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  • Towing vehicles

    I am new to this forum. We are looking to buy a GD 150 series 260 RD. No one seems to know if a New 1500 Chevy truck would be suitable to tow it and safely brake quickly if necessary. A New 2500 Chevy is out of our budget and a good second hand low mileage 2500 chevys are very hard to find.
    Hoping someone might be able to advise us
    many thanks

  • #2
    Originally posted by Sandra View Post
    I am new to this forum. We are looking to buy a GD 150 series 260 RD. No one seems to know if a New 1500 Chevy truck would be suitable to tow it and safely brake quickly if necessary. A New 2500 Chevy is out of our budget and a good second hand low mileage 2500 chevys are very hard to find.
    Hoping someone might be able to advise us
    many thanks
    Hi Sandra--welcome to Grand Design's Technical Forum. I took the liberty of moving your post to the "Towing and Hitches" channel.

    I'm a charter member in a tow vehicle (TV) club that was once sarcastically named the "Two Time TV'ers". In other words, what you're asking about I messed up and ended up having to buy a second TV. I documented various resources that helped me to learn about this specific topic--you'll find them below.

    Hope the info helps.

    -Howard

    ----------------------------

    IMPORTANT PLANNING INFORMATION
    The hitch (or pin) weights on Grand Design RVs as listed on their website (under Specifications) is usually less than what you'll experience in the real-world. The UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight) is usually less, too.

    For planning purposes, use 15% of a bumper-pull trailer's GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) as a worst-case scenario for hitch weight. For a 5th Wheel use 25% to determine worst-case pin weight. (These numbers are from the towingplanner.com website referenced below.) The actual weight of your trailer's hitch or pin will probably be less, but if your truck can handle the worst-case scenario everything else on your tow vehicle should be within specifications (but always double-check).

    VIDEOS
    Keep Your Daydream's video on the topic (link originally provided by GDRV-Emily )



    From the RV Safety website: https://rvacademy.com/my-class/match...ks-to-trailers

    The first 12 minutes of this video by Changing Lanes! on Youtube is recommended for those considering a 5th Wheel



    WEBSITES
    http://towingplanner.com/

    https://www.huskytow.com/towing-calculator/

    http://changingears.com/rv-sec-tow-vehicle-sizing.shtml

    https://catscale.com/ All you ever wanted to know about CAT scales

    www.fifthwheelst.com This website has a lot of information. There are many references to the app RV Tow Check (not free).

    CALCULATORS
    The attached worksheet from Ford shows how to determine what you need.
    Ford Towing Capability Calculator.pdf

    Keep Your Daydream's spreadsheet: http://www.keepyourdaydream.com/payload/

    APPS
    https://rvtowcheck.com/ (This is not free.)

    HITCH RATINGS: See post https://gdrvowners.com/forum/referen...-hitch-ratings
    Last edited by howson; 02-13-2020, 08:38 AM.
    Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

    2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Sandra View Post
      I am new to this forum. We are looking to buy a GD 150 series 260 RD. No one seems to know if a New 1500 Chevy truck would be suitable to tow it and safely brake quickly if necessary. A New 2500 Chevy is out of our budget and a good second hand low mileage 2500 chevys are very hard to find.
      Hoping someone might be able to advise us
      many thanks
      Sandra,

      Look into the sites that Howard has provided and also consider the GVWR rating of the 5th wheel (not the UVW) and factor in 20% to 25% of this weight to determine what would realistically be applied to the hitch.

      You can always load lighter where this method will provide you with a worse case scenario.

      Below is the 2020 towing guide for Chevrolet.

      https://www.chevrolet.com/content/da...ring-guide.pdf

      Jim
      Last edited by Guest; 02-13-2020, 08:17 AM.

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      • #4
        Sandra

        Determining some basic parameters about you truck is the first step. Every truck is different and the important numbers are on the labels on the drivers door or door frame.

        The most critical is "payload". This will be on the yellow tire pressure label and will be a line something like "weight of occupants and cargo must never exceed ??? lbs". This will determine the pin weight of the 5th wheel that you can carry once you have subtracted the weight of people and anything else you plan to carry in the truck.

        The other label will have important information including the GCWR (gross combined weight rating) which is the combined weight of the truck and the trailer that the powertrain and braking are designed to handle. It is a good idea to get your truck weighed so you know this exact number.

        The post above is based on a trailer loaded to its maximum GVW with 25% of this weight on the hitch pin. This is definitely the safest way to go.

        But . . . if you are close to the maximums, there are some other things to consider. The UVW of the Reflection 260RD is 7300 lbs. You don't have to load the trailer to its 9500 lb GVWR. If you pack lightly and tow with empty water tanks, adding 1000 lbs to UVW is a reasonable number (based on my experience). So the trailer weight you are considering is 8300 lbs (not necessarily 9500 lbs)

        Another consideration is that some Reflection 150 Series owners have reported pin weights of less than 20%. This has to do with how the trailers are balanced over their axles. I have no definitive proof that this is true, but if these reports are correct this would mean a 1660 lb pin weight for an 8300 lb trailer weight.

        This is probably still too much for a Chev 1500, but I can understand the desire to stay with your current truck if possible. If you would like to post pictures of the labels on your truck door, we can provide more specific opinions. Remember that this is not advice on how you should proceed, just the opinions from other owners.

        Rob
        Cate & Rob
        (with Border Collies Molly & Angel + Kitties Hazel & Elsie)
        2015 Reflection 303RLS
        2022 F350 Diesel CC SB SRW Lariat
        Bayham, Ontario, Canada

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Cate&Rob View Post
          Sandra

          Determining some basic parameters about you truck is the first step. Every truck is different and the important numbers are on the labels on the drivers door or door frame.

          The most critical is "payload". This will be on the yellow tire pressure label and will be a line something like "weight of occupants and cargo must never exceed ??? lbs". This will determine the pin weight of the 5th wheel that you can carry once you have subtracted the weight of people and anything else you plan to carry in the truck.

          The other label will have important information including the GCWR (gross combined weight rating) which is the combined weight of the truck and the trailer that the powertrain and braking are designed to handle. It is a good idea to get your truck weighed so you know this exact number.

          The post above is based on a trailer loaded to its maximum GVW with 25% of this weight on the hitch pin. This is definitely the safest way to go.

          But . . . if you are close to the maximums, there are some other things to consider. The UVW of the Reflection 260RD is 7300 lbs. You don't have to load the trailer to its 9500 lb GVWR. If you pack lightly and tow with empty water tanks, adding 1000 lbs to UVW is a reasonable number (based on my experience). So the trailer weight you are considering is 8300 lbs (not necessarily 9500 lbs)

          Another consideration is that some Reflection 150 Series owners have reported pin weights of less than 20%. This has to do with how the trailers are balanced over their axles. I have no definitive proof that this is true, but if these reports are correct this would mean a 1660 lb pin weight for an 8300 lb trailer weight.

          This is probably still too much for a Chev 1500, but I can understand the desire to stay with your current truck if possible. If you would like to post pictures of the labels on your truck door, we can provide more specific opinions. Remember that this is not advice on how you should proceed, just the opinions from other owners.

          Rob
          Welcome! Here's an example of the placard Rob is discussing:

          Jim and Ginnie
          2024 Solitude 310GK
          GDRV Technical Forum Moderator
          GDRV Rally Support Coordinator

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