Thinking I need to upgrade

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livtofish1

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Apr 23, 2019
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My wife and I just bought our first travel trailer, a 32' keystone outback.  It is roughly 6,200lbs dry weight. My 2014 Silverado 1500 is rated for 10k, but pulling the trailer home it ran over 3,000 rpm the whole entire way. Braking and everything else seemed adequate  but I feel like I am possibly straining my truck too much. Therefore,  I am now looking at getting a 3/4 ton truck, probably a Cummins. Experienced rv'ers- is this a smart move or will a 3/4 ton make that much of a difference actually Pulling? TIA
 
That trailer probably weights 8000+ when loaded, and that 10k tow capacity gets decreased by passengers and gear in the truck. The net is that the total load is marginal.  So yes, more truck would help.

GM says the truck will pull 10k lbs. They didn't say you would be happy with its performance, noise, ride, etc.
 
Mr Gary pretty much nailed it.

You didn't mention how fast you were driving @ 3000 RPM's. As you drive faster your creating more wind resistance on the nose of the trailer. I try to keep mine @ 60 MPH.

In your case with your weight being near the max tow number and your trailer @ 32 ft. I would consider a bigger truck.
 
I was trying to maintain 55-60. But I was on a 2 lane highway.  Most of the traveling we are going to do will require Interstate  travel.
 
Still 60-65 on interstate.  My whole life I wanted to be 80 mph but most of that time the limit was 55.  Only 1 ticket.  Now that I live in areas where 70 - 85 is the limit I am driving a motorhome happy at 62.
 
PancakeBill said:
I am driving a motorhome happy at 62.
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Was that you that blew my doors off the other day? ;D

livtofish1 said:
I was trying to maintain 55-60. But I was on a 2 lane highway.  Most of the traveling we are going to do will require Interstate  travel.
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I feel like somethings missing here...holding 3000 RPM's @ 55MPH would make me think that something is wrong with this setup :-\

 
There is little to no truly "flat" land here in northeast Alabama, so it was pretty much a slight uphill pull unless I was coasting or braking. I guess I should have mentioned that in my first post, sorry about that.
 
livtofish1 said:
There is little to no truly "flat" land here in northeast Alabama, so it was pretty much a slight uphill pull unless I was coasting or braking. I guess I should have mentioned that in my first post, sorry about that.
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I live in southeast AL. And have driven though the northwest part of the state quiet a few times ..So I know what your talking about..A bigger truck will make a difference, But make sure you get one that is made for towing. Focus on the right tow package and cargo capacity.
 
Gizmo, was that you?  The only time we would get much above the low 60's is a downgrade with a looong uphill, try to gather a little momentum to start with.
 
Still 3000 RPM at 55-60 MPH sounds like the truck was holding 4th gear (if its a 6 speed).  Since he says its rated for 10k, it sounds a lot like the 5.3L/6L80E/3.42 combo which is one of the more common combo you can find on the GM trucks. 
 
I believe in having plenty of truck rather than having one that is "rated" to do the job, but in reality is barely adequate. I currently own a 9500lb fiver that I formerly pulled with a 5.9L 12-valve Cummins 3/4 ton when I first purchased the trailer. As far as I am concerned, it barely was adequate for the task, and was looking to upgrade as soon as possible. I now tow it with a 6.7L Cummins one-ton that barely breathes hard when towing.


I'd get a Diesel with plenty of power and torque, and more than enough towing capacity.
 
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