GM Max Trailering Pack

Bobo · 05-15-2007, 04:37 PM

General Motors offers a Max Trailering Package on their half ton PU. Comes with a 6.0 Ltr. motor, super duty tranny and all the items needed to tow. Has anyone had any experiance with this setup or are you better off going with a three quarter ton PU? I'm only pulling 7000# max rating. The package is rated for up to 10000#.It's about $ 3000 cheaper than a comparable three quarter model.

Thanx

Bobo

SanDimasJoe · 05-16-2007, 02:02 PM

Bobo,
I used to tow my T2553 with a 1/2 ton Chevy PU. I decided I would rather have that extra margin of safety and recently purchased a 2007 3/4 ton Chevy with a diesel and Allison trans. I just returned last week from a trip to the San Francisco Bay area and had to drive over the dreaded Grapevine on I-5. What a dream. The transmission remembers what speed you want to maintain going downhill and downshifts when it needs to to maintain that speed. The mileage is something I can live with. 19mpg without towing and 13.5mpg with the trailer. Hope this helps.

Joe

**PTHutch** · 05-16-2007, 02:43 PM

Bobo,

IMO a 10,000 lb tow rating of the 1/2 pick-up is more than capable to pulling your trailer.

I had a friend with that set-up. He pulled a 5ver (~8,000 lbs loaded) with no problem. He drove it down south through WV. Said it handled the hills fine.

Hutch

Bobo · 05-16-2007, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SanDimasJoe

Bobo,
I used to tow my T2553 with a 1/2 ton Chevy PU. I decided I would rather have that extra margin of safety and recently purchased a 2007 3/4 ton Chevy with a diesel and Allison trans. I just returned last week from a trip to the San Francisco Bay area and had to drive over the dreaded Grapevine on I-5. What a dream. The transmission remembers what speed you want to maintain going downhill and downshifts when it needs to to maintain that speed. The mileage is something I can live with. 19mpg without towing and 13.5mpg with the trailer. Hope this helps.

Joe

Joe,
Thanks for the reply. I drive an International straight truck for a living and it has the Allison auto in it. Love the tranny but your talking $10000 more for the diesel and Allison set up over the Max Pack on a 1/2 ton.Alot out of my price range but if you can afford it, It's about the best setup to pull just shy of custom building a TV on a commercial chassis like a Freightliner.

Thanx

Bobo

**JohnB** · 05-16-2007, 09:44 PM

Bobo

I can maybe give you some comparative info.

I have the 6.0 Liter with the 4.10 rear end and a 4L80E tranny in my K2500 Suburban. It is rated to pull 16,000# GCWR. And in my case the Suburban itself weighs a lot more than the PU with the same engine/rear axle in a K2500HD Silverado.

What rear end ratio do you have, the 3.73 or the 4.10? The 3.73 coupled to the 6.0 liter is rated at 14,000# GCWR. From year 2000 to 2006. In 2007 they some how fudged the numbers and got a lot more out of the same engine/rear end ratio.

My T2499 loaded with gear and full fresh water is 6,830#. I just scaled it 2 weeks ago again. My Burb and TT weighs 14,480# GCW with full fresh water.

Here on the east coast the 6.0 with the 4.10 rear end does me well in the pulling department. I only tow at 60 MPH, but by my choice. I do not need to tow any faster. A mile a minute works.

If you go out west at 7,000 to 8,000 feet, the gasser will be a hurting with this same combo. I had a fellow camper buddy do his 2500 HD with the 6.0/4.10 pulling 15,000 GCW and he really felt it at the higher elevations. Basically at around 8,200 feet just throw away 2 of your cylinders on a V8 gasser with no turbo charger and that is what it will fell like.

So that may be of some help in the tug of war pulling department.

