expedition or tahoe for 33' TT

[Ejraste]

I know that there will be opinions on both sides, but will Expedition/tahoe with max tow packages pull a 33' trailer(6000lbs dry) safely? The expedition max towing capacity is 9300 and tahoe is 8500lbs.

[ferndaleflyer]

When we owned a towing company a few years back we pulled many of the Tahoe, Suburban, expedition, types towing trailers. Always on the downhill side of the mountain. They start swaying, they get on the brakes, brakes get hot, they sway more, and eventually they are in a bad situation. I my self even did it once just short of crashing. No more. I bought my first duelly in 1985 and my suggestion is. YOU NEVER HAVE TO MUCH TRUCK!!!!!

[parker_rowe]

wintersun wrote:
When I owned a Tahoe I chose it over the Expedition to get the rear leaf springs. The Expedition had rear coil springs which makes mods to improve load capacity or leveling much more difficult.

What is important is the final gear ratio and usually it is much too tall so as to improve EPA fuel economy numbers during testing. If one had 3.73 gears and the other had 3.21 gears I would go with the former.

Weight is only one factor when towing and Ford spells this out quite nicely in their towing guide. The frontal area of a travel has a huge impact on the total load on the engine and drive train for the tow vehicle.

I would go with a 1500 or 2500 class pickup with a crew cab over an SUV any day if planning to do serious towing.

Tahoe has had rear coil springs since 2000, when they switched to the gmt800 platform. So either one you choose now will have rear coils. If you are buy brand new they will both have independent rear suspension.

My FIL recently upgraded from an 06 Tahoe with 3.73's to a 2016 Expedition with 3.31's, both with full tow packages.

His trailer is a bit smaller at 6500 gross, but he told me it was an improvement in every way. Power, trailer handling, all of that.

Granted, it's 10 years newer. I'm sure a '16 Tahoe would do ok, but none that he found to test had a tow package. But the eco boost is a great engine for moderate trailer sizes.

[Geo_Boy]

Look at a Chevrolet Suburban.

[Ejraste]

wintersun wrote:
When I owned a Tahoe I chose it over the Expedition to get the rear leaf springs. The Expedition had rear coil springs which makes mods to improve load capacity or leveling much more difficult.

What is important is the final gear ratio and usually it is much too tall so as to improve EPA fuel economy numbers during testing. If one had 3.73 gears and the other had 3.21 gears I would go with the former.

Weight is only one factor when towing and Ford spells this out quite nicely in their towing guide. The frontal area of a travel has a huge impact on the total load on the engine and drive train for the tow vehicle.

I would go with a 1500 or 2500 class pickup with a crew cab over an SUV any day if planning to do serious towing.

Thank you for the info. I have a Silverado 1500 as main towing vehicle. We are eventually upgrading my wife’s vehicle so I was just trying to see if any SUV’s out there would be reliable as a secondary tow vehicle.

[wintersun]

When I owned a Tahoe I chose it over the Expedition to get the rear leaf springs. The Expedition had rear coil springs which makes mods to improve load capacity or leveling much more difficult.

What is important is the final gear ratio and usually it is much too tall so as to improve EPA fuel economy numbers during testing. If one had 3.73 gears and the other had 3.21 gears I would go with the former.

Weight is only one factor when towing and Ford spells this out quite nicely in their towing guide. The frontal area of a travel has a huge impact on the total load on the engine and drive train for the tow vehicle.

I would go with a 1500 or 2500 class pickup with a crew cab over an SUV any day if planning to do serious towing.

[dedmiston]

Grit dog wrote:

Tal/IL wrote:
I'm always curious when the wheelbase issue comes up. What length wheelbase does he need?

I've towed boats and equipment trailers all over creation with a '75 Ford Bronco with a 92 inch wheelbase and never had an issue. Plus, it makes backing into narrow ramps and tight spots much easier.

Yeah, I swear one of these days I'm gonna block the rear springs in my CJ5 and drop the toyhauler on the back hitch for a photo op.
Then photoshop that pic into a mountain road scene and absolutely freak out half the rvnet membership!

Yeah. Don't do it. It doesn't end well.

A friend of mine did that as an elaborate April Fool joke in Toy Haulers about fifteen years ago with pictures of his toy hauler behind his Mercedes ML.

It used to be a pretty tightly knit group, but about half the members were in on the gag and the other half took the bait. He built it up for about a week and then posted his crescendo on 4/1.

People's heads exploded when he posted his doctored pics of the crash site.

He finally came clean and admitted that it was just a gag. The folks who swallowed his lure were furious and took it out on him (and everyone who knew about it) pretty hard. He left the forum after that, along with most of the guys who were in on the stunt.

There aren't many old timers left in the Toy Hauler forum anymore, and that might be part of the reason.

I happened to be out of the country at the time and missed most of the drama. Things were unrecognizable when I got back.

