Preston's V6 Towing Thread - To The Max

5033 Views 56 Replies 16 Participants Last post by silverbullet3.6, 1 mo ago

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago (Edited)

4

Hello Everyone,
Today my Wife and I finally purchased a new travel trailer. We have been looking for about five years. We could never find one that met all the requirements we wanted.

Worked out a great deal with the dealership, kept the money local to our nearest city, and it checked off all the boxes we were looking for: Big bathroom, large shower, separated bedroom, theater seating. large kitchen area.

It is a 2022 Keystone Passport 2400RBWE:

https://www.keystonerv.com/product/passport-gt/premium-travel-trailers/specs

Dry weight is 5729lbs. 29ft 2in. Just shy of 11ft tall.

I wanted to start this thread and will keep it updated for those who are interested in seeing how the truck does. Living in Eastern Washington there are some good mountain passes.

I use Torque Pro religiously, so I will be able to monitor all sensors. Truck currently has 94k miles on it.

We will be picking it up on 4-7-23 after they finish up getting it ready and taking care of the "blue tape" concerns.

Wheel Tire Cloud Sky Motor vehicle

Sky Cloud Vehicle Motor vehicle Travel trailer

Wheel Motor vehicle Automotive tire Vehicle Travel trailer

Product Automotive tire Rectangle Font Bumper

- Preston

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C21964

· #2 · 2 mo ago

Recommend you go to a nearby CAT scale to get all the relevant weights, ready to travel. Definitely need weight distribution system. Watch your payload including tongue weight. That is a lot of trailer for our trucks.

Reactions: 5

fondupot

· #3 · 2 mo ago

That's a lot of trailer to pull with this truck. Definitely get a brake controller installed if you don't have the OEM one. Dry weight at basically 6000lbs. After you add two humans, plus any other cargo you're probably going to be pushing 6500 lbs. Not leaving a lot of headspace for the max rating of 7000 lbs. No doubt the truck will be able to handle it, but it might not be very fun towing on a consistent basis. Look forward to your update. Good luck.

Reactions: 4

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · #4 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

fondupot said:
That's a lot of trailer to pull with this truck. Definitely get a brake controller installed if you don't have the OEM one. Dry weight at basically 6000lbs. After you add two humans, plus any other cargo you're probably going to be pushing 6500 lbs. Not leaving a lot of headspace for the max rating of 7000 lbs. No doubt the truck will be able to handle it, but it might not be very fun towing on a consistent basis. Look forward to your update. Good luck.

Yeppers it is alot. I have had the Liberty Tow Pro controller installed for a while.

There could be some times we go a little past the max tow rating. But we do not plan on doing much boondocking.

Anyways, I will be getting the Andersen WD with intergrated anti-sway setup # 3350

Weight Distribution Hitch - Andersen Hitches

View the best Weight Distribution Hitch here. Shop with us today for high quality trailer hitches and gear that is strong and versatile.

andersenhitches.com

andersenhitches.com

Like I always do when I overload the truck, drive it with respect, take it easy, don't be in a hurry, plan my routes.

- Preston

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · #5 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

C21964 said:
Recommend you go to a nearby CAT scale to get all the relevant weights, ready to travel. Definitely need weight distribution system. Watch your payload including tongue weight. That is a lot of trailer for our trucks.

I planned on getting scaled to see what the weight would be, it would be nice to have a base line so I can do rough calculations afterwards.

It may turn out to be an interesting thread. Haha.

- Preston

shtboxbrz

· #6 · 2 mo ago

silverbullet3.6 said:
Yeppers it is alot. I have had the Liberty Tow Pro controller installed for a while.

There could be some times we go a little past the max tow rating. But we do not plan on doing much boondocking.

Anyways, I will be getting the Andersen WD with intergrated anti-sway setup # 3350

Weight Distribution Hitch - Andersen Hitches

View the best Weight Distribution Hitch here. Shop with us today for high quality trailer hitches and gear that is strong and versatile.

andersenhitches.com

Like I always do when I overload the truck, drive it with respect, take it easy, don't be in a hurry, plan my routes.

