What to do? Weight and pull vehicle

[3girlsfun]

Due to a recent windfall, we are very, very close to being able to purchase a camper. (just waiting on the check at this point.) Anyway, as I am looking, I am still a bit concerned about what weight capacity to go with.

We have an Yukon XL, 2001. The furthest we will probably travel is to WDW from just outside of Chattanooga, TN. (2 hours north of Atlanta, GA)

So, what to do about the weight. Eventually we would like to have a bigger truck that would pull the weight easier, but that is probably about 2 years away when my husband starts his new career. In the meantime, the Yukon will just have to do.

Would you try to stay closer to a conservative weight to pull since the truck is older, and such, or would you go closer to the max. weight knowing it can pull the weight, and that eventually we will have a bigger truck.

We definitely want a bunkhouse with at least 3, if not 4 bunks in it.

Help...Suggestions?

 

[mnsprk]

The big question is what kind of mechanical shape is the Yukon in? If it's been well maintained you should be able to pull whatever it is rated to tow..

There are alot of 10 yr old vehicles still towing fine, as well as 10 yr old MH's that run the highways fully loaded.

 

[YodaGirl]

There are others on here who are much knowledgable about weight regarding tow vehicles and trailers. This is what I do know:


1. Bunk trailers tend to be heavier than non-bunkhouses.

2. I wouldn't go max weight. If anything, you need to upgrade your tow vehicle before buying a trailer.




ETA: I waited too long to hit the reply button. Mnsprk has a valid point, too.

 

[3girlsfun]

The Yukon is in nice condition, well maintained etc. I actually would trust it more to pull a camper than when we pulled our old trailer with our 2005 Trailblazer.

 

[Disney Bunny]

Due to a recent windfall, we are very, very close to being able to purchase a camper. (just waiting on the check at this point.) Anyway, as I am looking, I am still a bit concerned about what weight capacity to go with.

We have an Yukon XL, 2001. The furthest we will probably travel is to WDW from just outside of Chattanooga, TN. (2 hours north of Atlanta, GA)

So, what to do about the weight. Eventually we would like to have a bigger truck that would pull the weight easier, but that is probably about 2 years away when my husband starts his new career. In the meantime, the Yukon will just have to do.

Would you try to stay closer to a conservative weight to pull since the truck is older, and such, or would you go closer to the max. weight knowing it can pull the weight, and that eventually we will have a bigger truck.

We definitely want a bunkhouse with at least 3, if not 4 bunks in it.

Help...Suggestions?

You need to purchase your TT with the tow vehicle you have right now and not what you would like to have in the future. You need to look at your GCWR......the combined total weight of your tow vehicle plus what you are towing. That is an important factor also. The weight of your tow vehicle (which needs to include the weight of all passengers, fuel, and any cargo you might stow in the tow vehicle) needs to be subtracted from the GCWR. That gives you a true number for the weight of the travel trailer with cargo you can tow.

It would be helpful if you could provide specific engine type, whether or not it is 2 or 4 wheel drive, and half or 3/4 ton. All of those factors determine how much your vehicle will tow.

 

[2goofycampers]

The rule I was told to go by was:
Weight of everything in vehicle including occupants, weight of fully loaded camper including hitch should not exceed 75 percent of your vehicles towing capacity.

 

[3girlsfun]

It is 4 wheel drive. I believe the GPW is 8600. I can get the specifics out of the truck tomorrow.

We have normally tried to keep to 1000 pounds for us and our "stuff" when estimating the weight of what we will be packing into the truck. I have found some light weight models in the 5,000 range.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We have a 2004 Suburban. Same truck except the motor. I have the 5.3 and you should have the 6.0. My tow capacity is 7200 and yours is 8400 lbs. Now here is a few pointers for you i have noticed and will pass them on to you.
1st the round tube hitch is junk. The square box on the round tube has been known to flex and in a worse case senario break off. When i bought mine i checked it out and mine had cracks where the round tube connected to the square box. I went and replaced it with a square tube hitch with a heavier capacity. If you dont have it already you will need a brake controler. I recomend a Prodogy P-3. They are awesome and worth every penny. If you already have the 7 pin harness on the back from the factory all you will need it the harness that connects from the prodogy to the fuse panel and just plug it in. Nice and simple. Then just put the fuse in the panel under the hood. Check your rpo codes in your glove box and compare it to this site http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/96transam/rpocodes.html . This will tell you all your options in your truck. If it doesn't come with the trailer package you might need to add a transmission cooler. Basicly the trailer package is the tranny cooler and 7 pin harness. My GCWR is 14000 and I can tow 7200lbs. My trailer is 5500 lbs full so im sitting at 12000lbs. 2000 lbs to spare. Now keep in mind the rear end can only handle 4000 lbs and My truck is sitting at 3200lbs not towing. Thats why I say you will need a good weight distrubuting system. I have a reese dual cam with antisway built in. I love it. The trailer dealer and the trailer say my hitch weight is 550 lbs. I wish. Its 800 lbs in real life. Dont trust what they say. Go weigh everything full. Also check your tires on yout truck to make sure they can handle the load. Min they should be is 2000 a tire. Oh i can ramble on and on about the stuff I learded lol. Making a funny there. If you would like more info about these trucks and there capabilities just ask or send me a PM. I will try and help you the best I can. Im not tring to scare you off just tring to inform is all. Good luck and have fun picking something that will suit you and your family.