I have to hand it to the guy though, his pics looked pretty believable (except he left some telltale shadows to tip people off) and he really committed to the stunt and timed it perfectly to hit its climax on 4/1. He regretted the fallout though.

Who knew that RV.NET members could be so sensitive, right?

[pitch]

Bionic Man wrote:
I use an ExpeditionMAX to tow my 7000 pound boat. It does a much better job towing than the YukonXL Denali it replaced, but still not nearly as good as my RAM, but that really isn’t a fair comparison.

Stability with the Ex is fine. Power is really really good. The only issue I have is that it gets very hot (engine and tranny) towing I70 through the mountains in Colorado. If I were towing all the time in the mountains I’d be worried, but very few people do that.

Given those two choices, I’d go with the Expedition hands down. Huge advantage there is the engine - personally I’d never tow that much weight with a 5.3, and last I checked you can’t get the 6.2 except in the upper trim levels. That said, the 3.0 in a Tahoe would be intriguing.

{/quote}
Towing a boat is no comparison. Aerodynamics, weight distribution, wheel placement on the trailer are all different than an RV or other trailer.
I know you are trying to be helpful,but your answer has no relationship to the query.

As far as “tail wagging the dog” on a long trailer, I believe all modern tow vehicles use the trailer brakes to eliminate sway. I know I’ve never felt it with my boat.

[Ejraste]

valhalla360 wrote:

Ejraste wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Ejraste wrote:

carringb wrote:
What’s the trailer loaded weight? Length alone doesn’t mean much.


No what is the model of the trailer?

If you already have the trailer, have you taken it to the CAT scale to get real world weights?

It’s a Salem cruise lite 28vbxl. The gvwr of trailer is 7700 lbs. I have not taken it to get weighed but I know I’m not putting more than a 1000 lbs so I’m going to be under 7200lbs.

[valhalla360]

Ejraste wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Ejraste wrote:

carringb wrote:
What’s the trailer loaded weight? Length alone doesn’t mean much.

Chances are neither have anywhere near enough payload for that large of a trailer plus passengers. But some long TTs are surprisingly light. Real issue is tongue weight eating into payload.

Loaded weight of travel trailer around 7000-7200lbs. Payload of both seem to be around 1750lbs or real close.

If the payload is 1750, you are likely going to be around 7500-7750 with 1000lb hitch weight.

With that much length, you don't want to skimp on hitch weight.

What are the models you are looking at? That might give us a better feel for what you are really looking at.

what models as far as tow vehicle? I already have the trailer and hitch, but my wife is in the market for new vehicles and if we can pull the trailer with the large suv, that’sa bonus.

No what is the model of the trailer?

If you already have the trailer, have you taken it to the CAT scale to get real world weights?

[Grit_dog]

To the OP, I'd at least consider a Expe EL or a Burb, but after hearing how much of a mortal sin it was, I pulled my 32' enclosed snomachine trailer up the mountain a couple years ago with a 2001 Tahoe.
Didn't even pop the 20 year old air ride, but I admittedly kept the tongue weight a bit light. Didn't need a repair project.
And my knuckles didn't even turn white!

[Grit_dog]

Tal/IL wrote:
I'm always curious when the wheelbase issue comes up. What length wheelbase does he need?

I've towed boats and equipment trailers all over creation with a '75 Ford Bronco with a 92 inch wheelbase and never had an issue. Plus, it makes backing into narrow ramps and tight spots much easier.

Yeah, I swear one of these days I'm gonna block the rear springs in my CJ5 and drop the toyhauler on the back hitch for a photo op.
Then photoshop that pic into a mountain road scene and absolutely freak out half the rvnet membership!

[Grit_dog]

carringb wrote:
Length alone doesn’t mean much.

Maybe not for trailers, but I can think of a few things where it's more than a slight consideration....
Can't get to the bottom of the well with a short rope!

[Ejraste]

valhalla360 wrote:

Ejraste wrote:

carringb wrote:
What’s the trailer loaded weight? Length alone doesn’t mean much.

Chances are neither have anywhere near enough payload for that large of a trailer plus passengers. But some long TTs are surprisingly light. Real issue is tongue weight eating into payload.

Loaded weight of travel trailer around 7000-7200lbs. Payload of both seem to be around 1750lbs or real close.

If the payload is 1750, you are likely going to be around 7500-7750 with 1000lb hitch weight.

With that much length, you don't want to skimp on hitch weight.

What are the models you are looking at? That might give us a better feel for what you are really looking at.

what models as far as tow vehicle? I already have the trailer and hitch, but my wife is in the market for new vehicles and if we can pull the trailer with the large suv, that’sa bonus.

[Tal_IL]

I'm always curious when the wheelbase issue comes up. What length wheelbase does he need?

I've towed boats and equipment trailers all over creation with a '75 Ford Bronco with a 92 inch wheelbase and never had an issue. Plus, it makes backing into narrow ramps and tight spots much easier.