What do you guys think about this? Roo and Tahoe?

[sheripoms]

Ok,,so ,, We finally decided to go with a hybrid. So we like the Rockwood Roo 21ss Dry Weight is 4300 lbs. I understand it will be more like 4800 with awning etc.
Can my Chevy Tahoe pull it? Here are the specs on tahoe:

2008 Chevy Tahoe 2WD 5.3 flex fuel v8 engine with a Trans cooler.
3.42 gears
GVWR 7100
GAWR Front 3200
GAWR Rear 4100

Hitch Ratings
weight carrying 5000 lbs/ max tongue weight 600 lbs
Weight distributing 10,000 /tongue weight 1000 lbs

[Kemahsabe]

sheripoms wrote:
Thanks for all the advice.. But I'm still a little confused. So we were looking at the Rockwood Roo 21dk which is 300 lbs lighter and 50 lbs lighter on the tongue weight than the 21ss. But in reality is 300 lbs going to make that much difference?

My Tahoe is rated to pull 7100 . So I am wondering why a 4300 lb dry 21 foot trailer is to much for it?

I don't see where anyone said that trailer is too much for it. Reviewing the comments, there seems to be agreement that it's doable. You'll never get this group to do better than that. :C

BTW, I edited my comment to show that I'm towing with a 3.23 rear end and a 4-spd transmission.

Kemahsabe

[pitch]

The large box shape of a Travel Trailer is what hurts your SUV's towing ability. Towing a 7k boat or a 7k TT are two totally different things. If you look in your owners manual in the towing section, there should be a statement concerning square footage of the frontal area. Think of riding a bicycle with a sheet of plywood strapped to your back versus riding with a 2x4 board.
I am not commenting on your vehicles ability to tow any particular trailer, just pointing out that max tow ratings are only a guide line and must be down rated for a TT.

[ependydad]

You can try to deduce your Tahoe's towing capabilities by playing with numbers a bit:
http://www.towingplanner.com/Calculators/TowingPayloadEstimate

The best thing is to load up like you are pretend camping and get the vehicle weighed. You can make much better decisions once you have real numbers to work with.

Then, once you have that- you can figure out what life-like tongue weights of the Roo are by using this calculator:
http://www.towingplanner.com/Estimators/TonguePinWeightFromDry

[bikendan]

sheripoms wrote:
Ok, so I found out my Tahoe has the 4 speed transmission. Is that worse than the 6 speed for towing?

yes.

and i don't think your Tahoe can tow 7100lbs. with the 3.42 rear end ratio. and you never stated whether you Tahoe has the HD factory tow package.

my 2007 Avalanche has the 5.3 and the 4 spd. trans BUT it has the 3.73 rear end ratio. its towing capacity is 7200lbs.
so, since your Tahoe has the 3.42 rear end, its towing capacity should be much less than mine. that rear end ratio lowers the towing capacity. unless it had the 6 spd. trans.

i said you should be able to tow the Roo but you haven't provided info about the HD tow package. but a lot has to do with pulling that trailer through the air and that 3.42 doesn't help.

[sheripoms]

Thanks for all the advice.. But I'm still a little confused. So we were looking at the Rockwood Roo 21dk which is 300 lbs lighter and 50 lbs lighter on the tongue weight than the 21ss. But in reality is 300 lbs going to make that much difference?

My Tahoe is rated to pull 7100 . So I am wondering why a 4300 lb dry 21 foot trailer is to much for it?

[Mvander]

The 3.42 and 4 spd isnt ideal. I have 3.73 and 4 spd and my tt is very close to the weight you will have. I feel about maxed power wise. Just leave it in 3rd and keep your speeds lower and I would imagine you will do alright.

[sheripoms]

Ok, so I found out my Tahoe has the 4 speed transmission. Is that worse than the 6 speed for towing?

[Kemahsabe]

I've got a 2006 Tahoe with similar specs, and tow a 24' Prowler that is 4,400# empty and 5,500# 'full'. I use a WDH w/o sway control. Trailer tows beautifully - hardly know it's back there.

Edit: I've got the 'Trailering Pkg', trans cooler, 4-spd trans, and 3.23 rear end.

[Mr_Beebo]

Towed a 23SS Roo with our Tahoe thru the Smokies, Branson, Florida, Northern Indiana, etc for several years without issue. Use a good WD hitch with sway control, a good brake controller, load your cargo evenly, etc. Pretty much the same things you would do with any tow vehicle. Use tow/haul mode. We averaged about 10.5 mpg and never really had any issues holding speed in steep grades unless I didn't have any speed going into it to begin with.

[bikendan]

sheripoms wrote:
Ok,,so ,, We finally decided to go with a hybrid. So we like the Rockwood Roo 21ss Dry Weight is 4300 lbs. I understand it will be more like 4800 with awning etc.
Can my Chevy Tahoe pull it? Here are the specs on tahoe:

2008 Chevy Tahoe 2WD 5.3 flex fuel v8 engine with a Trans cooler.
3.42 gears
GVWR 7100
GAWR Front 3200
GAWR Rear 4100

Hitch Ratings
weight carrying 5000 lbs/ max tongue weight 600 lbs
Weight distributing 10,000 /tongue weight 1000 lbs

your hitch receiver ratings are for the receiver only. has nothing to do with the actual tow ratings of the Tahoe. GM puts that receiver on many different vehicles that all have different tow/payload ratings.

you don't say whether your Tahoe has the HD factory tow package or not.
does it have the 6 spd. trans or 4 spd. trans?

that said, you should be able to tow a 21SS with it, unless you overload the Tahoe with a lot of passengers and cargo.

[kknowlton]

You can pull it. You may not be super pleased with the performance; your gear ratio is pretty low for towing. Remember that "dry weight" means with NOTHING in the trailer - often not even LP gas, much less any water, or any of your personal gear. We started out towing our similar-size/weight hybrid with an Explorer with better gear ratio than yours, and similar towing "ability" (according to the official info from Ford), and ended up trading it for a truck that was much more capable. We found the SUV just wasn't up to towing in stiff headwinds - MPG dropped like a rock and the car was really struggling. Good luck! Nice choice of trailer, BTW.