I recently purchased a 2015 Yukon XL and am looking at upgrading a Pop-up to a travel trailer. Trying to find out what size I can get is pretty confusing. The Yukon is rated with a max towing of 8500. It also has a Curb weight of 5536 & GVWR of 7300 (leaving 1764 Max Payload). I was always looking at the max trailer of 8500 when looking at a trailer (dry weight + trailer load). However, in looking at the stats, I see the real limiter as the GCWR which is 14000. If I take the GCWR of 14000 and subtract the curb weight of 5536 of the vehicle, I get the 8500. But if I figure in cargo in the vehicle & trailer, the maximum trailer gets much smaller. For example, if I assume 1000 lbs of people and luggage for 5 people and then another 1000 lbs of trailer weight, that leaves only 6500 pounds for the trailer.I see another bottleneck as well. The GVWR is 7300. Subtracting the curb weight of 5536 leaves 1764 for cargo. If I use 1000 for 5 people and some cargo, it leaves about 764. However, does the hitch rating need to be added here? For example, if the Dry Hitch Weight is 891, then I've blown the GVWR limitation.Am I looking at this correctly?1. If a Trailer dry weight is 6267, and the rated cargo capacity is 1586, how much should I figure for the wet weight? 6267 + ???.2. Does the Hitch weight of the trailer need to be added to cargo weight for the GVWR limit? This might be the biggest limiter if so since I may make it under the GCWR limit and blow the GVWR limit.3. On my 2015 Yukon, I have the Max trailering package. However, I can't find the limit on the included integral hitch system. Should I assume that it will handle the MAX Trailer weight? Or where do I find the limit?

1.1000 lbs is a good ball park number.2. Yes, the tongue weight of the trailer and the weight of a weight distributing hitch along with cargo and passengers is subtracted from the payload and is the usual limiting factor with light trucks or SUV's.3.Look for a stamp on the vehicles hitch receiver. The number should also be in your owner's manual.

Don't forget the recommended 17-20% safety margin in your weight figures for both hitch and max trailer weight. That will reduce it even more.

It looks like you have run up against the max payload limit which is often the limiting factor. If your payload limit is 1764 lbs. and your family/cargo load is 1000 lbs. you have 764 lbs. of tongue weight available. You also have to be careful that the Max towing applies to your model and extras. In my case my F-150 is advertised as 11,000 lbs. towing; however, that was for a select line of vehicles with the super spiffy towing package/motor combo, getting into the details I found that my specific truck options only allow a little more than 9000 lbs. Plus, the real limit was the max cargo of 1411 lbs. posted on the door sticker.I would guess a 5000 lb. trailer is more in keeping with your vehicle ratings.

Your limit will likely be the receiver or payload. Verify your as equipped payload per this sticker on your driver's door post:Your payload is probably in the 1500 pound range as equipped. If you actually have 1000 pounds of people and cargo in the SUV, your max tongue weight is only 400-500 pounds, which means about a 3000 pound dry RV.You should also verify yours has the HD towing package with 3.42 axle and engine/trans coolers. Locate the sticker in the glove box and look for KL5 for GM's HD trailering package. KNP is the Trans cooler and KC4 the engine oil cooler.You are he first owner of a 2015 GM SUV. Can you please look at the receiver for a sticker like this one? What are your limits?

I know I don't post on here much, but when i saw this thread, I wanted to put my two cents in ... I had a 2010 Tahoe with the max towing package pretty much what you have now.. it had a rating of 8500Lbs. also .With the short Wheel base and low payload rating you will be white knuckling the whole time. I bought the Tahoe for the seating capacity thinking since the new camper I had on order would sleep 8 people and was only 26.5 Ft and the dry weight would be 5500 lbs. That I would be find. WRONG .. I have over 2 dozen cat Scale weight-ins .. Your Yukon with you (driver only) and a full tank of gas weighs approx. 6100 lbs. give or take.. it will leave you with about 1100 - 1200 lbs. of payload.Any travel trailer you buy is going to put about 450 - 750 lbs. of weight on the back of your Yukon. not including the hitch weight . It will leave you with about 300 - 500 lbs left for passengers. And the short wheel base will have you all over the place...I would look at some pretty small ultralite TT or a Hybrid. Im only talking from experience and my own opinion. The Yukon has a 2500 version along with the chevy 2500 suburban . its always good to do your home work before you buy.. i learned my lessonAnd for some reason the ford expedition has a pretty good tow rating, but it also has a longer wheelbase.I kept the tahoe as a spare car , and bought a crew cab pickup instead. i finally traded in the the tahoe in 2012 with 6500 miles on it... I learned a expensive lesson. good luck

Max Trailer | Good Sam Community

Nybillygoat
Explorer
May 11, 2014
That sticker has nothing to do with what the truck can tow .. rather what the hitch itself can handle..

it clearly states hitch ratings on top of sticker and at bottom: Tow Vehicle maximum trailer rating my be less
APT
Explorer
May 11, 2014
Brad, that sticker was on my receiver for max tongue weight with and without WDH. I am curious what the 2015+ has. The 2007-20014 had the above limit. So despite the 9400 pound tow rating mine has, that really is more like 8k loaded TT and under 7k dry.

