Truck for a 5000# travel trailer

[Trnrbrnr]

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

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Trnrbrnr wrote:
Thanks to all of you who replied. My comment about cruising at 2k RPM should be explained - my observation when going uphill was that the engine would be turning around 2k RPM at a speed probably in the low 50 mph range before shifting down to third gear. And then on the steeper long section, speed would continue to drop into the 40s unless I allowed the transmission to shift down again, which I did not. So I would drop speed down into the low 40 mph range, which is too slow for me. I'd like to be able to at least minimize downshifting, indicating that the engine is safely below its limits.

Since the transmission was overheating, I gather that it is not able to handle that sort of load, especially on hot summer days.

I am looking forward to traveling through the mountains of Colorado in mid- to late summer with no worries! Thanks!

Why didn't you allow the tranny to shift into a lower gear? That's what it's supposed to do to for the engine to stay in it's power band and to make more torque to the wheels. The only way to minimize down shifting is to buy a truck with a high power high torque engine in the lower RPM's. That is a perfect description of a diesel engine.

What makes you think the transmission was overheating? 220's in the hills in hot weather is perfectly acceptable and no problem at all for hours and hours at a time.

In short; your truck was doing exactly what it was designed to do. Let it do it's thing and you will be fine. If you want more performance at a lower RPM then get a diesel with some good horsepower and you will be even more happy.

[Campfire_Time]

Double post. Sorry.

[Campfire_Time]

A half ton truck would be fine for your trailer. Based on your description of behavior, I'm guessing yours has 3:42 gears. I believe the 2009 was the last year for the 4 speed. A 2010 or newer with a 5.3, 3:73 gears, and 6 speed transmission will tow that trailer just fine.

My trailer loaded is close in weight to yours. My Sierra is a 2008 with 5.3, 3:73 gears, and still only has the 4 speed. It hardly ever downshifts on normal terrain. We took it to Gatlinburg last year and I had no trouble doing 50-55 in the mountains. I can say from experience, when you get to the Rockys, don't worry about speed. Put in gear and relax. You'll be going slower than others who are not towing. Fact of life.

And don't worry about about trying to keep up with traffic in general. Most of us tow about 62-63 mph. I've towed all over the place and never felt like I was in any danger at this speed. For one thing the ST tires on your trailer are limited to 65mph. For another you'll get better mileage. And believe it or not, going a little slower is safe, you'll have far more time to react to things going on in front of you.

As far as transmission temps, short bursts of 220 are fine and won't hurt a thing. Your transmission was not overheating. Nominally it'll run between 160-190. Make sure there is nothing interfering with the airflow. I have a custom grill insert. I love the way it looks but I have to remove it when towing. It'll cause the transmission temps to run 20+ degrees higher.

[Rbertalotto]

On many trucks, once they come out of OD or top gear, they decouple the lock up torque converter and are now running on transmission fluid rather than a mechanical connection. This heats up the transmission fluid very quickly. The transmission on my 2006 Dodge diesel with 4 speed runs at 175 degrees in fourth gear lock up. On back roads where speeds are slower and the transmission is many times in 3rd gear, not locked, the temperature will rise to 200-220 degrees.
I plan on adding the "secret switch" to keep the torque converter locked in all gears. Just have to remember to disengage when coming to a stop or tie a relay into the brake light circuit.

[braindead0]

OP said "cruise at 65 in the low 2000 rpm range" My ram in overdrive runs right around 2000 rpm at 65 while towing. When it has to drop to 7th, RPM's run around 2700 or so...

I'm not sure that the trans temp is a concern, I believe my trans normally warms up to 220 very quickly and runs around 228 towing or not. Maybe those temps are our of range for the trans the OP has..not sure.

I think payload is going to be more of a concern, depending on how many people and how much 'stuff' ends up in the back of the truck.

[ChooChooMan74]

I just took the Mass Pike to Ohio and 65 up and over with my similar weight trailer. 3.0 EcoDiesel here with the GDE tune. Last year, my Jeep Liberty Diesel did it at 62 (fastest I towed with the small Jeep). Trailer weighs about 4500lbs.

