Rhemphill Welcome to the family and the forum!
I can't help you with you question since I am running a 8.1 Vortec. Seeing as this is your first posting, I will take a moment to direct your attention to Door #1 where you will find that the moderators have hidden a page where they have compiled much information designed to help new members navigate the forum and have the best possible experience. Here is the key to door #1 Welcome Letter to New Members - Grand Design Owners Forums

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Jim

Do you have any light to shed on this question?

I have not talked to any one or heard of any one on the Forum that has towed with the "little" Duramax.

Brian

I also can't help with the specific question, but if you're new to all the terminology related to tow ratings please see the Ratings articles in the Reference Material section of this channel. https://gdrvowners.com/towing-and-hi...rence-material

There's also a thread with the title Payload Problems: How Much Can I (Really) Tow? that may be helpful. https://gdrvowners.com/towing-and-hi...n-i-really-tow

Howard

Hi Brian,

I've been driving these trucks off and on with the LM2 diesel for around three years now and they are very nice IMO. The non-towing fuel economy in this truck is amazing where it will most likely be my next truck. But I've not towed with it. I can ask around to get some feedback.
With 460 lb-ft of torque at 1500 RPM the LM2 will pull hard and the 10 speed is calibrated well. For the OP, no matter what truck your in and whatever tow rating it has, its the payload that will be the limiting factor. So I would factor in the tongue weight of a trailer at 15% of its GVWR or a Fifth wheel at 25% GVRW for a worse case scenario. This way there is no chance to be in the two time truck owners club.
IMO I would be looking at the 2800BH or the 2600RB or others that would be somewhere in that weight class.
The new GM door labels are also very helpful to keep folks out of the unwanted club so for the OP, look over the max payload to make the best choice.

Jim

Thank you Jim and Brian. When I said little I meant the 3.0 L 6 cylinder that they put in 1/2 tons, not the larger Duramax used in 3/4 or 1 ton. I have been looking at the 2800BH but think tongue weight with WDH on may be a little too high. Passenger travel inside the truck is around 450 lbs and truck payload is 1642 lbs. Wondering if a Blue Ox Sway Pro with my passenger payload would be fine for the 2800BH, probably 5 hours long trips max with a some NC mountain towing. Below is the truck towing sticker.

With 1600lbs of payload and a 900lb limit on the "bumper pull" hitch it looks like the hitch may be your limiting factor assuming minimal cargo in the truck.

With all modern trucks having so much power and torque along with 10 speed transmissions and extra cooling capacity with the tow packages I think the limiting factor in most cases is suspension, axles, and tires before power really becomes a limiting factor. Just look at the power numbers from 3/4 and 1 ton trucks 10-15 years ago...

I think you will have plenty of power with the small diesel just need to make sure you are not overloading the suspension / tires.

Stephen

Rhemphill The LM2 is the little D Max diesel.

There are options with higher payloads than what you have but based on your door label I would be looking at something like a 2600RB or smaller. The tongue weight on our 2600RB is at 940lbs loaded for a trip and with full water. My payload is 1740 and its just the DW and I. Hope this helps in making your decision.

Jim

HI all and Rhemphill, our tv is a 2020 f-150 xlt, 3.5 eco boost with max tow and long-range fuel. After fuel, wife, dog we have 1.300 lbs useful load as measured at the scales. Much like Country Camper our tongue weight fully loaded is 920 lbs from our imagine 2600RB. We have much the same torque as your "little" dura tech motor and have zero problems with power and braking in the Rocky Mts. and a reasonable cushion on cc. I agree that as for t.t. weight that is probably about as much as would be comfortable for your rig. While todays tow capacities seem lower than even a few years ago the SAE J2807? standards now used are pretty grueling. Look it up as it is interesting reading particularly when trying to sort truck stuff out. If the weights are in your ranges the tow vehicle should handle it IMO quite well. Are you really enamored of the diesel? The weight of the diesel engines can sometimes cut significantly into GVWR and CCC.

flyfshrockies Thank you for the useful information in the second 2600RB tongue weight measurement. This will help the OP make the call to chose a rig to be towed by his truck.

Jim

Rhemphill, just as an FYI, we pre-tested our truck for ride and handling quality with the full 1,300 pound payload left overs after wife, dog etc. were on board, that brought the truck to the GVWR of 7050. The feed store let us use 22 60 pound bags of traction stand and their scale to verify weight. There were Zero ride or handling issues for the truck at max weight. You might want to look at the tow package info and see if they have an upgraded front sway bar as ours has, which I feel helps plenty with road feel. This comment may be better elsewhere however here it is, our truck is set up per the Ford recommendation and sits absolutely level when hooked up and ready to roll. Both front and rear fenders are 37.25 inches. The front is .25 higher than empty and the rear is 2.5 inches lower. We feel that the preload on the rear springs helps to stabilize the whole rig.

Thank you David for the great information on your setup. What type of weight distribution hitch are you using? Also I found the actual hitch sticker and it says 1340 lbs max on the hitch, why would the truck sticker say 900 lbs max tongue weight if the actual installed hitch says 1340 lbs? My wife wants to look at a 2910BH now because of the door separating the bunkhouse for our boys. I am very comfortable towing trailers, especially with good/proper set weight distribution hitches, but this one might be pushing the limit.

Your 900lb tongue weight is without a weight distributing hitch.

Jim

Rhemphill, morning. Not being familiar with your truck I can not answer your question definitively, however, the label on our hitch says 900 lbs. tow capacity then goes on to say the same 1,340 lbs. with WD hitch, must be basically the same hitch on both vehicles. That I believe is the difference between with and without WD. My owners manual says to tow no more than 5,000 or 500 tongue weight without WD hitch installed and set. We have been using the ofttimes much maligned Blue Ox Sway Pro WD hitch and have used it for 6 years or so without complaint. I like the ease of hooking up and the ability to back up with everything still together where other WD hitches do not allow for that. Not being able to back up and stop at sometimes steep angles then disconnect was a real show stopper on the other systems. I also do what many gasp at in that I physically lift the back of our truck somewhat with the electric tongue jack to ease the pressure on the spring bars for easy disconnect. I found over many years of rving that for the most part the jacks are WAY over rated for the general use of moving the trailer tongue up and down and have never had an issue with this type use. Our current jack on our 2600RB is so low geared that I foresee no issues with it under these use conditions however probably best not to bet the jack warranty on that though they are not terribly expensive to replace. I also would like to note that your truck shares the same 10 speed transmission as our Ford, that being the 10 speed auto. At this point I really like it and the tow mode does an excellent job. It rarely goes above 8th while towing, works great on decent of a grade and the torque converter locks up tight in every gear so the is no hunting of the rpm and gear hunting is quite low. Good luck on your searching around for your perfect rig. I will also note that when it comes to towing power enough is enough, there is no need to bust every hill at the speed limit or push into every headwind at full speed, time is one thing you have when enjoying things. Dave.

Rhemphill. Just another quick note. Check out Fast Lane Truck youtube videos. They take virtually every pickup up the IKE grade at Silverthorn CO with 6 to 9000 lb. loads and three folks in the truck. Those of us in the mountain west have a different view of towing than those in the flat lands, though not to malign those that do, it is just different for us out here. If I remember right they took a truck like yours up that grade in one video and out on the high way in another as I remember they got nearly 29 MPG with your truck on the highway, wow!