ynots, Nice set up you have there. That would help. I think I am carrying a bit more tongue weight than I would like with the trike up in the nose. Weather permitting I am going to load up and take it down to the grain scales down the street to see exactly what I have. Not sure if I could do that kind of a torsion rig or not. Mine is all aluminum and the tongue is square Alum tubing. I am sure I am under the 950 lb. max tongue weight allowed by the trailer mfg. but would like to be about 10% or 500 lb. tongue weight. I want to be well under the max towable load on a Chevy 1500 I feel the stated max is pretty optimistic.

 

Glad to see your doing your homework, lots of folks just hook up and go then suffer the consequences. The biggest hurdle you'll have is the smallish engine in your truck, its going to be sucking wind when your bucking some head winds and pulling some hills. My dad lent his 7x12 low hauler to a friend that pulled it with an Avalanche with the 5.3, when he hit some head winds and pulled some hills he was working the hell out of his truck and the gas mileage was deep down into the single digits.

 

Yea I know e act what you mean. It just don't have enough low end grunt. I am hoping to make due with the 5.3 for a couple years. When I trade I will look for more torque. Maybe that new 6.2 L with the six speed transmission. I don't want the expense and hase of diesel. Although the king of torque that is overkill for a 5,000 lb trailer. When in reality I plan on using this three or four times a year. Maybe when I retire.......
That 6.2 L Looks strong. But that is going to have to wait awhile. I just got the trailer LOL

 

As we are talking about the pulling vehicle I thought I would post this. This is the stock hitch on a 2008 Chevy. There is no rust anywhere else on the truck. I am glad I upgraded the hitch before pulling a large trailer. I believe this is a severally weakened hitch. It was only rated for 5000 lb to begin with. So check yours out before hooking onto your pride and joy. Whatever the protective coating was on this hitch, it failed big time.

 

Thats ugly, good thing you caught it.

 

msock03 That trailer you mentioned, was it a flat nose? I pulled one to Wisconsin to Fuel Moto and it was a real tough pull. I had trouble maintaining 65 mph and the gas mileage was 9 - 10 mpg. I am hoping this deep V really helps. So far no trips other than coming home empty. It pulled nice till we hit a mother of a storm and the head wind killed us. Don't expect that very often but you are certainally correct. I think the wind is a bigger factor than the weight. At least around here where it is mostly flat.

 

Its the V-Nose. The odd thing is the guy pulling it with the Avalanche was struggling and my 2012 Tundra with the 4.6 will yank it along without a hitch at 80 mph even pulling hills in Kentucky and some head winds, got 9.5 - 10 mpg doing it. At the time I had my 2012 GL1800 Hannigan trike in the back.

 

One other problem is a lot of people try to pull a trailer in overdrive. Not ever intended to pull trailers in overdrive ! If you need to slow down do so to keep the pull from making you push the peddle to the floor just to keep up the speed. let your engine run as free as it can & still do the job.
I pull my 6'X14' single axle flat nose trailer and Trike with my Trail blazer w/4200 inline 6 & auto trans. The vehicle does not get good millage even without a trailer. But I can average around 12-14 mpg with it. 20-23 mpg not pulling.
It will pull it up around 85+ & get 8-9 mpg, but why???

 

I now have a 6X10 enclosed and the wife's Goldwing trike, California SideCar kit, 61" wide will fit, but it's very tight. Have to use the side door when loading or unloading trike. I also put a wheel chock, HF brand, and that helps a lot loading the trike and tieing it down.
If I had a choice, I'd get a 7X12. Had a 7X14 and it was a little overkill, but sometime having extra is a good thing.
Pull mine with a Dodge 1500 with a 5.7 Hemi, going to give a try with the wife's Lincoln MKX...for short hauls. Long trips Hemi all the way.

 

Not trying to be a smart ***, but your post does open for that kind of answer...
Number 1 I have three states to go and I'll have the entire lower 48 states done, WA, OR and ND are all that's left...so if someone wants to question why I may trailer, well they can kiss my fanny...been there. Also have two Iron Butt rides, more just not documented,

Number 2. Sometimes with a breakdown the trailer is damn handy. As others have stated, just makes sense...also time of year. Yeah, Daytona is warm, but leaving the northern states can be a might cold and snowy..heck, even KY is iffy that time of year. Might leave warm and come back to 6" of snow. I rode my Ultra this past Saturday, 62 degrees...today I shoveled 5" of snow out of the driveway...

Number 3. A long trip is no issue for me, but the wife is a different story, we're getting older and a cross country trip is a lot to ask of her. Plus the weather is another factor for a long trip.