[ricemanwm]

I purchased a Jayco Jay Flight SLX 265RLSW Travel Trailer and thought I would share some real world towing experience with my Duramax Colorado Pickup. The camper is 26 ft with a overall length of 29 ft tip to stern. Although all the numbers indicated this combination would work, I loaded up camping supplies, food, and tools in the camper and headed for the scales to get actual numbers. All the weights were below the weight ratings with the closest being the trucks GVWR which was expected. With me, the wife and dog along with the tongue weight we are close but still 215 lbs under the 6000 GVWR of the truck. 85% of GCWR with 13% tongue weight. The trailer weighs 6300 lbs loaded with a 7500 lbs GVWR. The combined weight at the scales was 10,860 Lbs, that is without the wife and dog.

The trucks integrated brake controller, diesel exhaust brake and trailer sway control software along with the four point equal-i-zer weight distribution hitch keeps everything in check. The Duramax Diesel pulled fine with plenty of power and stopping was not an issue. I certainly know the trailer is back there but I did not feel unsafe. Trailer tires are rated at 65 mph so I never went above that. 60 to 65 mph was comfortable. When passed by 18 wheelers you will feel a wiggle but the trailer quickly lines back up. Guess if you want a tow vehicle that won’t feel any wiggle at all would require a 1 ton dually which weighs way more than the trailer and even then the trailer will still probably wiggle when passed by a big rig or you get a strong gust of wind. Close friend with pretty much the same trailer but 29ft is towing with a F250 and no weight distribution hitch and he is really complaining about the wiggle when being passed by big rigs.

I added the clip on trailer mirrors. I don’t see how anyone could tow a 8ft wide camper without modifying our stock mirrors one way or another. Pretty flat in Florida with only a few steep hills also known as bridges and we do have many of those in the Jacksonville area; Duramax pulls them without an issue. If I were to rate the truck in power, stopping and trailer stability I would say no problem with power at all, braking next but really no problem if you follow the set up procedure for adjusting the brake controller, last would be stability. You will know it is back there and will get some wiggle from time to time. The first few times you feel this is unnerving but after you have towed a few hundred miles and become more comfortable that it will line back up you build confidence in the combination. If you are considering towing close to the trucks capability, get a good weight distribution hitch, change out or add on trailer mirrors and lastly travel at a reasonable speed. I feel safe towing this trailer with our trucks and believe the 3/4 ton truck pulling the 20ft camper at 80 mph weaving through traffic thinking their invincible is at much greater risk of catastrophe than any of us towing below all of the weight ratings at a reasonable speed.

 

[Heavyhitter81]

Hey just to let you know the GVWR is 6200 on the diesel for next the time your weighing everything.

 

[Wweilbacher]

How was the fuel economy?

 

[ricemanwm]

Hey just to let you know the GVWR is 6200 on the diesel for next the time your weighing everything.

Your configuration and options may be different than mine. I just checked the GVWR for my truck and it says 6000 lbs on the sticker. I wish I had 6200 lbs though.

 

[Krystof]

Really putting it through its paces! Glad its working out for ya.

 

[ricemanwm]

How was the fuel economy?

13.5 MPG on a 4 lane that had several small towns which required stopping for red lights and 65 mph speed limit on the open road. 85 miles from Ocala FL to Jacksonville FL. so I’m figuring I’ll get a little better than that with non-stop freeway miles. I’ve made this 85 mile drive with the trailer 3 times now.

 

[404 Not Found]

Clearly you know how to tow........safely. We all know these trucks out handle full size trucks. I remember how my 2014 Ford F150 was a squirmy ride while towing whereas my Canyon diesel is rock stable. Better handling empty, better handling loaded as long as you tow at proper weights and speeds.

 

[GANCanyon]

I haven’t towed anything nearly that big, only about 4K lbs, but I’m amazed at how comfortable the ride is while towing something that heavy. Same deal with 800+ lbs in the bed. It rides way better than empty. I could see that with a few thousand lb trailer or a few hundred lbs in the bed, but not that much weight.

 

[Heavyhitter81]

Your configuration and options may be different than mine. I just checked the GVWR for my truck and it says 6000 lbs on the sticker. I wish I had 6200 lbs though.

I just checked mine 6200 on the sticker then went to chevy.com and was checking. I see the 2wd is 200 less total but the total on the front n rear is the same as the 4wd. Didn't see you had the 2wd.

 

[dmaxjr]

13.5 MPG on a 4 lane that had several small towns which required stopping for red lights and 65 mph speed limit on the open road. 85 miles from Ocala FL to Jacksonville FL. so I’m figuring I’ll get a little better than that with non-stop freeway miles. I’ve made this 85 mile drive with the trailer 3 times now.

Awesome fuel economy. Considering my friend just towed his 2800 lb boat home for the winter and got 11.2 mpg with his 1/2 ton 2015 3.5L ecoboost.

 

[ricemanwm]

I just checked mine 6200 on the sticker then went to chevy.com and was checking. I see the 2wd is 200 less total but the total on the front n rear is the same as the 4wd. Didn't see you had the 2wd.

