Towing with a Tahoe

Curly2001 wrote:
Too much weight for a truck with that rear end. You will burn it up if you hit the mountains. Trust me, I know that from doing it. 4,500 lbs is almost too much for that to pull on a regular basis. You have the weight plus the wind resistance going against you.

If it was an older Tahoe with a 4-speed, maybe. This is a newer model with a 6-speed and 3.42's, as good as an older 4-speed with 4.10 gears. It would only burn up if it had inadequate cooling. It does need the tow package to have adequate cooling.

Too much weight for a truck with that rear end. You will burn it up if you hit the mountains. Trust me, I know that from doing it. 4,500 lbs is almost too much for that to pull on a regular basis. You have the weight plus the wind resistance going against you.

I'll state up front that I have not towed with a Tahoe, just a 2500 Suburban. If you are comparing a 1500 Suburban to a Tahoe, I'd think they would have similar stability. The Tahoe has a shorter wheelbase, but it also has a shorter rear overhang which should balance it out. Even on my 2500 Suburban, tires make a huge difference. I towed our trailer (28.5' ball to bumper, 6k empty, 7500+ loaded with a scaled 1200-1300 lb tongue weight) for 4 years with Michelin all season load range E tires and it was incredibly stable. Just putting new tires on that were all terrain definitely reduced the stability. I didn't really get blown around so much but when I had to make a steering correction the was definitely less precise. Just overall felt less stable and secure. We did tow it 2-3,000 miles this year and it was fine, but it made it obvious to me how different tires can behave. If you don't need all terrain tires, get an all season tire with a more stable tread design. If you can, get LT tires for it. The rear suspension has a Panhard rod that should keep the rear axle pretty stable. The weakest link might be tires if there is an issue.

Porpoising could possibly be cured with good shocks. I've always preferred Bilstein shocks, not just because they work well, but because they last a long time.

Good luck. You might consider weighing your current set-up to make sure you know what you're dealing with. Can't hurt.

Thom02099 wrote:

travelnman wrote:
Anyone pulling with a Tahoe with the 5.3/3.42 axel? Would like to have feedback regarding sway since it has a shorter wheel base is this a problem or does it pull the same as a Suburban or Expedition? Weight ratings seem the same as well as other considerations but proof is in actual towing experience. I have seen guys towing with Tahoes all though most are using pickups these days. Sure would appreciate some reaction to this ASAP, looking at a nice 2014 Chevy Tahoe for a good price with low miles. I'm pulling a 28 foot Keystone Springdale TT with a empty weight of 6.200lbs with a old Suburban which has seen its best days. Thanks for your help or reaction to this.

I have an older, though similar Tahoe that I USED to tow with. 2003 LT, I took out the back seats to reduce weight. Towed a Keystone Outback 25RSS, loaded except for 50 gallons of water was ~5900 pounds (scale weight), so about 6500 pounds total. WDH in use. Total combined weight was 11780 (also scale weight), below the GCWR of 13400 for the the Tahoe.

There was no problem with sway at all. Used the Tahoe for a cross country trip to Indiana and back one year, it towed fine. The issue that I had with the Tahoe was "porpoising" on certain concrete roadways; that bucking up/down for endless miles gets really tedious. Had to find the speed "sweet spot" where it was minimal.

Another problem was towing in the Colorado mountains. Loss of power and speed, it would downshift to 3rd and 2nd frequently. Now Tahoes are built to run at the higher revs, but after a while it gets old, dropping down to 20-25mph to go up a steep grade or mountain pass.

Fuel economy sucked as well. On that Indiana trip, mostly flat driving, I was lucky to get 9mpg. Had to stop for fuel every 200-225 miles. In the mountains, that would drop to 6-7mpg.

Still have the Tahoe. It's a great vehicle, one of the best I've ever had. And it would be fine for lighter weight towing, say no more than 5000 fully loaded. Perhaps a lighter weight would reduce the porpoising; don't know, never tried it. I just don't use it for towing any more.

Went with a 2007 GMC Sierra SLE 3500 Dually. Yes, it's probably overkill for the trailer that I still have, but it allows me to go to a bigger trailer at some point. Tows mountain grades/passes with ease, engine braking for descending, and fuel economy that's consistently 11-13mpg (mixed mountains-flats).

Pretty much the same story here... Tahoe suspension is squishy even though it can handle the weight. Not so much a wheelbase issue, its long coil springs with little damping and P-metric tires. No safety issues in over 10k miles of towing but the porpoising gets old fast. I have a 2012 GMC 2500HD diesel now, night and day difference. 12.6mpg trailer, 15+ unloaded, no need to slow down on a grade, exhaust brake, Allison, and integrated brake controller. I look forward to long trips in that truck. I gave the Tahoe to my parents and they use it to tow their little boat. Tahoes are good little SUV's but pretty uncomfortable to tow with.

The newer Tahoe’s have more hp / tq with variable cam timing and six speed transmissions. They blow away any NBS 2000-2007.

BTW 3.42 is the optional gear from 3.08. You can’t think in 4 speed transmissions terms anymore with 6 gears.

Towing is much better now if you have auto ride, 3.42 with HD trailering package with electronic anti sway.
My 13 LTZ is still only 5500 lbs and could still get man handled in the mountains with anything over 6000 lbs of trailer.

Nope sorry guys....
Optimistic Paranoia will be along soon to confirm that this would require at least a class 4-5 truck, possibly a recreational class 8!

mkirsch wrote:
5.3 with 3.42 and the 6-speed transmission, you've got plenty of gears to make the torque.

Wheelbase? The Tahoe is only 3" shorter than a freakin' Silverado, fer chrissakes! NOBODY says the Silverado is too short. This wheelbase thing is something some troll made up for people to glom onto and spout as fact. He has long since died laughing at everyone who has passionately parroted his garbage, crying, "IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN! THINK OF THE CHILDREN! YOU WANT TO BE SAAAAAAAAFE!"

I think we have a winner! I couldn’t have said it better myself.

5.3 with 3.42 and the 6-speed transmission, you've got plenty of gears to make the torque.

Wheelbase? The Tahoe is only 3" shorter than a freakin' Silverado, fer chrissakes! NOBODY says the Silverado is too short. This wheelbase thing is something some troll made up for people to glom onto and spout as fact. He has long since died laughing at everyone who has passionately parroted his garbage, crying, "IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN! THINK OF THE CHILDREN! YOU WANT TO BE SAAAAAAAAFE!"

OP, what are the specs on the suburban you are pulling with now? If it’s a 2500 with the 8.1l , we may all be way off.

When you say 6200 empty - is that dry weight or scaled when not loaded? 6200 lbs dry would figure around 7,700 optioned and loaded to camp.

P type tires, short wheelbase and 3.42 is a handicap.

What is payload and rear axle rating on the Tahoe?