Chevy Colorado Duramax - yay or nay?

[Nottingham]

Is a 2016 Chevy Colorado Duramax adequate to tow a light BP trailer with no dressing room and one horse?

I have no experience hauling and this is my first truck and trailer. I crunched the numbers and we seem to be well-within capacity. Truck’s GVCWR is 12,700 and curb weight is around 4,700 (I did not weigh it myself yet). The wheelbase is similar to a Suburban (130") and it comes with an exhaust brake as part of the towing package. Trailer is aluminum on steel frame and 1500lbs unladen per the title. Horse is admittedly large at 17h but does not do well with others so will be traveling exclusively solo. I’m hoping to do short local trips a few times a month, with the max distance of about 2 hours away for a particular location once or twice a year. Mid Atlantic region so not flat but not the Rockies either. I don’t anticipate towing more than 3,500lbs.

I got the smaller diesel because I drive at least 60 miles a day to either work or the barn. A small gas daily driver and separate tow vehicle sounds lovely but is not in the cards at the moment. I’m a numbers person so I thought I could have my cake and eat it too with the mini Duramax, but I do lack in experience. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? I love driving the truck so far and 30+mpg is awesome, but I need to be safe too.

[Guilherme]

I don’t know as I don’t know, and could not quickly find, some information I require.

While searching I did find this:

http://www.rveducation101.com/Articles/TowVehicleTrailer.pdf

It’s from an RV site but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply to horse trailers, too. And to the vehicles that tow them.

It’s good information.

G.

[SuckerForHorses]

Regardless of what the tag on the truck says, IMO, a truck that small in size, regardless of the engine, shouldn’t be towing a horse trailer with a horse in it. Too easy to get pushed around with a truck that light.

[Jim_in_PA]

Anywhere other than North America, there would be a resounding “yes” to your question…

My opinion…if you calculate the numbers and are not at more than 80% of manufacturer tow capacity, you should be fine if properly equipped with brakes and preferably Weight Distribution Hitch. I recommend WDH for BP trailers even on heavy trucks to insure proper weight balance across the tow vehicle’s axils, even though it’s less common in the horse world as opposed to the travel trailer business for some strange reason.

[enjoytheride]

You appear to be well within your towing capacity of about 7,500 lbs The exhaust break and tow haul mode are integrated with this truck which is a nice feature and in general it has a lot of features with towing in mind. You have a short light weight trailer which is excellent. You may experience some sway in high winds which honestly is hard to prevent since you are towing a giant sail on a 2 inch ball so be aware of that and adjust your driving and consider a WDH.

This year of truck has several reviews online for towing as well and gets good results.

[Nottingham]

Yes, I am planning on getting a WDH for added stability. Still trying to exactly figure out the difference between that and sway bars (they look very similar in pictures) but I’m seeking professional help versus Google for that step.

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

In general, the less experience you have hauling, the more truck you should have to keep you out of trouble. The saying also goes, when your trailer wants to sway, and push you around, make sure your truck has the weight to just say, NO! You don’t want to feel the need to be counteracting the “sway”. It just gets worse, and worse until you are doing doughnuts.

[Guilherme]

@Nottingham

Yes, I am planning on getting a WDH for added stability. Still trying to exactly figure out the difference between that and sway bars (they look very similar in pictures) but I’m seeking professional help versus Google for that step.

Here is some useful information:

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-weightdistribution.aspx

G.

[kathy_s]

@Fairview Horse Center

In general, the less experience you have hauling, the more truck you should have to keep you out of trouble. The saying also goes, when your trailer wants to sway, and push you around, make sure your truck has the weight to just say, NO! You don’t want to feel the need to be counteracting the “sway”. It just gets worse, and worse until you are doing doughnuts.

I agree. OP, have you ever seen a 1/2 ton truck pulling a bumper pull rv and the the rv is swaying all over the place, the truck barely holding the road? The truck may be rated to pull that rv, but it doesn’t have the stability to safely pull it.

[enjoytheride]

OP, Some trailers have a heavy tongue weight which can drag the back of the truck down, leaving the engine higher in the air and able to work less efficiently, sometimes you can prevent sway with a WDH because it puts the front end of the truck back down on the ground making it handle the load better. Sway control alone provides more connection points between your truck and trailer helping to control sway.

Many WDH come with Sway control as well, and if you are mucking about with the parts you might as well get a WDH with Sway control. It isn’t going to hurt and the price isn’t a huge difference.

