re: Towing a Travel Trailer with a 1/2 Ton Truck

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For what OP described, it's a place to sleep and take a shite between bike rides for a couple of weeks.

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he actually described cross country usage (so i'm assuming many weeks at a time) and a job he can travel with. He's very limited in storage in that thing and has very limited comfortable seating options in that trailer.

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- People who are really into trailers will tell you that you always need a bigger truck. Some if this is just to justify they truck they wanted more than needed and some of it may be true. Just take it with a grain of salt
- You can certainly pull trailers that size with a half-ton, especially the lower end of that range

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I always get a kick out of these "what can I tow" threads. When I was a kid in the 60s our family traveled all over the US pulling a 28 foot travel trailer with the family station wagon, there were no fancy crew cab trucks so it was the only way to tow and travel with a family, rarely saw anything other than a station wagon towing campers. My uncle pulled a homebuilt enclosed race car trailer and race car that had to be incredibally heavy accross the Rockies and back many times with a 1961 Chevy Nova with a 6 cylinder and 3 on the column.

Just one more thing to add is to check your rear end.
If you have a 3.23 in your truck I wouldn't advise towing in the mountains.

I had a GM truck with the 5.3 V8 and a 3.23 gear ratio. They sell these to save gas mileage. Later, When I bought my 4800# camper, the truck pulled it great around here. One trip to Wyoming and my rear end was making noises and had to be changed.

ETA: The camper had brakes and the truck had a brake controller added when I purchased the camper. The truck had the factory towing package and receiver hitch.

As someone that lived and worked in Wyoming for 8 years, you need a good HD 3/4 ton 4 wd truck. If buying used, then check out the brake shoes/pads and rotors. Get a trailer/truck combo that utilizes a 5th wheel hitch. Make sure the trailer has electric brakes, and that they work.

Climbing and descending mountains is no joke. You need to be able to control the descent and a 1500 light duty truck won't hold up.

I'd lean towards a diesel 2500 HD 4wd truck. Plenty of power, and not as likely to run hot on you. They can get snow at any time in the mountains. A 4 wd and set of tire chains for the front and back wheels are a must during the winter season.

6300 pounds sounds low for a 1/2 ton truck....a half ton suburban or Yukon or Tahoe will tow about 7200 and is a heavier vehicle overall than a 1/2 ton truck. A damned expedition is a f-150 but heavier and with a V-8 is rated for about 9000 pounds.

I'm seeing 7300 pounds for '15 Sierra 1500 with a V-6 and 9200 for the same truck with a 5.3 liter....that's a 4 wd double cab.....two wheel drive would probably be a little higher and crew cab a little lower.

Remember too that campers are great for stuffing shite in when they are being towed and it is pretty easy to put another 1000 pounds of shite in one without realizing....water, groceries, electronics, etc etc etc. with judicial driving and a load leveling hitch a 1/2 ton V8 truck with a towing package consisting of at least a transmission cooler will do fine anywhere in the US with a trailer that its capable of pulling....but if you want to run 85 up a 4 degree grade for 15 miles the transmission is going to get hot, the fluid is going to chrystalize and the transmission is going to fail.

Yea, I think the new Fords are something like 14K

Correction 13,200

Here’s a key no one is telling you OP, set a trailer length and weight capacity and DO NOT EVER step foot in one bigger. Worst mistake people do is go to the sales place and look at the trailer only 4 ft longer and next thing they do is upgrade to a 3/4 ton and buy a 10 ft longer trailer. It’s very very easy to upgrade and get a sales pitch. If it’s just 2 people, it’s really not hard to find a good trailer a 1/2 ton can pull.

13k on a half ton is stoopid

Aka performance bulletin bull shite, I pulled a smallish jd tractor up the 210 bridge and it sucked mightly in my 3.5.