Upgraded My Truck

[CWSWine]

We purchased a Jayco TT and have a 2012 Chevy 1500 with a 5.3L, which did fine on our first trip but it was mostly rolling hills. Our second trip was a lot of steep grades and at times I was in 2nd gear at 5200 RPM and 40 MPH and still loosing speed. I cruse those people that do 40 in 70 and I don’t want to one of them, I need to at least be able to maintain 55 or 60. Visited our neighbors Chevy dealership and ended up buying a 2013 2500HD Ext Cab (6 ½ foot bed) with a diesel engine. I think that will pull my 24 foot Jayco TT with a dry weight of 5272 and a 7000lbs full loaded. I don’t pick it up till Monday. I didn’t get the long bed because it going to double duty as daily diver also and 8 foot bed won’t fit in my garage. Also, I can see an upgrade to 5th wheel in my future…
This truck has the 20” tires and I don’t know if that is a plus or minus for towing?

[uzikaduzi]

normally with 20's they do decrease you payload a little... on a different note: my boss has the same truck with a larger and heavier 5th wheel. he said on longer trips he has fogotten he's towing a trailer and without noticing ended up crusing around 75-80 mph. while i think we'd all agree that's an unsafe speed to tow at, i wouldn't mind a towing experiance that was so nice that i forgot i was towing

[CavemanCharlie]

I also think there must have been a problem with the original truck. Something there sounds wrong.

As for the 20 inch rims the biggest problem with that is that the tires on those things are going to be expensive. Don't do too many smokey burnouts unless you have a lot of money to spend on tires.

[facory]

Sure sounds like a lot of rpm for only 40 mph. Has it shifted down to 1st gear? My 5.4 F150 maintains 50-55 mph at 4800 rpm up a 7-8 degree grade. 5200 rpm should be close to the rev limiter on the Chevy. Not very impressive.

[aarond76]

Something just doesn't add up with the original truck. A new 5.3 should have plenty of power at 5,200 rpm to maintain 40 mph pulling 7,000 lbs up a grade.

[aclay]

We moved from towing with a 5.3 Yukon XL to a Duramax and it's night and day. The new truck has so much capability and you will feel safer. Learn how to use the compression. Congrats!

[Dr__Blake]

Congrats. I never had any issues with my old half ton and it pulled my trailer just fine….but I was overweight and decided to error on the side of caution and get a bigger truck. I also knew at some point we would look to get a bigger trailer so I went with a single rear wheel one ton. The biggest difference for me is how fresh I am after a long drive pulling the trailer; I never noticed I was stressed or wound up with my half ton until I pulled my trailer with the new truck a few times.

Enjoy your new truck and safe travels.

[ddrueckh]

I have the same truck and a 24' BH. Just turn on the tow/haul mode and the exhaust brake when you start up the truck and leave them on. It may be a little over kill, but it is a great driving experience. Between the two settings, just the downshifting and braking when coming to a stoplight is nice 🙂 I don't think they make much difference in MPG so why not just turn them on. We just took a 2700 mile trip from the San Francisco Bay Area to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. Went over the Teton pass (10% grades) and didn't even need to use the brakes. It was a fun drive with this truck!

[pbohart]

Exact same story for me. Almost word for word 😉

Big trailer = bigger truck.

[xteacher]

When I had my Dodge HEMI, I had 20" wheels and I believe they cut the tow rating by 1000 lb. - no biggie in your case. I was also told to make sure the tires were aired up good, since the sidewalls were softer.

[Goose2448]

CWSWine wrote:
I do have a couple of questions, guess it really kinda late since the truck will be here Monday or Tuesday.

1. This truck has the Z71 option, will that have any affect on towing?

2. The truck also comes with 20 inches tires, is that a positive or negative affect on towing.

3. I was told "By a Salesman" that we don't need to use trailer mode since our trailer is less than 70 percent of the gross towable weight of the truck and not using it will increase our fuel mileage. The only time that I would want to use it would be in the mountains to take advantage of the exhaust breaking. Is this true?

1. All that adds are some stickers and a skid plate over the Tcase I believe. Nothing real special like they want you to think.

2. I think you mean the 20" rims, which will have no impact on towing. Not sure of the overall tire size, but I think it should be close to 32", so you have a slightly smaller sidewall. As long as you are under what each tire is rated for, you will be fine.

3. Since when should you ever believe a salesman? Tow haul in these trucks are great. Do you need it? NO, but I would use it. It adjust line pressure in the trans to help keep it cooler, which in a LML is already pretty cool thanks to half the line pressure as previous years, and it also changes shift points to allow better engine braking and control speed on grades. What I do a lot of the time is use it until I am at cruising speed on the highway. Although usually by putting it in 5th gear at 65 MPH I will see better mileage, lower EGTs, and lower Trans Temps. Tow Haul really comes in handy on grades. Set cruise, make sure the Exhaust Brake is on, and watch it do its thing. You should be within a few MPH of your set speed going down grades without use of the brakes. Pretty cool stuff.

Check out Duramaxfourm.com for some great info.

[facory]

I would think that 20" wheels would translate to 34" diameter tires instead of 32" tires for 18" wheels. Having to turn larger diameter tires requires more effort and thereby will most likely lower torque. How much? Don't know.

[CWSWine]

I do have a couple of questions, guess it really kinda late since the truck will be here Monday or Tuesday.

1. This truck has the Z71 option, will that have any affect on towing?

2. The truck also comes with 20 inches tires, is that a positive or negative affect on towing.

3. I was told "By a Salesman" that we don't need to use trailer mode since our trailer is less than 70 percent of the gross towable weight of the truck and not using it will increase our fuel mileage. The only time that I would want to use it would be in the mountains to take advantage of the exhaust breaking. Is this true?

[CWSWine]

Looks like we have close to the same setup and even the same color truck. My first trip we had Zero problems but there weren't any 7 or 8 percent grades. The second trip we got on a couple of state highways that were two lane and couple long grades 7 and 8 percent range with no way to pull over and let people pass. These hills were coming into Branson, Mo from the south and traffic built up fast and we get 20 or 30 cars behind us. We had plans for a small 5th wheel in our future so we decided to upgrade the truck now. Some may see this logic as backward but I see it as knowing what my new truck can handle and keep the 5th wheel within those specs, prevents us from buy more trailer than we really need.

rightyouareken wrote:

CWSWine wrote:
...ended up buying a 2013 2500HD Ext Cab (6 ½ foot bed) with a diesel engine. I think that will pull my 24 foot Jayco TT with a dry weight of 5272 and a 7000lbs full loaded.

Understatement of the year! 🙂 Congrats on the new truck, I'm sure you're going to be thrilled with the experience.

[thib2722]

That's a great rig. You'll enjoy it. You had a question about the 20" tires. My previous rig had 20" tires and it affected the towing some. The sidewalls on the 20" tires were softer and gave me more side to side wiggle when towing. My current rig has 10 ply heavy duty Michelins, and the side to side wobble went away immediately. The other specs for the two trucks were about the same (engine, design, cab, etc).

The 20" also were listed for slightly lower towing capacity, though you are well within range for your current travel trailer. You'll really enjoy that rig. The transmission you get with the Chevy diesel is one of the very best on the market. It handles towing wonderfully.