SteveROntario

Here I am at 13,040 pounds without water and down to about 3/4 of a tank of fuel towing a 7 x 16 trailer. This is a 2004 with a 6.0. Handling and power isn't a problem. Parking is a nightmare...use a smaller vehicle if you need to tuck your trailer into a tight spot.
Front axle was 3580 pounds, rear axle was 5700 pounds, and trailer axle was 3760 pounds. GVWR of the van is 9600 pounds so I only had 320 pounds before I was illegal. The trailer GVWR is 7700 pounds so I had a lot of leftover payload. I'm not sure what the tongue weight was because my weigh safe hitch is unavailable. I probably could have added tail weight and helped the van a little.
In camping mode with water in the front tank the front axle is 3983 pounds and the rear axle is 4702 pounds (8685 pounds total).



Here are the weights you lose on a conversion:

Brody Castle

Hi. Carlos! First, let me commend you on taking your family camping! That is quality family time!

I just recently did the opposite of you: we sold our hybrid camper for a (much older) class a motorhome, and we towed the Express behind the motorhome for a month long, 6500 mile tour of the western US. It was an amazing trip! 63 feet long... (see pic below)

Now for your question - the Express 3500 is an excellent tow vehicle. Plenty of power and weight carrying capacity, although as Steve said, you add quite a bit of weight with the van conversion - you may be better off with a stock van. My 15 passenger with the rear seat removed (11 passenger and a crap ton of storage) weighs about 6,300 pounds, unloaded. It has a GVWR of 9,600, and a GCVWR of 16,000. Your 9K lb trailer might be pushing it, though. A 4X4 conversion would also add weight, and not help at all in highway towing.

I would recommend the following:

• High capacity transmission cooler (replace the little stock one if it has it)
• A way to monitor transmission and engine temps
• Good trailer brake controller
• high quality sway control for trailer
• Upgraded shocks (bilstein?) for better ride

...and take it slow! 65 MPH max. I've seen too many travel trailers overturned on the highway, and that's a sure way to ruin your vacation. Good luck, and let us know what you end up with!

Brody Castle

First, way to go for taking your family camping! There is no better quality family time. Funny thing - we just sold our hybrid trailer for a (much older) Class A motorhome. Did 6,500 miles on a month long trip of the western national parks back in June. Actually towed the van BEHIND the motorhome - 63 feet long! (see pic below) It was an amazing trip.

Now, to answer your question, the 3500 Express is an excellent tow vehicle. Plenty of power and weight carrying capacity. As Steve mentioned though, the conversion vans add quite a bit of weight, so you may be better off with a stock van. Mine weighs in at ~6,300 pounds with the back seat removed, allowing for a ton of cargo space! GVWR is 9,600, so plenty of headroom there.

I would suggest the following:

• a high capacity transmission cooler
• a way to monitor transmission and engine temps while towing
• quality brake controller
• top of the line sway control hitch
• upgraded shocks

and take your time - 65 MPH max! I've seen too many trailers on their sides on the highway. That would ruin your vacation!

Good luck, and let us know what you end up with!

Garner Ames

I bought a used (25,000 mile former rental fleet) 2019 Express 3500 long wheel base 12 passenger van, 6.0L, 6L90E, 3.42 with the G80 HD locking diff this past May and using it to tow a 2019 Grand Design 2400BH at around 6500lbs. Ive put 5000 miles on the van so far, all of it towing. MPG is 7-9 usually, 17-18 unloaded. My trailer is 24 foot but is heavy and quite tall compared to most TTs I see in this length so it catches alot of wind and the engine will notice. The van tows great and I am in the Texas hill Country so alot of grades are the norm. I usually tow in manual mode with 5th selected. If Im going into a head wind, the van will spend alot of time in 4th gear around 2900-3000 RPM but otherwise will cruise comfortably in 5th at 2300RPM at 70 MPH. I had to do a panic stop on my last trip and I was blown away with how quickly it stopped and my trailer brakes were only set to 5.5 at the time. The grade braking on the 6 speed works very well in the hills. The factory mirrors work fine but there are towing mirrors available. I have a rear camera on my TT and although the long reach towing mirrors would be nice, there are not a necessity on these vans in most situations. The van is very stable in all situations and even large 18 wheelers or cross winds dont upset it.

The ride isnt great but tolerable and expected for a 1 ton. Im a little disappointed with all the rattles in a 1 year old truck but new shocks are next on the list and one of these days Im going to take all the interior panels off and try to eliminate some of those rattles.

I never have needed 4x4 and even used the van to pull a overloaded pontoon boat up a slippery boat ramp. The G80 did its job very well and I still have the stock (junk) tires with little tread left.

