Towing with a Chevy 1500 Express conversion van

[ssobol]

I recently bought a 22 Cruiser. While I can tow it with the vehicle I have, the towing weight is close to the limit. I happened upon a 2000 Chevy 1500 Express conversion van with the 5.7L V8. This van will tow 5500# or 6500# depending on the rear end. This would give me a comfortable margin as far as towing capacity goes.

Has anyone had any experience towing with this type of van? Are there any issues when towing that I should consider?

I have a 2005 Chevy Cavalier which has been troublesome. I am concerned that this van will be more trouble than it is worth.

 

[Sunbeam]

I can't speak to the Chevy/GM specifically, but as far as the van goes...

I bought a 22 Cruiser last spring (congrats on your new boat!). I didn't have a vehicle that would tow it, so I went through the same "what should I buy" process. I ended up with a late 90's Ford 3/4 ton camper van with a 5.4 V8 (gasoline). To start my towing experience, I picked up my boat and towed it 4,000 miles (including mountain passes) I thought it towed pretty well, and the van felt capable. Mine is a 3/4 ton HD, so this may be different if the 1500 is a half ton; but with the van loaded up and the boat/trailer on the hitch it did not cause the rear of the van to sag.

My particular van has a 13,000# GCWR*. Loaded for bear (with driver), I drove it to a scale and it weighed in at ~7,400# -- so that leaves me with 5,600# (I also made sure the rear axle rating was not exceeded, although I forget the figures). I have not weighed the boat separately yet, but I knew I was towing it "light" on the way out. It's on a 5,200# GWR trailer, so I need to stay below that anyway (and I think I can do that without duress). So a note is that I would check not only the "towing capacity," but really do the math/weighing to see where you come out with the GCWR and the RAWR* with the van loaded as you normally would like it to be. As an example, my van is rated to tow 7,500 lbs. However, since it weighs 7,400# when I have it loaded for travel, and since the GCWR is 13,000#, well that adds up to 14,900# so it does not leave me the "rated" 7,500 for towing. I couldn't tow the full 7,500# tow rating unless I really emptied out the van (probably of seats, driver, and upholstery!). I did similar math with the rear-axle weight. You can see that going just by "tow rating" might leave you with a surprise (or might not, but it's good to know).

I really like the van for a traveling platform. I had considered a pickup or SUV - both of which could be very nice - but I really do take advantage of the van on road trips (with and without boat). I don't feel underpowered at all with the 5.4, but then I'm used to "finessing" it with a 4-cylinder car. I did downshift going up the big mountain passes, but I wasn't crawling by any means. A bonus is that I average 16mpg on the road when not towing, which I wouldn't be able to do with the V-10 (gas). The wheelbase is reasonably long, at ~138", which, as I understand it, contributes to steady towing.

Recently I had a chance to tow a similar boat with a Ford F-350 4-door dualie with a V-10, and yep.... barely knew it was back there :smiled That said, for my particular traveling, I prefer the van/V8. Like boats, it's all a matter of compromises/choices. One thing that I have found super useful: I bought a Scan Gauge II (engine just needs to be new enough to have OBD II), which was around ~$140. This gives me lots of detailed information that I didn't have without it. Just a few examples:

Engine RPM (I have no tach)
Engine/coolant temperature (in exact degrees)
Transmission fluid temperature (in degrees)
Specific and average MPG
Percent of available engine load

I'm not a patient tech person, but even on the road I had it up and running in about ten minutes (basically plug-and-play). Gave me great peace of mind. What I really wanted was the Transmission fluid temperature, but the other data is nice too.

One more note: I put new disc brakes on all four trailer wheels. They are hydraulic/surge brakes. I think the van now stops better when towing than when not - really a confidence booster. I considered going electric-over-hydraulic, but didn't because the shop (in a FLAT area) had no experience with them. I was a little bit concerned about the surge brakes in the mountains, as I had read that if you brake going downhill, then releasing the brakes can be a problem (which makes sense). In practice I found that I could select a gear on the transmission (an automatic, normally) that would allow me to go down 6% grades without really touching the brakes (maybe a couple of minor taps). I didn't have any grades steeper than that, nor did I have snow/ice. Based on that I'm no longer in a rush to convert to E-O-H brakes.

I do think that pickup trucks are slightly more pleasant to drive - maybe it's the steering or ...?. That said, I'm happy to trade that for the van features, at least in my current mode of operation (just got back from a non-boat trip - so nice to have "home" along with me ).

Another consideration is whether you plan to tow at either end (or the middle) of the continuum. i.e. Long distance, mountains, fully loaded cruising boat/van vs. short, occasional tows on flat terrain with a day-trip loaded boat.

Sunbeam

*GCWR = Gross combined weight rating, i.e. van, contents, boat, and trailer can weight this much.

