Towing a 2011 chev 4 door colorado

[rcrab]

I own a 90 Itasca sunflyer 27RT.  I would like to tow a Colorado pu behind it.  The truck weighs about 500 lbs above the hitch rating on the coach.  Would it be unsafe to tow this truck with this motorhome?  Coach is a P90 series with chev 454 and turbo 400 trans.  Date of manufacture was in 89 but sold as a 90.

[Froggy1936]

I would not be afraid to tow it Most specs are hedged a bit . and the  turbo 400 is one of the strongest transmissions ever built .   Frank

[Madathlon]

While the chances are that you can tow that truck, here what your facing. If your truck is involved in a accident while being towed, (Your or their fault) you will not be covered because you are over the max tow rating.

Ins company look for any and all excuses to so No.

But you can get a higher rated hitched install and then be fully covered.

[Mr. T]

Interesting that you think about insurance.  I wanted to tow a toad with my 1985 Encore.  The last six feet of my motor home is an extension from the original p30 frame.  All welding was used.  I didn't feel confident to put more than a 5000 lb. hitch onto the rather narrow extension beams.  My toad is a Ford escape, curb weight 5300 lbs.  I didn't feel like I could pull with a direct hitch to the toad.  I decided to buy an Acme dolly with hydraulic brakes.  The dolly puts 300 pounds on the hitch.  Though I am pulling 5300 lbs, plus the dolly weight, it is rolling.  I don't know it is back there.

My insurance agent said I was good to go with that set up.

Don T.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

You won't have a problem with that slight difference in weight.  PULL weight is way higher than hitch capacity listed...its the tongue weight you never want to exceed.  If you are towing 4 wheels down, you'll be fine.  Just don't load an additional 2000 lbs into the pickup truck...lol!

Been there, done that!  And got lucky!  For years we towed a fullsize 1984 Dodge van, loaded to the gills with heavy workshop tools, behind a tiny 1972 Futura motorhome, using a cheapo EZ-Lift 5000 lb tow bar with bumper brackets!  We took that thing all over the country...and got lucky and it held.  Now that was WAY overloaded.

Now we know better, and have a much better 10K Blue Ox setup towing a light Jeep YJ Wrangler with just porch furniture in it...lol!

You'll be fine with that small amount of weight over listed pull capacity though.

Kev

[rcrab]

Ok, towing this 2011 Colorado 4 door, what type of tow hitch is the best to use.  I have never done this before and would not like to loose my new truck or get into an accident.  The Itasca has a factory receiver on the rear.  I was used to tow before.  It has both sets of electrical plugs on the hitch.  I take it that one is for break control and turn signal lights for a  tow trailer.  The other is???

[M & J]

CoachmanM500 did a series of posts on preparing his Range Rover for a cross country trip. Below is the review he did on one the items he tested and used. There are tons of information if you search the forums towing, toad, etc.
http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php/topic,7361.msg39592.html#msg39592

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Since its a new truck with a plastic bumper, you'll need to get a tow bar, at least 10K capacity, that uses a "base plate" system.  A base plate is a bracket specially designed to bolt to your truck's frame and protrudes through the plastic bumper facing and grill so you can hook it to the tow bar.

Blue Ox and Reese are two of the really good brands, although there are others out there.

A Brake Buddy is the easiest system to use to for assisted braking when towing.  Its a box that goes on the floor of your truck on the driver's side.  It has a piston that clamps to your brake pedal, and the back of the box rests against the driver's seat...then it plugs in the cig lighter 12 volt source to power it.  It senses when the RV hits its brakes, and then pushes in the truck brake pedal at the same time.  They work great and are no brainers to use.  Reese makes its own version as well.  We used an older pendulum style Brake Buddy for years until we got the Wrangler, which is so light we don't bother.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Oh yeah.  If the truck is a standard, you just put the transmission in neutral.  If its an automatic, now you have a whole other set of problems to deal with towing 4 wheels down.

If its a 4x4, you more than likely can just put the transfer case in neutral, the transmission in park, and you'd be good to go...but check with the manufacturer first!  All automatic Jeeps can be towed like this, but not sure about other makes.

If its automatic and 2 wheel drive, you'll either have to get a driveline disconnect kit, or a transmission fluid pump that keeps the transmission fluid flowing while you are towing.  Both are available from Revco.

Kev

[Stripe]

I tow a 2000 Land Rover Discovery II behind a 1984 Holiday Rambler Imperial 28'. It sits on a Chevy P30 chassis as well with a 454 engine.  I have a roadmaster tow bar bracket on the Rover. A ReadyBrute towbar with #8000 cpacity and a Unified Tow Brake model UTB-1000 supplemental braking system.  So far they have all worked flawlessly.

The DII is a all time four wheel drive vehicle. In order to tow it all wheels down, I have to put the transmission in Neutral, then the high/low transfer case to neutral and then the transmission again to park. After that she's free wheeling!

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Yep...I'm really going to have to start looking for a used Brake Buddy soon...sorry I sold the last one!  Now that we tow an 85 K5 Blazer behind us, the weight of the vehicle is around 4800lbs.  So far so good though!  Its on the list, but not a big priority...I'll hope I find a deal like you did on yours!

Kev

[Rickf1985]

I was just working under mine replacing the air pump for the Jet ride suspension. While I was there I decided to look the frame over to see what I would have to do to make it strong enough to tow my car trailer. The left side is not real bad, a shaky looking frame extension job but I figured if I tied in a solid hitch across the back that would strengthen everything up. So I went to look at the right side and what in the world!!!!!! There is NO frame rail extending back on the right side! The rear side compartment on that side goes all the way under to the other side frame rail. All that is on the right side is two 3X3X1/8" angle irons, back to back, tied into a very thin and wide C channel which is barely welded to the end of the frame rail. This runs under the rear storage bin and does not really support a lot of anything. The fact that there is a bumper and a trailer hitch back there is mind boggling to say the least. There is really no way to safely modify or add to what is there without removing the rear side compartment. Considering these were built from the ground up that meant that the frame amd extensions were all welded first and then the compartments were built and then the rest of the coach was built on top of that. No way to modify without reversing that order or ripping something out to make room. This pretty much shoots the whole reason for buying this thing down. Guess I should have done a LOT more research first.

[M & J]

Pictures help Rick.

[Rickf1985]

I will get some but they will be kind of deceiving because it will not look anything like what you expect to see under there. May be a bit because it is raining and going to keep up for the next couple days. I thought about this all night and the only way to do it would be to add a frame section to the existing frame and run it through the cabinet. That in itself is not a big deal but it is impossible to get to the ares needed to reinforce and weld the section. Not impossible but the gas tank and all the compartments from the rear bumper to the wheels would have to come out. As I said before, these compartments are built in as the coach is being built. The top of the compartment is the floor of the coach. If I had a large shop where I could get this thing inside and up in the air high enough to work on it would not be that bad but a muddy driveway just ain't gonna' cut it.

Rick

[M & J]

Our coach had a draw bar type hitch welded on. The bars were welded to the frame extension then brought to a point about a foot beyond the tube bumper, then welded to it. I removed the thin wall tube bumper and replaced it with a 3/8" thick 4x steel square tube. That is welded to the same frame extensions and the draw bars were welded to it. I had a pro welder perform the work. He also ground and re-welded the frame extensions and the contact points for the hitch bars. Solid points all around since I'm pulling a 16' tandem car hauler with our buggy and other camping items on it.