If the price wasnt sooo good on this van I got (with the G80) that seemed hard to find on the used market, I would have held out for the '21 model with the 6.6L gas engine. I could be wrong but just like the 6.0L didnt get much if any of a max trailer rating increase when it went from the 4 speed trans to the 6 speed trans and GM dropping the axle ratio to 3.42 for better MPGs, I suspect the new 6.6L will get an even taller rear axle and rating will stay about the same. Also may have something to do with the (small by today's standards) brakes inside of the 16 inch wheels. I dont think they can go any larger on the brakes with these wheels. That being said, real world the 6.6L will be a big improvement just like the 6 speed was a real world improvement over the old 4 speed. And the 6.0L engine is simple, robust and reliable with a proven track record.

As others have stated, you will need a brake controller (aftermarket) and a way to monitor the trans temps as the factory cluster does not give you this information for some odd reason. Shocks are also a popular upgrade as the factory ones are garbage. I have heard others talking about a rear sway bar and Im interested to try that. The rear end on this van tends to float around unloaded during emergency maneuvers much more than I remember on our old 1995 G30 van (which was also a 12 passenger but much shorter wheelbase).

Also know that nobody seems to make molded all weather floor mats for this van. I bought the expensive GM ones and was disappointed in their overall fit and that they did not have a lip to trap water and mud. If I were buying a new van, I would get the rubber flooring instead of carpet. Its crazy that weather tech doesn't make these considering how long this van has been in production and the millions of vehicles on the road.

SteveROntario

Almost had the perfect load today. There was a weird slope in that parking lot making the van look like it had a bad pitch in the middle but it wasn't like that all of the time. The van was a handful at that weight and the 5" lift so I had to keep it at 60 MPH. I wouldn't want to be any heavier than that...the GCVW is correct at 16000 lbs.
It is hard to get a good tongue weight with that trailer. I had 10 feet of railway track stacked at the back of the trailer and the tongue weight was still exceeding what I believe to be 1000 pounds. Having a weight distributing hitch would be worth looking into but I don't tow enough to bother.

ray caldwell

Out west you have a lot of long slopes. Even hauling bunkhouses and such there with a Freightliner,we always used a electric brake controller under the dash. I would install one especially if trailer weighs more than van. Manually take it out of overdrive before hitting the steep hills too.

TRQ427

Just purchased a 2015 3500 Express,,135" wheel base, 6.0 engine and I love it. 35K miles, great van. I did upgrade the shocks after my first trip of 500 miles one way to Michigan Sand Dunes. Went with a set of 4600 Bilstein's and WOW, what a difference that made over the factory shocks. I don't pull anything like a travel trailer, but I use it to tow my Jeep Cherokee that rarely gets driven. It's basically a toy for a few trips to Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan,, trails in Colorado, and a trip to Moab, etc. Open trailer that weighs in around 2K,,Cherokee is around 3500 lbs or so, and the van does great, last trip was around 13 to 14 MPG. A little wind resistance as the Jeep sits high do to lift kit. I will say, I'm more than happy with this van, tows great, decent mileage, and tons of secured indoor room. I do wish someone made a "rear or side tent" set up for these, like they do for many 4X4 vehicles, a easy path to use the van more for camping in the wild would be great, but It seems those days are gone for these vans, kind of dinosaurs as far as the van world goes, but sure hope they keep making them, the last of a true full frame, big motor, big suspension van that can tow safely and hold up for 300K plus miles.

cjm1973

An update to the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks that I installed on the van less than 2 years ago. Less than 30K and they were toast. The dampening was no longer controlled and every bump in the road seemed amplified with or without being hitched with my trailer. So, I was able to get Bilstein 4600's installed both front and rear. From memory, these ride much better than the KYBs did when they were new. Much beefier, robust shock body too. Can't wait to tow the trailer with them in a couple of weeks. We have a 2000 mile trip planned. If I could do it all over again, I would have just went with Bilsteins from the beginning.
Part numbers for the shocks are: 24-221948 (rears) and 24-187435 (fronts).

TRQ427

I've had this van over a year now, mainly sits in the garage. I've used it to trailer my Cherokee to off road trips, and dam happy with the 14 MPG range of mileage it gets towing. Finally took it on a trip empty yesterday, around 450 miles. Conditions were windy and stormy, the van stayed in the 17 to 18 range. I feel for a heavy one ton, a/c on all day, multiple stops letting it idle, with a 6.0 engine,,that's pretty darn good. I'm just wondering how long Chevrolet is going to continue this line. In my business, I've owned many Chevrolet Cargo vans over the years, and was happy with all of them, the first was a 1974 G10 short cargo,6 cyl stick. Given the tree hugger environment we have now, I'm sure MPG and emissions standards will kill these eventunally.

og52

I'm new here and I'm considering ordering a 2022 Express or Savanna 3/4 ton full window cargo van to tow my 25' 7500# TT. I'm currently tow with a '06 Silverado 1/2 ton crew cab.
Reading this post has given me ideas of how to order the equipment I need plus needed aftermarket parts.
Thanks for the valuable insight!

Ed