*RAWR = Rear axle weight rating. The limit of weight you can put on the rear axle (which you can weigh at a scale). (Comprised of whatever weight is on the rear axle of your loaded van, plus the trailer tongue weight (give or take).)

 

[thataway]

I owned a 1998 Chevy 1500 Express van with that same engine. Sold it to a friend had he still owns it--zero problems at over 150,000 miles and he tows a trailer or 21 foot boat. Another friend has a 2001 and tows a 26 foot Hi Lo trailer across country every year--no problems. I towed the first 22 with a Dodge 3500 Road Trek which had a 5.2 L V8 and the heavy camper interior. No problems

I tow the 22 with my 2012 Yukon XL which is a similar but updated (transmission and more HP similar sized block) is rated for 8100 lbs.

Like Sunbeam--I also like the express van for a tow vehicle--or the Big SUV like the Ford Excursion (we had the Diesel--Charlie has that how). There are several major advantages over the pickup--one is the security and accessibility of the van or SUV body. You can take a nap in it, if you are so inclined.

I consider the 1500 express an excellent tow vehicle.

 

[potter water]

If your really want to have adequate towing margin that wont destroy your xmission by 50 thousand miles or so, you need to take make sure that you are never operating the combined vehicle and its passenger/other loads and the towed boat and trailer and its water, fuel, anchor, etc. and not come up to more than 75% of the GVWR. Published ratings mean that the vehicle can tow the weight, but has no relationship to the wear and tear on the drive train. Now, if you are in Florida, you can tow with a VW it is so flat most places. But put any mountains into your tow area, and it is a different story. I agree that your 1500 van selection may be adequate, but even it would need to have and attentive driver watching temperatures and using the correct gears and not being in a hurry.

 

[Sunbeam]

If your really want to have adequate towing margin that wont destroy your xmission by 50 thousand miles or so, you need to take make sure that you are never operating the combined vehicle .... to more than 75% of the GVWR.

I have a question for you then: When I'm towing my C-Dory, I am above 75% of my GCWR (I assume you meant GCWR and not GVWR). (My van is a 3/4-ton HD model, and set up for towing.)

I have a Scan Gauge so I can monitor the transmission temperatures, and I watch them like a hawk when I tow - especially through the mountains. I noted that the temp did come up slightly while going over the biggest pass (Homestake), but nowhere near what folks consider the "bad zone." I also kept my RPM's up (no lugging). Can I be damaging the transmission even if it is running cool and within design spec? I would have thought it would have needed to get hot? Or, to put it another way: I would have thought a key sign of "struggle" would have been for it to heat up. Can it sustain damage (more than anything does just by being used, that is) while running cool?

As a side note, I towed a boat very similar to a C-Dory 22 through the mountains behind an F-350, four-door, dualie, with a tow rating of well over 10,000# (boat/trailer were around 4,000#; truck was not loaded). The transmission ran a bit cooler than mine in the van, but not by much (it also runs cooler when not towing though; its temp also rose when pulling mountain passes).

I do agree that use case is important to figure out. I know folks whose "towing" is twice a year (to the ramp and back) on flat ground for a few miles. They could just about use a Honda Civic

 

[Sunbeam]

As a follow-on question: ssobol, what are your towing plans? Full-on cross-country trips while loaded up for the road? Local short trips? Will you be towing on flats or in the mountains? Do you need a lot of weight capacity for loading up people and gear in the tow vehicle? Do you typically have gnarly launch ramps? Etc.

The more you share about your expected use scenario(s), the more specific the responses can be.

 

[ssobol]

Normally I will be towing in the Chesapeake Bay area, going up to 100 miles each way. Maybe one such trip per month. Other times will just be short trips from the storage area to the ramp (<1 mile). These trips are not that long but do require driving in traffic at times.

Once a year we will take a longer trip. Last year we went with a smaller boat from No. VA to southern MI, up to No. MI, back down to OH and then back to VA. A total of about 2600 miles. Other than going through the "mountains" of western PA it was all pretty flat and about 3/4 was highway miles.

It is just two adults, clothes, and some camping equipment in the vehicle. With the larger boat there will be less camping gear because we can use the boat as a camper on the road.

I was walking the dog yesterday and saw a 2000 Chevy 1500 Express conversion van at a nearby used car dealer. The price is decent, but I am concerned with the reliability of this vehicle when towing a 22 cruiser on a tandem trailer.

 

[Sunbeam]

Normally I will be towing in the Chesapeake Bay area, going up to 100 miles each way.....

It is just two adults, clothes, and some camping equipment in the vehicle.

Helpful info, thanks. That sounds like a fairly gentle use-case scenario to me. I mean, of course you still want an adequate, safe, pleasant tow vehicle; but you won't be asking nearly as much of it as, say, a family of four (and associated gear) towing regularly in the western mountain states.

Sunbeam