In March we sold our 34ft 10k travel trailer and 2017 F250 crew cab diesel. My wife caught the camping bug again and we started looking for trailers we could pull with her 2018 Yukon. I wanted to stay around 5k dry and GVWR around 7k. Her Yukon is the "inferior" model with 3.08 rear end and measly 6000lb towing rating. After a lot of research and reading through some good threads on here I found there are only 3 differences between the HD trailering package that has a 8000lb tow rating vs the normal towing package.
We ended up finding a camper we really liked, 2016 Coleman 262BH, that is 5800lbs dry and has a GVWR of 7700lbs. From the horror stories on the internet, it appears most people who attempt to pull trailers in this range apparently just hook up and go, then they come back and say it was a horrible towing experience, lots of sway, etc.
I added a proportional brake controller, load leveling air bags to the rear, an equalizer 4 point weight distribution hitch, and upgraded the crappy passenger eco tires to LT load range E tires. We took the camper on a trip last weekend and I was honestly impressed with how it towed with 6th gear locked out. The camper is riding a little nose high for my liking, a bigger drop shank is on it's way this week. Transmission temp never exceeded 197 degrees while towing and we averaged ~9 mpg. Only 20 lbs in the air bags and 65 psi in the tires. I stopped at a CAT weigh station and my numbers are below with the WDH engaged. We were fully loaded with all camping gear, my entire family of 5 and a full tank of fuel.
Steer Axle 2860 lb
Drive Axle 4220 lb
Trailer Axle 6240 lb
Total Weight 13320 lb
We weighed in three different configurations which resulted in a loaded camper weight of 6920 and truck only was 6400, 800 lbs of tongue weight.
Living in north Houston we only travel 3 or 4 hours to different campsites, I am sure if I was in the mountains or traveling cross country I would be searching for a 3/4 ton diesel again. However, I am happy with how it towed and wanted to give my feedback to other members. Get good LT tires, a decent WDH, keep the speed below 65 or so and happy towing.
- 3.08 vs 3.42 rear end
- Integrated brake controller
- Increased capacity, air leveler, suspension package
We ended up finding a camper we really liked, 2016 Coleman 262BH, that is 5800lbs dry and has a GVWR of 7700lbs. From the horror stories on the internet, it appears most people who attempt to pull trailers in this range apparently just hook up and go, then they come back and say it was a horrible towing experience, lots of sway, etc.
I added a proportional brake controller, load leveling air bags to the rear, an equalizer 4 point weight distribution hitch, and upgraded the crappy passenger eco tires to LT load range E tires. We took the camper on a trip last weekend and I was honestly impressed with how it towed with 6th gear locked out. The camper is riding a little nose high for my liking, a bigger drop shank is on it's way this week. Transmission temp never exceeded 197 degrees while towing and we averaged ~9 mpg. Only 20 lbs in the air bags and 65 psi in the tires. I stopped at a CAT weigh station and my numbers are below with the WDH engaged. We were fully loaded with all camping gear, my entire family of 5 and a full tank of fuel.
Steer Axle 2860 lb
Drive Axle 4220 lb
Trailer Axle 6240 lb
Total Weight 13320 lb
We weighed in three different configurations which resulted in a loaded camper weight of 6920 and truck only was 6400, 800 lbs of tongue weight.
Living in north Houston we only travel 3 or 4 hours to different campsites, I am sure if I was in the mountains or traveling cross country I would be searching for a 3/4 ton diesel again. However, I am happy with how it towed and wanted to give my feedback to other members. Get good LT tires, a decent WDH, keep the speed below 65 or so and happy towing.
