Anyone with experience towing with a Suburban

[andrewwm]

Hi, I’d like to hear from people who have experience towing a larger travel trailer with a Suburban. I have a Suburban 1500 5.3L. I want to buy the largest travel trailer my suburban can safely tow. This will be my first travel trailer. I have towed many small trailers and cars on trailers. It will be me my wife and two small children on the trip. We would like as big as we can for space as it will be long trip visiting several towns for weeks at a time.

I’m not so concerned about weigh but I am concerned about length and sway as I’m currently considering a 25 foot outback weighing about 4,500lbs unladen and another 29 foot travel trailer weighing 5,500lbs unladen. If you can give advice from experience on length and sway that would be really appreciated. All advice from experience is appreciated but I’d also really like to hear from those who have towed with a suburban.

Below is an explanation why I’m not as concerned about weights – basically GCWR is probably my limiting factor and I plan to keep within my weight ratings.

Weights – I’ve checked the ratings on my Suburban. From the manual and after checking my gear ratio it has a 7,500lbs max trailer weight and 13,000lbs max GCWR. I had checked on websites such as Edmunds which stated my Suburban would weigh about 5,000lbs. Fortunately, I weighed it with a full tank of gas and nothing else in it but me. The actual weight with me was 5,760lbs (I’m about 200lbs). So before I even add gear to the Suburban/trailer and passengers the max weight of my trailer is limited by the GCWR to 7240lbs.
My rear axle is rated to 4000lbs with tires rated to 2400lbs each. When I weighed it my rear axle had 2760lbs on it. The manual states a maximum tongue weight of 1,200lbs which gives me a trailer weight assuming 15% tongue load of 1200/0.15=8000lbs. So if I don’t put too much weight in the suburban it looks like tongue weight is not my limiting factor. It looks like my GCWR will be.

Thanks

[APT]

I’m not so concerned about weigh but I am concerned about length and sway

Focus on the weight. If you keep the Suburban under all its ratings, use a WDH with integrated sway control, the length and sway won't be a problem. People have towed 35+ foot 10,000+ pound TTs with 3/4 ton Suburbans quite comfortably.

You said you weighed the Suburban and came in at 5760 pounds. Your GVWR is 7000 or 7200 pounds for 2WD or 4WD. Add up the weight of the rest of the family. The rest is available for loaded trailer tongue weight.

That truck is very similar to my last TV, a 2003 F-150. It towed our 6500-ish pound TT well for two years before we wanted 3 rows of seats. If you like the 5500 pound 29' better, go for it. Get an Equal-i-zer or Reese WDH and enjoy. Change all the fluids in that truck.

[wrenchbender]

If it was me I would buy a smaller TT as a starter and after you learn the ropes than trade up.The learning curve can then be a walk in the park.

[EMD_DRIVER]

PAThwacker wrote:
The flip at the crest of the hill could have been anything. Stalled traffic, car pulling out, or blast of sun into the eyes. Any vehicle would have suffered the same fate.

My friend simply let-off the gas pedal. Nothing more. No wind effects and not another vehicle.

[PAThwacker]

The flip at the crest of the hill could have been anything. Stalled traffic, car pulling out, or blast of sun into the eyes. Any vehicle would have suffered the same fate.


I was traveling 25 miles an hour below post speed limit during moderate rain. Crested a hill at a valley light which was green. From left lane car cuts me off, and shot to right turn lane. Panic brake, next move 2 cars shift to left lane simultaneously. I'm already locked up from car one and there sits a stalled out yukon. Oh******here it comes boom.

[intheburbs]

I had a 2001 Suburban with the 5.3 and the 4.10 axles. I pulled three different trailers with it on long road trips.

Trailer 1: 29' Trail Cruiser, ~5000 lbs, three trips from MI to Florida
Trailer 2: Captiva 28'(?), ~5500 lbs, one trip from MI to Washington DC and Williamsburg VA
Trailer 3: Salem 26', ~6500 lbs, one trip from MI to Yellowstone and Colorado

All 3 rigs used a traditional hitch setup - WD hitch with friction sway brake.

I had zero trailer experience, but researched the hell out of weights, lengths, sway, etc.

All 3 trailers exhibited moderate push-pull when passing/getting passed by semis.

On one trip to Florida, winds were gusting to 40-50 MPH. In hindsight, we probably just shouldn't have traveled at all that one day. I had the friction brake cranked down so hard that I bent the 1/2" plate that the vertical sway ball was attached to on the hitch.

