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slofoks · 07-18-2021, 11:04 PM

I have ordered a new GMC 1500 Sierra with the 3.0 Duramax. It has a tow rating of 9300 lbs per the brochure although I am figuring a max of 9000 on the door sticker to be safe. I ordered a 2021 GMC 4 months ago but due to the chip shortage, it has not been made yet and the order will be changed to a 2022 model. I currently have a 1966 Overlander and looking to upgrade to a 25 or 27 foot airstream in the 2010 or newer range. For those of you with trailer like that, what total weights and what tongue weight are you seeing loaded. I will be using an Andersen weight distribution hitch. I ordered a 1500 as we use the truck for a lot more solo driving than towing. I know a 2500 would be better but I don't push the envelope either with speed so figured I would be OK. What are your thoughts? Thank you in advance!

Dennis C · 07-19-2021, 04:58 AM

The challenge that you’ve got with a 1500 series truck isn’t max tow capacity, it’s max cargo & payload capacity. As you point out, tongue weight is one of the biggest things you’ve got to watch. You’ll obviously need to run the numbers for your specific truck and trailer, but I would expect a cargo & payload capacity in the 1,500 lb. range for your new truck, give or take a couple of hundred pounds. I would also expect a tongue weight for a 25 or 27 foot trailer to exceed 800 lbs, possibly even 1,000 lbs. or more. This doesn’t leave you much capacity for passengers and gear.

For comparison, my 2018 Sierra Denali 1500 has a max tow capacity of 9,100 lbs. My loaded 23-foot Airstream weighs about 5,400 lbs., with a tongue weight of about 620 lbs. When I’m fully loaded with passengers and gear, I’m often quite close to my 1,497 lb. cargo & payload capacity.

I’ve heard good things about the new small Duramax engine. Good luck!

VernDiesel · 07-21-2021, 06:49 AM

Slofoks, If you take the time for proper set up with your WDH and cat scale you will be golden. The newer 1500s can handle a 27 with complete safety and stability. Assuming an acceptable power plant choice its mostly about set up. And the little diesel will tow it with great economy.

I tow AS commercially with my 1500 Andersen WDH & 3.0 L diesel. 7 years 47 states & 800k miles now. I set my WDH so that my front wheel well height is the same as unladen. This gets me in the ballpark. Then for larger trailers I will take it to the cat scale for further adjustments of tongue weight and steer axle weight to maximize stability. Making adjustments via cat scale slip makes sure everything is within Mfgr maximum spec. IE axle weights, receiver, CVWR even GVWR.

A new 27 will weigh between 6 & 6,500 dry. Adding propane water supplies typically adds about 1000 pounds. That makes say 7500 gross trailer weight. I adjust loading and WDH towards 12% tongue weight. This has proven to be enough but not more than necessary for TTs. This would mean from unladen to trailer attached your truck slip would show a gain of 900 pounds. (When using a WDH tongue weight is no longer static or fixed and becomes dynamic so this is the accurate way to determine it when using a WDH)

Combined with setting your loading and hitch so that your steer axle weight remains roughly the same as unladen it will be a load you could drive with two fingers instead of two hands. Naturally if you load the bed heavy you can exceed GVWR. But with the scale slip you will know and can prove exactly where you are. And naturally if you need to move something from truck bed to above the trailer axles to meet GVWR if that is important to you, you can do so.

Keep highway towing speed down to 65 use cruise where it makes sense and you should be able to average 15 mpg. Same speed when not towing bet you can average 30 mpg. Not bad for a full size four-wheel-drive truck. Enjoy. 🙂

RamRider · 07-21-2021, 07:39 AM

Sounds like you already know the answer - the 1500 Duramax is a terrific truck - but you you will be safer and have better payload options a 2500 My Ram Cummins 2500 gets decent MPG both towing and cruising, but MPG is not always the most important consideration while towing - that must be safety first, not how "pretty or cool" you look rolling down the road towing your beautiful Airstream.

tbrowne · 07-21-2021, 07:56 AM

Everyone decides their own limits on what they can safely tow. Doing your homework in advance is the best way to prevent buyers remorse later so kudos for that. I will say that I think a 2500 would be a better choice and you'll never have to worry about axle weights and overloading with that trailer.

COPOGuy · 07-21-2021, 08:08 AM

I had a 2020 Silverado RST Duramax with a Blue Ox WDH that I used to pull a 2020 27FBT GT. Long story short I could not get the front end to return to unloaded height without changing how we load the TT - biasing weight to the rear of the trailer to unload the tongue. The loaded tongue weight of the trailer exceeded 1000# without shifting weight to the rear. Normal loading of the TT left me with a 'light' feel in the steering. So rather than biasing weight to the rear I bought a 2500 Duramax and everything is easier.... I would guess that a 25' trailer would work well with the 1500 Duramax. If I remember correctly the tow rating on my 1500 was 9300# with a max tongue weight of 930#. Good luck with sorting things out.

VernDiesel · 07-21-2021, 11:54 AM

COPO, Very interesting. Did you by chance keep your scale slips? What did Blue Ox have to say? Do the BOs have different spring bar rating options?

I never like to put things to the back of the trailer always preferring to move stuff if need be from the truck bed or front of trailer to over the trailer axles. Certainly seems this should have been rectifiable fairly easily without having to move to a larger truck. I did once for a 9,100 pound trailer move the spare from behind the axle to the front of the bed to help get more optimum axle & tongue weight numbers per my scale slips.

slofoks · 07-22-2021, 10:16 AM

Thank you to all for the information. It gives me a much better guide to follow. I appreciated your time and expertise!

jranck · 07-24-2021, 01:44 PM

I tow a 25 FB twin with a silverado 1500 duramax. Love that baby duramax. No problems with hills, etc. I get about 15 mpg towing our trailer. I am within the limits of stickers, although I am careful about how much we load.