suburban towing

[wandrr79]

I have a 2001 Suburban, 4 wheel drive, automatic transmission, 5.3L engine. I was wondering if anyone else tows with this type of Suburban, and what are you towing? I have a 2000 Coleman Utah, but am looking to move into a TT.

[wandrr79]

I have a 2001 Suburban, 4 wheel drive, automatic transmission, 5.3L engine. I was wondering if anyone else tows with this type of Suburban, and what are you towing? I have a 2000 Coleman Utah, but am looking to move into a TT.

[Randy the sly old fox]

It depends on which rear end gear you have. A 3.73 is good for 7100 lbs while the 4.1 is good for 8100 lbs. Remember to subtract the weight of everything inside the Burb from that figure. The CGWR is around 13,000lbs give or take 1000 lbs. I would look at TTs with a GVWR of 6000lbs or less. Make sure you get a good WD hitch with sway control.

[TXiceman]

Part of the problem with a 1/2 ton Burb is the thing is so heavy and once laded with the family, you won't have a lot of room for hitch weight.

The numbers that Randy Provided are a MAXIMUM and you should look for a trailer that is no more than 80% of the ratings for a LOADED trailer, not dry weight. Depending on the size family, you will add upwards of 1000# for the actual weight over a dry weight.

When you go from the pop up to a full travel trailer, be prepared for the change.... you will go slower and work harder to pull the hills.

Plan to add an external transmission cooler to the Burb and change your tranny fluid at 20,000 mile intervals.

Have a great time looking.

Ken

[wynot]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by wandrr79:
I have a 2001 Suburban, 4 wheel drive, automatic transmission, 5.3L engine. I was wondering if anyone else tows with this type of Suburban, and what are you towing? I have a 2000 Coleman Utah, but am looking to move into a TT. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You're not too far off from our one rig, which is a 2000 Tahoe with a 2001 Utah CP. We have a 7700 lb rating with a 5.3, and a 3.73 rear. As noted in other replies, you have to subtract the weight of cargo, passengers, and driver if over 150 lbs, for your true towing rating.

When/If you move into a TT, you will get a major hit on the gas mileage, and probably about the same sway adventures as the Utah can give you. You really need to make sure that the spring bars are set correctly. Lot of people towing large trailers with Suburbans though. If you really are moving into a large TT, you probably should consider the Suburban 2500 with a 4.10 rear (with the 8.1, don't EVEN ASK about gas mileage).

We opted the other way, we bought a diesel Silverado 2500HD crew cab and a light(er)fifth wheel. (We still have the Utah and Tahoe).

[TXiceman]

As a note here on fuel mileage. We towed our Silver Streak (silver twinkie andlike an Air Stream) on two trips with a 3/4 ton Burb, 5.7L and 4.10 axle. Best we got at 60 mph was 7.6 MPG....back to using my diesel that would get 10 to 11 MPG pulling 7000# more load at 65 to 70 mpg, plus more power than the gasser.

Ken

[Suburbbus]

I actually have a 2001 - C2500 Suburban with the 8.1. The gas mileage is about 8.5 overall when towing my 7700lb TT. The rest of the time the gas mileage is terrible as a daily driver. But, I drive what I got. We knew that when we bought this TV to specifically tow this heavy trailer. It will go pretty much anywhere we want to go.