Towing recommendations

[LesSteward]

I have a 2011 GMC Yukon with 85K miles, towing capacity 8500 lbs. I want to purchase a TT that is 6600 Lbs. What can I expect from a performance standpoint with this combination? Is this a go/no go or marginal idea?
Thanks for your comments. My wife and I are just starting our RV life!

[Lwiddis]

My whole rig is under 11,000, so I get out of Passin’s way.

[Passin_Thru]

I pull a 31 ft Arctic Fox and weigh 19000lb when full of fuel, I have a 100 gal tank. We have a06 Duramax.

[APT]

I recommend under 6k dry. That is best case with light family onboard. Flush ll your fluids, get a WDH with integrated way control, and proportional brake controller.

Please verify you have the GU6 and Z82 option codes (see sticker in glove box). GM sold a lot of the half ton SUVs with 3.08 gear and not the HD towing package, which puts you in the 4k dry, 5k loaded range.

[falconbrother]

We tow about 6500 pounds wet weight with a 5.3 Suburban, 9th gen, iron engine. Fully loaded were probably a bit heavier than that. The Suburban chassis with Sumosupersprings handles the weight awesome. The WD hitch with the Suburban length is a good combination. The 5.3 is OK. The thing I had to get use to was RPMs. Don't let the transmission decide what gear to be in all the time. Most of the time it's OK. But, when pulling long grades make sure not to allow the engine to lug. If the RPMs drop below 2k gear down and get the RPMs up. The 5.3 makes it's horsepower at higher RPMs. On mountains I pull it down to 2nd gear (I have the 4L60e with 3 speed and OD). I can actually accelerate pulling the trailer up a mountain and my RPMs are around 3500, depending on speed. I usually stay around 50 - 55 on mountain climbs, but the power is no problem.

I cannot speak to the shorter chassis on the Yukon. I see Yukons and Tahoes pulling trailers at the campgrounds. Get your WD hitch set up by a professional who does it all the time. It will really make a difference to have that as perfect as possible. We have never had an issue with trailer sway with the burb and the new trailer.

I drive easy. I try to make life easy on the transmission. I sometimes use tow/haul and sometimes not, depends on how it feels and the conditions. Torque converter lockup is what you're looking for. On tow/haul the transmission is designed to quick shift so, the shifts can feel kinda harsh, they do to me anyway. So, I pull off from stops easy.

We got home yesterday from our annual holiday trip down the coast. The Suburban did awesome. We cut the trip short by a day due to the frigid temps at the beach and a couple other issues. Nevertheless, when I decide to trade the Burb I'll get another Suburban or an Expedition.

[ppine]

When the weight of your TT approaches the towing capacity of your truck, you lose a margin of safety, especially with a short bed. Towing an RV is supposed to fun, so I like lighter trailers.

Light trailers end around 5,000 pounds. But it depends a lot on the type of roads you drive. The interstates are one thing, but the back roads in the West are quite another. I like the back roads because there is a lot to see. but they are steep, banked the wrong way and often have no guard rails. Some of them are dirt, and some of them are rough dirt. The bigger your rig gets the more of those routes become off limits.

People talk about towing 10,000 pounds or even 15,000 pounds. Maybe that works for RV parks and state highways but not so good for boon docking with no one around.

[Lwiddis]

“Never travel with water in the tanks.”

Possibly in NJ but NOT in the West if you are a boondocker.

[Lwiddis]

Buster’s mention of TV wheelbase is an important point. Often overlooked.

[temccarthy1]

LesSteward wrote:
I have a 2011 GMC Yukon with 85K miles, towing capacity 8500 lbs. I want to purchase a TT that is 6600 Lbs. What can I expect from a performance standpoint with this combination? Is this a go/no go or marginal idea?
Thanks for your comments. My wife and I are just starting our RV life!

