tow weight opinions for a possible upgrade
Have the 09 silverado in my signature. we are looking into moving to a viewfinder 28bhss. dry weight or little under 6000. we do not ever tow with loaded fresh grey or black tanks. use linx level...
Forum Discussion
How does your truck tow the current trailer? What part of Ohio are in you in? The flat northwest corner or the hilly east side?
We towed a similar sized hybrid with an 05 Suburban with the 5.3L but we had a 3.42 axle. It towed great. Three years ago we moved up to the Passport. It has a loaded axle weight of about 6200# (published at 5400#) and tongue weight of about 820#. With the six of us and two dogs I was over my rear axle weight rating by 200# and exceeded my GCWR by almost 1000#. With four of you at 400#, you will be near your axle weights and just under your GCWR with the 3.73 axle.
The Suburban actually did fine from a power stand point. It definetly didn't get up and move like it did our hybrid, but I was okay with the performance. I had a tranny temp gauge installed and never saw anything concerning, even towing a 4th of July weekend with outside temps pushing 100F.
Where it lacked was the suspension. It was stable, but you really knew the trailer was back there. Later that summer we moved up to an 04 3/4 ton Suburban. The ride difference was night and day. We now tow with a 1 ton Express. Probably the most frustrating thing of towing with the 1/2 ton was due to pushing the limits of the suspension, every single time I hooked up I had to adjust my Dual Cam sway control. The little variation in weight from a start of a trip to the end, the cams were no longer in place. One of the wonderful things of the Express so far is that I set the hitch up the first time last year, and haven't touched it since.
Good luck with your decision.
We towed a similar sized hybrid with an 05 Suburban with the 5.3L but we had a 3.42 axle. It towed great. Three years ago we moved up to the Passport. It has a loaded axle weight of about 6200# (published at 5400#) and tongue weight of about 820#. With the six of us and two dogs I was over my rear axle weight rating by 200# and exceeded my GCWR by almost 1000#. With four of you at 400#, you will be near your axle weights and just under your GCWR with the 3.73 axle.
The Suburban actually did fine from a power stand point. It definetly didn't get up and move like it did our hybrid, but I was okay with the performance. I had a tranny temp gauge installed and never saw anything concerning, even towing a 4th of July weekend with outside temps pushing 100F.
Where it lacked was the suspension. It was stable, but you really knew the trailer was back there. Later that summer we moved up to an 04 3/4 ton Suburban. The ride difference was night and day. We now tow with a 1 ton Express. Probably the most frustrating thing of towing with the 1/2 ton was due to pushing the limits of the suspension, every single time I hooked up I had to adjust my Dual Cam sway control. The little variation in weight from a start of a trip to the end, the cams were no longer in place. One of the wonderful things of the Express so far is that I set the hitch up the first time last year, and haven't touched it since.
Good luck with your decision.
