Newbie

[Topomon]

Hello, my name is Bob. I live in Indy and thank you for the add. We just brought home our 1st Keystone product, a 2016 Cougar 33MLS with a dry weight of around 7,800lbs and we'll be starting out towing it with a GMC Sierra 1500. We previously owned a Dutchman t.t. which was a 25' w/a single slideout so the trials and tribulations of rv ownership are not entirely new to us. I am looking forward though to learning more about our model and getting tips from owners of the same and similar models. It will definetly be a new and interesting experience towing and parking a much longer rig to be sure. I'll strive to stay on topic and try to avoid asking repetitive questions that already exist in an earlier thread w/out researching it first. Thx in advance.

[Logan X]

Welcome to the forum from California!

[5J's]

Hey Bob welcome to the forum from SE Texas and congrats on the new TT. I'd like to offer up some advice, please check your weights as it seems to me that 7800 lbs may be a bit much for the typical 1500. Enjoy your new TT!

[sourdough]

Hello, my name is Bob. I live in Indy and thank you for the add. We just brought home our 1st Keystone product, a 2016 Cougar 33MLS with a dry weight of around 7,800lbs and we'll be starting out towing it with a GMC Sierra 1500. We previously owned a Dutchman t.t. which was a 25' w/a single slideout so the trials and tribulations of rv ownership are not entirely new to us. I am looking forward though to learning more about our model and getting tips from owners of the same and similar models. It will definetly be a new and interesting experience towing and parking a much longer rig to be sure. I'll strive to stay on topic and try to avoid asking repetitive questions that already exist in an earlier thread w/out researching it first. Thx in advance.


Hello Bob and welcome to the forum. Congrats on the new to you rig.

Other than a welcome, as you've mentioned you are moving up quite a bit in trailer size. Looking at what you have provided I would wonder if you've looked at the size of the trailer vs the capabilities of the 1500.

Your trailer gvw is 9550, beyond the comfortable towing abilites of a 1/2 ton. The length is almost 37', again more than a 1/2 ton wants to tow (been there, done that).

Details of your truck, door stickers (driver door) etc. would help in trying to assess where you are and what potential issues you may face with such a large increase in size. All I see from here from the info you have provided is a huge red flag....I hope you can see that as well.

Don't know about the comment about the ad, but this site has nothing to do with Keystone per se. My comments aren't meant to put you off....it is what we do; try to take care of one another and look over their shoulder. That's just me.

[Topomon]

Thanks for the heads-up. I was trying to find a good deal on a 3/4 ton prior to my purchasing anything above 6000 lbs but this deal came along on the Cougar and I wanted to snatch it up before someone else did. I watched the rpm's and tranny temp closely on the 1.5 hour drive home and was comfortable with what I saw. Now let me preface this by saying my truck does have the tow package w/tranny cooler etc. My rpm's didn't go above 38,000 during the 1st thru 3rd gear transition, and settled down to about 22,000 in 6th gear on level ground. Barely higher than when I was pulling 4,500 lbs. Also my tranny temp never got above 125°. I'll probably be pulling around 7,800 to 7,900 lbs fully loaded when we head to Destin in May. And my main concern will be the mountain(s) in Tn, that'll be the tell. But coming in April I'm taking her for a test run through some fairly steep hills in southern Indiana and that will give me a good grasp on whether or not to go ahead and make the jump up to 3/4 before May comes. I wasn't planning on making this truck the go to vehicle for this trailer anyway, I just want to be able to get this one trip out of the way and see how she does. Thanks again, I appreciate the info. Bob.

[5J's]

Thanks for the heads-up. I was trying to find a good deal on a 3/4 ton prior to my purchasing anything above 6000 lbs but this deal came along on the Cougar and I wanted to snatch it up before someone else did. I watched the rpm's and tranny temp closely on the 1.5 hour drive home and was comfortable with what I saw. Now let me preface this by saying my truck does have the tow package w/tranny cooler etc. My rpm's didn't go above 38,000 during the 1st thru 3rd gear transition, and settled down to about 22,000 in 6th gear on level ground. Barely higher than when I was pulling 4,500 lbs. Also my tranny temp never got above 125°. I'll probably be pulling around 7,800 to 7,900 lbs fully loaded when we head to Destin in May. And my main concern will be the mountain(s) in Tn, that'll be the tell. But coming in April I'm taking her for a test run through some fairly steep hills in southern Indiana and that will give me a good grasp on whether or not to go ahead and make the jump up to 3/4 before May comes. I wasn't planning on making this truck the go to vehicle for this trailer anyway, I just want to be able to get this one trip out of the way and see how she does. Thanks again, I appreciate the info. Bob.Thanks for the additional info. I'd like to strongly urge you not to take your set up into the mountains for a "test run". The issue with the 1500 vs 7800lb trailer is not pulling but more in the stopping and control arena. The 1500 is likely not set up to handle that weight on the suspension and it's surely not set up to stop that kind of weight and looking down the side of a mountain is not where you want to discover that. Further more you'll likely not have enough TV weight to control that kind of towed weight in the cross winds you'll likely encounter in the mountains. Please, for the safety of your family and those around you on the roads do some more research I believe you're out of 1500 territory.

[TJO]

Hi and welcome to the forum from Ottawa,Ontario.

[Tbos]

I don’t know what year truck the OP has but my 2014 had a payload of 1745, GCWR was 15,000, towing capacity was 9200. My trailer was 5’ shorter and tongue weight was 1100 loaded. Truck could handle 1200. TT axles were 6800 when hooked up to the truck so it was lighter than the OP but it never really struggled stopping or starting and that included travel through TN mountains. There were times where 32’ of TT did cause some tail wagging the dog when big trucks passed. The worst were the car transport trucks. I did put LT tires on it and that reduced it some. I think stiffer shocks would’ve helped too. I’m not saying the OP is good to go. I’m just providing some reference information.
Be safe out there enjoying your new RV.

[Bazowie]

So I'm a little late to this post but I have this exact same TT and I pull mine with a 1999 F350 long bed crew cab diesel, saying that I would never even attempt to pull this with a 1/2 ton. I pulled mine over Mt Hood OR and could only do 40mph and my Tranny Cooler fan was doing some work, and going down is also work if I can feel it pushing my 7000+ Lb truck then the feeling would be downright scary in a 1500.

[levongreen]

Welcome to the forum from California!
i am also new to this forum,
thanks to all honorable member