What did you find for as equipped payload?
bradg
Explorer
May 11, 2014
APT wrote:
Your limit will likely be the receiver or payload. Verify your as equipped payload per this sticker on your driver's door post:

You are he first owner of a 2015 GM SUV. Can you please look at the receiver for a sticker like this one? What are your limits?

I found the other stickers, where is this one located?
handye9
Explorer II
May 11, 2014
2112 wrote:
Have the other partygoers follow in another vehicle if possible.
My payload allows 1 passenger when towing. Others meet us at the camp site.

I break the rule with Nana though (grandma). She weighs ~88lbs soaking wet.

Yes, a second passenger vehicle would free up some payload. Also, putting all the luggage and cargo in the trailer (as long as there is capacity there) instead of the tow vehicle, frees up some payload.

Say you have 200 lbs of luggage in the Yukon. All of that two hundred pounds, counts against your payload. If you put that 200 lbs in the trailer (close as possible to the axles, but, not behind them), only a small percentage (near 10 percent) would add to the tongue weight. Thus, you've freed up about 180 lbs of payload. Your tires will thank you for taking some of the load off.

You may still be on the edge with GVWR, and still have some unpleasant towing, but, maybe you can get some relief from the white knuckles and back aches, by trading off driver duties.

Original post, stated an assumed 1000 lb load of passengers and cargo. Maybe, that load can be reduced. Maybe, the assumption was a little high. Only the OP can figure that out.
2112
Explorer II
May 11, 2014
Have the other partygoers follow in another vehicle if possible.
My payload allows 1 passenger when towing. Others meet us at the camp site.

I break the rule with Nana though (grandma). She weighs ~88lbs soaking wet.
Nybillygoat
Explorer
May 11, 2014
what it comes down to is the tow capacity is there.. but he will never be with-in his payload... that was my issue.. you can't bring 5 people along and have a 550 lb. hitch weight with 1200 - 1300 lbs. or real payload numbers ..
tatest
Explorer II
May 10, 2014
You've got it figured right. "Max Towing" is a marketing figure that assumes an empty tow vehicle, and even in that condition there may not always be enough "cargo capacity" to carry the hitch weight of a trailer that heavy.

For what you want to carry in the XL, you probably need to be looking at TTs with a GVWR around 6000 pounds.

I picked up a 12-pass van with "Max Towing" numbers around 6000 pounds, with the idea that the largest travel trailer I would ever tow would be about 4500, since the van is sometimes going to be carrying people and their stuff. If I wanted to tow 6000 pounds of trailer, I would have looked for a van with 9000 "towing capacity."

I think you can find a travel trailer under 6000 pounds that will be suitable for five people, if you concentrate on models with lightweight construction and are willing to have some of spaces converting from living space to sleeping space. Usually these are in model lines carrying names like "ultralite" or "superlite" where the attention to weight control extends to all the furnishings and might involve some more expensive than usual construction technology.
bradg
Explorer
May 10, 2014
Interesting, went to several dealers as I'm starting to figure out what I want.
Basically asked the question about how big of a trailer my set up would pull. Tried to get a fill for what numbers people used for cargo weight in the trailer, etc...
At one dealer, they flat didn't seem to know or want to discuss loading.
At the other dealer, they flat said your Yukon XL is rated at 8500-9000 lbs and that is all you needed to know when looking at the dry weight + a hedge for the trailer load. They seemed to discount completely the GCWR number for total weight or the GVWR for vehicle+vehicle load including hitch load. They said that people they dealt with that had "Suburbans" loaded like mine had no problem pulling the 8000 trailers regardless of the other formulas.

Not sure if they are ignorant of all the factors, or just don't want to discourage people from purchasing more than they should. Or if they believe some of the numbers are too conservative.

In any case, I suspect they talk a lot of folks into more trailer than they should be pulling....
bradg
Explorer
May 10, 2014
Nybillygoat wrote:
What are the things you are looking for in a camper?

how many people too sleep?

you looking for bunks?

I'm looking for bunks in addition to a couch that makes into a bed. So a total of 6-8. I would like at least 1 slide out to give more room in the trailer. Many other things that would help with the decision, but those are the must haves.
Nybillygoat
Explorer
May 09, 2014
What are the things you are looking for in a camper?

how many people too sleep?

you looking for bunks?