1/2 ton to pull 25ft Globetrotter?

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by TriciaG

GMC Sierra SLT 6.2 liter 10 speed, without Max tow pkg....
truck max weight is 1596
21 globetrotter fab twin wit( 1 AC base weight 6,074 plus extras on it is 7300
So the GCWR is 11,800
Allows me about 3,000lbs difference to add.
Does this seem about right?

The good news for you is that you’ve got a reasonable payload capacity for a 1/2 ton truck. If you load your rig carefully (check your loaded rig weights at a CAT scale), you should be fine. Put as much cargo as possible in the trailer as opposed to the truck bed and buy a good weight distribution hitch.

[nitzo]

Originally Posted by JonDNC

What world are you living in,

You know, that's just not really very nice is it?

And yes, I was off 200 lbs.......

The numbers I posted were off my work truck, which I haven't been concerned with as I don't tow with it . I was trying to show how little some 3/4 tons can really haul is all.


The real numbers are below, they are from my personal TV.....So,......



I'm sorry, that wasn't very nice. Scratch the

[JonDNC]

Originally Posted by nitzo

You know, that's just not really very nice is it?

And yes, I was off 200 lbs.......

The numbers I posted were off my work truck, which I haven't been concerned with as I don't tow with it . I was trying to show how little some 3/4 tons can really haul is all.


The real numbers are below, they are from my personal TV.....So,......

Attachment 395117

I'm sorry, that wasn't very nice. Scratch the

Not trying to be nice, was trying to be real world, folks have a hard enough time figuring tow vehicles out.

Between real payloads, real loading etc. it gets interesting. I know I had a learning curve as have others and it did cost me real $$ (had to replace a 6 month old 1/2 ton cause it wasn’t enough for my use. )

FOLKS BTW Ford has a cool sales tool application at some dealers which is a kiosk that helps you choose your truck based on the numbers. You enter in Payload, tongue weight, trailer gvwr, etc and some truck choice and it tells you some of your viable options. Pretty cool wasn’t around when I bought mine. Saw it while getting an oil change in Camp Verde AZ

[nitzo]

Originally Posted by JonDNC

Not trying to be nice, was trying to be real world, folks have a hard enough time figuring tow vehicles out.

So true. And its great that they have help like you are providing to get them where they need to be.

[JohnandDonna]

First of all you never want to be at or near the max ratings on a truck. Remember, it's not about pull, it's about stop, it's about sway control, it's about not being white knuckled coming down a steep grade. Secondly, for what you are towing you do not NEED a diesel. You may want one because you like the torque or think its sound cool. If the additional cost is not a problem then go for it. Just know that diesel does not do well sitting or being used for short trips around town. If you do you will end up with regen problems. Diesel is made to be driven and to tow heavy. I tow a 30' International with a Ram 2500 MegaCab with the 6.4 Hemi and 4.10 rear end. Plenty of power in the mountains. Yes it will rev high, but that is where it's designed to get its power. And yes it is a thirsty beast. But you can buy an awful lot of gas for the price difference.

[cru-in]

"Remember, it's not about pull, it's about stop,"
Seeing this as justification for a bigger TV drives me nuts. Upgrade the AS to disc brakes. Several independent studies confirm disc brakes on the trailer will reduce stopping distance of the entire rig by almost 50% (see recent thread on this topic in towing forum).

"it's about sway control,"
Get a HA or PP and totally eliminate sway. Sway control has very little to do with the TV. It is trailer setup and type of hitch that drive sway.

"it's about not being white knuckled coming down a steep grade"
IMHO the best way to avoid this is to get disc brakes on the trailer, a PP or HA to totally eliminate sway, and stay within your TV limits.

[SeaLevel]

Originally Posted by TriciaG

GMC Sierra SLT 6.2 liter 10 speed, without Max tow pkg....
truck max weight is 1596
21 globetrotter fab twin wit( 1 AC base weight 6,074 plus extras on it is 7300
So the GCWR is 11,800
Allows me about 3,000lbs difference to add.
Does this seem about right?

If it was me, I would hold out for one that includes the max trailering option. That will make a difference when it comes to payload capability.

