Towing Jayco 23mb with Suburban 1/2 ton?

[shedhorn]

New guy here, looking for advice from those more experienced.

I have a 2007 Chevy Suburban half ton, 3.73 rear end and 5.3L V8. My tow capacity is 7000 lbs. We like the Jayco 23mb TT, gvwr = 6500 lbs.

We live in MT and plan to camp around the northern Rockies. Curious is anyone has input on how our tow vehicle will work with this trailer.

[shedhorn]

jenjen77 wrote:
Thanks for the update!! I have a question though. We are getting ready tow from florida to indiana in our 1/2 ton 2011 suburban with a tow package. A bit nervous, as this is our first time towing this particular trailer..5500lbs dry and 7200 gross. We plan on actually going to a CAT scale on the way to get weighed. Did you have the tow package on your Suburban? Curious on what we are in for!! lol thanks

Our 2007 1/2 ton Suburban does have a tow package, though not the auxiliary tranny cooler.

If we lived in and planned to travel only in flat country, I might consider keeping the burb after adding a tranny cooler. But we have to climb a pass in just about any direction we choose, plus there are lots of hills in general.

[jenjen77]

shedhorn wrote:
Hello all. Apologies for my absence of late, but life tends to get away from you when you're working a lot, chasing kiddos, working on the house/yard, and of course, camping. We took the Jayco out last weekend and had a good time. We The kiddos don't like to nap when we're camping, but that's an issue for another thread!

Thank you all for your feedback. I really appreciate getting different perspectives.

Towed the Jayco with our 1/2 ton Suburban. Went over a steep mountain pass here. She did poorly and I followed advice such as anticipating the inclines, shifting as needed, etc. Just not enough power. Engine came close to overheating and the tranny got really hot too. I was very conscious of how much cargo weight I had in the Suburban, knowing that it's easy to max out with passengers and gear.

Bottom line: it just wasn't safe or comfortable. Time for a different tow vehicle.

Thanks for the update!! I have a question though. We are getting ready tow from florida to indiana in our 1/2 ton 2011 suburban with a tow package. A bit nervous, as this is our first time towing this particular trailer..5500lbs dry and 7200 gross. We plan on actually going to a CAT scale on the way to get weighed. Did you have the tow package on your Suburban? Curious on what we are in for!! lol thanks

[shedhorn]

Hello all. Apologies for my absence of late, but life tends to get away from you when you're working a lot, chasing kiddos, working on the house/yard, and of course, camping. We took the Jayco out last weekend and had a good time. We The kiddos don't like to nap when we're camping, but that's an issue for another thread!

Thank you all for your feedback. I really appreciate getting different perspectives.

Towed the Jayco with our 1/2 ton Suburban. Went over a steep mountain pass here. She did poorly and I followed advice such as anticipating the inclines, shifting as needed, etc. Just not enough power. Engine came close to overheating and the tranny got really hot too. I was very conscious of how much cargo weight I had in the Suburban, knowing that it's easy to max out with passengers and gear.

Bottom line: it just wasn't safe or comfortable. Time for a different tow vehicle.

[likestrucks]

I like to think its a beast, haha. It does really well for what I throw at it.

[badercubed]

likestrucks wrote:
I wonder if its just expectations and getting used to making the Burb work for you. My tow vehicle is a 1998 k1500 with a 350 and 3.73 gears. When I tow the travel trailer(6900 loaded last time I scaled it) I keep it out of OD and just cruise, it does fine going highway speeds. At about 105km/h or 65mph the engine is turning about 2600rpm. Like TNrob said, if you anticipate the hills and use the shifter you can sail over most hills. If its ever a long steep hill and things start to heat up I just back off and go up in the slow lane. Its not a sports car and Im not in a race. Go drive a super b, towing anything after that seems fast, haha.

I think you are discounting the difference between your 5.7 and his 5.3. The mid to late 90's 350 was/is a beast.

[Mike_E_]

"Front end felt like it was floating at times. All this and I was still more than 2k lbs under tow capacity."

Sounds like your WD hitch isn't set up quite right.....front end shouldn't feel like it's floating....means not enough weight has been transferred back to your front axle. If the dealership did it for you then I'd suggest doing a bit of reading and set it up yourself....then you know it's done right. This in itself might change your thoughts on how it feels towing.

[likestrucks]

I wonder if its just expectations and getting used to making the Burb work for you. My tow vehicle is a 1998 k1500 with a 350 and 3.73 gears. When I tow the travel trailer(6900 loaded last time I scaled it) I keep it out of OD and just cruise, it does fine going highway speeds. At about 105km/h or 65mph the engine is turning about 2600rpm. Like TNrob said, if you anticipate the hills and use the shifter you can sail over most hills. If its ever a long steep hill and things start to heat up I just back off and go up in the slow lane. Its not a sports car and Im not in a race. Go drive a super b, towing anything after that seems fast, haha.

