2016 colorado

[old hunter]

Anybody towing with one and what are you towing?

[KingFisher]

Originally Posted by old hunter

Anybody towing with one and what are you towing?

I had a 2015 crew cab 4x4 with the 3.6L. I towed a jayco 23RB with it. The jayco was around 4500 pounds.
Then I moved up to the sunset trail 250RB, 5700 pounds. It pulled it ok but I was going to wear it out so I traded it off.

The only advantage a new Colorado provides is ease of parking. I've had 3-2015 model year chevrolets, the colorado, a silverado 1500 double cab 5.3L, and now the 2500HD crew cab 4x4 duramax.

I got the same fuel mileage in all of them, around 20 mpg.

Unless you already own a colorado I'd go bigger.

I started out with a trailer weighing 4500, now I have a windjammer that the wife loads down to 9000, and we're craving a fifth wheel.

[old hunter]

Oh I already own a 08 colorado but had it long before I got the camper.I love the truck for what I use it for but it can just pull itself. It's a 2.9 4 WD. LOL I use an old Tahoe with a 5.3 and it works fine but this girl is getting old. Thought about selling them both and getting a new truck but didn't know how the 3.6 would do.My trailer dry weight is 2503 but we all know about hills and wind.Also like you say you may want a bigger camper in the future,this is our first and I think we are gonna like doing this.I just wondered after using a 5.3 if I would not be happy with the 3.6 They say the colorado has 300 hp and the old 5.3 shows like 285 hp but more torque.

[KansasJohn]

My father just recently bought a 2016 GMC Canyon (Mechanically identical to the Colorado, for those who may not know) Crew Cab Standard Box. It is a 2wd with the 3.42 rear end, and has a Tekonsha Prodigy P3 brake controller added.

He is pulling a 2015 Palomino Puma 25RS, with a yellow sticker dry weight of 4930 pounds. Was mostly empty when we pulled it home, but the grey and black holding tanks were nearly full to capacity, as the previous owner had not emptied them. Only pulled it home from the dealer so far, but I was able to drive it part of the way, and it pulled very well overall. The trailer did not have a sway ball on the tongue, so we couldn't hook up a friction sway control for the trip home, but we were using a Reese weight distribution hitch. It was a little busy without a sway control, but overall I thought it towed very well. It seemed to have plenty of power, but would not pull 5th or 6th gear on the highway at 60mph. 4th gear was sitting right around 2600RPM.

With your trailer weighing approximately half what the 25RS does, I am sure you will be satisfied with the performance from the new Colorado. You may even be able to pull 5th or 6th gear.

Here is a picture of the Canyon and the 25RS at a gas stop on the way back from the dealer with it:

[old hunter]

Thanks for the info,one I looked at had the same rear end and 2 wheel drive and auto trans.I am assuming your dad's has the auto six speed not a standard? We have alot of hilly terrain around here that's why I wondered about the V-6.

[KansasJohn]

Yes, I should have mentioned that, he has the six speed automatic with tow/haul mode. I believe all the automatics have the tow/haul mode. That little 3.6 is a very strong engine, and has horsepower and torque figures that equals or bests many of the older small-block V8s. I pull a ~4000 pound Mini Lite 1809 with a Silverado full-size with the 4.3 V6, and, though it tows fine, it struggles much more than his truck with a larger trailer. Any other questions, I will be glad to answer them as best I can. I did drive his truck and his trailer about 100 miles when we were dragging it home.

[Serge G]

Glad to hear that the gas truck is pulling well. Me I am looking at buying a canyon with the baby 4 cylinder Duramax diesel. Does anyone have experience hauling with one?

[KansasJohn]

Maybe not exactly what you were looking for, but The Fast Lane Truck has a pretty good towing test of the 2015/16 Canyon with the Duramax:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGDIwZkLQuI

[Serge G]

Thanks for your reply John. I have seen the video you posted and it is one of the reason I am interested in the Canyon. That and the fact that it got Motor trend truck of the year. What I am really interested in is real life experience.😊

[GOTURBACK]

Just got our new 2016 Colorado crew cab long bed Z71 V6, picking up our new to us Palomino Sol-Aire 226RBK on Sunday (with my brothers Tundra) as I still have to get my brake controller and weight distributing hitch set up. Manufacturer specs it right around 5000 lbs without propane or battery out of the factory. Will update and let you know how it tows first trip is later this month.

[Ohinaz1970]

Mine: 2015 Colorado, 4-door, short-bed. Go bigger. Towed a pontoon cross-country and it was all it could do to make some of the grades thru AZ, NM, and MO. Thought the engine was gonna blow a couple times when the trans had downshifted all the way to 2nd, just to maintain 45mph up some of the hills. Stats' say it can handle in excess of 5k lbs, but don't count on it being an easy pull.