[Mikebrady62]

We too have the Chevy 1500 with 6.2L engine. I feel it is more than enough to pull our 27'FB. Even when on the road for 30+ days, we do not have a bunch of extra weight in our bed. We do not use a generator. So we have a couple SUP inflatable paddle boards, campground rug, small tool box and 2 bicycles on the bed cover. All less than 250 lb. Along with an Equalizer hitch, I feel very comfortable towing and stopping on any grade. I'm sure a 3/4 ton truck would feel even better but for the time being, I do not want a 3/4 ton daily driver. Been there, done that. NOT FUN at all. Which is 90% of my driving.

[cru-in]

Pretty straight forward.

Know your TV limits (GVWR, FAWR, RAWR, and tongue weight rating), AS axle limits, and stay within ALL of them. Only way to know this for sure is to go to the scales.

IMHO, for added comfort/safety spend $3K on a HH or PP (eliminate sway) and $3K on a disc brake upgrade (decrease stopping distance by almost 50%).

Someone else having a similar TV/AS, and saying I have towed for XXXXX miles with no problems is, IMHO, not actionable information.

[thewarden]

Originally Posted by JonDNC

Not trying to be nice, was trying to be real world, folks have a hard enough time figuring tow vehicles out.

Between real payloads, real loading etc. it gets interesting. I know I had a learning curve as have others and it did cost me real $$ (had to replace a 6 month old 1/2 ton cause it wasn’t enough for my use. )

This is so true. LEARN, LEARN, LEARN AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK, before buying a truck. I thought I knew what I was doing and even got confirmation from the salesman that I was buying the right truck for a new 5th wheel I had purchased. It was a 1 ton SWD GMC Denali diesel.

Long story short, after I got it home I learned from a neighbor that it did not have the cargo capacity for the 4500lb pin weight of my trailer. With all of 25 miles on the new truck, I had to take a $2500 hit to trade it for a dually.

Towing capacity is rarely the issue, it is the payload capacity, and because my truck was fully optioned, mine was not enough. Costly lesson.

Will you be able to tow with your 1500. Sure. There are folks here that tow a 25FB with Acura SUVs. I myself tow on occasion, with a Cayenne. But, there are compromises. My 27FB has a lighter TW than the 25. I run with a single battery, propane in only one tank, the spare tire is in the garage, (I have 16" Michelins and a very good roadside service), properly set up WD, and we carry very little cargo for the short trips.

For the longer trips, I tow with a 3500 SWD diesel and do not worry about the weights. If I want to take something, I do. The compromise here is that it is not nearly as nice to drive when we are unhooked and sightseeing in the area that we are staying.

[thewarden]

Originally Posted by cru-in

Pretty straight forward.

Know your TV limits (GVWR, FAWR, RAWR, and tongue weight rating), AS axle limits, and stay within ALL of them. Only way to know this for sure is to go to the scales.

IMHO, for added comfort/safety spend $3K on a HH or PP (eliminate sway) and $3K on a disc brake upgrade (decrease stopping distance by almost 50%).

Someone else having a similar TV/AS, and saying I have towed for XXXXX miles with no problems is, IMHO, not actionable information.

HH and PP are the best you can buy. But they are also very heavy and take a big bite out of what is already low cargo capacity on most 1/2 ton trucks. I wanted to run a PP on my 27FB and Cayenne. Could not do it because the extra weight of the hitch put me well over my cargo capacity and rear axle weight rating.

[Autumn94]

Congratulations on you Airstream purchase! We also choose the 25ft trailer and our tow vehicle is the same as well (great minds think alike lol), a 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 with the Max trailering package. The payload is the only concern that you will have with your TV but a good weight distribution hitch should help with this concern as this will put some of the hitch weight back on the trailer.

[cru-in]

Originally Posted by thewarden

HH and PP are the best you can buy. But they are also very heavy and take a big bite out of what is already low cargo capacity on most 1/2 ton trucks. I wanted to run a PP on my 27FB and Cayenne. Could not do it because the extra weight of the hitch put me well over my cargo capacity and rear axle weight rating.

