Which Year Suburban 2500?

the_happiestcamper wrote:
As far as the hitch, I had mine replaced for about $400.

Very difficult to impossible to do with the latest generation 2500 Burb/Yukon XL. The hitch is welded on with what look like crumple zones built in to it. My guess is that you could grind off the old and put on something new, but I don't think the after-market guys are building bolt-ons for this series.

I towed a 7500 lb TT with ours and was OK. I loaded it the best I could with just enough tongue weight to make it stable. Of course, that reduced my use of the front cross-over storage.

If you want to compare, we towed a 2007 Flagstaff 831BHSS.

Our Yukon was a 2008. We towed on the East coast. Pulled it to Disney/Key West twice and in and around the West Virginia hills with no problems.

You are in a similar position to where I was 2 years ago. Wife wanted the 3 rows of seats to replace our prior crew cab pickup, although far less capable than yours. An older Burb would have been a TV mainly, and newer would be a DD too.

In theory, the 6-spds are a huge game changer (and 8+ hitting the market now too). Despite having less engine torque, the gearing provides more wheel torque. The difference is having to downshift a gear or two to get it vs. the 8.1L and your diesel.



The reality is most people towing with the current gassers and 6-spds are cruising in 5th gear at 2000-2400rpm. Most hills can let the speed drop a little or downshift to 4th gear @ 3000rpm. That's better than prior times when they cruised at 2700rpm and dropped to 2nd gear at 4000rpm.

The 6.0L looks relatively weak compared to competitors gassers, even the half ton tops engines. But it is still strong. It pulls pretty hard over 3500rpm when you want to. It is darn near buulletproof, in production for about 15 years. It's no Duramax, but it does it's job very well. And GM has the highest % of gas sales in its HD trucks compared to Ford/Ram.

We put 21k miles in the first year on our 2011. Over 2600 miles non towing to Disney. 1k miles weekend wedding in TN. FE started at about 12mpg in my mixed commute, 15mpg on the Disney trip, up to 14mpg mixed commuting for my wife and 18mpg highway. I saw 20mpg over 200 miles on a day trip. One month shy of 2 years now, and only 34k miles. It's temporarily turned into a TV and all family vehicle for a little while.

Ride is about the same as my 2003 F-150. The kids and wife all pass out on trips. They only way they know we are towing is turning around to see it. It's easy to drive at or above ST trailer tire speeds, in 100* temps outside and 72* inside. With only 3 kids and 2nd row captain chairs, there is a lot of space for each person to keep the things to occupy their time 3-20 hour trips. With all the time we spend in it, we wanted all the conveniences and luxuries. It's not perfect; It just works. There are competitors with advantages in some areas, but not with the capability for RVing this thing has. If the receiver had 1200-1300 pound rating, I'd be a lot happier recommending it more universally as well as upgrading my own TT. Performance is underrating IMHO. It can whip my 6500-ish pound loaded TT around if I want to. I don't think another 2000-3000 would be a problem at all.

Based on your TT dry published weights and scaled weights, I don't have any problem recommending the 2008+ 3/4 ton Burb/Yuk XL to you. You will be right at the receiver rating as well as GCWR of 16k. But it will perform far better at that limit than any half ton SUV and pickup except a HD payload F-150 Ecoboost with not quite as harsh a ride and as much luxury as you'd like to purchase.

As far as the hitch, I had mine replaced for about $400.

CliffordG wrote:
If I followed all that correctly your hitch weight is 2,000 lbs or more.

I don't think I was as clear with the numbers as I could have been.

Scale Weights (loaded for camping)

• Front Axle 4140
• Rear Axle 4500
• Trailer Axle 7000
• Total GCWR 15640

The weights from the scale was with our current truck loaded for camping with passengers. My thoughts were if I was at 6850 unloaded and approx. 8600 loaded in the DMax,wouldn't a burb be about the same, just a little lighter? I figured 6500 unloaded and about 8250 loaded, or 350 under GVWR. Room for a couple kids and still be 100 or so lbs under.

As far as the tongue weight, I was thinking it was closer to 1k with the other 750lbs of payload mentioned above going to passengers and gear. We weigh about 550-600 for all 5 of us.

I think APT is correct and that I'll have to get a tongue weight scale to really know where I stand.

If I went with the older burb it would be a dedicated TV, whereas the newer one would serve double-duty as it would replace the Honda Pilot and my truck. I'd be back down to two cars instead of 3, a Suburban and Nissan Leaf (David and Goliath so to speak).

Thanks for all the responses so far.

I agree with APT except for an 8.1 being a superior towing vehicle. It would handle more tongue weight, but I believe that the new model is much more comfortable, and provides better fuel economy when not towing. APT has posted that the 6.0 and 6 sp is a better combination. Additionally, 8.1s will be 8 to 11 years old, and may hit you for maintenance.

I love my 2011 25000 Burb. I looked for a long time for a 03-06 8.1L. I was very selective/picky, but could not find many I'd be willing to purchase over the course of about a year. If you can stay under the hitch limit of 1000 pounds (you are close), then a 2008+ is great. 6.0L + 6-spd rocks. Decent compromise of power/performance and fuel economy. You might want to invest in a Sherline scale if you are leaning towards a 2007+ one. My payload per tire and loading sticker is 2051 pounds, heavily optioned 4WD LT.

If this will be a dedicated TV, I'd look harder for an 03-06 8.1L. It is a superior towing vehicle than mine.

Similar powertrains/capability in 3/4 and 1-ton vans will cost far less to purchase.

NBS 'burb has a tongue weight limit (hitch limited) to 1,000 pounds. Your numbers indicate you are way over 1,000 pounds on your trailer tongue.

Oh, and as for the older (classic) with the 8.1 it's not going to be much better.

Here's a copy of the capacities page from the owners manual of an '05.

http://chevroletforum.com/forum/attachments/tahoe-suburban-25/5705d1374424408-need-help-w-towing-capacities-2005-suburban-2500-2005-burb-owners-manual-jpg

Sorry it's so small and blurry, it's a rehost from another website. In 2005 the 2500 'Burb with the 8.1 had a max trailer weight of 10,300 and a payload of 2500ish. Those numbers are still very close, some would say TOO close, to what you're actually wanting to do.

IMHO you shouldn't do this. I don't think you're going to be happy with it if you do.

If I followed all that correctly your hitch weight is 2,000 lbs or more. The 2013 2500 'Burb has a payload capacity of 2100ish. http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/suburban/2013/features-specs.html?style=200427774

You're going to right at the payload limit before you add any passengers or luggage! Max Towing is listed as 9400lbs and you're trailer is very close to that with a GVWR of 9,000.

On paper your trailer and expected load is too much for the 2500 Series Suburban.

With that said if you decide to move forward on it I can make you a lowball offer on your diesel truck! ;)

(FWIW I think the 2500 would do it but I don't think you'd be happy coming from a D/A combo).