1/2 Ton Suburban in steep grades with TT

[trance728]

I've read a bunch of different posts in several forums about towing with a 1/2 ton Suburban and how it will struggle on steep grades and that you should really have a 3/4 ton.

Here's my situation: I already have a 2005 1500 Suburban RWD with 3.42 gears and a tow package. My truck is rated to pull 7400#. I live in the Denver area and want to take a few trips out to California which will require going up steep grades I think 7% is the highest. The trailer. I want to get has a dry weight of 5700#.

My question is: If I add an additional tranny cooler, use a brake controller, a weight distribution anti sway hitch and only drive in 3rd with the tow mode on, will I be able to make a few trips out there without killing my transmission. Is there any other things I could do to help?

I would plan to leave the trailer with no water and very little gear through the mountains and it would only be myself and my dog in the truck.

I know I should upgrade my truck, but I can't get the trailer and a new tow vehicle at the same time. I don't mind getting a different truck later in the year but for the immediate timing I'd just like to know if the Suburban would make it until then.

I have thought about a smaller trailer but if I would inevitably trade up to a bigger truck in a few months I'd rather get the one I want.

Thanks for any feedback.

[trance728]

I was thinking about getting these

http://www.etrailer.com/Vehicle-Suspension/Chevrolet/Suburban/2005/TGMRYS4.html?vehicleid=2005100883...

Would that work as well as airbags? I read something about the airbags not for use on vehicles with auto leveling which is what my Suburban has.

[minnow]

We had an 01 3/4 ton Suburban with the 8.1 engine/4.1 diff. Loved that SUV. Got a fifth wheel so that eneded that. Still miss it however. Only issue with it towing is that the rear end sagged somewhat. Suggest you put on air bags to help with that.
Had a lot of cars and vans over the years and the Sub. is the only one I wished I could of kept.

[trance728]

I am deciding to keep the Suburban as it doesn't seem financially worth it to swap vehicles right now.

What else can I do to the Suburban to help it tow better? I added the extra tranny cooler already. I guess my other thoughts would be to beef up the rear suspension a little. Any recommendations on that or other things that would help it out?

[Fixed_Sight_Tra]

I use a tahoe to pull a 7000# camper from Denver around the rockies. (9.5 MPG)

Absolutely use 2nd for pulling the hills. 4000 rpm won't hurt the engine and you cam maintain about 50 up the hills. At 3400 you will drop out of the power curve and slow down quickly. Lock it into 2nd and you can let way up on the gas and pull the hills just fine. If you try to use third it will keep shifting between 2nd and third and that could damage the tranny.

Also if it came with a tow package it should have a tranny cooler. Look for a small radiator in front of the main radiator.

Make sure you have E rated tires and I just got some of these. They help a lot.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/03-06-Silverado-Tahoe-Pickup-Towing-Mirrors-Tow-Power-Heated-LED-Signal-Pair-Set-/252000852854?fits=Model%3ATahoe&hash=item3aac6bdb76&vxp=mtr

[Majja13]

My 2000 , GMC gets between 10-11 towing my TT. I would like to tow it with a Diesel to see how it does just to compare. I have the 3.73 in it.

[Tystevens]

Well, we have towed the same trailer w/ an '05 Suburban and '06 2500 diesel. The diesel was in the 10-12.5 mpg range towing the trailer. The '05 Suburban in the 8.5-10 mpg range.

So if it's purely financial motivation to go to a diesel, you're not going to see the desired results. Towing with a diesel has significant advantages, but it probably doesn't end up being much cheaper unless you tow a ton of miles.

[trance728]

BenK wrote:
IMHO......

How many thousands of dollars for a new/used TV ?

How many more MPG will it have over yourSub?

How many gallons will it take to payoff the $$$$ differential ?

My 7.4L gets 10 MPG....sometimes 15 MPG....and has a 42 gallon tank

It is 19 years old, but I'm not into buying every few years and keep them till the wheels fall off...or don't want to repair them anymore...

Get 7-8MPG towing 8-10K boat or trailer up to Lake Tahoe and in 3rd

Let's just say my Suburban gets 10mpg and going diesel gets me 15mpg but costs me $20k to get it, that means it would take 20k gallons to make up the difference to pay it off if it was $3 a gallon. That would mean I would have to drive it about 300k miles (if my math was right) to get to that point.

Now is the easier tow worth it? My Suburban is also only 2wd and getting 4wd would be nice living in Colorado.

[travelnutz]

BenK,
"what's yours?"

Used to have 73 cylinders here but now down to measily 29 cylinders unless we buy the additional 8 cylinder truck we've been thinking of doing so we won't have any changeovers anymore (TC to 5th wheel and back each year). Getting older (73+) and lazier and because it gets harder to do each year.

[BenK]

IMHO......

How many thousands of dollars for a new/used TV ?

How many more MPG will it have over yourSub?

How many gallons will it take to payoff the $$$$ differential ?

My 7.4L gets 10 MPG....sometimes 15 MPG....and has a 42 gallon tank

It is 19 years old, but I'm not into buying every few years and keep them till the wheels fall off...or don't want to repair them anymore...

Get 7-8MPG towing 8-10K boat or trailer up to Lake Tahoe and in 3rd

[Muddydogs]

I wish I could pull 9.5 MPG, got my gasser up to 8 MPG coming home today.

[GWolfe]

9.5 MPG is about average for a gasser towing, expect a diesel to get 11-12 towing.

[trance728]

Ok, so the Suburban was able to tow the trailer to California and back. I went the northern route on the way there and took I70 on the way back. The hottest the transmission fluid ever got was 219 and that was going up the Vail pass during construction so I was in 1st going about 10mph, the majority of the time it stayed around 150. A lot of the time I didn't feel like I was towing anything unless it was going up steep grades or just watching how crappy of gas mileage I was getting, 9.5mpg for the full trip (spent $900 in gas for the trip). So the gas mileage is to me the biggest upset of sticking with the Suburban.

So now that I have gone through that, I have started to think of upgrading my tow vehicle, but only if it makes sense to do so. My thoughts would be to get a 3/4 ton diesel but I have never owned a diesel vehicle. I would love some opinions on what I should go for.

Is it worth the upgrade? Will I get better gas mileage towing with a diesel to make it worthwhile? If so, what truck would you recommend? I have read that the 6.0L F250's are to be avoided like the plague.

Thanks again for any help.

[trance728]

Thanks everyone for all of the advice and knowledge, I'm super excited to get my first trailer, just put a deposit down on it today.

This is what I decided on:
Dutchmen Kodiak

[time2roll]

You will be in 2nd possibly even 1st gear as you approach the tunnel at the top. 3rd gear is for the flats. Let the transmission downshift then pull the lever to hold 2nd gear to the top.

Actually you will start driving by RPM more than speed when climbing. Aim for about 3500 in 2nd gear. You can run it up to 4000 and a bit more if you must. If you are dropping below 3000 you will to start thinking to pull the lever again for 1st gear and back up to ~3500 rpm again. Adjust your speed to match the RPM that seems to work for your engine.

I even set my cruise control to hold 3500 rpm locked in 2nd gear climbing a long steady incline.