In all of those trips, spanning 15-20,000 miles of towing, I never had any situation where sway was uncontrollable or made me feel like I was going to lose it.

The 3.73 axle won't have you winning any races. I always towed in 3, never in "D." At 65 MPH, the engine was around 3000-3100 RPM. With the 3.73, you should be a little lower.

Driving through the Rockies sucked. Climbing Powder River Pass in Wyoming (9666 ft), the best the truck could as we approached the pass was 25 MPH in first gear.

I also went through a few rear ends. First, I blew the pinion bearing because I was trying to use downshifts to help slow the rig. Next, I fried the rear end by driving 500 miles across MN and SD on a 95° day at 65-70 MPH. My advice to you is to purchase a handheld infrared thermometer, so you can keep an eye on the temperature of the rear axle on long drive days. Buying an aftermarket diff cover with cooling fins would probably be a good idea, too. The rear axle is definitely the weak link in these trucks.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

PS - note the truck in my sig. If you plan to use your trailer frequently, an upgrade to a 2500 is like night and day.


Trail Cruiser:


Captiva:


Salem:

[mbopp]

'03 1500 5.3? Probably has a 4L60E transmission. Get the biggest, baddest transmission cooler you can fit in it.

[andrewwm]

Thanks Geotex1.

[geotex1]

andrewwm wrote:

I also noted Wincrasher65 had problems setting up weight distribution with the air ride suspension, I have the autoride self levelling suspension. Will this cause problems.

It's no problem to set up. It just requires that you set it up at the scales instead of trying to do it via measurements. The measurement method is really only to get the initial setup in the ballpark before you head to the scales. My YukonXL 2500 has it too. Just remember to engage tow/haul when you set it up because it changes the autoride's behavior and you must also wait for the shocks to inflate and stabilize with each change in adjustment.

[Dadio24]

If you are replacing the tires. My I suggest the Michelin LTX A/T2. I have them on almost every vehicle I own...Just my opinion.

[andrewwm]

I just got up this morning (8am here) and saw all the replies, I really appreciate the help.

EMD Driver posted exactly what I don’t want to happen.

I will watch my payload and will keep everything under the weight limits.
Our big trip is in July. So my plan is to weigh everything loaded at my local scales. I then plan to take the rig out locally just to see how it handles. If everything is ok then I’ll go on a few weekend trips to the desert in Nevada with my friend who has a 5th wheel to see what happens in the mountains. I have to be able to travel out of California with it.

My tow vehicle is a 2003 5.3L suburban 1500 with the 3.73 axle ratio. Well maintained. Will have everything especially steering, suspension and brakes checked within the next two months. The tires are 3 years old Michelin LT2s but show signs of superficial cracking in the sidewalls. I’m not comfortable with them for towing so will replace those.

I can’t really change my tow vehicle this year. In a year or two should be able to buy a much newer truck but absolutely cannot this year as we’re spending our cash on the travel trailer.

So I feel like with the 29 foot at 5,500lbs I would be really pushing the Suburban’s limits, but with the 25 foot at 4,500lbs it will be tough on the Suburban but should manage it. I’m taking into account I need to add passengers and gear.

I also noted Wincrasher65 had problems setting up weight distribution with the air ride suspension, I have the autoride self levelling suspension. Will this cause problems.

So I will buy some form of sway control, a weight distributing hitch system and good brake controller. I did also read through the thread “My relentless pursuit to cure trailer sway - the dancing TT” which was very interesting.

Thanks

[Dadio24]

I have experience with both the ½ T and ¾ T towing the same TT, 27 foot 7000#. The ½ T was more of soccer mom vehicle and we hated passing big rigs as it would cause us to sway all over the road, the standard engine, 3.73 RE and didn’t have enough power, on the highway or in the hills. The combination of light weight frame, wrong tires and close to the weights caused us to upgrade to a ¾ T GMC Yukon XL. We special ordered with 3.73, 6.0L 4WD with all the trailering extras, including extendable mirrors. We always used the WD hitch, sway bar and carefully loaded appropriately each trip with both vehicles each time. There is a world of difference between the ½ T and the ¾ T. I enjoyed the driving experience much more with the heavy duty ¾ T rig. I have since sold the TT, kept the Sub and have MH pulling 4-door Jeep. Will be selling the Sub this Spring as we have driven less than 100 miles in the last year.

