Excited to be Here

[RayBailey16]

Hello from New Hampshire
My wife and I are fairly new to the RVing world. We purchased a 26' Winnebago Minnie 2201DS and love it. I would love to hear from people who have the same or similar models and what they use to tow it with. I recently posteda question about towing with a 2017 Chevy Silverado LTZ 5.3 L engine double cab, not a crew cab. Does this seem to be enough truck to travel with out west. We have had no trouble around New England at all. But things are bigger in the West!
Thanks for being so helpful
Ray and Mandy Bailey

 

[darsben]

Welcome;
What is the payload capacity of the tow vehicle and the gross weight rating of the trailer.
payload capacity is usually somewhere on a sticker near the drivers door.
Gross weight of trailer is on trailer somewhere.
Give us those numbers and the math is easy.
But if the payload of the truck is about 2000 LBS from Chevy brochure
and the gross weight of the trailer is 7000lbs from Winnebago brochure
That means about 800 lbs of the trailer weight will be on the tow vehicle. This will leave you about 1200 pounds of payload on the truck for you, wife, fur babies, real kids, bundles of wood whatever else you may put in the truck.

I used to tow and my opinion is that you may not be the fastest up long step grades but you will get to the summit. If you are enjoying yourself the speed does not matter once retired like we are.

 

[SargeW]

And taking a long trip, you will be needing extra clothes and personal items. The weight can add up fast, so it's a good idea to get your truck and trailer weighed as a combo unit. Your Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) is important to know, as having a set up that is not over weight is even more important when navigating mountain roads and downhill grades.  There are lots of those in the west, so proper set up of the vehicle will make for a much more pleasant and safe RV experience.  And make sure the tires on the truck and trailer are properly inflated to handle the load you will be pulling. 

 

[jackiemac]

Hi and welcome.  To be sure you are weighing safely you can go to one of these places:

https://catscale.com/cat-scale-locator/

Be safe and have fun!

 

[RVMommaTo6]

Hi Ray and Mandy, welcome to the forum! I'm Mandy too!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I think your question about towing with the Silverado was adequately answered in your other message thread on the topic, so not sure if you are asking something different here, or just duplicating the question?

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,118082.msg1070566.html#msg1070566

It's pretty clear your Silverado has the capability to tow that trailer, even when the trailer is loaded to its max weight. Beyond that, "enough truck" is a subjective question about performance. As was mentioned in your other topic, a 3/4 ton (2500) truck will better resist the crosswinds that are often encountered crossing the Great Plains, and nobody ever had too much when climbing long or steep grades.  So yeah, a Silverado 2500 diesel would be great to have.  But your 1500 5.3L will get the job done.