Weight and wind-resistance of the trailer you want to pull make a huge difference. So does the terrain. Pulling on flat-land is much different than pulling up and down long hills. Power is one issue, but so are the brakes. You do NOT want to trust your life on the trailer-brakes. You need a truck that has its own HD brakes.
I pulled a 5000 lb. ball-hitch trailer all over the USA and Canada with a diesel K5 Blazer that has a three-speed auto trans and 3.08 axles. Engine is only around 140 horse with 240 lbs. of torque. I'm sure a 6 liter gasser does much better. As "weak" as that sounds, it was fine on flat highways, and kind of dismal on hills. Handled the weight fine with an equalizer-hitch.
I've also traveled and camped with a slide-on truck camper which is by far, my preference. Done it with a wife, big dog, one little kid, and two teen-age girls. Since our starting place is in New York, I need a truck with an extended cab since New York does not allow passengers in a truck camper when moving. We prefer the truck camper for several reasons. You can take it off in a camping area, and drive the truck without it, if desired. We can also off-road and have the camper with us, which you're not going to do with a 4WD truck pulling a camper.
I've also pulled a big fifth-wheel camper and hated it. But, that's just me. Pulling and worring about a big camper behind me takes the fun out of trip.
I don't know if you care about fuel mileage, but here's what I've gotten.
1983 K5 Blazer with 6.2 diesel pulling a 5000 lbs. camper trailer. Drove 3000 miles and averaged 13.2 MPG. TH400 trans and 3.08 axles. Drove great in Michigan and Canada, but was at times a struggle in the mountains of New York.
1985 Ford ex-cab, 4WD with 6.9 diesel. Pulled a 5000 lb. camper and got 13 MPG. Also used it with a slide-on, pop-up truck camper and got 13.8 MPG. 4.10 axles and C6 trans.
1994 Ford ex-cab, 4WD with 7.3 turbo diesel. Used the slide-on truck camper with pop-up roof. Got 14.2 MPG on a 4000 mile trip. 4.10 axles and E40D trans.
1992 Dodge ex-cab, 4WD with 5.9 turbo/intercooled Cummins diesel. Used the slide-on truck camper with pop-up roof. Got 17.5 MPG for a 3000 mile trip. 3.50 axles and a five-speed manual Gertrag trans.
2001 Chevy Duramax 2WD diesel with a fifth-wheel camper. Allison auto trans. Camper weighs around 6000 lbs. loaded. Got 11 MPG on a 2000 mile trip and hated every moment of it. Plenty of power, just hated pulling that trailer.
Our main camp rig now is a 1986 Chevy K5 Blazer with a small motorhome body on it. 6.2 diesel, 3.08 axles, and 700R4 trans. Has a pop-up roof and weighs 6700 lbs. empty. Fits and sleeps five people and has an overall fuel-mileage so far at 16.2 MPG. Also plow snow with it in the winter. Note that General Motors got sued years ago for selling these things. Special camper-body was a dealer-installed item. It was later found that the vehicle exceeded its GVW as soon as two big people sat in it. Part of GMs settlement was to later include a warning-label on all later Blazers stating "no campers" allowed. That was in 1980. My rig is beefed up much more than that version was.
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Today's Featured Article - Choosin, Mounting and Using a Bush Hog Type Mower - by Francis Robinson. Looking around at my new neighbors, most of whom are city raised and have recently acquired their first mini-farms of five to fifteen acres and also from reading questions ask at various discussion sites on the web it is frighteningly apparent that a great many guys (and a few gals) are learning by trial and error and mostly error how to use a very dangerous piece of farm equipment. It is also very apparent that these folks are getting a lot of very poor and often very dangerous advice fro
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