Which truck to tow this trailer

[BusyGalinCal]

My husband and I are buying a goose neck, living quarters horse trailer that will be about 29-33 feet (box length) and weigh fully loaded about 16-18K pounds. Do I need a special license in Calif? I'm the primary driver.

We are also buying a new truck. My husband really likes the 2011 Chevy, I think 3500, dually, a 4X4. He says it will tow up to 21K pounds?

I am concerned about getting the right truck for the trailer. We can buy used or new. Our ranch is up a 6 mile grade that goes up almost 2500 feet with steep climbs and sharp curves (paved private road). Going up I don't have an issue but I'm concerned about coming down.

I was pushing for a bigger truck like a 5500 or 6500 but he says they don't make those anymore? He wants to use the truck around town and really doesn't want a BIG truck. I'm concerned about safe towing. I will be traveling cross country this summer for about 10 weeks with the horses so I really want the right truck to go with this trailer.

Advice, suggestions and tips are appreciated. Thank you.

[DmaxMaverick]

Welcome aboard!

A 4500/5500 would be ideal, but the 2011 3500HD DRW will have plenty weight capacity for your combination. The gross trailer rating is 21.7K, cargo rating of 6,635, and a GVWR of. Earlier models are rated for less, of any brand. The actual weights will vary, depending on how it's equipped and loaded.

You will need a special license endorsement if you live in and/or licensed in CA. Any ball hitch 10K+, or a 5th wheel 15K+ requires a non-commercial class A, or a CDL.

[cowboywildbill]

We tow a 40ft LQ Gooseneck with a 12ft super slide out. When loaded the trailer is over 16K with a pin wieght of about 4200 lbs.. We tow it with a 2011 LML Dually. It stops and holds it back it 200% better than our 07 LBZ did. And it pulls better and gets a little better mpg too. I would go with the Dually, it's more stable and safer.

[DickWells]

FWIW, I would never tow a 5th wheel, or goose neck with any SRW truck, (If I had a choice). I know a lot of people do it, mostly with 3/4 T pickups, but the extra margin of having duals is a BIG plus. My son went from a 2500 Dodge Cummins to a Dura Max 3500 Dually, and there's a whole world of difference. His trailer is an Exis camper/horse trailer, too. The advantage of a dually is most noticeable in cross-wind and heavy truck traffic situations. I've seen it many times from behind the wheel of my SRW Sierra, towing our 11k tag-along, while having my rig behave much better than the SRW/5th wheel rigs around me. A dually is always much more stable.

[Quietcart]

I think you have some good comments on the truck - we just moved up to a dually and it is a big difference in ride and stability.

I would suggest you also spend some time on the trailer setup - I give a strong vote for big disc brakes all around for that grade setup. I really like the TowBrake hydraulic actuator since it is so linear - you can get the trailer to do just what you are doing with the truck brakes starting from a feather on up, and it now has a park brake function (for short term use) that is unique that helps in loading or sitting on a grade if you would like to trailer to help do some of the anchoring (think of an emergency stop on a grade with a load and some slippery stuff). I know the truck exhaust brake will do the job under normal driving conditions, but if you have snow or slick road, it is crucial to have the trailer behave itself and not push the truck, and the disc brakes just do not fade.

The B & W hitch setup is pretty slick also - a lot less butchering on the truck bed, and no rattles.

Good luck - you are on target with doing the research before buying!

Don

[DmaxMaverick]

For what it's worth.......

The new 2011 3500HD is comparable to previous 4500/5500 (F450/F550) trucks. Not to be confused with the 3500 (non-HD). It seems GM is now doing what Ford did a few years ago, equipping the 4500/5500 truck chassis with a "regular" pickup body/bed.

[BusyGalinCal]

Thanks for all your replies. We did buy the Platinum 4 horse, 14' short wall horse trailer that we wanted and we are very happy. We are also picking up our new 2011 3500 GMC this week. We will have to install the "5th wheel" or hitch on the truck. What are my different choices and why is one better then the other? Again, thanks for your opinions.
:)

[arveetek]

I'm assuming your trailer has a gooseneck hitch, not a 5th wheel hitch, correct? Nearly every horse trailer is setup this way.

The best gooseneck hitch, I believe, is the B&W Turnover ball (www.turnoverball.com). It's well built, 100% USA-made, and has the capability of utilizing their Companion hitch if you ever do need to pull a 5th wheel.

Casey

[MacDR50]

Second that on B&W Turn Over ball hitch. Cleaner install and easy to adapt to a regular 5th wheel with the Companion hitch. BTW the Companion hitch is my choice for safety. It is either properly hitched or you can't close it and put in the pin. I have a Reese Signature slider and I had to modify it to prevent the lock pin from going in skewed and not locking the hitch closed. This was after I dropped my 5th on the truck and caused $$$$ of damage.

[SoTxPollock]

I've had the B & W turnover ball hitch on SRW and DRW chevy's and never had a problem with the hitch. You are going to love that 2011 GMC with it's Allison, exhaust brake, and all that towing torque from the Dmax. One clue put the first 100 miles on at 50 mph max speed. Then ease it up to higher speeds and get at least 500 miles on it before you tow anything.
It's the heat buildup in the differential due to such close tolerances between the ring and pinion gears. After 500 miles drain the differential fluid and replace it with new full synthetic fluid as recommended by GM and you should not ever have a problem with the gears.

[BusyGalinCal]

We got the hitch on...The B&W (THANK YOU ALL). Now our new 2011 GMC 3500HD trucks' built in brake controller does not work with our heavy Platinum LQ 4 horse TRailer. Wish we would have figured that out before we drove down a steep, 2500 ft drop in elevation on a 6 mile private road that has hair pin turns and extremely steep sections. Thank God the truck handled it well in 1st gear and using the exhaust brake.

As it turns out the built in brake controlled will not work with electric/hydraulic brakes, only electric. I can't believe GMC would market a truck to tow over 20K pounds and not have a brake box that would work with elec/hydraulic brakes!! So now we have to put in some type of aftermarket brake box or bypass unit.

[CoyleJR]

I agree that the Companion hitch is a fantastic product and I highly recommend it. The only issue I have found with the hitch is the way the two retaining pins hold the 5th wheel plate to the mounting base assembly. I had a wheel chalk bounce around and knock the hair pin keeper out of one of the retaining pins and the pin had worked half way out when I noticed. This could have caused a major accident if I had driven just a few more miles. I now safety wire the end of the hair pins so they can not be knocked out.