How is the Silverado with the 2.7 Turbomax engine?

I currently own a 2023 Colorado- with the 2.7 “Turbo” low output L2R engine. At the time I purchased it I did not know about the difference between 2.7 Turbo (L2R) and Turbo Max (L3B). The L2R only has 237 HP and 265 torque. L3B has significantly more power- 310 HP and 430 torque. My wife and I now want to travel for 2- 3 months a year and really load up the truck and tow a small 2K trailer so we are faced with trading the truck in. The 2.7 L2R does not have a lot of power and not rated to tow, or tow very much. So we could go with another Colorado with the L3B engine. Or a low end Silverado with the 2.7 engine. A low end Silverado with the 2.7 is actually cheaper than Colorado. Is the 2.7 enough to load up and tow a small 2-3K trailer? Or do we need the 5.3? The 2.7 specs more torque than 5.3 although the 5.3 has more HP. A 5.3 Silverado costs significantly more than one with 2.7. We will be traveling in hilly terrain and need to pull up the grades and not hold up traffic.

 

Sustained power without overheating is what counts when towing in mountainous terrain. I would download the GM trailering guide and go by its information. A trailer weight of less than 5,000 lbs is not heavy and your truck should be able to handle that load. I would want a trailer brake controller and in many states a trailer with a gross weight of more than 3500 lbs requires a trailer brake controller in the tow vehicle.

I have a different take on tow vehicles. I want enough power to safely accelerate to freeways speeds on any on ramp. This is the 20 mph to 65 mph time with a trailer in tow. The total length of the truck and the trailer is double that of a vehicle alone and so larger space is needed to safely merge with traffic. Your truck should be able to pull a 7700 lb trailer load but how safely you can merge is another consideration altogether.

 

I have a 2024 Silverado 1500 Custom with the 2.7L Turbomax engine. It has a tow rating of 9,300 lbs. I tow a 33 foot RV travel travel that has an empty weight of 7,200 lbs. I had to use a weight distribution hitch to level it out and I'm planning on putting air bags on the rear suspension as the truck has a slight squat with the trailer hooked up. There's about a 2 inch difference between the height of the front fender and the height of the rear fender. Now I haven't pulled over any hilly terrain yet but going from South Carolina to Florida was no trouble at all. In June I will be going to Illinois with the trailer so I'll see how it performs going over the Appalachian Mountains from Atlanta to Chattanooga to Nashville.