TFLtruck recently received the following question from Eric B.
I have watched your videos for the GMC Canyon Duramax 4WD crew cab with gross tow rating of 7,600 pounds, the mpg loop test, towing the Ike mashup with the Ford F-150 Lariat 5.0L with your 5,600 pound test trailer.
I have not purchased either the trailer or the truck yet. In my mind this has become the perfect combination to retire in an loop around the USA, visiting national and state parks and occasionally grandkids and other family.
My question for you is should I have safety or durability concerns or issues with this combination: Airstream 25’ front BR, hitch weight 837 lbs, empty weight 5,300 lbs, trailer GVWR 7,300 lbs?
Thank you for watching our reviews and sending us your question! The GMC Canyon 4WD crew cab with the 2.8L Duramax I4 engine is a great towing vehicle for its size. There are several reasons why it won TFLtruck’s 2016 Gold Hitch truck of the year award. It’s efficient, it’s stable, and it’s comfortable.
Generally speaking, you want to avoid towing at your truck’s maximum towing rating in the name of safety. You want to be somewhere between 85-90% of the maximum rating, leaving a safety margin. Some people like to leave a bigger safety margin, and this is up to the individual. This guideline suggests that you should be towing a trailer between 6,460 – 6,840 lbs. If you don’t load your airstream to the maximum, then you are within the safety margin. You have to consider the fresh, grey, and black water that you are carrying in your trailer. This is where most of your additional trailer weight comes from.
The next consideration has to do with highway stability. The Airstream trailer has relatively slippery shape, but there is no denying that it’s 25 feet long and cross winds will be a factor. Thankfully, the Canyon Duramax crew cab is a stable towing machine. It was stable on the highway with our large 5,600 lbs horse trailer. I would recommend using a Weight Distributing Hitch (WDH) with sway control. This will make the overall towing experience more stable.
The front bedroom Airstream trailer you selected has a relatively heavy tongue weight (at 837 lbs). Once again, a WDH will help distribute the weight more evenly. The maximum payload rating of the Canyon is 1,470 lbs, so you still have some room for people and/or cargo. We always watch to not go over the GVWR of the truck, which is 6,200 lbs.
[Update: After more thought and considering the Airstream trailer’s 8-feet+ width, it will be very difficult to handle such a wide trailer with the GMC Canyon Duramax or any midsize pickup truck. Yes, you can put extension side mirrors on the Canyon, but you need a wider half-ton truck with towing mirrors to more comfortably tow such a trailer. ]
We cannot comment on reliability of trucks since we only test them for a week.
I hope this answer helps. Perhaps, other TFLtruck readers will provide more advice.
