2015 Suburban Dingy information

Thanks for the update. If you have that service bulletin or complete procedure could you send it my way if its not too much trouble?

I was thinking about the steering lock. We always removed them when I built racecars. I imagine you could open the column and remove or disable to locking piece if that's all the issue is. But I am wondering about that. The manual doesn't change the procedure if you have a key versus the keyless entry. Is it really an electronic lock that activates or are there other reasons they ask to disconnect the battery? I know on the key version they want it left in ACC mode which might drain the battery.

MPond wrote:

jb74 wrote:
So is anyone actually flat towing a 2015 yet? Any comments? We have just purchased one and I am setting it up for that right now.

I was curious on one of the above posts stating you need a separate electrical system for towing. I was going to run diodes and re-use the factory wiring to get to the taillights and brake lights, and then run an SMI air force one for braking which connects right to the battery. Am I missing something else?

Properly placed diodes will effectively do the same thing as using separate wiring, as the diodes allow the power to flow to the lights, but not back into the vehicle. I've done this on several toads.

Yes we are but with some problems... We had a battery disconnect switch installed which makes that part easy... read your manual before you tow and follow the instructions very closely.

I also have a battery saver that plugs into the cigarette lighter and saves all your radio settings etc... just plug it in before you disconnect the battery and it will save all your settings.

No problems towing... problems begin when you unhook and want to put it back in drive.... two out of three trips it wouldn't go back from neutral into drive... got a message to "SERVICE 4WD" ... after calling the dealer found out there was a service bulletin for that problem so you have to follow another procedure which is a PIA and remove the 30 AMP fuse from the fuse block then re install it then the transmission would shift. A terrible pain to have to do all of that just because of the steering locking on these new models.

They need to find a way to disconnect the power steering lock on these vehicles... we love the suburban but the lemon law comes to mind if they don't fix it.

jb74 wrote:
So is anyone actually flat towing a 2015 yet? Any comments? We have just purchased one and I am setting it up for that right now.

I was curious on one of the above posts stating you need a separate electrical system for towing. I was going to run diodes and re-use the factory wiring to get to the taillights and brake lights, and then run an SMI air force one for braking which connects right to the battery. Am I missing something else?

Properly placed diodes will effectively do the same thing as using separate wiring, as the diodes allow the power to flow to the lights, but not back into the vehicle. I've done this on several toads.

So is anyone actually flat towing a 2015 yet? Any comments? We have just purchased one and I am setting it up for that right now.

I was curious on one of the above posts stating you need a separate electrical system for towing. I was going to run diodes and re-use the factory wiring to get to the taillights and brake lights, and then run an SMI air force one for braking which connects right to the battery. Am I missing something else?

I have since found out that the power steering lock is why the battery has disconnected...to keep it from locking up when flat towing. We are installing a battery disconnect switch so we don't have to go through unhooking the battery each time.... however we will lose all radio clock setting etc but I have been told that ONSTAR will correct the clock after being unhooked which helps.

We are also going to experiment with the battery back up module that you plug in to save your settings when changing out a battery and see if that works or not.

I wish they could just disconnect the steering lock then it would be like old times.

My understanding is that the 2015 models ie.. suburbans, gmcs etc.. all have the power steering lock as a part of the security system and it has to be disabled or it will lock up !!

They are aware of the problem for flat towing and are looking into some kind of fix.

I hope for their own sake that they do as we have towed a Suburban for years... just sold it and looking at a 2015 ... but I hate this procedure... plus you lose all you settings in the radios, navigation system and clock etc.

The reason you must disconnect the negative battery post is due to the fact that the 2015 suburban has computer module that would be confused if the vehicle is in motion but the computer thinks vehicle is not.

I believe the module is a BMI. It has to do with the braking system.

If you are going to tow the 2015 suburban behind your motorhome, you must install a separate wiring harness that does not involve the electrical system of the suburban.

In all liklelihood the battery will be dead after a day or so of ACC/UNLOCK position.