When I was considering purchasing an LM2 equipped truck, I looked high and low for some real information about the experience of what is in my mind heavy towing for a half ton truck with a small diesel. Needless to say, I didn't find much solid information. So after taking a trip, I wanted to put it out there in case it might help someone else. There's a lot of data and explanation, I'll try to keep it succinct. Our tow vehicle is a 2021 Silverado 1500 LT with a 3.0 Duramax LM2 and 3.23 gears.
I'm in Pennsylvania. We travel to Florida every March where we rent a track and do some tuning on the bikes and ourselves in preparation for the upcoming season. We carry the bikes and gear in an 8.5x20 Haulmark enclosed dual axle trailer weighing 3200b empty and a front end that makes Kiera Knightly look positively buxom. I've made this trip many times over the years with a Silverado 2500/6.2 gas, an F350/6.4 diesel, an F250/6.2 gas, and a Ram 2500/6.4 hemi. I've pulled the trailer for local errands with a Silverado 1500/5.3 and that was just plain frightening. We use a 2 5/16th ball and a load equalizing hitch. The truck running gear is all stock except for an RAS (RoadActive Suspenion) kit set at just a tiche less than max, and 10 ply Falken road tires.
My trailer is front biased, so it took a few trips to the scales to get it right. With a truck weight of 5760 (3420/2340), the trailer and load equalizing hitch were added, changing the truck weight to 3120/3540 and 5600 on the trailer axles. The trailer itself came in at 6500 loaded, which gave me exactly 900lb of tonque weight, the max allowed. All told, we were 12260 gross before adding about 600 more pounds of gear and accessories in the cab and evenly distributed in the bed and trailer. So our max weight depending on fuel load was about 13,000 pounds.
The trip is 1000 miles one way, with local running around without the trailer the total was 2300 miles, and overall fuel mileage was 12.5mpg. I used 7 gallons of DEF. The truck has not used oil to this point but with the heavier load, it burned 1.5 qt of Mobil1 0w20. It is due for it's 5k change next week, and will get some 5w30 now that warmer weather is upon us. I had zero difficulty maintaining 71 mph uphill and downhill, and could accelerate on hills. One large hill we traverse is in Fancy Gap, VA which is a 6 miles 4-5% grade and easily driven with the cruise control on. The truck would often downshift to as low as 5th gear on long hills, and on one or two occasions did drop to 4th. Even at 3500 RPM the engine was smooth and quiet. I'd like to note the the steepest grade we covered was 3 miles of 6-7% grade which I cleared without difficulty at 65mph (reduced as the speed limit is 55 there, and law enforcement frequents the area) and did have some reserve, but not a lot. We had a regen 5 times, and started the trip at 89%.
I also had a little panic attack when I realized my Torque Pro app was reporting an EOT of 284 degrees. It took a bit, but I finally convinced myself that with ECT of 210, and knowing the ECM would throw a CEL at 262 degrees, everything was fine. I rewrote the PID for the EOT and it seemed better, but still suspect, and I'll have to make some adjustments.
With that experience and knowledge in hand, I'm considering whether to upgrade my trailer to something slightly smaller, or perhaps aluminum frame. The only problem I had was due to the size of the truck, not powertrain. At 2500lb less than my previous trucks, there was a lot more sway even with the load equalizing hitch. So regardless of whether I'm towing the same rig or changing to a different portable garage, I'll be adding sway control to the mix.
Mods to the truck include the Never Inside dashboard phone mount that goes into the blank for the brake controller, a grab handle phone mount, a utility bin that hooks over the edge of the middle seat storage area, running boards, and a green Diesel fuel cap
Hope this is of some help to someone and I'll check back if there are any questions. Thanks, Joe
I'm in Pennsylvania. We travel to Florida every March where we rent a track and do some tuning on the bikes and ourselves in preparation for the upcoming season. We carry the bikes and gear in an 8.5x20 Haulmark enclosed dual axle trailer weighing 3200b empty and a front end that makes Kiera Knightly look positively buxom. I've made this trip many times over the years with a Silverado 2500/6.2 gas, an F350/6.4 diesel, an F250/6.2 gas, and a Ram 2500/6.4 hemi. I've pulled the trailer for local errands with a Silverado 1500/5.3 and that was just plain frightening. We use a 2 5/16th ball and a load equalizing hitch. The truck running gear is all stock except for an RAS (RoadActive Suspenion) kit set at just a tiche less than max, and 10 ply Falken road tires.
My trailer is front biased, so it took a few trips to the scales to get it right. With a truck weight of 5760 (3420/2340), the trailer and load equalizing hitch were added, changing the truck weight to 3120/3540 and 5600 on the trailer axles. The trailer itself came in at 6500 loaded, which gave me exactly 900lb of tonque weight, the max allowed. All told, we were 12260 gross before adding about 600 more pounds of gear and accessories in the cab and evenly distributed in the bed and trailer. So our max weight depending on fuel load was about 13,000 pounds.
The trip is 1000 miles one way, with local running around without the trailer the total was 2300 miles, and overall fuel mileage was 12.5mpg. I used 7 gallons of DEF. The truck has not used oil to this point but with the heavier load, it burned 1.5 qt of Mobil1 0w20. It is due for it's 5k change next week, and will get some 5w30 now that warmer weather is upon us. I had zero difficulty maintaining 71 mph uphill and downhill, and could accelerate on hills. One large hill we traverse is in Fancy Gap, VA which is a 6 miles 4-5% grade and easily driven with the cruise control on. The truck would often downshift to as low as 5th gear on long hills, and on one or two occasions did drop to 4th. Even at 3500 RPM the engine was smooth and quiet. I'd like to note the the steepest grade we covered was 3 miles of 6-7% grade which I cleared without difficulty at 65mph (reduced as the speed limit is 55 there, and law enforcement frequents the area) and did have some reserve, but not a lot. We had a regen 5 times, and started the trip at 89%.
I also had a little panic attack when I realized my Torque Pro app was reporting an EOT of 284 degrees. It took a bit, but I finally convinced myself that with ECT of 210, and knowing the ECM would throw a CEL at 262 degrees, everything was fine. I rewrote the PID for the EOT and it seemed better, but still suspect, and I'll have to make some adjustments.
With that experience and knowledge in hand, I'm considering whether to upgrade my trailer to something slightly smaller, or perhaps aluminum frame. The only problem I had was due to the size of the truck, not powertrain. At 2500lb less than my previous trucks, there was a lot more sway even with the load equalizing hitch. So regardless of whether I'm towing the same rig or changing to a different portable garage, I'll be adding sway control to the mix.
Mods to the truck include the Never Inside dashboard phone mount that goes into the blank for the brake controller, a grab handle phone mount, a utility bin that hooks over the edge of the middle seat storage area, running boards, and a green Diesel fuel cap
Hope this is of some help to someone and I'll check back if there are any questions. Thanks, Joe