There are several threads (one linked below) that show (due to the added distance) the PP or HA does not increase weight on the TV and may decrease it.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ger-44430.html

[hawkeyertt]

Lots of good points have been made. However, you need to ask yourself if you are the kind of person who wants to stay within the published limits for your tow vehicle. A loaded up GMC 1500 may seem like it is towing fine but are you willing to exceed the manufacturer's published limits for weight you put on the axles (i.e. how much weight you put in the truck)? I have found that my F150 with the max tow package is rated to tow over 11,000 lbs but the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) and Rear Axle Weight Rating (GAWR Rear) are both exceeded when I load all of the gear I want to take on a three week trip. This is just for two people. There is also the potential legal liability that goes along with being over weight. So... I have made the decision to move up to a 3/4 ton truck and until that arrives, I will have to be extremely careful with what I load in my F150 and will be limiting where I go with my 27 ft AS until I get the 3/4 ton truck.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by cru-in

There are several threads (one linked below) that show (due to the added distance) the PP or HA does not increase weight on the TV and may decrease it.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ger-44430.html

My own experience, through math and verified by scale, is that of the approx 190 pounds of Haha, the increase in receiver load is approximately 75 pounds. That, of course, is with my particular TV and AS.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

My own experience, through math and verified by scale, is that of the approx 190 pounds of Haha, the increase in receiver load is approximately 75 pounds. That, of course, is with my particular TV and AS.

Note, that includes rocktamers, and a propride-for-Hensley adjustable stinger.

[dznf0g]

Disregard post #76. I was going from memory and the numbers were not with stinger and rocktamers. I went back and consulted my spreadsheet. Here are the numbers.

Hensley (w/o stinger and rocktamers) = 166.5#
Rocktamers and Propride-for-hensley adjustable stinger = 89#
Total = 255.5#

Effective additional load at TV receiver is only 70#. It seems very counter-intuitive, but there are a number of factors which make this so. Many of the same factors also apply to any hitch setup, although the weights of the components are quite different, as are the distance measurements.

[Bill M.]

"Effective additional load at TV receiver is only 70#. It seems very counter-intuitive, but there are a number of factors which make this so."

Maybe you could explain this a little more. I know how to get the weight on the axles, trailer and TV. Not sure how to get the actual weight on the receiver when hooked up?

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

"Effective additional load at TV receiver is only 70#. It seems very counter-intuitive, but there are a number of factors which make this so."

Maybe you could explain this a little more. I know how to get the weight on the axles, trailer and TV. Not sure how to get the actual weight on the receiver when hooked up?

Well, first....dangit, I did it again and pulled from the sheet cell excluding stinger and flaps.

Correction: the total additional receiver load, all in, is 188# of the 255.5# of hensley components and rocktamers and Propride stinger. Sorry about that.

The math is made up of several, usually overlooked components.
You just can't add the hitch component weight to the naked trailer tongue weight and be accurate at all. My example is for hensley, but all hitches have similar calculations.
A portion of the component weight is aft of the ball (coupler), making a portion of their weight trailer tongue weight and a portion trailer axle weight. For hensley, this would be the jacks, brackets, and a portion of the struts and spring bars (since they are suspended between the brackets and the head).

But the biggest factor has to do with the results of the fact that the hensley, with the longer propride stinger makes the distance from the trailer axle to the receiver 25" longer. The lever principle dictates the math here. A regular hitch (ie. Eq, Reese,etc.) moves the coupler back about 8" to 10".

[thewarden]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Well, first....dangit, I did it again and pulled from the sheet cell excluding stinger and flaps.

Correction: the total additional receiver load, all in, is 188# of the 255.5# of hensley components and rocktamers and Propride stinger. Sorry about that.

The math is made up of several, usually overlooked components.
You just can't add the hitch component weight to the naked trailer tongue weight and be accurate at all. My example is for hensley, but all hitches have similar calculations.
A portion of the component weight is aft of the ball (coupler), making a portion of their weight trailer tongue weight and a portion trailer axle weight. For hensley, this would be the jacks, brackets, and a portion of the struts and spring bars (since they are suspended between the brackets and the head).

But the biggest factor has to do with the results of the fact that the hensley, with the longer propride stinger makes the distance from the trailer axle to the receiver 25" longer. The lever principle dictates the math here. A regular hitch (ie. Eq, Reese,etc.) moves the coupler back about 8" to 10".

Whether your hitch components are adding to the TV receiver or adding weight to the trailer tongue really does not matter, you are still adding to the tow vehicles cargo weight. As this weight is as far forward of the axles as you can get, very little will be taken up by the axles.