Sounds like you will be exceeding the capacity of the van. Your only saving grace is that you are not going far. If you do this once or twice a year maybe OK. If you plan to tow it often (even a short distance) consider other options.
07'Duramax dually,12'Open Range 399BHS
Hawkshead TPMS,Hensley BD3,Killerbee exhaust brake
Blue Ox Bedsaver,air bags w/compressor
Arvika pin box bike rack,Bak Flip tonneau cover
5500 Onan LP,EMS-HW-50
14'Porta Bote w/8.0 Nissan
Vu Cube 2000,Splendide 2000S
Ok, so i picked it up yesterday and towed it home. Not the best 16 miles i have ever driven! Not horrible either. I looked at the tow rating for my 6cyl. Manual transmission chevy and that tow rating was 7500 lbs. Anyone ever towed a 30 ft trailer with a 6cyl. Chevy work truck?
Gm's tow weight charts mean VERY little after a conversion. The changes made are eating up alot (possibly 1/2 or more) of the payload. Toyhaulers tend to have HEAVY pin / tounge weights without toys. The extra heavy tounge + the conversion eating up a bunch of the payload may not be the best idea.
As far as the pickup, don't load to much int he bed and you should be fine, just watch the clutch from a standstill.
Quote: its not a safety thing. Its a performance thing.
That's EXACTLY the same thing.
If a TV can not perform properly (brake & accelerate), it is every bit a safety issue for OP & us.
And if the OP's van meets the minimum speed specs, braking etc that the jurisdiction he is driving in, but not the manufactures engineers specs which may or may not be higher, he is over the manufactures ratings......is he unsafe or illegal? reality is, he is not illegal, as he meets the jurisdictions specs, unsafe, well that too is a personal opinion.
I would probably tow the toyhauler with the pickup before the van personally, as it will have the payload for the hitch wt. Have the spouse/child follow in the van. But even then the pickup may be on the slow side. I doubt either will be as slow on hills as the heavier semi's on the road. The payload or lack of on the van will be the safety part that will kill that rig. GCWR will not be the issue if pulled over.
Marty
05 Chev CC D/A LS Dooley
92 Navistar dump truck, 7.3L 7 sp, 4.33 gears with a Detroit no spin
00 Chev C2500, V5700, 4L80E, 4.10, base truck, no options!
92 Red-e-haul 12K equipment trailer
3 Single axle utility trailers
I appreciate all of the different points of view. I suppose it doesn't take a genius to see that I put the cart before the horse in this scenario. I do know that I will not put a single family member in either vehicle while I take it to our camp sight. I am not that naive. I did talk to alot of the RV guys in my area prior to this purchase and was told that it should be fine....and from a simple " can I tow it from A to B", yes I was fine. I just don't have the warm and fuzzy to put my wife and kids in it yet. We have started talking to our local Van dealer in finding us a 1 ton Hi top handicapped equipped van....we'll be fine then.
Offline
