Travel Trailer ?

Install a proper hitch, don't use a ball on the bumper.

V.B.

Just for comparison sake, we pull a 32' Wilderness 5'er with a standup bedroom and 13' slideout w/ an '02 2500HD crew cab long box that has the

8.1L and 4.10 rear. This works beautifully! I originally pulled the same 5'er w/ an '02 2500HD ext. cab short box 6.0L and 4.10 rear. It took it over the mountains of TN at 55 MPH without to much trouble, but the 8.1L is soooo much nicer. The 6.0L could not use the AC and stay in OD even on flat stretches. I can't even imagine towing such with anything less than the 6.0L and the stiffer suspension of the 2500HD.

It's got the tow package with receiver and I have a trailer brake controller installed. Does the factory tow package qualify as a "proper" hitch?

Kyle

I would not get over a 26 foot trailer...get a tranny cooler installed in front of the radiator and NEVER tow in overdrive with the 4L60E transmission that your truck has....a 2500 HD with a 4L80 could tow in OD. Also keep in mind that you must have a class III or better with a weight dist hitch with a travel trailer...not to mention elec brake controller.

Yes

V.B.

Thanks, guys, for all your help.

Kyle

A general rule of thumb is to look up the tow cap. for your truck and use about 75% of the cap. for the GROSS weight of the trailer you want to tow. Note this is the fully loaded and ready to go weight of your trailer with all accessories etc. This will give you and your family a pleasant towing experience at hwy. speeds, in the hills, handling/stopping etc. Do not go by what any saleman at a trailer sales tells you about your cap. to tow. For a lot of good advice go over to alt. rv and rec.outdoors.rv-travel. Happy camping, MR

An air dam on the roof of the truck will do wonders at highway speeds. There is a reason you see them on the roofs of semi trucks, they work. I've driven semi's with them and without, and its amazing the difference they make. Whitelightning

I thought about the air dams, but have never gone that route since I don't tow enough miles per year to offset the cost of the dam by using less gas and with the 8.1L it just isn't an issue.

The 6.0L was OK on the hwy in general. It just didn't like the strain of the AC in OD while towing the 5'er. There were other drawbacks to the 6.0 as well such as acceleration from dead stops took a while, hwy ramps took a while to wind up, backing the unit up our drive was a bit of a strain on the smaller engine and tranny, anything slower than 55 MPH and it would drop clear back to 2nd to get going again when making climbs on rolling hills, etc. I definitely wouldn't think of towing anything like our unit with the

5.3L. the 1500 series isn't rated for the weight anyway so you'd be going against even the factory specs and tempting fate.