Never had those issues with my Silverado. It towed the same pontoon, in addition to a slide-in camper, up the same hills, never falling off speed a bit.

[MissouriBob]

I'm KansasJohn's Dad, the owner of the new 2016 Canyon pulling the Puma 25RS. GM rates my truck as equipped to tow 7000 pounds, with a gross combined weight rating of 12000 pounds. Fully loaded, My combination tips the scales at 10800 pounds, leaving me at 10% below my max rating. As like most users, my truck will spend less than 10% of its mileage over time towing, and the other 90% solo, it's smaller engine offers a considerable savings in fuel over a larger thirstier truck.Towing mileage will most likely still be in the 8-10 MPG range but solo is 25 MPG. Another point I have to make is the new Canyon/Colorado twins are NOT small, but are the same size a full size pickup or Suburban was in the '90s. They also boast similar power.

Interestingly enough, I looked up the specs on my old 1992 Suburban, with which I towed a 30' Airstream trailer over 60000 miles without issue, many of those miles in Colorado climbing hills. The 350 V8 in that truck was rated at 210 HP and 300 Ft Pounds of torque. With a 3.42 rear axle it was rated to tow a 6000 pound trailer with a combined gross vehicle weight of 12000 pounds. My Canyon, which has 305 HP and 269 Ft pounds of torque and also came with a 3.42 axle, weirdly enough is the same width, 2 inches longer and has a 7" longer wheelbase than that '92 Suburban. BTW, its the same height too. And the Canyon is 900 pounds lighter than the Suburban was. The Canyon/Colorado make awesome tow vehicles. Just new school, but very much like old school too. The six speed automatic transmission is going to freak out out school thinkers, as with 5th and 6th both being overdrives for solo mpg, they simply aren't useful for towing, so should be locked out when doing it.

Not to step on any toes, but I'm still astounded at the rational connected to not losing speed uphill. Unless a tow vehicle has an extreme excess of horse power and torque, physics dictates that it WILL slow down while climbing hills. The bigger the load and the bigger the hill means the slower it will get to the top.

Just because a vehicle loses speed going uphill, is by no means indicative that it isn't up to the job, it simply means that it doesn't have an excess of power, just what is needed to attain and maintain speed on level ground. Flogging the tow vehicle to try an maintain what is obviously too fast of a speed up the hill justs makes for excessive wear and tear.

If the trucking industry used the logic of this argument we would never be delivered the goods we need in our everyday lives at a price we could afford as an excess of power to move a 80000 pound truck is simply not cost effective. Since they can't zoom up every hill at or above the speed limit doesn't mean that they are under powered, it means that they don't have an excess of power. And more power equals more fuel consumption.

I've towed travel trailers in 49 states and 4 countries over 40+ years. Over 250000 TOWING miles. My tow vehicle/towed vehicle combinations have ranged from a 4 cylinder 1.6 liter car and a 13' Scotty trailer up to a 19' E350 V10 towing a 35' triple axle 10000 pound behemoth, and many combinations in between. Guess what? Everything goes slower up hill!

So what? Enjoy the ride and keep on camping. Enjoy that scenery as it goes past, even if it's not going by as fast!

[OYO]

Originally Posted by Ohinaz1970

Mine: 2015 Colorado, 4-door, short-bed. Go bigger. Towed a pontoon cross-country and it was all it could do to make some of the grades thru AZ, NM, and MO. Thought the engine was gonna blow a couple times when the trans had downshifted all the way to 2nd, just to maintain 45mph up some of the hills. Stats' say it can handle in excess of 5k lbs, but don't count on it being an easy pull.

Never had those issues with my Silverado. It towed the same pontoon, in addition to a slide-in camper, up the same hills, never falling off speed a bit.

May I ask what engine and rear end you have?

[Brewhedd]

I considered the Colorado in '15 but went with a 1500 dbl cab Silverado V6 instead. The 4.3 in the Silverado makes it's 285 hp at a lower rpm. Thought it had more capability also, tow rating is limited by drivetrain not suspension. Just got back from a 1200 mile trip to N. Alabama, had no trouble maintaining 60-65 mph. Tow a Rockwood 2702SS with a dry weight of 5600 lbs.

[donjbray56]

I think you have made some excellent points. I am considering a 2016 Canyon with the 2.8l Duramax... 181 HP and 370 ft-lbs torque. Looks pretty good against the Suburban...
I am towing a 4000 lb Rockwood Roo 21DK Hybrid.

[VernDiesel]

The diesel would pull moderate loads effortlessly get far better economy towing and the engine/turbo brake would be great for speed control when your trailer is trying to push you down a grade. I drove one with a GDE beta tune and it felt strong & responsive when just motoring along but lacked a bit when you wanted to pass. As you could figure by looking at the HP & TQ numbers.