Now it makes sense, 4x4 will weigh more than a 2 wheel drive so to give each about the same 1450 lbs of cargo capacity Chevrolet changed our GVWR by a couple of hundred pounds to keep both configurations close.

 

[404 Not Found]

I just checked mine 6200 on the sticker then went to chevy.com and was checking. I see the 2wd is 200 less total but the total on the front n rear is the same as the 4wd. Didn't see you had the 2wd.

What month was your '16 Canyon Duramax RWD built? Mine was built Apr 12th and shows 6000 gvwr on the sticker. Can anyone else here with a later build similar truck check theirs?

 

[ricemanwm]

Awesome fuel economy. Considering my friend just towed his 2800 lb boat home for the winter and got 11.2 mpg with his 1/2 ton 2015 3.5L ecoboost.

The Ford 3.5 Twin Turbo ecoboost makes plenty of power and torque but has to be turning way more RPMs than a Diesel so to keep that ecoboost in the power band; they are probably turning over 4500 RPMs. That ecoboost is pretty thirsty at those higher RPMs. I’m at 2000 RPMs while towing on the flat and it jumps up to 2500 RPMs on our bigger hills in Florida (bridges). I owned a Ford F-350 7.3 powerstroke for 15 years before getting the Colorado and would get 11mpg towing close to its capacity so I can live with 13.5 or so with the Duramax.

I can also confirm that the Colorado Duramax towing combination stops in a shorter distance than the same trailer behind the powerstroke because of the additional weight of the Ford. My old Ford weighed in at 7400lbs, my Colorado Duramax is at 4560lbs. 3/4 ton truck owners will avidly deny this with passion but it’s just Science, Force = Mass x Acceleration and Momentum = Mass x Velocity. If they deny the science I refer them to the truck test of 60 to 0 MPH stopping distances, our trucks stop in a shorter distance every time.

 

[ricemanwm]

What month was your '16 Canyon Duramax RWD built? Mine was built Apr 12th and shows 6000 gvwr on the sticker. Can anyone else here with a later build similar truck check theirs?

My 2016 Colorado Duramax RWD was built in September of 2015, GVWR 6000lbs.

 

[Duken4evr]

That is a truly impressive report. Thanks for posting.

I hope to get a 21 foot trailer at some point. A smaller TT should leave some capacity for dirt bikes in the bed

 

[dmaxjr]

The Ford 3.5 Twin Turbo ecoboost makes plenty of power and torque but has to be turning way more RPMs than a Diesel so to keep that ecoboost in the power band; they are probably turning over 4500 RPMs. That ecoboost is pretty thirsty at those higher RPMs. I’m at 2000 RPMs while towing on the flat and it jumps up to 2500 RPMs on our bigger hills in Florida (bridges). I owned a Ford F-350 7.3 powerstroke for 15 years before getting the Colorado and would get 11mpg towing close to its capacity so I can live with 13.5 or so with the Duramax.

I can also confirm that the Colorado Duramax towing combination stops in a shorter distance than the same trailer behind the powerstroke because of the additional weight of the Ford. My old Ford weighed in at 7400lbs, my Colorado Duramax is at 4560lbs. 3/4 ton truck owners will avidly deny this with passion but it’s just Science, Force = Mass x Acceleration and Momentum = Mass x Velocity. If they deny the science I refer them to the truck test of 60 to 0 MPH stopping distances, our trucks stop in a shorter distance every time.

I agree on the towing milage being great , my TT is only 6k full load and 23ft. So I am getting better towing economy than you but I am also in much steeper terrain here. You're right on the money for rpm, any more than 2500 rpm and you need to shift up to get to pull better, rather than shift down and have rpm up high like a gasser.
As far as full size comparison my 2500 and 3500 definitely towed the same weight better and more stable than my baby max can ever think of doing but they used more fuel by at least 6mpg towing. They also had factory exhaust brake so they slowed the load as well as the Canyon.But since the Baby max can tow safely and confidently at 6k then no reason to waste the extra cash on a full size and pay so much for fuel. So fat this is my favorite truck.

 

[jagster936]

Yea I towed a tractor and double axle trailer. Not sure but 5-7k lbs and it would always wind out to 3k. So annoying where more torque is at 25-2700. Dumb programming imo


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[jagster936]

It needs to shift sooner like 28ish


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[Troutbum1971]

What kind of tow mirrors are you using?

 

[ricemanwm]

What kind of tow mirrors are you using?

I’m using K-Source Universal Towing Mirror - Clip On - Item # KS3891, $28.03 a piece. I bought them from etrailer.com. They had a couple of videos on the site using a Colorado so I knew they would fit. Here is the link to where I bought them

https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Towing-Mirrors/K-Source/KS3891.html

I clean the back of the stock mirror with some rubbing alcohol to remove any wax and crud so the rubber foot on the trailer mirror doesn’t slip any. They are beveled so I have a good view down the side of the trailer and out to the next lane.

I would not feel comfortable towing my trailer without these mirrors.