Intro and questions regarding towing

[rvphotouse]

Hi Everyone, I have followed this forum for years but this is my first post. I previously owned a 40 foot motorhome and am scaling down to a trailer and need towing advice. I have never towed a trailer. I own a 2013 Chev Suburban 3.42 axle and can tow about 8000lb. Cargo inside vehicle including passengers will not exceed 500 max. What would be the longest and heaviest trailer you would purchase? I will be traveling mostly throughout the West full time and am currently looking at Lance, Nash, Grand Design and Outdoor Rv trailers.

[Durb]

Good luck with your search. Make sure you budget in a really good weight distribution hitch with built in anti-sway. Spend some time getting it perfectly set up. Your towing experience will be greatly improved.

[martinto]

Rvphotouse..."57000 lbs GVW" may be a wee bit too much for your tow vehicle! DOT may have an issue with that as well!

[rvphotouse]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I was leaning towards a trailer with 57000 lbs GVW and above comments confirm my thoughts unless I change my TV.

[lanerd]

If you're a long time rv.net member then I'm sure you've read about payload capacity and tongue weights. Those will be the deciding factor of what size trailer you can pull. If you haven't read about them, I highly recommend that you do a search on either or both and bone up on them.

Good luck

Ron

[Bumpyroad]

I think your TV will be somewhat lacking for full time RVing.
bumpy

[SoundGuy]

rvphotouse wrote:
I own a 2013 Chev Suburban 3.42 axle and can tow about 8000lb. Cargo inside vehicle including passengers will not exceed 500 max. What would be the longest and heaviest trailer you would purchase?

I've been towing for years with GM's ubiquitous 5.3L gasser, same axle ratio, and although you haven't specified the engine if it's GM's ubiquitous 5.3L performance won't be significantly different compared to older versions. Yes, a newer 2013 does benefit from a bit more power from that 5.3L and a more capable narrow ratio 6-spd transmission compared to my older wider range 4-spd but I'd have to mostly agree that I wouldn't want to tow anything weighing much more than 6000 lbs loaded and ready to camp, perhaps less in your case considering you intend to tow in the west where significant upgrades will be a mitigating factor. Believe it, no way would you want to be towing 8000 lbs in the mountains with this truck. :E

[downtheroad]

I agree with coolbreeze.
Weight is more important than length...look for something around 5K.

[coolbreeze01]

About 22' and 5,000lbs. Have fun.