- Preston

Unless i selected the wrong options that is rated for 16,000lbs and is over 600$. You can get a curt 17062 which is good for 10k which is way more than enough for this truck for about 1/2 the price. I use it to pull my car on a hauler and would recommend it.

Reactions: 1

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · #7 · 2 mo ago

shtboxbrz said:
Unless i selected the wrong options that is rated for 16,000lbs and is over 600$. You can get a curt 17062 which is good for 10k which is way more than enough for this truck for about 1/2 the price. I use it to pull my car on a hauler and would recommend it.

Those setups by Andersen start at 14K for the 3350 because the traveler trailer will have a 2 5/8" ball.

The main reason I am going this route with the Anderson is to do away with the bars, and disconnect and reconnect is crazy effortless. Camp Addict did a good long term review on the product.

Considering I was looking at the Pro Pride setups, the cost of the Andersen is really good. I was going to buy a Pro Pride, but they have increased from $2500 then to $3200 (still was okay with that cost), but then recently they went up to $3800. That was just too much for me to justify, plus the shipping cost of around $230.

- Preston

shtboxbrz

· #8 · 2 mo ago

silverbullet3.6 said:
Those setups by Andersen start at 14K for the 3350 because the traveler trailer will have a 2 5/8" ball.

The main reason I am going this route with the Anderson is to do away with the bars, and disconnect and reconnect is crazy effortless. Camp Addict did a good long term review on the product.

Considering I was looking at the Pro Pride setups, the cost of the Andersen is really good. I was going to buy a Pro Pride, but they have increased from $2500 then to $3200 (still was okay with that cost), but then recently they went up to $3800. That was just too much for me to justify, plus the shipping cost of around $230.

- Preston

Makes sense, I wasn't sure if i was clicking something wrong or not. The curt's trunions are pretty annoying to have to deal with.

Reactions: 1

DieselDrax

· #9 · 2 mo ago

I used an Andersen WDH with our last travel trailer and I was happy with it, especially being able to dial it in/adjust it easily without having to use shims, etc.

I will say you'll likely need to raise the hitch up a lot more than other WDH in order to get sufficient tension on the chains. Once you get used to how it works I'm sure it'll be fine. Is definitely use one again if I needed to.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

Reactions: 1

_Montana_

· #10 · 2 mo ago

No way man. I'd want a full size for a trailer this size.

Reactions: 1

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · #11 · 2 mo ago

DieselDrax said:
I used an Andersen WDH with our last travel trailer and I was happy with it, especially being able to dial it in/adjust it easily without having to use shims, etc.

I will say you'll likely need to raise the hitch up a lot more than other WDH in order to get sufficient tension on the chains. Once you get used to how it works I'm sure it'll be fine. Is definitely use one again if I needed to.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

Thank you for the tip, I will keep that in mind when I get it and hook it up.

So you had the newer chain setup instead of bars on the Andersen?
- Preston

DieselDrax

· #12 · 2 mo ago

silverbullet3.6 said:
Thank you for the tip, I will keep that in mind when I get it and hook it up.

So you had the newer chain setup instead of bars on the Andersen?
- Preston

Correct, Andersen doesn't make a bar WDH as far as I know. I used a Fastway e2 before the Andersen and got tired of how heavy it was.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

Reactions: 1

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · #13 · 2 mo ago

shtboxbrz said:
Makes sense, I wasn't sure if i was clicking something wrong or not. The curt's trunions are pretty annoying to have to deal with.

You have the trunnions instead of round bars? For the traditional WD setups I do like the trunnion bars alot more.

_Montana_

· #14 · 2 mo ago

7,000 #'s is the max, isn't it?

Reactions: 1

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · #15 · 2 mo ago

_Montana_ said:
7,000 #'s is the max, isn't it?

Yeah it is. Fully loaded with our gear we maybe be close. We won't be doing much boondocking, dry camping, and even if we do it would only be for a weekend.

Thankfully my wife and I are light packers and do without, unlike alot of people we know that camp

_Montana_

· #16 · 2 mo ago

My family went through this adventure thinking the same thing and now they have a 2500 because of it. I think you are going to be surprised how easily the weight adds on, but good luck.

