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Originally Posted by Gateway
We are in Seattle and I'd be taking it to BC, Oregon, Montana, California, Nevada and Arizona. So there would be some pretty good grades to go up and down.
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Yep, those states aren't exactly the flat-as-a-pancake midwest
...and in some areas you'll be dealing with deleterious effects of altitude as well as just steep grades So here's how to determine what to get (I'm not going to get into the details of the multitude of models in the GM lineup).
Using TM's website specs for the 3326 and 3124KS, the weight numbers are as follows:
- 3326: Empty weight, 3520; Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) 1396 for calculated GVWR of 4916
- 3124KS: Empty, 3185; CCC, 1595 for a calc GVWR of 4780.
Worst case (but only by 136 lbs) is the 3326.
For reasonably stress-free
mountain towing, it's my strong opinion that your trailer's GVWR should not exceed 80% of the vehicle's "tow rating" if high altitude (over 7000 feet) is
not a frequent factor; and not exceed 60% of the "tow rating" if high altitude
is a frequent factor (50% if very high altitude...like Colorado's mostly 11,000+ elevation passes...is a frequent factor).
Using a fully loaded 3326 as the worst case (lots of storage in that trailer...very easy to reach the GVWR with the load for very a long trip), those percentages above translate as follows into desired "tow capacities":
80% of max = 6150 lb tow capacity
60% of max = 8193 lb tow capacity
50% of max = 9832 lb tow capacity
All things considered, I'd strongly suggest you not consider any tow vehicle with less than a 7000 lb tow capacity and try to get one with at least an 8000 or even 8500 to 9000 lb capacity. Go to the upper end of the scale if you expect to carry heavy loads in the tow vehicle (lots of passengers as well as cargo); the lower end of the scale may be ok if you travel extremely lightly.
As a point of reference, my Toyota Tundra has a factory rated tow capacity of 7100 lbs and I pull a moderately to heavily loaded 2720SL....it weighs around 3800 on long trips; around 3600 lbs on short trips. And I travel solo (no other pax) with a very light load (maybe only 300 lbs) of gear in the truck. Nonetheless, until I spent about $3000 on performance upgrades (total torque increase was a very considerable 23%...equivalent to the stock truck with a 400 ft-lb engine), this truck was able to
just stay with traffic when towing over Colorado's very high mountains. After the upgrades, I can now easily stay with or even outclimb cars on the very steep and high grades when towing.
Don't be scared by low (numerically high) axle ratios either...the difference in fuel economy between a vehicle with 4.10 axle vs one with a 3.4 axle is perhaps only 1 to 1.5 mpg but the difference in towing capabilty is enormous. One of my performance upgrades was regearing the axles from 3.92 to 4.30 which provided a 10% torque increase, yet the effect on mileage was inconsequential (about .3 mpg).