[TNrob]

I know this is apples to watermelons, but for perspective...

I pulled a 6000# 19' Hideout over the lower Appalachian Mountains on old state highways with a ram 1500. It had only a 4.7 V-8, 3.55 gear. I had OD off so it was akin to an old time 3 speed auto. I was manually pulling 2nd quite a lot, revving 32-3600 RPM, with pretty steady temps. If I let 3rd gear bog down until it shifted on its own it couldn't hold speed even in 2nd and it heated up. Use the shifter and it could climb, accelerate, stay cool, every thing.

By the second trip I was a real gear jammer. Let her rev.

By the 3rd trip, coming this summer, I had a 3/4 ton crew cab. Not because old truck wasn't working, but because we're looking to upgrade campers in a few years and old truck was working real, real hard.

No kids, no dog, just she and me, a cooler on the trip, and all of the stuff I keep behind the seat.

[jenjen77]

I appreciate your JMHO! We figure this is a short trip, compared to our trip to Yellowstone next year. We have a little test run before we decide to upgrade from a suburban to a full blown truck. I have 3 kids travelling with us, so if you throw in the dog, even a big truck has a hard time fitting everyone without our suburban. But if we need to upgrade to get us from Florida to Wyoming.. a once in a lifetime trip, I'm willing to board the dog! lol..But honestly, thanks for your opinion..we will see how are trip goes!

[TurnThePage]

I would think that Suburban would be adequate for towing that trailer unloaded. I don't know how much towing experience you have. Maybe you need to reset your expectations. Gas engines need to really rev to get to their power band. It doesn't hurt them to cruise in the 3-4000 rpm range. That's typically easier on the transmission too. Let it rev and don't let it shift too high, then get used to it. JMHO

[jenjen77]

we have a 2011 1/2 ton burb with the tow package... we towed a Keystone passport 185qbs..with its max weight of around 5500 lbs, from florida to california without a problem. We just upgraded to a 287 qbs...with a loaded weight of 7300. Curious to see how to does.. We are traveling to indiana and back next month. We are using the equalizer hitch. I have a feelings its going to be a much different pull, than our 185 was!

[krobbe]

shedhorn wrote:
Picked up the Jayco 23mb yesterday. Brought it home with it 1/2 ton suburban. All I can say is...gutless! Used weight dist hitch. Trailer was not loaded with any gear or fluids (just propane and 2 batteries on tongue) and the burb struggled to get up some long hills. Transmission got pretty hot. Front end felt like it was floating at times. All this and I was still more than 2k lbs under tow capacity.
I can only imagine it will get worse when I have gear and fluids in the trailer and people plus cargo in the burb.
It might eat gas as a daily runner but something tells me the better route is a 3/4 ton burb.

As you've experienced first hand, the 5.3 isn't the best for towing these weights. With 340 ft-lbs Torq @ 4200 rpm and 320 hp @ 5200 rpm, you'll need to run at higher rpm's to tow up any grades. I wouldn't want to do it. My 8.1L loafs along at 2200 rpm with 7 passengers towing 7200 lbs at 65mph. I can only recommend you look into a 3/4 ton with the 6.0L or better yet the 8.1. But I suspect you're already looking. 😉

[BenK]

Classic...and the OEM's makes another sale for a higher class TV... :S

That MTWR (max tow weight rating) and being under it by 2,000 is normal
for newbies...heck even old timers... Makes no matter lowest class TV or
higher class TV's...the ratings works the same way for all

Because that MTWR is derived from the stripper model (AKA Curb) vehicle

Meaning no options, other than the tow option, one 150lb driver and
nothing else

Every pound over that stripper model's weight (curb weight) takes away
from the MTWR...pound for pound

You should either look for a lighter/smaller trailer or higher class TV

[shedhorn]

Picked up the Jayco 23mb yesterday. Brought it home with it 1/2 ton suburban. All I can say is...gutless! Used weight dist hitch. Trailer was not loaded with any gear or fluids (just propane and 2 batteries on tongue) and the burb struggled to get up some long hills. Transmission got pretty hot. Front end felt like it was floating at times. All this and I was still more than 2k lbs under tow capacity.

I can only imagine it will get worse when I have gear and fluids in the trailer and people plus cargo in the burb.

It might eat gas as a daily runner but something tells me the better route is a 3/4 ton burb.