it will most certainly handle your trailer safely, leagally may be another matter.  the dmax is rated to tow 15,000+, some people will have you believe 3/4 ton diesels cant tow that because of the low GVWR.  depending on your state laws and license requirements, the GVWR may or may not matter.  in SC the GVWR does not apply, only axle weights, i wont comment on my surrounding states as i do not reside there, but i have yet to speak to a law enforcement official who was interested in the GVWR.  the 2500HD has 3000+ pounds of avaliable "mechanical" payload on the rear axle.......

and of course youll have responses from people afraid of the max tow rating, aka "safe working load".

good luck.

Hi .. Welcome to the forum...

If your Ford 350 is a dually, you won't like the Chevy 3/4 ton truck since you're down sizing.  The duals are a lot more stable and weight capable

Jen ... Dually or dual's refer to two rear wheels on each side of the truck.  Ford has been calling both single rear wheel and Dual rear wheel trucks "350"

Without opening a flame war salvo... a single rear wheel is a 3/4 ton truck no matter what it's labeled.

4x4 is when the front wheels are driven.  Both 3/4 and one ton trucks are built in that configuration by the big three. 

no it cant stop it, the trailer has brakes to take care of that.  and before this turns into  "bigger truck, bigger brakes" nonsense......i hope none of you that think that ONLY the trucks brakes can rapidly/effectively stop a heavy trailer get the chance, or dare i say experience, to find out otherwise.

How about short box versus long box.  I would like a short box so it is easier around town as well.

Well excuse me......

In that case I would follow  this persons advise and get whatever they recomend !!!

Heck what if the trailer brakes fail or the wires pull out......that doesent matter cause like they say thats what the trailer brakes are for.....if they work.

So load er up to the max and rip on down the hiway cause you don't have to stop anyway.No need for a bigger truck...don't need no stinkin bigger brakes....heck you can get by with a short bed Toyota according to these folks. Don't pay no attention to Me just buy the truck and pull the trailer untill you find out for yourself that it will or won't pull it ...stop it...turn it....or what ever.

45 years!!!!! whoooo hoooooo !!!! lets celebrate I willl apologize for My ignorance.

WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO didn't we wake up on the wrong side of the ice chest !!!!

Nuthin was wrong with the 3/4 ton it was a great truck !! it just lacked three things, 1.it was a short bed. 2.It was not a long bed. 3. It didn't have dual wheels.Which I believe is a great benefit for towing large trailers.

The one ton also has a totaly different brake system than the 3/4 ton.The transmission also is different than my old truck.

Yes I do have a BIGGER TRUCK IN MIND.

I am working on the specs now.

It apparently really bothers you when someone brings up the word BIGGER one can only imagine that this only reminds you of a part of your anatomy that is also inadequate for the job.

Ya gotta quit listening to that song "it's allrite to be little bitty" cause sometimes it's not.

So if it's your assumtion that it's allrite to tow a great big trailer with a 1/2 ton Toyota or Chevy Luv then go for it BIG boy.......Woops I said big again.....sorry did't mean to bring up old problems....just makin small talk....HE HE

Chadsalt,

  I for one thank you for chiming in to this forum.

The lack of education and rational thinking that often pours forth here is

more than most can take. I appreciate your efforts, even if they are well above the heads of many here.

 -Flush

             Thanks Flush

You are very deserving. I do like the flushing emotie.

if you note my sig, i have no problem with bigger.  a dmax is a little bit of overkill for a 6000# 2h....is it not?  for that matter when i purchased the dmax the runner up was a 99 f450 (9 foot flatbed, 7.3PS, 6spd, leather, it was nice), but that guy was a little too proud of it.

i simply responded to your novice statement "It will pull it but will it stop it ?".  that is a common misconception i typically try to correct to help the people new to trailering.  bigger is sometimes nice, but not usually necessary.   its all to easy to hide behind "safety" as opposed to education.

good luck with your next truck purchase.

thank you and youre welcome.

Here is a place with some answers too.. not just from us old bow hards !!http://www.rvtowingtips.com/horsepower.htm

I just sold a 2003 Duramax.  It was a shortbed, 2WD.  I pulled a 5 horse 4-star with a living quarters and had no problem pulling or stopping.  When I needed extra help I just used the tow haul and it would help with the stopping ie, in town etc.  I also would like to add I traveled with others who drove new dodges, and fords and could pass them on hills while they were still trying to grab gears.  I loved that truck and bought a 2006 duramax, however I did get a long bed just for the short turns.  I love it also because it has an automatic 6 speed but you can also manually shift if you need to help with the braking.  Just returned from the mountains and that was nice to have.  I would also like to add the mileage is impressive.  I did not buy a dually because I drive this truck all the time and didn't want to have to deal with trying to park etc. all the time with a dually.

Note: the only reason I sold the 2003 is because I had racked up 98,000 and needed to trade before I reached the 100,000 mile mark because of trade-in value.  I drove several dodges before trading and the front seats are awful.  Sometimes comfort is worth more than the cheaper price.  Also my daughter has a dodge and we pull with it all the time too and it just doesn't have the power that the duramax does but the dodge is about  4-5000 dollars cheaper.

Yup on the cheaper ! We looked at Chevy and Dodge,You are on about the seats,and Chevy wouldnt budge on the price, so got another ford.

Sometimes it's just about comfort and price,or price and comfort ? Oh well comes down to are you happy ? then that's all that matters.

I was looking at a friends Dodge before I purchased My Ford and when I was checkin out the new style mirrors the passenger side one fell off !!

Talk about feeling bad!!

You know,  I didn't see anyone mention the fact that pulling a big trailer with a SRW truck is not to wise because of the number of tires.  A 2500 will do just fine for most trailers.  It's just what if you have a blowout on a rear tire traveling 65 MPH.  Stick a fork in you because you are done.  I personlly would not want to be in the drivers seat if this happened. A DRW vehicle is the way to go if you haul a 30' or over trailer.  If you loose one tire you have one more left to safely get you out of harms way.

Just a thought.

Yup er dooo thats why I have 4 on thr rear.