Guys the wife has a 2006 H2 with the standard or OEM towing stuff. We are currently looking at a few travel trailers. One at 6100 and the other at 6600lbs. Those of you who have towed what or how much are you safe with towing? Not looking at blowing up a transmission or anything. I understand manual states 6700lbs max and understand there is always a safety issue. We will be towing on slight grades here in OHIO and will be camping in In-Mich and PA. now heading though the WV mountains or anything. Any help would b e great.

 

I towe a 26ft foutain with trailer and fully loaded it ways out at around 7000 pounds. This is full of gas 180 gallons an a 125 qt coller full of ice all my equipment and other stuff I cant do without. I think you should be fine. Just dont go to fast and slow down early if you dont have upgraded breaks, I say that because I dont have breaks on my boat trailer the salt water tears through them so fast and I am sick of replacing them. I honestly think you should be fine but thats one heck of a travel trailer at 6600lbs.

 

We learned alot about travel trailers after we bought ours to accomodate the deuce.
You've got to watch the "dry weight" sticker that's posted on the trailer--we don't believe ours is accurate and the trailer weighs more than what was listed. Our trailer dry was supposed to be 5400 pounds, then you need to add the weight of the batteries, full propane tanks and anything else you may have added that takes away from the dry rating.
We also stocked our trailer with everything needed to be ready to camp without making an event out of it--silverware, dishes, towels, bedding--all things that are left in the trailer. This adds weight quicker than you think.
Finally, when we first got the trailer, we did several long distance road trips with it which means carrying more stuff like clothes, toys and more bedding, towels, etc--once again adding more weight; plus we ran with between 1/4-1/2 tank of water for convienience stops. I also have a generator as we did alot of dry camping; you can live on just lights and furnace alone, but it's nice to have a gen to recharge the batteries and run the microwave and a/c when needed. Once again--more weight!
Now that we've finally settled down in Florida, our campground is literally less than 10 miles from the house---so no gen needed, no extra stuff, water etc.
Boils down to you're looking at too much trailer for your truck; you'll easily load 1000 pounds of junk in it without realizing what you've done.
We drove across the U.S. this past summer with a heavy trailer, and yeah, you can do it, but you have to take it slow and easy. We managed to break the exhaust manifold bolts from the engine running hot for a long time through Nevada and Arizona, no real way around that.
I would look for a lighter trailer--ours is a 28 foot Coachman Catalina and sleeps our family of five pretty comfortably.
I know this got lengthy, but I really hope to help answer towing questions as we've learned alot in the last 2 years.
A last note---Ikea and Target are your friends. I spent some time in both of those stores and picked up all kinds of extra towel bars, free standing toilet paper holder, hooks for coats n' clothes and two extra accessory type bars with S hooks for keys, flashlights, trashbags, pen cups---you get the idea. You can make your trailer alot more livable by being really creative with the stuff these stores have.
Good luck!

 

We are looking at a keystone passport 3220 BH which weighs in at the dealership, well they have two instock. One is 6140 and the other one is 6100. The other model is a White Hawk Ultra lite 6215. Both of these models are equipment as we want them and weights include propane tanks filled and everything else minus the water. Plan on filling up at all camp grounds so as to not drag along more weight.

 

That only leaves you 600 pounds of gear if you tow within the max limits. You'll end up blowing past that really quickly with gear. The truck will tow it, especially on the flatter ground and some hills. It'll hate you if you drive up a mountain.
I don't know your trailering skills, but our 28 footer (30 or more adding in the front frame) is the longest I want to tow in a trailer. Alot of sites I've been in were back-in and some sucked alot. You don't realize how much backwards driving you do until you're pulling a trailer! I live on a dead end street with a small round-about at the head of the street, so I have to curve around it and work it to back the trailer down. It takes some work to avoid driving up the curbs and get it down the street.
Post up pics of what you get---we're having a blast with our set-up.

 

I agree with twinmill28 a 6600 pound travel trailer is supper heavy and you could add 1000+ ponds of your own stuff if you do this I would think about upgradeing your breaks for a good backup in case you need better stoping power. Also stay close to home and learn how to drive it. I tore the ladder off my boat not relizing how long it was with trailer and hit a hill I am so mad about it but its my bad.

 

Oh yeah, I don't recommend running a power adder such as a programmer. I tried that when I first got the trailer and did not like the way it shifted, it was terrible.
Any additional power the tune gave me came at the expense of heat, and lots of it. Without a tranny cooler, things can get ugly for both the rad and factory t-cooler.
I discovered that if you really want extra power, put premium gas in it to tow. Mine loved it and towed much better than just running regular. Not sure if I'm hurting the engine, but I run regular for all driving except towing, then I'll add the good stuff.

 

You cant hurt your engine running a higher octane in it at all. It wont combust as well as the lower octane though. The higher the octane rating the more resistance to combustion. High compression engines need higher octane. Now going the other way would make it ping or dentonate early. My old acura Rl needed premium and when I ran 87 octane you knew it and could hear it. I sell BP and Marathon fuels now but was a lube engineer for Exxon Mobil the past 15 years.

 

I tow a camper with mine, there are a few things I've noticed;
1. trans temperature climbs quite a bit on hills.
2. if you haven't you really need to add a brake controller (very easy install)
3. Mine is supercharged so I have to watch engine temp closely when climbing long, steep hills. I don't have any horsepower issues but that is the trade off.
4. my trailer dry weight is 2950. 21 ft. ultra lite .with all the crap in it is weights in right around 5000. so beware, if your dry weight is close to the max tow weight you could be asking for trouble

Check and change your drivetrain fluids regularly. check rear gear oil, transfercase and trans fluid regularly. if you trans temp is going up frequently smell the fluid and change it if its discolored at all or smells burnt. You will need to change it more often than the owners manual says if your towing a heavy trailer.

 

I fixed the problem one better for piece of mind. I just bought a 2010 Nissan Armada this weekend. 9100 lbs stock ought to pull it with no worries.