APT wrote:
Congrats! The 3/4 ton GMT900 SUVs are great!
The 3/4 ton SUVs are not basically the 2500HD with SUV body. The frame is a lot stronger on the pickups. The wheelbase is 14" longer for extended cab/short bed or 23" longer for crew can short bed. The axles are rated higher as well as the wheels.
Now the GMT800 SUVs had tow ratings as high as 12000 pounds with GCWR of 18k pounds I believe. That used the same/similar axles and wheels as the GMT900 SUVs. With the 6-spd, I don't think you'll notice much performance difference between 3.73 and 4.10. You'll be stuck in 4th gear most of the time anyway at 8000+ pounds anyway. If you want to make driver noticeable changes, get 4.56 gears, a Black Bear Tune, OEM-clone towing mirrors, and that receiver. I think you'll want a premium WDH (Hensley/Propride) along with the custom receiver. Someone posted a great thread on adding a second receiver to his GMT900 Suburban/Yukon XL. I'll try to find that.
Here you go.
Thanks for the link. I've seen setups where people have added an additional receiver to the GMT900 SUV's. There's a place out of Florida that does Duramax conversions on the GMT900 Suburbans and Yukons and they've got a Youtube video showing an additional receiver added to one of their conversions. That thread looks good - I'll read thru that.
Adding an additional receiver is (I hope) the solution I am going to go with. I found a receiver I hope will fit this Yukon, there's some rearrangement that needs to happen to get any additional receiver to fit in I think. I'll know better when I have the receiver in hand and have time to scope out how it will fit.
I've seen the frame issue brought up a number of times in other forums. And the first thing to bear in mind is the thing you pointed out: the GMT800 could be had in a version with a 12k tow rating (this was the 8.1L engine with the 4.10 rear BTW). So the frame in the GMT900 should good for at least that.
The other thing to bear in mind when comparing the SUV with the pickup - is that the pickup is basically "split" in the middle. There is absolutely no overall chassis stiffness to be added by the body. So the frame must carry all the weight and torsional forces on the chassis. In the SUV - the body itself adds to the overall strength of the vehicle chassis because it is one piece.
I think a lot of people forget that.
So I think it is reasonable considering those two factors - to think that the 2500 series SUV with the right components could easily be capable of towing 12-13k.
The Yukon XL I have - has the same HD wheels as the pickup truck. The 2500 series SUV's have always had the same wheels as the HD pickups. My 2003 has the chrome 16" wheels that came on all the GM 2500/3500 pickups of that era.
If you look at the Chevy brochure for the Suburban it lists a wheelbase of 130 inches.
A regular cab GMT900 Silverado/Sierra with the long bed is 133" wheelbase.
The max trailer weight for the regular cab is still listed as 13k in the GMC and Chevy brochures.
The regular cab long bed pickup weighs in at 5,556 lbs according to the specs I can find.
A 2500 series Suburban/Yukon XL weighs in at 6,551 lbs.
Does 3 extra inches on the wheelbase trump 1000 extra pounds for making a more stable towing platform?
