. The motor will last one million miles and your mpg will be around 15. You will never have towing issues, the truck will never be under strain, and unlikely you will have break-downs like you would in a passenger vehicle that is near its limits all the time. Those little class-8s that pull the Coca-Cola trailers are about as small as they come and would be way more than any one-ton.
But, you are making a compromise, so based on what you plan to do that will be how much truck you decide you need.

[ZINGERLITE]

kellem wrote:

That's like saying I don't need gloves in the winter because I've only had frostbite twice.

Having the right truck for the job is wise once or 100 times and the OP may have enough truck. IDK

If your at or over payload a couple/few hundred pounds for a short trip once or twice a year i wouldn't see it as justification to spend more on a bigger truck. What your doing with it also comes into play. are you towing it to the local campground under an hour away? or are you pulling across the country and through the mountains? if its the latter id definitely upgrade the vehicle.

that being said i wouldn't pull a 10,000lb trailer with a ranger or a colorado.

[kellem]

ZINGERLITE wrote:

mr_andyj wrote:
The #1 bit of info needed is
Where do you plan to tow, mountains, flat?
How far will you be towing?
How often will you tow?

Many vacationers just do not have time to take cross country trips, this eats into your days, so they take shorter trips, less than 3 hrs from home. This is different than towing across the country, over mountain passes, down mountains, through cross-winds...
For short trips you can just drive slow and deal with it, but long multi-day drives you will want to move at a decent speed likely.

If Chevy says you can tow the weight then you can tow it.
WD hitches do not add 100 lbs to the tongue weight.
Do use a WD hitch as that lessens some of the issues.
Check your hitch rating. There are different Classes of hitches from 1 to 5, 5 is the strongest and will rip the truck frame out before it breaks.

A trailer this size should have brakes, so that will be very important and an expensive controller is better than the cheap ones, but you say your truck already has it factory installed. good.
Keep brakes in top notch condition for safety. The trailer should be able to stop/slow itself so the truck only needs to slow itself.

Use low gear going down mountains and keep the speed slow without using the brakes much. Hot brakes will be dangerous. You may need to creep down in 2nd gear to really keep it safe (or if you have 9 gears then whatever low gear needed).

Light trucks and short wheel bases are not a friend of towing. These mid-sized trucks are considered light.

Again, for short infrequent trips you have enough truck to get you there.
For long drives on a regular basis it would be worth getting a bigger truck or a smaller trailer. I think you chose smaller trailer. Small as possible is some people's motto

Well said! i feel like the common theme on these threads is "you need a 1 ton". no one takes into consideration what type of towing and how often. you don't need to spend 80k on a 1ton to tow once or twice a year. A half ton will do just fine in a lot of cases. If you tow regularly then id consider the upgrade. If you can squeak by a couple times a year a half-ton or Colorado would do just fine. Id rather drive a half ton to work everyday then a 1 ton.

That's like saying I don't need gloves in the winter because I've only had frostbite twice.

Having the right truck for the job is wise once or 100 times and the OP may have enough truck. IDK

[Jebby14]

curious how you think adding 100 lbs of hitch to a truck does not remove 100 lbs from payload available?

[ZINGERLITE]

mr_andyj wrote:
The #1 bit of info needed is
Where do you plan to tow, mountains, flat?
How far will you be towing?
How often will you tow?

Many vacationers just do not have time to take cross country trips, this eats into your days, so they take shorter trips, less than 3 hrs from home. This is different than towing across the country, over mountain passes, down mountains, through cross-winds...
For short trips you can just drive slow and deal with it, but long multi-day drives you will want to move at a decent speed likely.

If Chevy says you can tow the weight then you can tow it.
WD hitches do not add 100 lbs to the tongue weight.
Do use a WD hitch as that lessens some of the issues.
Check your hitch rating. There are different Classes of hitches from 1 to 5, 5 is the strongest and will rip the truck frame out before it breaks.

A trailer this size should have brakes, so that will be very important and an expensive controller is better than the cheap ones, but you say your truck already has it factory installed. good.
Keep brakes in top notch condition for safety. The trailer should be able to stop/slow itself so the truck only needs to slow itself.

Use low gear going down mountains and keep the speed slow without using the brakes much. Hot brakes will be dangerous. You may need to creep down in 2nd gear to really keep it safe (or if you have 9 gears then whatever low gear needed).

Light trucks and short wheel bases are not a friend of towing. These mid-sized trucks are considered light.

Again, for short infrequent trips you have enough truck to get you there.
For long drives on a regular basis it would be worth getting a bigger truck or a smaller trailer. I think you chose smaller trailer. Small as possible is some people's motto

Well said! i feel like the common theme on these threads is "you need a 1 ton". no one takes into consideration what type of towing and how often. you don't need to spend 80k on a 1ton to tow once or twice a year. A half ton will do just fine in a lot of cases. If you tow regularly then id consider the upgrade. If you can squeak by a couple times a year a half-ton or Colorado would do just fine. Id rather drive a half ton to work everyday then a 1 ton.

[mr_andyj]

The #1 bit of info needed is
Where do you plan to tow, mountains, flat?
How far will you be towing?
How often will you tow?

Many vacationers just do not have time to take cross country trips, this eats into your days, so they take shorter trips, less than 3 hrs from home. This is different than towing across the country, over mountain passes, down mountains, through cross-winds...
For short trips you can just drive slow and deal with it, but long multi-day drives you will want to move at a decent speed likely.

If Chevy says you can tow the weight then you can tow it.
WD hitches do not add 100 lbs to the tongue weight.
Do use a WD hitch as that lessens some of the issues.
Check your hitch rating. There are different Classes of hitches from 1 to 5, 5 is the strongest and will rip the truck frame out before it breaks.

A trailer this size should have brakes, so that will be very important and an expensive controller is better than the cheap ones, but you say your truck already has it factory installed. good.
Keep brakes in top notch condition for safety. The trailer should be able to stop/slow itself so the truck only needs to slow itself.

Use low gear going down mountains and keep the speed slow without using the brakes much. Hot brakes will be dangerous. You may need to creep down in 2nd gear to really keep it safe (or if you have 9 gears then whatever low gear needed).

Light trucks and short wheel bases are not a friend of towing. These mid-sized trucks are considered light.

Again, for short infrequent trips you have enough truck to get you there.
For long drives on a regular basis it would be worth getting a bigger truck or a smaller trailer. I think you chose smaller trailer. Small as possible is some people's motto

[GrandpaKip]

Even though you didn’t want to get “technical”, you will really need to understand all the numbers to be safe and comfortable.
Tow weight numbers are mostly useless, as you will run out of payload long before you hit that magical number.
There is a payload (cargo capacity) number on your door jamb.
Subtract the weight of everything you put in the truck.
Subtract the weight of the WDH you are going to use. A lot of folks just figure 100 pounds.
What remains is the max tongue weight you can reasonably put on the truck.
Let’s say that result is 700 pounds.
If you divide that by .125 (12.5% for average tongue weight), you get 5600 pounds.
By this example, you should be looking at campers that have a gross weight rating of 5600 pounds for a loaded weight.
Pay no attention to dry weights. They are almost as useless as tow weights.
Sorry for all the math, but it is important. Especially when towing with a mid-size truck.
I towed a 23’ camper and our present one with a Nissan Frontier for years before getting the Silverado. I made sure to keep within all specs of the truck and barely did.
The Colorado is a capable vehicle when properly used.

[Jebby14]

Good on you doing the homework, hopefully you learned something and hopefully the missus is good with half the trailer she thought she was getting.