2500 Duramax and 3400rl

snuffy

Well-known member
We have an '01 Duramax and are interested in the 3400rl. I'm concerned that the 2500 may not be quite heavy enough. Would appreciate comments from any who have this combination on performance and driveability.
 

SmokeyBare

Well-known member
Snuffy,

I'm towing an "07" 3400RL BigHorn with our o2' Chevy Duramax. We are full time in our rig... and since we picked it up last October... we've had NO Problems at all.

Our Chevy has 106,000 Miles on it already... Shouldn't be a problem for you at all. Good Luck with your plans.


 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
While the Duramax will do a fine job pulling and a decent job stopping the 3400 I can guarantee you that unless your trailer is empty you will be over your trucks GVW. There are many guys pulling rigs like yours and even heavier with the 2500HD. I did it too for about 6 months then decided to move up to a 3500 dually. I noticed immediatly the difference in stability and ride. It's really a personal choice you have to make.
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
Snuffy,
I currently own a Bighorn 3500RL which is a slightly different floor plan but the weight ratings are identical to the 3400RL you are considering. We also have a 2003 Chevy crew cab Duramax and it pulls and stops very well. And with all due respect to Ray, I am not over the GVW of my truck. I had my rig weighed at the first Heartland Rally and my tow vehicle weight was 7,325 and my trailer weight was 13,375 for a total of 20,700 lbs.. Also, my pin weight was 2,050.

According to my Chevy owner’s manual (K-2500 Crew Cab Short Bed HD 4WD) the GCWR is 22,000 and the maximum pin weight is 3,000. The maximum towable coach is 14,700.

Having said all of that, I do agree with Ray that a dually would give a much better towing experience. I have always said that if I were to travel more extensively that I would get me a Big-Boy truck. Probably more on the lines of a Chevy Kodiak 4500, but I am just dreaming right now. As a side not I have recently added Firestone Ride-Rite air bags to my truck and will soon have a SuperChips tuner.

Good luck snuffy,

Mark
 

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Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
mrcomer said:
Snuffy,
I currently own a Bighorn 3500RL which is a slightly different floor plan but the weight ratings are identical to the 3400RL you are considering. We also have a 2003 Chevy crew cab Duramax and it pulls and stops very well. And with all due respect to Ray, I am not over the GVW of my truck. I had my rig weighed at the first Heartland Rally and my tow vehicle weight was 7,325 and my trailer weight was 13,375 for a total of 20,700 lbs.. Also, my pin weight was 2,050.

According to my Chevy owner’s manual (K-2500 Crew Cab Short Bed HD 4WD) the GCWR is 22,000 and the maximum pin weight is 3,000. The maximum towable coach is 14,700.

Having said all of that, I do agree with Ray that a dually would give a much better towing experience. I have always said that if I were to travel more extensively that I would get me a Big-Boy truck. Probably more on the lines of a Chevy Kodiak 4500, but I am just dreaming right now. As a side not I have recently added Firestone Ride-Rite air bags to my truck and will soon have a SuperChips tuner.

Good luck snuffy,

Mark
Without trying to start a thread war here. We were also under GCRW at around 21,000. BUT if you total your trucks weight of 7325 and the pin weight of 2050, that's 9375. A bit over the GVW for the truck at 9200. The pin weight on our 3400 is 2,580 but we're pretty loaded as fulltimers. Had I not been over the trucks GVW though I might have kept the 2500HD. That 8.1 gasser was a blast to drive without the trailer.
 
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mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
I agree Ray but would like to correct something. The pin weight was already considered in the weight of the trailer. The trailer weight was 11,325 and the pin weight was 2,050 for a total of 13,375. Sorry for the confusion.

snuffy,
I am sure you will get many opinions on this. If you have a chance, do a search on this forum and you will find many other threads discussing tow vehicles and trailer weights. At the end of the day, when it comes to tow vehicles, bigger is better.

Have a great day,

Mark
 

r4man2

Member
2500HD vs 3500

I knew I was going to be eventually hauling a 5er when we bought out 2500HD in 2003. Contacted GM because the GVRW was HIGHER for the 2500HD than the 3500HD in the sales lit. GM stated that that was correct. The dually was better for off road and unimproved surfaces but that on highway the rear end of the 2500HD had better brake package (at least equal to the dually) and was lighter resulting in the better GVRW. I have not yet picked up our 3400RL, but will do so in Nov. Hope that GM was right.

BTW, I have been following the diesel forums and the Airlift Super Duty 57000 have been HIGHLY recommended over Firestone air bags. NO airbag will change your vehicles GVRW, but they sure can level the load.

http://www.airliftcompany.com/super_duty.html

Bilstein shocks are also uniformly recommended for towing.
 

caokgafamily

Well-known member
I know that you are asking about the 2500 Duramax but I pull my 07 3400 RL with a Ford 05 6.0 250 CC 4x4. The truck has plenty of power, It seems to have no problem stoping. I'm over my pin weight so I installed a set of Firestone airbags. Having said all this, I do feel a 1 ton would be a better choice. When semi's go by, I feel the turbulance. A 3500 or 350 dually would be my choice. I've been having problems with the 6.0 overheating it has nothing to do with the 3400, I had the same problem last summer when we pulled a 9000 lb Cardinal fiver on a 7400 mile trip across the US.
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
r4man2,
I would like to read about those Airlift recommendations. If you could, could you please try to post a link for all of us. I would change mine over if I read enough information to warrant it.

Thank you,

Mark
 

caokgafamily

Well-known member
I don't see the difference between the Airlift and the Firestone bags. I bought and installed the firestone bags for about $325 and it took about 2.5 hrs.
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
caokgafamily,
I agree, I do not see a difference either. I have recently installed the Firestone Ride-Rites airbags on my Silverado and really like them. I will be adding an Airlift SmartAir Single Sensor compressor soon as it does not use any in-cab mountings,switches or gauges, something that Firestone doesn't have.

http://www.airliftcompany.com/smart_air.html
 
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