Forum Discussion

travelnman's avatar
travelnman
Explorer
Oct 03, 2018

Towing with a pickup vs suburban

Those of you that have a pickup does the tailgate go down with the
RV on the hitch or will it hit the hitch if you lower it all the
way. I use a suburban now but looking at a chevy pickup high country.
The suburban's rear tail gate lifts up and out of the way so I can
get to the gear and tools in the back but will the pickup allow me
to do this, I thinking not but where do you store your equalizer bars,sway bar, and other hitch parts? I have observed most everyone is using pickups now I'm probably the last one of the old timers that
use a suburban. I found a beautiful High Country pickup 2014 with very low miles and have been considering it to replace the suburban, it has a much higher weight rating for one thing which is a good reason alone to go with the pickup but it looks like it would be difficult to store the hitch parts when the tailgate is down so I would be reaching up and over the tailgate all the time. Where do you store the hitch parts if not in the back of the pick up?

20 Replies

  • Bionic Man wrote:
    SidecarFlip wrote:
    We have a burb and a pickup truck and myself, I prefer towing with the burb but ours is a 3500 with the big V8.

    Much more comfortable than the pickup truck.


    I think you are the only one in the world with a 3500 Suburban Denali. But you also are the only person I’ve heard who has a truck that Ford brought in and custom tuned for a customer.

    Better keep both of those vehicles a long time.


    Don't burst his bubble.
    I read "3500" a while ago in a post and assumed a typo. Considering it has to be a GMT 800 if it has the L-18 and GM did not make a 3500 Sub, it is definitely rare.
  • SidecarFlip wrote:
    We have a burb and a pickup truck and myself, I prefer towing with the burb but ours is a 3500 with the big V8.

    Much more comfortable than the pickup truck.


    I think you are the only one in the world with a 3500 Suburban Denali. But you also are the only person I’ve heard who has a truck that Ford brought in and custom tuned for a customer.

    Better keep both of those vehicles a long time.
  • I have a Silverado 2500HD and when opened the tailgate just misses the electric jack on the trailer. Buddy of mine has a F150 and can't fully open his tailgate when hooked to his TT. I think it not so much the truck but depends on what brand TT you have and where the manufacturer placed the mount bracket for the jack.

    I store the hitch head in the bed and the bars across the TT frame.
  • travelnman wrote:
    Those of you that have a pickup does the tailgate go down with the
    RV on the hitch or will it hit the hitch if you lower it all the
    way.

    Where do you store the hitch parts if not in the back of the pick up?

    Positioning of the tongue jack is usually what dictates being able to open the tailgate. If the jack is too close, you might be able to get a hitch drop shank that is a little longer to give you more space. Of course, that will also mean the hitch sticks out further is a greater opportunity to whack your shin on the blasted thing.

    When camping I just store the hitch head and WD bars under the trailer. Also, you can lock the ball in the coupler and let it hang from the trailer. I've also seen folks mount a 3" of 4" piece of pipe under the A-frame and slide the bars in from each side. There's lots of ways to slice this pie.

    KJ
  • Provided my TT is inline with the Tahoe, I too can raise the back door but the clearance is only a half inch or so.
  • We have a burb and a pickup truck and myself, I prefer towing with the burb but ours is a 3500 with the big V8.

    Much more comfortable than the pickup truck.
  • When I got my current trailer the tailgate would hit the electric tongue jack when I tried to lower the tailgate (it didn't hit with my previous trailer). I just got a longer drawbar for my hitch; problem solved.
  • Mine will not open fully with the trailer hitched.
    I put a side mount truck tool box on the front of mine. Holds all my towing equipment plus both batteries and a few other accessories. Lockable, looks good and easy access.
  • Our Chevy Silverado has no issues with tailgate being fully down when hitched to our TT with a power tongue jack. For nearly a dozen years we have stored our WD hitch bars right on the a-frame behind the batteries when RVing or when parked in our side yard.
  • depends on the trailer. tailgates clear 95% of the different trailers I've hooked up over the years (100s of trailers likely).
    All pickups are pretty much the same, back a truck up, any truck to your camper, your hitch, and see how much room you have.