The Italian VM Motori short block has been around a long time and proven very durable. Strikes me as a good TV for a boat or low side trailer. While the length is there the narrower track would suggest it would lack in windy conditions or with semi bow wave towing a flat side sail TT. You should probably drive one and also drive and compare it to the Ram EcoDiesel.

[Serge G]

2017 Colorado
So I finally bit the bullet and purchased a Colorado with the baby Duramax disiel. I was pretty nervous as all my research said it would hauling my rbx171 but research and doing are two different things. At any rate I took the pair out a couple of weeks ago. My trailer came in at a dry weight of 4200 lbs. I had to fill it with water as there was no watering holes between home and camp. We also carried extra propane tanks for our fire in a can (province burning no campfires allowed). At any rate I figure we ended up around 5200lbs. Holding my breath I lowered the trailer on to my ball..... Wow only 2.5 inches of squat. Put the equaliers on and we now only have 2 inches of squat... I thinking can live with that 😄 So up to the mountains we go. This dam mountian has a hill that takes 20 minutes to clime at the speed limit and has a grade between 6-9% and as we are still breaking in the truck we are suppose to keep it around 55 miles per hour. So on goes the cruise and up the hill we go. It was a dream. I hardly noticed the trailer. At the steepest part the truck did go down to 82 for about a minute before speeding up again but no complaints here for it preformed like a dream. As for gas milage (keeping in mind we are still breaking it in). For the first 500 miles we got 22.5 miles to the gallon. When we got back home our average was.... Wait for it..... 20.6 miles per gallon. I'll take it😁. At any rate it worked perfectly and we are very happy about our purchase. Going back out in a week and can't wait 😋

[BoilerUP]

New to the forums...

Last weekend I picked up a X-Lite 28QBXL, towed by my 2016 Colorado Crew Cab 3.6L 4x4.



Trailer has a dry weight of 6054lb...leading me to do all sorts of math which showed I would be within GCWR, GVWR and max trailer weight.

After installing a Tekonsha Primus IQ controller and getting a weight distributing hitch I drove the trailer home, where I filled the fresh water tank 2/3 full and then towed it up the road a bit to a truck stop where I put it on a scale twice to confirm. Weight is with a me and a full tank of gas in the truck, battery & both propane tanks on the trailer, and 2/3 tank fresh water.



I've got room for my wife, two young boys, two 2000w gennies, modest bags/cargo and a topped fresh water tank for boondocking before bumping against GCVW but I definitely would have to watch payload to remain within limits.

The Colorado got 10mpg @ 55mph on a two-lane highway and 7mpg @ 68mph on the interstate (I-65 in southern Indiana, mostly flat but some rolling hills). I ran in Tow/Haul mode turning 2500rpm or so at 55mph and about 3500rpm @ 68mph. It handled the large trailer competently at all speeds but I did get a little 'wiggle' a couple times - not sure if it was sway or gusty winds blowing the trailer around. I need to install the WDH anti-sway bar to eliminate that variable.

When we got the camper I told my wife the Colorado would get it to our property but that I might need to upgrade to a full-size to pull it "better" on longer trips. I'm thinking hard on a 5.3L Silverado, but I love the Colorado's size. A Duramax Colorado would be a no-brainer...but incentives make the Silverado cheaper than the diesel Colorado.

Decisions...

[VernDiesel]

Good to hear Serge. Wait 82 mph lol probably meant 42? 20 mpg with trailer now that is cool. If you want a lil more safe power & economy well and non EGR longevity talk to the guys at GDE. Customer service & small diesel tuning is their forte. I have over 300,000 miles on their tune in my Ecodiesel.

Boiler sharp truck & good write up. Scale ticket looks right for good control & safe handling. In fact I don't know what the unloaded steer weight is for that truck but looking at the numbers I'm guessing the WDH is doing it's job. Must be an older one with add on friction sway control but looks to do the job. What is the axle weight ratings & CVWR for that truck?

I've heard GM might come out with a half ton diesel since Ram's success & Ford's announcement of theirs hitting the market next summer. If I were to get a GM gasser I would order the 6.2 & 8 speed. Greater power & control for that camper & the same fuel economy. Lol but naturally that comes with a bigger note.

[BoilerUP]

The 2016 Colorado Crew 4x4 3.6L has the following weight limits:

GVWR 6,000
WAWR-FR 3,200
GAWR-RR 3,500
GCWR 12,000
Max Trailer 7,000

The 2.8L Diesel Colorado Crew 4x4 bumps the GVWR up 200lb, GCWR up 700lb, max trailer weight up 600lb.