[geotex1]

I've been towing with the king-sized GM SUVs a long while. After my R20 'burb, I had a 98 C2500 (like the one shown wrecked) that was the most heavily equipped variant from the factory - 454, 4L80, 14-bolt full-floating rear, sway bar, HD cooling/air, aux coolers for fluids, monster brakes and so on. Do note that there were two primary variants of the 3/4-ton Suburban beyond the 2wd or 4wd that broke across GVW and signified if one was looking at the 350 or 454, semi or full floater, and brake group. Always towed with C2500 using Equal-i-zer setup on the scales whether TT or much heavier enclosed race car trailer. Never a white knuckle and I climbed some intense grades with that beast! So, pains me to see that happened to a fellow camper and his rig, and I'm glad all survived and feel for the lost family friend. However, I have to question their weight distribution both in terms of hitch and packing the TT. Don't get me wrong, I saw a 1-ton dually diesel long bed crew cab whipped around like a rag doll once towing a 35-ft TT on the ball, no WDH or sway dampening device, ignoring a crosswind warning and continuing at 45mph! Never will forget that sight, or the shock the dually driver was in when we reached him. However, there's high probability that both situations could have been different, and the Suburban is a long-established tow vehicle.

That said, I replaced the C2500 with a 2004 YukonXL 2500 2wd with the 8.1L and optioned ideally for towing. As many of said already, the 6.0L is awful regardless of gearing! The 8.1L is excellent and I still average 10.3mpg towing the new TT with loaded weight of 8300# and my heavier car trailer.

So, my real advice to you is to not seriously consider a trailer with loaded weight over 5000# for your half-ton especially thinking you'll be heading into the hills from NoCal as you'll hate the lack of power with the 5.3L. Further, use a weight distributing hitch with sway dampening characteristics - I'm sold on Equal-i-zer and have used the same hitch for 15 years on several TT's - and invest in a good inertia-based brake controller for your trailer's brakes and make sure to use/adjust it properly. The half-ton's braking system isn't as robust as it's stockier brother so may want to have the trailer brakes adjusted to "lead" just a bit as we all hate warped rotors! Finally, I applaud you for doing your homework upfront! It will save you from white-knuckle towing and we who share the road will appreciate another safe tower!

[nomad297]

What happened to you, Andrew? Would you please answer some of the questions so we can help you out?

Bruce

[wincrasher65]

I towed with a 2012 Suburban LT with the 5.3L and 3.42 rear end and the factory tow package. Probably the worst tow vehicle I've ever used. I towed an 19' 4000 lbs trailer, a 29' Sunset Trail(6000 lbs) and a 5200 lb Yamaha 242 jet boat. I even towed my 12' teardrop trailer with it (1200 lbs).

It struggled with all of them. The truck itself is so heavy, there really isn't anything left for towing. With the soft suspension, overcoming sway and wdh hitch setup was a challenge. I ended up install Timbrens on the rear end. I managed to get sway under control with an Equalizer, but it made a lot of noise and was a bear to engage and disengage. I've talked with a couple guys (during my struggle) that had the air-ride suspension. That made it nearly impossible to set up their WDH.

Every trip was a white knuckle ride unless I went 55 or below. Forget mountains. Hills could be an issue, with having to downshift 2 gears at the slightest grade.

Good thing gas is cheap now. You'll get 8 or 9 mpg. And with the revving so high, don't expect a lot of miles out of the engine long term. Don't even consider getting a trailer without an aero front cap.

The 2015 Subs may be better, they've made a lot of changes. But they're pricey - saw one for $70k at the car show 2 weeks ago. No thanks. You'd be much better off getting a 1/2 ton crew cab pickup.

[Golden_HVAC]

There is a huge difference between the 3/4 ton and 1500 series Suburban in towing ability. I have a friend with a 2500 series Suburban and 454 inch engine. It tows a 31' travel trailer in the 10,000 pound weight range with ease, and the driver is comfortable.

That is not the same as a 1500 series that is a beefed up station wagon, without the full floating rear axle used in larger trucks. The 1500 would have stamped sheet metal on the front axle, not a cast steel like used in the larger vehicles.

With a 1500 Suburban, then a lighter and shorter travel trailer is the best thing. Also if it is 2000 - 2008, think about beefing up the stock hitch.

Good luck!

Fred.