I'm down for a 1500 next as well. I've personally towed 40k+ miles in a 1500 hauling an 8500 lb rig. It does take its toll on the vehicle and hills are no fun, but these trucks are underrated from the factory I think.

Greg. You can use the mirrors that are on my track car.

All I'm going to see when I look in them is you.....



LOL

I'll definitely be following along to see how you like the 1500 towing the enclosed. I had a 2006 Sierra Denali with the HO 6.0L. It had all the power in the world, but with a tow rating of 8100 using a distribution hitch it didn't allow for much.

After much pondering, I let it go and picked up a new to me 2008 F250 which will do everything I want and more. I only put 5-6000 miles a year on a truck so I couldn't justify newer just to sit in the driveway most of the time. I've already towed the Chevelle twice in the past two weeks, and I have to admit it was so nice just being able to set the cruise and ride. The wife didn't even complain either!!

Kerry

If I had Weld's money, I'd have my own rig driver! :D

Here ya go Greg, get this in addition to the oem trailer mirrors.

"Chevrolet has announced an all new optional and} retrofittable camera system for the 2014 through 2016 Silverado 1500, 2500, and 3500 that are equipped with factory trailer-towing mirrors."

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topi...-16-silverado/

I had a 4 camera system in the "rig".... The back up portion was all that was ever used. Particularly when rolling in to a stop at night - backing up (the rig was 65 feet long) and knowing when to stop when the lamp post was behind you - was seriously handy!


You run into (pun?) a couple issues with the car hauler trailers that ARE NOT issues for ordinary big rigs - in that our rigs are REALLY LOW off the ground. The highway rigs just back up until the rear wheels hit the curbing at a truck stop.... where my rig would run into the curbing well before the wheels/tires got there. That's where the rear camera really came in handy.

My "thinking" was that I spend 99.8% of the time getting groceries.... and Starbucks.... Very very little time actually towing - and then the big hill is Donner Pass.

After logging 50K miles in "the rig" -- I'm totally used to pulling a grade stuck in 8th (out of 13 forward gears) at 35 MPH... And then some moron tells me - "you'll hate the millage when towing - you'll only get 8 MPG". Well really??? WTF -- The rig got an AVERAGE of 5.4, so I see this as getting almost double the MPG! (as if that's something that concerns me. LOL)

Yea STILL the same one lol, it is a really nice riding truck as nice as any car, well maybe no a S65 AMG but still.

You half ton will not lack anything for power. My half ton has the same engine combo and pulls a car trailer with my race car up the grapevine with ease passing prius cars like they are standings till . The truck will just not be as stable when tow in a cross wind or when a big rig passes in the wind. I drive my truck and trailer at 75mph in the wind cuz I can. That dually is heavy and the super spread axle is super stable at speed. And I had my enclosed from ATC built from a steel frame for this exact reason. You just have to plan your driving a little more with a half ton.

My big rig had the same problem when empty in the wind. It was just a huge billboard in the wind. I thought I was going over one day in the cross wind in the desert. But the wind can't go under the truck like a normal big rig. and since it had way less weight it was super light when unloaded.