Another Newbie - Hi From Cowichan Bay, B.C.

[rickd]

I'm a complete newcomer to RV'ing and I don't even have an RV yet - but, I have ordered a new truck so that's a start anyway.? I ordered a 2007 Chev Silverado Classic 2500HD Duramax Diesel 6.6L with a 6 sp. Allison Automatic Transmission.? The truck is a crew cab 2WD.? This is a factory order so it won't be arriving here on the Island until mid-November sometime.? I plan on buying a fifth wheel in the 24'-28' range and with the maximum tow rating of my Silverado being 15,600 lbs., I'm pretty sure I should be o.k.? If anyone knows what the maximum weight 5'er I can tow with this truck is I would greatly appreciate that.

I retired 7 years ago after spending over 35 years in the computer/information technology field as a computer programmer, systems/analyst and the last 20 years as the Information Technology Manager for the City of Victoria, B.C.? My wife is a school teacher and is planning on retiring next year - thus the main reason for our wanting to get into rv'ing.? We have 5 children - 4 daughters and a son - all adults and all on their own now.? We are now left with Mo and Molly, our 2 small cock-a-poo dogs.

Since retiring, I have become very active with my woodworking hobby.? I converted half of our two car garage into a workshop and spend a lot of time building furniture mostly.? As a fun part of my woodworking, and to keep up some computer skills, I created my own woodworking website earlier this year.? So that, along with digital photography, troubleshooting pc's for friends and family, working in our yard and garden and reading I have kept busy since retiring and have not regretted my decision for one minute!?

This forum looks like a great place for me to get the information I need to get started in rv'ing and hopefully to do it wisely and, most importantly, safely!!? Hopefully, as time goes on and I gain some experience I will be able to contribute as well instead of asking a lot of questions - which I'm pretty sure is going to be the case for a while.

Rick Doyle

 

[Tom]

Hi Rick and welcome to our forum. Feel free to look around and to ask questions; We'll try to get them answered.

 

[Carl L]

Welcome to RVForum Rick.  I think you will find that your profession is not unknown around here -- a person could almost call this the Retired IT Executive Forum.  ;D

I plan on buying a fifth wheel in the 24'-28' range and with the maximum tow rating of my Silverado being 15,600 lbs.,

Give that you live in BC and will have to cross mountains to get most anywhere interesting, the answer is simple:  a trailer with the gross vehicle weight rating of no more than 12,480 lbs.  That allows a 20% safety factor for high altitude towing and long, long 6-8% grades. 

 

[Ron]

Hi Rick,

Welcome to the RV Forum.  You have come to the right place to get answers to your RV questions. Please look around the forum,  join in on any of the on going discussions, start new discussions, or ask questions.  Thanks for joining us

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Here is the Chevrolet specs for your vehicle. Click on the Trailer tab and scroll down near the bottom to find the fifth wheel towing capacity for a 2500HD diesel. There are two sections - one for conventional trailers and one for fifth wheels, so make sure you have the right one. Looks like 15,400 with the short bed and 15,100 in a long bed model.

That max capacity assumes only a driver and a tank of fuel in the truck. Any other weight carried in the truck (even the fifth wheel hitch) must be subtracted from the max, so figure somewhat less. A diesel will generally pull its max load without straining too much, so I wouldn't worry too much about the mountains.  You might want to consider adding an exhaust brake, though. It really helps on the downhill braking.  Try it wothout at first, though. The grade braking feature on the Allison is reportedly very good on downgrades.