Towing with a 2013 Tahoe

[todaytoday]

shopping around for a 28-30ft TT...although reviews on the Heartland Mallards are hard to find, found a new M29 that an oil field worker bought, never used, and then he lost his job. Going to look at it this weekend.

Growing up on a ranch, we always tried to be over trucked when pulling horse/cattle/hay trailers. current truck is a '15 ram dually.

long - short. instead of spending $50k+ on a new horse trailer, looking at buy a $15-20k camper and the wife pull it with her 2013 2wd Tahoe. Weight-wise I think the camper is in the Tahoe's towing range, but not sure on the length...as far as how the Tahoe would handle it. only pulling about 2hrs one way on relatively flat ground. it has the 5.3 engine, not sure on the rear end (think 3.42s)

would be pulling horse trailer with the dually..

any experiences?

[bartlettj]

I tow with a Tahoe as well. I dont feel comfortable recommending over 25 feet ball to bumper on the trailer with a Tahoe due to the short wheelbase and the rather soft coil spring suspension. It also porpoises even with stiff sway bars for the same reason- the suspension throw is long and the springs are designed for ride comfort. I have a 24' trailer that weighs 4300 lbs, and it has been rather fine for over 6k towing miles. If you need to choose a brake controller I recommend the Prodigy P3 with the GM factory wiring harness adapter- it's easy to install and use.

The newer generation Tahoe has the integrated frame hitch that isn't as strong as the older generation and isn't field upgradeable, so watch the tongue weight too. A 6900 GVWR is going to give you near 1000 lbs tongue weight in real life.

[Thom02099]

todaytoday wrote:
what is the length of your trailer?

the trailer we're looking has specs of 6900 GVWR, dry weight is 5877, hitch weight is 544 - 30'ish long...think the Tahoe's towing capacity is listed as 8500 (doesn't have GVWR listed in specs that I could find)...guess they all pull the same, but was wondering more of the possible sway factor. planning on looking at the TT on Friday and then see how it handles pulling...

My trailer is listed as 26 feet, though it's a 25RSS. Length hasn't been a problem at all for my Tahoe.

[todaytoday]

what is the length of your trailer?

the trailer we're looking has specs of 6900 GVWR, dry weight is 5877, hitch weight is 544 - 30'ish long...think the Tahoe's towing capacity is listed as 8500 (doesn't have GVWR listed in specs that I could find)...guess they all pull the same, but was wondering more of the possible sway factor. planning on looking at the TT on Friday and then see how it handles pulling...

[Thom02099]

I can give you some insight into an older Tahoe (2003 LT) with the 5.3L and towing package. I weighed the trailer (~6000 fully loaded) and the combo of trailer/Tahoe (11780), and was well under the GVWR of 13400 for the Tahoe. The max tow rating my Tahoe is 7400 lbs. I think current ones are in the same range, maybe up to 8000. I have a good WDH and the air shocks in the rear.

I've towed a lot in the mountains. My Tahoe and trailer bog down at higher elevations, once I get to 10000 feet, I know it, and if the grade is steep, I'll slow down to <30mph in 2nd gear. The Tahoe has the strength to do it, it's just not fast. On less steep grades, even at elevation, there's not as much of a problem, but it's still slower going.

On the flats, however, it's another story. I've made the trip east to Indiana and back and it's a fine combo. Averaged ~9mpg at 55mph. The Tahoe is a comfortable vehicle for long trips and the trailer is barely noticeable.

If you're staying in the flats, it should work for you. That said, the weight of the loaded trailer will be a strong determinant if it will work for you. Frankly, I would not go much more than that 6000 lbs fully loaded that I have in my trailer. If the newer Tahoe has a limit of ~8000lbs, I still wouldn't go much more than 6500 lbs on the fully loaded trailer.