2012 Suburban - good tow vehicle?

[Next]

My wife and I currently have a 2012 Suburban and are wanting to get a travel trailer.

The one she wants is right at maximum tow weight with our vehicle IF i add a transmission cooler and change the rear ring and pinion.

Is that safe or do we need to look at other options?

[oughtsix]

A 31' trailer with 3 slides behind a 1500 Suburban? You can do all the math you want I can tell you that 1500 Surburban is not even close to being up to that trailer. Could you get away with it for a while? Probably! Will you enjoy towing that big trailer with your little Suburban... definitely not!

[travelnman]

We use a 2004 Burban with the 5.3/373 axel and heavy duty cooling
on trans and radiator. These things are minimum requirement.
The TT weighs dry 6,200lbs. The odometer now reads 156,000 and
has been hooked up to that TT pretty much its whole life. Trans
has never been worked on and the oil pressure well over 40. I
need to shift down for hills and sometimes turn off the air but it
does the job. Another camper with a F250 and the same TT asked
how this was working out, the only improvement I said would be a larger engine but for the loss in mpg I was happy, he was unhappy with his mpg. GM in my opinion builds a great vehicle especially
the new one with 355 horses but its out of my price range and I
don't think I'm alone in this. I just saw the consumer reports on
the new Escalade ESV with the 6.2 liter and was disappointed, no
matter I couldn't afford the sticker shock let alone the sales tax
anyhow.

[APT]

3/4 ton pickups and SUVs are worth (or cost) about twice as much as full sized vans of similar age/condition/mileage. If you do not need 3 rows of seats, 3/4ton+ pickups are a great for 8000 pounds dry. And there are lots of them available compared to vans. If you go back before late 2000s, you don't want a small block.

[LarryJM]

Tystevens wrote:

Next wrote:
So it is a no go.


Suggestions on cheap tow rig?

Depends if you need an 8-passenger vehicle or not. Should be lots of 3/4 and 1 ton crew cab trucks available, any of which should do the job.

If you need seating for 8, the search becomes harder. 3/4 ton Suburbans and Ford Excursions are your only option. Ford quit making the Excursion in 2005, and GM hasn't made a 3/4 ton Suburban for a couple years (I believe). The 'Burbs are hard to find on the used market -- I looked for quite a while for a 3/4 ton when we bought our '10, and didn't find anything that was acceptable.

3/4 or 1 ton full-size vans should work as well, but I don't know much about those.

Good luck!

Full sized Vans IMO make great tow vehicles and I have been using them for towing since 1979 coming up on 40 years. With that being said and for my personal comfort level and pleasure of towing I think at least for the Ford 138" WB with a conventional WDH system (i.e. not a HA or equilivant) I think about 8K and 31/32' is about my personal limit. Much heavier and longer I would want the longer WB Pickup platform or maybe the long WB GM Van, but I think none of the Van have a rating of more than about 18K GCW except for mine with a 20K GCW and maybe the V10 and 4:30 or 4:56 rear if you can even get or find one of those.

Larry

[Tystevens]

Next wrote:
So it is a no go.


Suggestions on cheap tow rig?

Depends if you need an 8-passenger vehicle or not. Should be lots of 3/4 and 1 ton crew cab trucks available, any of which should do the job.

If you need seating for 8, the search becomes harder. 3/4 ton Suburbans and Ford Excursions are your only option. Ford quit making the Excursion in 2005, and GM hasn't made a 3/4 ton Suburban for a couple years (I believe). The 'Burbs are hard to find on the used market -- I looked for quite a while for a 3/4 ton when we bought our '10, and didn't find anything that was acceptable.

3/4 or 1 ton full-size vans should work as well, but I don't know much about those.

Good luck!

[APT]

Cheap tow vehicle, especially used: 1-ton passenger van should tow that trailer well. Ford has V10. GM diesel or if buy new enough 6.0L/6-spd.

[krobbe]

Kalabin wrote:

Next wrote:
So it is a no go.


Suggestions on cheap tow rig?

Depends,

What is your budget, how many people / pets are you hauling, will it be a dedicated tow vehicle (sit the majority of the year)? This will help narrow down your options pretty quick for recommendations.

From the layout of the trailer with a bunk room, It looks like you have a few more than just the two of you to carry in the TV. Which is the reason I chose a 3/4 ton Suburban as well. Mine is not a daily driver and I really wanted an 8.1L to tow with. I see 3/4 ton Yukon XL's and Sub's in autotrader.com come up for sale all the time. The 8.1L was only available from 2001 to 2006. But the 6.0L still continues. If choosing a 6.0L, look for later model years to get the 6speed transmission. Production on the 3/4 tons ended in 2013.
Since I have a saved search with autotrader, I get emails with any new listings that come up. Pricing on these vehicles are anywhere between $6K to $60K+ depending on year and options.

[Kalabin]

Next wrote:
So it is a no go.


Suggestions on cheap tow rig?

Depends,

What is your budget, how many people / pets are you hauling, will it be a dedicated tow vehicle (sit the majority of the year)? This will help narrow down your options pretty quick for recommendations.

[colliehauler]

Next wrote:
So it is a no go.


Suggestions on cheap tow rig?

Any 3/4 ton truck of your choice or a 2500 Burb should work.

[Next]

So it is a no go.


Suggestions on cheap tow rig?

[krobbe]

I estimate that trailer to be 9400lbs ready to camp with a hitch weight of 1200+lbs. Over your receiver rating. And too heavy to easily tow.
I wouldn't do it.

[ib516]

Too big, and wouldn't be much fun with a little 5.3L under the hood.

[bikendan]

colliehauler wrote:

Next wrote:
No, 1500.

Way to much trailer for a 1500, at the limits for a 2500.

x2!! Big Time.

I own a 2007 Avalanche, basically a Burb with a truck bed and that's well over the capability of the 1/2 ton Burb.

The OP needs to seriously look at something way shorter and lighter.

[Tystevens]

I have a '10 Suburban 1500 w/ the max tow options (3.42 gears, K5L cooling package), and our 6500# (fully loaded to camp) trailer is plenty taxing for it. I would not want to add another 2-3000 lbs back there, that is for sure. The suspension is very soft (which makes it ride so nice unloaded), and would be hard to equalize that much tongue weight. You'd also probably be over the ratings on the factory hitch, and as mentioned, you can't really upgrade that part since it's part of the frame cross-member.

8000# dry is 3/4 ton territory, I'm afraid.