F150 vs. Suburban?

smithlaw wrote:
Hi everyone. First post here. We just bought a 2017 Grand Design Imagine 3150BH travel trailer. It's dry weight is approx. 7500lbs. We bought it to pull with my wife's company 2012 Chevy Suburban (rated for gross of 9400lbs). We have pulled it twice and the Suburban definitely knows it is back there. It causes a little white knuckling some. We have the Blue Ox sway system installed, brake controller, etc.

I have thought about trading in my Audi sedan for a 2015 F150 (or similar 1/2 ton 4 door pickup). Would the F150 do a better job at pulling the camper or would it be worse? I know it has a longer wheel base but have also heard the 1/2 ton vs. 3/4 talk. I am hoping to get a good answer before taking those steps.

I happen to have a Suburban and an F150, so maybe I can help. My F150 is not a max trailer/tow. But keep in mind that our trailer is 6500# loaded to camp (5000# dry weight). IMO, the OP's trailer is too heavy for either one. Long story short = an F150 isn't going to solve your problem.

As far as towing feel, ie, feeling the trailer back there, the F150 and the Suburban are very similar. The Suburban's suspension is softer, and it wallows a little much more than the F150 does, but I'd say the trailer feel is about the same with both.

The F150, with the Ecoboost, definitely has more low end power for towing, though. Moves along in 5-6 gear without a lot of downshifting. The Suburban with the 5.3 needs to run at 3k+ rpm most of the time. Due to the powertrain differences, I much prefer the F150 for towing.

Re: F150 vs. 3/4 ton for daily driving, I have some experience there, too, going from a 3/4 ton (Chevy 2500 crew cab short bed) to an F150. The 3/4 ton was about 1 ft longer. The F150 is a bit smaller and turns sharper, but the difference for daily use isn't huge, as far as logistics go. I could park wherever I wanted to in the 2500. If you haven't been in a 3/4 ton since the farming days, I'd recommend you try one. IMO, the GM 3/4 ton rides as nicely as the F150 does (the Ford and RAM were a little rougher in my opinion).

The reason your Suburban has the white knuckle feel is because you are probably way over the GVWR. A TT should have 12-15% tongue weight, according to most. My TT is close to 15%. So your trailer probably has 1100-1200#, or more, tongue weight. Your Suburban probably only has 1500# of 'payload.' (look at the yellow sticker inside the driver side door). So with a few people and some gear in the Suburban, you are over your chassis limit. The 1/2 tons may have a high trailer number, but almost always, you'll be well over payload and/or axle ratings before you hit the nebulous trailer number.

In sum, having had a 3/4 ton, an F150, and a Suburban, if I were you, my solution would be a 3/4 crew cab short bed diesel. I don't think you'll see much, if any, improvement going to another 1/2 ton truck.