2011 GMC Sierra 3500 HD - Diesel - Mountain Towing

[danemayer]

We drove thru Denver yesterday on our way to Breckenridge, CO. That took us west on I-70 climbing from 5000 feet in Denver to 12,000 feet at the Eisenhour tunnel, followed by a very steep descent for about 8 miles or so into Silverthorne. We're towing a pretty fully loaded Landmark Rushmore (39 feet). I haven't weighed, but I'd guess we're towing 15,000+.

I mostly used the cruise control and let it manage the transmission. Going up the mountain was effortless. I think we were in 5th and 6th gear almost the whole climb. 45-50 MPH on the winding areas, and 55 on the straighter sections.

Going downhill I set the cruise control at 35 (to comply with the signs for vehicles > 26,000 GVWR), enabled the exhaust brake (which helps a little), and went down from Eisenhour tunnel to Silverthorne at about 2500 RPM. No brakes needed at all. (BTW, I've always wondered about the runaway truck ramps - we saw a truck on one of them this trip).

Earlier in the trip, going north on I-25 from New Mexico, I found the cruise control managed downhill speed pretty well to 55. There were a few times it shifted down a couple of gears (4th?) and the engine was up to 4000 RPM for a brief period.

This is our first diesel/5th wheel, so I don't have a history of comparative towing, but after this, I'd recommend the GMC 3500 Diesel to anyone towing in the mountains.

 

[kkamshop]

Thanks for that report Dan, thinking about getting one of those someday.

 

[nscaler2]

Dan,
Sounds great. We just traded a 2006 Ford F350 for a GMC just like yours. We had to order it to get just what we wanted. It arrived at the dealer yesterday and is being preped with a few dealer installed options. Can't wait to put ours to the test. We travel a lot in the same part of the country that you just encountered. Sounds like a nice experience in comparison to our times with the F350. Good luck to you. Hope you have many happy miles with your new rig.

 

[navyAZ1]

We are on our 4th Duramax/Allison combo and have been impressed with them all. We just traded for a 2011 Chevy 3500 SRW and am anxious to make a trip to the mountains and give it a try with this new exhaust brake they have added. The Allison transmission did a great job in the mountains with the previous 3 trucks, but to have the addition of the exhaust brake sounds great.