[Trnrbrnr]

Thanks to all of you who replied. My comment about cruising at 2k RPM should be explained - my observation when going uphill was that the engine would be turning around 2k RPM at a speed probably in the low 50 mph range before shifting down to third gear. And then on the steeper long section, speed would continue to drop into the 40s unless I allowed the transmission to shift down again, which I did not. So I would drop speed down into the low 40 mph range, which is too slow for me. I'd like to be able to at least minimize downshifting, indicating that the engine is safely below its limits.

Since the transmission was overheating, I gather that it is not able to handle that sort of load, especially on hot summer days.

I am looking forward to traveling through the mountains of Colorado in mid- to late summer with no worries! Thanks!

[Rbertalotto]

I had the same truck as you have. Easily the worse tow vehicle I ever owned. Towed a 3500 pound trailer cross country... Returned home and the next day traded it in on a Dodge 2500 diesel. Now tow 7000 pounds like it isn't there and at 16mpg as opposed to 8mpg with the Sierra. Go diesel and don't look back!

[2001400ex]

You could go with a used 2008 or so Duramax or Cummins. They are in the ballpark for cost and tow like you want. The Ford 6.4 in the same years is very cheap right now because they get the worst mileage and have a bad reputation. My buddy bought one last year for $21k, mostly fully loaded. If you did that tho, I'd either buy an extended service plan that covers emissions or plan to rip off the emissions.

Outside of that, you can get a newer eco boost. Any of the half tons will pull your trailer, bigger engine the better. I'm partial to the Chevy 6.2. but to each their own. They won't meet your 2k rpms requirement tho.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

I agree about the Ford Ecoboost and Dodge Ecodiesel being good choices in a 1/2-ton pickup to tow 5000 lb trailer.

[Grit_dog]

As said cruising at 2krpms in anything that isn't forced induction (Eco boost or any newer diesel) isn't terribly realistic, however any of the more powerful newer half tons will tow that trailer with ease.
Find the bigger engines, deepest gears they offer (double OD 6 speeds make up a lot for low gears when flying down the highway empty).
About the Eco boost. I'm not a ford guy and I've heard very little negative about them save for a few first year issues. Know several people with them, couple with higher miles and they are doing fine.
Gas mileage will be abysmal with pretty much any truck and they all get decent unloaded mileage.

The Eco diesel ram appears to be made for use like yours. Lighter trailer, still need some oomph when toeing though and great empty and loaded fuel mileage. No first or second hand experience w them though.

[MitchF150]

Ecoboost all day long... As far as price, I got mine for $33k brand new, so used ones should be around your $25k budget..

As far as reliability goes?? Jury still out on that.. It seems you either have no problems at all, or it blows up on you..

I'm right at 36,000 miles on mine and so far so good.. I did get Fords ESP coverage to 75k miles however...

Tows my #5000 TT as fast as I'm willing to take it.. Usually no more than 65 mph, because there is no reason to go faster, even thou I could easily do more, but of course I know the trailer tires are the limiting factor there anyway..

I get around 10 mpg towing, so that does seem to be the norm for any gas engine these days.

Good luck!

Mitch

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Sorry, but what your looking for does not exist; in a gasoline engine anyway.

Well, one engine might do what your look for, or be close anyway; the Ecoboost will be the closest to what you're looking for.

If you want to be around 2K you will need a diesel engine.

Gasoline engines make horsepower with RPM unless you have a turbo to force the air in at low RPM. What you want is horsepower at a low RPM and that is a diesel engine.

You will be close with an Ecoboost though.

Happy hunting.


On edit: You're going to need a BUNCH of horsepower to tow a trailer at 65 MPH up big hills in the west. IMHO you're being unrealistic with what you're trying to do.

[CallMeChris]

I have a '16 ram 1500 4x4 crew cab with the 5.7 hemi and 3.92 gears. If I remember right it's rated at hauling a shade over 10k...my '13 jayco X23B weighs in loaded just under 5k and I get an average of 9.5 mpg while pulling it up or down a mountain at 65-70 mph(compared to 19-21 mpg empty). Other than the fuel mileage, I don't even know it's behind me. This is with the truck in stock form, I'm looking into intake and exhaust and wondering what that will do for me.