You need to get an Ultralite . I pull with an Expedition-- 8900 lbs towing capacity, little bigger than a Yukon. I wanted a 30 ft TT with a slide and after a lot of research, we got a 2014 Keystone Bullet 285 RLS Ultralite. Weighs just 5400 dry with hitch weight of 600. We don't put a 1000 lbs of junk in our storage bay.. we are careful not to take what we don't need.. maybe total 500 lbs of gear. Never travel with water in the tanks.. Why waste the fuel and add to the weight? There is plenty of water when we get there! We love the Bullet and have NEVER had a single malfunction of any component or any quality issues in 3 seasons of camping. Bullets have deluxe interiors without all the weight. I have seen only positive reviews on this and Keystone sites! Check them out! It will work for your Yukon and you don't have to downsize to a 21-24 ft TT to make it work with your SUV. Get a good WD hitch, I have an Equalizer E2. Sway is minimal and I tow 60-62 MPH. My Expy has a 5.4 L V8 with 3.73 rear end and HD towing pkg ( Trans cooler,brake controller, bigger radiator and brakes, suspension and HD hitch)
Good Luck!

[old_guy]

above this page is a section called rf FAQ's. in there someplace is a formula for any tow vehicle wheelbase to TT length. you may be shocked at the results for your tow vehicle.

[JWP127]

Wow. Can't argue with this ^
Good post.

[busterbrown73]

Marginal (and probably unsafe) at best.

Here's why.

If the dry weight of the trailer is 6600 lbs, the "loaded, ready to camp" weight will be 1,000 lbs heavier. That leaves very little margin for the least concerning "tow capacity" specification of 8500 lbs. More concerning for you should be the ridiculously low payload capacity these GM full size SUV's have (around 1400). If your trailer is ready to camp at 7,600 lbs (and properly loaded), you'll have about 1140 lbs on the hitch (15% of your trailer weight). Remember, every pound of weight applied to the hitch on your SUV directly takes away from payload. 250 lbs of isn't much leftover considering you'll have another 100 lbs taken away by means of a WDH. Think about how you'll allocate the 150 lbs remaining to you, your spouse, your kids, your dogs, your SUV cargo, your cooler, and anything else you want inside the Yukon. Don't even think about taking any toys or gear.

And I haven't even talked about axle weight ratings yet. Nor have I mentioned tire and wheel capacities. Wouldn't be surprised if you exceed these too.

Oh, and if your trailer is anything longer than 24 feet, you'll be in for a white knuckle surprise the first time you pass a semi truck on a down grade with any sort of crosswind. Hope you bring diapers.

If your Yukon is the non-Denali variant with GM's 5.3L Vortec aluminum block, good luck climbing any grades greater than 4-5%. You'll find your transmission wasn't built for any marginal towing experiences as internal temps will rise and you'll be revving the RPM's to compensate. I believe a trans cooler was NOT standard issue on the non-Denali version. Even the Denali version, the stock trans cooler was pathetic.

You'll also realize that a short wheel base SUV will do nothing to control your trailer. That's why longer wheelbase pickups are the better choice.

How do I know all this? I am a former owner of a Yukon Denali XL outfitted with larger engine, rear air leveling suspension, larger wheelbase and OEM and aftermarket transmission coolers (I had 2). My trailer was lighter than yours and my vehicle was more capable. I had to invest in a $3,000 Hensley hitch to eliminate the non-stop white knuckling I experienced on each and every trip. That severely put me over payload specs and I ultimately had to upgrade my TV. My new RAM 2500 Megacab has more than 2 and a half feet of addition wheelbase and tows the same trailer night and day compared to the Yukon. Yukons are nice vehicles. They can tow within their specs well. The problem is that payload and axle ratios will always be tested when towing heavy. I personally don't want to find out the hard way: at highway speeds with loved ones inside. A failure is catastrophic at 65 mph. Good luck.

[rexlion]

Pay attention to hich weight also. Some folks run out of that before running out of tow capacity. Find the dry hitch weight, then figure on adding battery, LP tanks, gear, and water. Front mounted fresh water tanks can be a huge factor.

[coolmom42]

Verify if that is "unloaded/dry" weight or max gross weight of the trailer. If it's the dry weight and you load the trailer to the max, you will pushing the limits of the Yukon.

Another important factor is the cargo capacity of the Yukon. 10-15% of the loaded trailer weight needs to be on the tongue for stable towing, and that becomes part of the cargo of the Yukon. Add that weight, the weight of occupants and whatever else you carry in the Yukon, and check that you have adequate cargo capacity. That is often the limiting factor, rather than tow rating.

[Lwiddis]

What is the payload and max hitch weight with a WDH of the Yukon? My 2015 Tahoe is 1,595 and 1,000 and my TT loaded/wet is 5,150. I wouldn’t want to pull much more...possibly 6,000...without a bigger TV. How such stuff and many people riding in the Yukon?