Can we pull a TT with our ‘20 Suburban
We recently bought a 2020 Z71 Chevy Suburban. We know that the towing capacity for our car is 8000lbs, but we don’t want to meet that capacity because we don’t want something like... the transmission ...
Forum Discussion
It's great that you have come to get advice BEFORE making a decision. Please allow the advice here to sink in and don't let the allure of a new trailer put you in an unsafe situation.
We are a family of 5 that used to travel with our 100 pound dog. Here's how it worked for us...
Family weight - 700 pounds
Dog - 100 pounds
Extra 'stuff' (tools, snacks and drinks, kids' backpacks) - 50 pounds
WD Hitch - 75 pounds
Hitch weight - 1,000 pounds (8k loaded trailer)
Total weight on truck: 1,925 pounds
This is why we drove a 2006 HD Suburban with 2,040 pounds of payload for the last 8 years. Now that the kids are a bit older, we've just now switched to a crew-cab F150 and will just stay under our 1,880 pounds of payload because the dog will only travel with us on local trips where we have 2 cars.
People can argue over whether or not you need to be entirely under your payload, or whether or not there is a bit of leniency there. That said, it is highly possible that your Suburban's payload may be at or under 1,500 pounds. If your numbers are anything like ours, you could have less than 600 pounds left for tongue weight once you are loaded up to camp. If true, you would be looking at a loaded trailer weight of 5,000 to 5,500 to even stay close to your ratings.
Really understand these numbers before you jump in too deep. Depending on what you are looking for, a hybrid trailer might provide you some solid options to gain a bit more space while staying at a more reasonable weight.
We are a family of 5 that used to travel with our 100 pound dog. Here's how it worked for us...
Family weight - 700 pounds
Dog - 100 pounds
Extra 'stuff' (tools, snacks and drinks, kids' backpacks) - 50 pounds
WD Hitch - 75 pounds
Hitch weight - 1,000 pounds (8k loaded trailer)
Total weight on truck: 1,925 pounds
This is why we drove a 2006 HD Suburban with 2,040 pounds of payload for the last 8 years. Now that the kids are a bit older, we've just now switched to a crew-cab F150 and will just stay under our 1,880 pounds of payload because the dog will only travel with us on local trips where we have 2 cars.
People can argue over whether or not you need to be entirely under your payload, or whether or not there is a bit of leniency there. That said, it is highly possible that your Suburban's payload may be at or under 1,500 pounds. If your numbers are anything like ours, you could have less than 600 pounds left for tongue weight once you are loaded up to camp. If true, you would be looking at a loaded trailer weight of 5,000 to 5,500 to even stay close to your ratings.
Really understand these numbers before you jump in too deep. Depending on what you are looking for, a hybrid trailer might provide you some solid options to gain a bit more space while staying at a more reasonable weight.