Next is the actual suspension. My prior ½ ton Tahoe did not work with this camper. The ½ ton SUV cannot deal with heavy tongue weights regardless if they can pull it. My T2499 loaded had a tongue weight of 1,200# and went to 1,400 with full fresh water. I had to do a major weight and balance act to get that down, but I did. And even so the ½ ton SUV will not carry a 1,200# tongue with normal camping people inside.

BUT a PU is different. First off the truck is sprung different. The rear axle has more carrying capacity than the ½ ton SUV. It will win every time for holding up a heavier tongue camper.

In my case I went ¾ ton due to the suspension, not the pulling department. Question on your side will be, what do you want to put in the PU truck bed? If you leave the bed empty to only slight loaded, the ½ ton PU can hold up a T2499 but still you have to watch the weights. If you haul weight in the bed plus carry full fresh water, then this may trip the rear axle ratings on the ½ ton PU which would then send you towards the ¾ ton suspension.

Hope this helps.

John

kanyonkitty · 05-17-2007, 04:23 AM

morning Bobo,

OK, heres a girls opinion

I personally would opt for the 3/4 ton. You are getting a true heavy duty truck, there HAS to be differences between the heavy half and the 3/4, otherwise why the price difference? . You NEVER know what you may wish to tow, and where you may wish to tow it to. It's not any fun towing with a truck that's struggling

I went diesel for the longevity of the life of the truck. I was 3/4 ton shopping but ran across my truck, it had what I wanted, got the price I wanted, so I bought it. Should I ever decide I want to tow more I can. I think (Yea, dangerous I know) you'll be happier with the beefier truck, plus "IF" you'd decide to get a larger trailer, you'd already have the truck for it.

Good luck in your decision,

Kitty

Bobo · 05-17-2007, 02:52 PM

Thanks everyone,

I now see for the investment that a three quarter ton PU is the wiser choice. The diesel and Allison tranny is the way to go. Now, just where to find a spare $39,000 laying around? Guess I'll have to keep on scratching those lottery tickets.

DW might have to follow her dreams and go back to school to upgrade her nursing license to a RN.

Happy camping

Bobo

**PTHutch** · 05-17-2007, 06:26 PM

Hey Bobo,

Wise move looking at a 3/4 ton. I've never heard of any one in any campground say "I wish I had a smaller tow vehicle".

The GM D/A is fantastic but the $$$ is a killer. Get the largest engine you can affort, minimum 3.73 gears and you'll be set.

Also, remember what ever you get pulling you also have to get it stopped. So a good brake controller is a must.

Hutch

Bobo · 05-18-2007, 03:27 PM

PT,

Right now I have a Silverado 1/2 ton PU 2WD, 4.8 motor with the 3.42 RA and trailer pkg. Real nice set up for when I was pulling the Coleman. Until I can afford the upgrade, we'll stay within NY, mostly local. I've been on the GM Buypower sight and have built my dream TV but at $40,000, not even top of the line, it's well out of sight. That diesel/Allison combo is a dream setup to pull with but I will admit,I'll miss getting 22 MPG out of a full size PU,especially since it's my commute vehicle also.

I wonder why no one has come up with a two speed rear axle like you can find in some commercial chassis for straight trucks? It would be the cat's a** to use your TV everyday for commuting and then throw a switch to change to a lower geared RA to pull with.

By the way, I think I saw your rig sitting over at Eagle Vale last week. Nice looking set up. Spotless!!! Clean shows alot of pride in your rig.

Thanx

Bobo

donreitz · 05-20-2007, 01:33 PM

Just to pile on, we towed with a succesion of Suburbans and Tahoes until we purchased a 2500HD D/A last year. You may not absolutely need it, but if you can scrape up the premium for the D/A combo, you won't regret it. There simply is no comparing the ease of towing and the peace of mind that come from towing with a heavy-duty body and diesel engine (not to mention the Allison transmission--it's smarter than you are). A year ago, if you had asked me if I'd own a truck, I'd have laughed at you. I'm not even remotely a truck guy. Now, having towed with the Silverado, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Hope this helps.
Don