If you see something dragging around a truck it is the wrong combination, not that all 1/2 ton trucks are bad. Your numbers look like they work and a WDH with sway control will add to your safety.

[soloudinhere]

@kathy s.

I agree. OP, have you ever seen a 1/2 ton truck pulling a bumper pull rv and the the rv is swaying all over the place, the truck barely holding the road? The truck may be rated to pull that rv, but it doesn’t have the stability to safely pull it.

This argument gets made often and it never consider the relatively poor design of travel trailers or the stupidity of the people who own them.

Horse trailers often put way more weight on the tongue than a comparable length travel trailer and the weight of the horses is usually directly over the axles.

Now that isn’t going to save you if, for example, you have a horse go ballistic in the trailer and start flinging themselves around - but the stability of the truck comes more from wheelbase length than weight. The long bed Colorado is quite long in the wheelbase - plenty long for a 16’ 2h.

And a good WDH - the expensive kind with active sway control like a dual cam or Reese SC - properly configured can do a great deal to prevent sway and increase handling. I have deliberately tried to induce a sway condition with my 15’ Merhow straight load and my half ton and been unable to induce it to sway with my Reese. I’ve also driven it in some ungodly weather - including in a blizzard over the GW bridge - and never ever had a sway situation.

Spending the money up front on a properly configured hitch and understanding how towing works/what factors influence your success a lot more than just buying a bigger truck. Sure, we could all tow with 1 ton duallys, but that’s not practical and that’s why truck manufacturers have gone to great lengths to make smaller trucks tow better and safer.

Take this advice for what you paid for it, but if towing is 5% of your need and the rest of your life is 95% then figure out how you can address the towing need with what will work for the rest of your life.
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[Nottingham]

Guilherme, that link is SUPER helpful, thank you! It’s nice to at least have an idea of what to ask about when I go to buy the hitch and make sure there are some sort of sway bars to help with stability. This truck also comes with a Trailer Sway Control feature that (supposedly) detects that sway is increasing and selectively applies the brakes at each wheel to reduce it. I’m not sure if being controlled so much by computers is comforting or not, but that’s certainly the way the industry is moving.

[soloudinhere]

@Nottingham

Guilherme, that link is SUPER helpful, thank you! It’s nice to at least have an idea of what to ask about when I go to buy the hitch and make sure there are some sort of sway bars to help with stability. This truck also comes with a Trailer Sway Control feature that (supposedly) detects that sway is increasing and selectively applies the brakes at each wheel to reduce it. I’m not sure if being controlled so much by computers is comforting or not, but that’s certainly the way the industry is moving.

It’s not a great feature as it turns out. Basically what it is meant to do is keep you from flipping the vehicle over. It is better to prevent sway with physical friction force at the point of sway (the hitch) than to expect differential braking to bring a trailer back in line.

[Guilherme]

@Nottingham

Guilherme, that link is SUPER helpful, thank you! It’s nice to at least have an idea of what to ask about when I go to buy the hitch and make sure there are some sort of sway bars to help with stability. This truck also comes with a Trailer Sway Control feature that (supposedly) detects that sway is increasing and selectively applies the brakes at each wheel to reduce it. I’m not sure if being controlled so much by computers is comforting or not, but that’s certainly the way the industry is moving.

You’re welcome on the link. The RV world seems to think about this issue more than the equine world.

I’ve not heard of the Trailer Sway Control. So I found a Ford video that explains it: https://owner.ford.com/how-tos/vehicle-features/load-and-terrain/trailer-sway-control.html I’ll presume the GM system would work the same way from your description.

One important caveat: The is a warning on the video that warns that the system helps damp sway if it begins; it does not prevent it.

G.

[Jim_in_PA]

Many vehicles come with “sway control” standard with factory towing, but as has been pointed out, it’s not something to depend upon when hauling…anything. WHD is substantially more helpful as it corrects weight balance on the tow vehicle at the same time as helping with sway (when it’s included as a feature), but the former is a benefit that any tow vehicle can benefit from, regardless of size and capability. As has also been mentioned, a lot of the horsie world doesn’t seem to be in the know (or ignores) that, feeling that “bigger is better” trumps actually dealing with the risk with simple technology. And for those of us who actively choose more modest rigs, WDH is an essential part of that setup for both safety and for more efficient towing.