New to TT- suggestions for family of 5

Two posts?

Start by finding out your vehicle's towing capacity, exactly as it is equipped. It's prudent to stay at 80% of that number, or below, for a good towing experience. You should add about 1000-1500 lb to the dry weight of the trailer to figure out what your trailer loaded weight will be. If you tend to be heavy packers, go with the higher number.

Next find out the cargo capacity of your truck. The tongue weight of the loaded trailer must be 10-15% of the trailer weight for safe towing. That amount becomes part of your truck cargo. Subtract the tongue weight from the cargo capacity of the truck, and what is left, is what you have available for people and stuff. Do the math.

You may be limited by towing capacity, cargo capacity, or both. Most often cargo capacity is the limiting factor with SUVs and 1/2 ton trucks.

You will need a good weight distributing hitch with sway control. There is tons of info about that on this site and others. Do your reading and ask advice to make that choice.

Also, you have the same question in 2 different forums. Please delete one of them.

Aross wrote:
Hi all- we are a family of 5 (3 young boys) and thought it would be wise to invest in experiences with the family while we are young. We are "thinking" of a TT light enough we can pull with our 2015 Yukon SLT - we really like the Salem hemisphere hyper lyte. We really want the double bunk room in the back for extra kid space. We are overwhelmed with all the options and want to be sure this is the right choice- what are we missing? Anything else to consider? Do I need a bigger truck to pull this- seems heavy for my vehicle? Appreciate the years of wisdom on this forum- many thanks for your reply.

You would be borderline with a 24BHHL, the smallest bunkhouse in the hyperlite line, IMO.

Yukon + 26' or larger bunkhouse + Family of 5 with all the accoutrements for camping = Not a great towing experience.

The Yukon is a glorified car and is made for hauling groceries. Its suspension reflects that. You can do a lot to one aftermarket, but at the end of the day you're asking for a lot out of it.

coolmom42 wrote:
Also, you have the same question in 2 different forums. Please delete one of them.

Probably not the case here, but lots of times when a question such as this is asked on web forums its asked over and over until the OP gets the answer they are looking for. Right, Wrong or indifferent.

Ralph Cramden wrote:
Probably not the case here, but lots of times when a question such as this is asked on web forums its asked over and over until the OP gets the answer they are looking for. Right, Wrong or indifferent.

Unfortunately, how true. :R

Does your Yukon have the 3.42 axle and HD transmission cooler? I expect you should be comfortable up to about 6000 pounds dry. That's 7k loaded, 900 pounds of TW and about 600 pounds of payload left. Get a WDH with integrated sway control.

With a 116" wheelbase I would keep the TT under 25'. And get an anti-sway hitch like Equal-i-zer. Figure that lp, battery, gear, etc will add a couple hundred pounds to the listed dry hitch weight of the TT.