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‘I Fell In Love With It’: Man Buys 15,000-Pound RV. Then He Tries To Buy A GMC Truck To Tow It. There’s Just One Problem

“Yeah that's a beautiful truck..."

Man buys 15,000-pound RV. Then he shops a GMC truck to tow it. There’s just one problem

Photo by: crumpreesemotorco & Roadpass

Steve Ecker

By: Steve Ecker

Apr 19, at 4:00pm ET

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A man bought a 15,000-pound RV and then realized that he lacked a necessary piece of equipment to use it: a truck capable of towing it.

He had his eye on a particular GMC Canyon at the Crump Reese Motor Company an Tremonton, Utah nd decided to inquire about it. Then he hit a snag.

In a TikTok about the situation, Bam from Crump Reese Motor Company (@crumpreesemotorco) reveals the one problem the man will face if he decides to go with the GMC Canyon.

The man called Bam asking for information about a tan GMC Canyon AT4X they had on the lot.

“Oh yes, the Coastal Dune AT4X. Yeah that’s a beautiful truck,” Bam says he told him.

The man replied, “I fell in love with it immediately. Me and my wife just bought a fifth wheel.”

Bam then asked him what size fifth wheeler he’d purchased. The man said his RV is “between 15,000 and 16,000” pounds, making it among the heavier tow-behind RVs.

“So you are thinking of pulling the fifth wheel with this AT4X Canyon?" Bam says he asked to clarify.

The man replied in the affirmative.

Then Bam had to deliver the bad news that the AT4X Canyon cannot tow his RV.

“The tow capacity on these Canyons is just over 6,000 pounds. If your trailer you just bought is 15,000 to 16,000 pounds then we aren’t even close to capacity on this truck. So we’re gonna have to look at something else,” Bam told him.

Bam suggested taking a look at the GMC Sierra HD instead, re-emphasizing, “This Canyon is not what you are looking for to pull a fifth wheel trailer like that.”

The man was insistent. “So are you sure that there is no way I could tow my trailer with this Canyon? You’re just trying to get me to buy a more expensive truck.”

Bam reiterated that the AT4X Canyon maximum Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR), or towing capacity, is 6,250 pounds.

“So we’re 10,000 pounds away,” he said.

Bam noted that towing something as heavy as the man’s RV is actually illegal. The man said he’d do some research on his own; then, if Bam was right, that he’d be in the next day to look at a bigger truck.

“I love the ambition… I fear the execution,” the post is captioned.

What Trucks Can Handle 15,000 Pounds?

Towing a vehicle is not taught in drivers’ education; instead it’s something people learn from others or by necessity. If you are going to tow something, it’s essential to understand your vehicle's max tow capacity. As Bam mentioned, not all trucks can tow heavy RVs.

Kelley Blue Book reports that each vehicle has different towing ratings based on the following:

Payload: Total weight maximum the vehicle can tow including the trailer tongue weight, people, and cargo.
The tongue weight refers to how much weight is being pushed down on the hitch. The tongue weight should be 10%-15% of the total trailer weight. So if you are towing a 5,000 pound trailer, around 500 pounds can be placed down on the hitch.
GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating): this number is determined by weight of empty vehicle plus payload together. To put simply, the total weight of the vehicle.
GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating): This is GVWR with the maximum loaded trailer weight added.

So when choosing a vehicle to tow an RV with, make sure its capacity meets the weight of what you’re pulling. It may be tempting to ignore the towing capacity, but doing so is not just illegal—it’s dangerous.

Towing something too heavy can void the vehicle's warranty and accelerate wear and tear. It also increases the risk of an accident, for which you would in all likelihood be civilly, if not criminally, liable.

Towing a 15,000 pound RV requires some heavy duty capacity. Motor1 previously reported that the Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD, Ram HD, and Ford Super Duty are all capable of pulling such weight.

Do Most People Know To Check Towing Capacity?

Viewers were confused as to why Ram’s customer refused to acknowledge the tow capacity limit of the GMC.

“He bought the cart without having a horse. His fifth wheel will need a Clydesdale and not the Shetland Pony he wanted,” one person said.

“It’s common sense,” another noted.

What do you think?

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“Dude's only mistake is thinking the new Canyons are built like the old Ford Rangers with unlimited tow capacity,” a third shared. (There’s no such thing as unlimited tow capacity.)

Update April 21: Bam told Motor1*, “Luckily after independent research of his own he came to the conclusion that he would need an HD. After testing a couple trucks he got out of here with a 3500hd AT4."*

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