Reactions: 3

silverbullet3.6

Discussion Starter · #17 · 2 mo ago

_Montana_ said:
My family went through this adventure thinking the same thing and now they have a 2500 because of it. I think you are going to be surprised how easily the weight adds on, but good luck.

Thanks Montana!

That's kinda why I wanted to start the thread as well. See if we can keep it within the limits of the truck, and how we are going to go about that and share with this community.

The GVWR of the trailer is 7600lbs. I don't mind if we end up hitting 7500lbs. But thay would be the max I would be comfortable with my truck.

_Montana_

· #18 · 2 mo ago

silverbullet3.6 said:
Thanks Montana!

That's kinda why I wanted to start the thread as well. See if we can keep it within the limits of the truck, and how we are going to go about that and share with this community.

The GVWR of the trailer is 7600lbs. I don't mind if we end up hitting 7500lbs. But thay would be the max I would be comfortable with my truck.

I really do like the choice in camper. That's a much better setup than some of the older options where everything had bunk beds and a crappy sit in table. If I was going to get one, I'd definitely go the route you did. My family has never really thought things through though, so hearing their story has always made me contemplate if it was something I would do or not. Given the cost of full size trucks right now, that's a no lol. I'll follow along and see how it goes for you!

Reactions: 1

shtboxbrz

· #19 · 2 mo ago

silverbullet3.6 said:
You have the trunnions instead of round bars? For the traditional WD setups I do like the trunnion bars alot more.

Sorry weeks got my brain melted, I meant to say the spring bar are annoying and i should have gone with the trunnions.

ARCowboy

· #20 · 2 mo ago

silverbullet3.6 said:
Hello Everyone,
Today my Wife and I finally purchased a new travel trailer. We have been looking for about five years. We could never find one that met all the requirements we wanted.

Worked out a great deal with the dealership, kept the money local to our nearest city, and it checked off all the boxes we were looking for: Big bathroom, large shower, separated bedroom, theater seating. large kitchen area.

It is a 2022 Keystone Passport 2400RBWE:

https://www.keystonerv.com/product/passport-gt/premium-travel-trailers/floorplans/2400RBWE

Dry weight is 5827lbs. 29ft 2in. Just shy of 11ft tall.

I wanted to start this thread and will keep it updated for those who are interested in seeing how the truck does. Living in Eastern Washington there are some good mountain passes.

I use Torque Pro religiously, so I will be able to monitor all sensors. Truck currently has 94k miles on it.

We will be picking it up on 4-7-23 after they finish up getting it ready and taking care of the "blue tape" concerns.

View attachment 444391

View attachment 444390

View attachment 444389

View attachment 444392

- Preston

Dang dude, that's a lot of trailer. I have no doubt your 3.6L Colorado can tow it, but might not be as enjoyable (read: controllable) as a larger truck, but with patience and conservative decision making you should have no issues. I have seen some posts on here recently about how much better towing in L7/M7 is from some of the other 8speed owners. I would also definitely recommend putting out cones or weighted amazon boxes (paint lines not sufficient for my brain) in a big empty parking lot and practicing:

Right turn from a stop
A switchback road multi-point-honking-traffic-angry-suburbanite-in-hybrid turn
Reversing into a gas station stall
Very carefully, a hard brake scenario from 45-60 down to 5-10mph (don't fully stop to keep air flowing over the rotors/pads. And don't repeatedly hard brake without sufficient cooling time).

Some numbers I assume you have already run:

5827# - Very nice trailer

450# - 54gal of water (full fresh water tank)

40# - LPG

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

6317# - Not including dishes, clothes, food, or alcohol. Doable. If you're carrying 100# of dishes in a camper... I think you should lay off the collectible plates haha.

And of course the truck:

6000# - Max GVWR listed for CCLB

~4496# - Listed Curb weight CCLB

630# - Very nice trailer listed hitch weight

~190# - You ?

~ Some number# - Wife

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

5426# total-ish / ~545# payload remaining

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