Community Forums

harmans92 · 03-29-2007, 11:51 AM

I'm considering the purchase of a Suburban to use as my tow vehicle. I've found a 2004 3/4 ton with the 6.0L engine, towing package, 3.73 gears, new LT tires and fully loaded inside. It has 68K miles on it. Does anyone have some experieince with this vehicle towing? Any recommendations? I'm also considering the 2007 model similarly equipped. Anyone have experience with the new ones. Looking for advice on this purhase.

harmans92 · 03-29-2007, 11:51 AM

I'm considering the purchase of a Suburban to use as my tow vehicle. I've found a 2004 3/4 ton with the 6.0L engine, towing package, 3.73 gears, new LT tires and fully loaded inside. It has 68K miles on it. Does anyone have some experieince with this vehicle towing? Any recommendations? I'm also considering the 2007 model similarly equipped. Anyone have experience with the new ones. Looking for advice on this purhase.

TXiceman · 03-29-2007, 06:06 PM

'Burbs make great tow vehicles for trailers tha are in their weight range. My father in law is on number 3 or 4 (all 3/4 ton) for towing his trailer. Puts about 120,000 miles on them before he gets a new one. Right now he had a 5.7L with a 4.10 axle and it does a great job on his 30' Silver Streak.
Ken

Suburbbus · 03-30-2007, 05:24 PM

John,
I have a 2001 3/4 ton burb with the 8.1 and 3.73 gears. It pulls my 29' TT which weighs in at 7700lbs with no trouble at all. I realize that you were asking about the 6.0, but what I got is what I got. This is a great Tow Vehicle to use.

Rodney

Randy the sly old fox · 03-30-2007, 06:40 PM

For the most part Burbs make excellent tow vehicles - esp a 2500. They have a long WB and usually a larger engine along with the usual 3/4T truck drivetrain.

My new 07 2500HD PU has a 6.0L and the new 6sp tranny and 4.10 rear end - it tows my 5600lb AF with ease - even makes it into 6th on the flat. The new tranny has tow/haul II with the grade brake feature found in the allison - the transmission downshifts when braking - it saves both the TT and TV brakes.

If you find a used one with an 8.1l then you will have the allison tranny either a 5 or 6sp. I would suggest the 4.10 rear end - your non towing milage will suffer, but you are putting less stress on the drivetrain while towing.

gearman · 03-31-2007, 05:22 AM

The burbs are awsome tow vehicals, as long as they are 3/4 ton models with large engines.

I have a tahoe for our family car, its an awsome vehical, but not for towing.

Our current tahoe is an '07, I can tell you that GM made some impovement over that last 2 generations (we are on our 5th tahoe) of tahoes for the better, and the '07 tows/handles better than the other I have towed with. Down side, they keep making the motors smaller and dont have enough power to pull them selves let alone a trailer. Of course I am talking the 5.3L, but I personally wouldn't recomend getting a 6.0l for towing either. Unless you are at sea level and never will tow up a hill then go for it.

A 3/4 ton with 8.1L would make a great tow vehical.

Norm Reese · 05-26-2007, 01:13 PM

I've pulled our 1988 Corsair TT (about 6000 loaded) with an '89 3/4T Suburban with standard shift, 3.73 rear end, and 350; with a '96 1/2T Silverado with 3.73 rear end and 350, and our current tow vehicle is an '01 3/4T Suburban with 8.1 l. engine and 4.10 rear end. This last combo is the winner hands down. I hardly know the trailer is there and that's the way I like to tow. I think the tow vehicle has to weigh close to what the trailer weighs and has to have lots of low-end torque to protect the transmission. There is no substitute for displacement when you need low-end torque. Gas mileage is about 13 without and 8 with the trailer. People worry too much about gas costs. Total cost of operation for a vehicle is over $0.60 a mile and about $0.20 of that is gas at $3.50 a gallon. Pulling the trailer, then, costs only about ten cents a mile, so I'm happy with the big engine and gear ratio. I can buy a lot of gas for what it costs to replace a transmission.

Jo/Lee · 05-27-2007, 06:11 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Posted March 30, 2007 10:40 PM Hide Post
For the most part Burbs make excellent tow vehicles - esp a 2500. They have a long WB and usually a larger engine along with the usual 3/4T truck drivetrain.

My new 07 2500HD PU has a 6.0L and the new 6sp tranny and 4.10 rear end - it tows my 5600lb AF with ease - even makes it into 6th on the flat. The new tranny has tow/haul II with the grade brake feature found in the allison - the transmission downshifts when braking - it saves both the TT and TV brakes.

If you find a used one with an 8.1l then you will have the allison tranny either a 5 or 6sp </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Allison Trans are not available in the Suburbans. It is too big to fit without raising the body about 2 inches.

Jo/Lee

wynot · 06-04-2007, 09:22 AM

When I sold RVs, the most satisfied customers were the ones who had the 2500 Suburbans/Yukon XLs, with the 8.1 V8 and the 4.10.

I tow with a 2000 Tahoe with a 5.3 and a 3.73 rear. It tows decently. Because of the Suburban's extra weight, the 3.73 rear doesn't feel overly peppy in a 5.3 Suburban, but I suspect that the 6.0 would do OK.

Normal rules apply. If you're talking about the trailer in your signature line, you should do quite nicely in the Suburban you referenced. It will also probably get better gas mileage than the Dodge.