 

[Disney Bunny]

We have a 2004 Suburban. Same truck except the motor. I have the 5.3 and you should have the 6.0. My tow capacity is 7200 and yours is 8400 lbs. Now here is a few pointers for you i have noticed and will pass them on to you.
1st the round tube hitch is junk. The square box on the round tube has been known to flex and in a worse case senario break off. When i bought mine i checked it out and mine had cracks where the round tube connected to the square box. I went and replaced it with a square tube hitch with a heavier capacity. If you dont have it already you will need a brake controler. I recomend a Prodogy P-3. They are awesome and worth every penny. If you already have the 7 pin harness on the back from the factory all you will need it the harness that connects from the prodogy to the fuse panel and just plug it in. Nice and simple. Then just put the fuse in the panel under the hood. Check your rpo codes in your glove box and compare it to this site http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/96transam/rpocodes.html . This will tell you all your options in your truck. If it doesn't come with the trailer package you might need to add a transmission cooler. Basicly the trailer package is the tranny cooler and 7 pin harness. My GCWR is 14000 and I can tow 7200lbs. My trailer is 5500 lbs full so im sitting at 12000lbs. 2000 lbs to spare. Now keep in mind the rear end can only handle 4000 lbs and My truck is sitting at 3200lbs not towing. Thats why I say you will need a good weight distrubuting system. I have a reese dual cam with antisway built in. I love it. The trailer dealer and the trailer say my hitch weight is 550 lbs. I wish. Its 800 lbs in real life. Dont trust what they say. Go weigh everything full. Also check your tires on yout truck to make sure they can handle the load. Min they should be is 2000 a tire. Oh i can ramble on and on about the stuff I learded lol. Making a funny there. If you would like more info about these trucks and there capabilities just ask or send me a PM. I will try and help you the best I can. Im not tring to scare you off just tring to inform is all. Good luck and have fun picking something that will suit you and your family.

3GirlsFun......this is the guy you should be talking to. Looks like he can help you out a lot. Totally agree with him about checking everything yourself and not depending on sales people for accurate information. We thought we had done all the homework we needed when we bought our travel trailer and were well within specs. In retrospect, we didn't begin to check half of what we should have. We can never be sure if our accident happened because we had too much camper for our tow vehicle or not, but I would be hard pressed to believe that it wasn't. We really erred on the side of caution when we purchased our next rig and have about a 2,000 lb leeway between what we theoretically can tow and what we are actually towing.

 

[3girlsfun]

Thumper--This is awesome advice! I am going to print this out, and have my Dad help us check to see if we have all of this "stuff." He is a mechanic, but he is retired. UGH!!!! He is so stubborn getting to help us with mechanical things now days. He wants us to learn...

I will definitely be asking you more questions!!!

I did double check my manual, it says we can pull 8600. I am familiar with the Reese hitches and such, as we had that set up when we had our previous TT. We did save our hitch and such when we sold our previous TT, so I am hoping it will still work.

This really helps.Thank you a ton!!!

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

You might have to get new bars. It all depends on that your new tounge weight is when the trailer is loaded.

 

[des1954]

Where is the RVNet expert, Lars, when you need him? Doesn't he know these things? Cousin Eddie eats squirrels, Lars knows weights & towing capacities.

 

[3gr8kids]

ITA with Denise and Trevor. In addition, I've been told one thing a lot of people overlook is the length of your TV's wheelbase in relation to the length of the TT you are towing. There is some sort of formula to use to figure out how long of a TT you can safely tow depending on the wheelbase of your vehicle. Just something to keep in mind

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

I agree about length. It is important. The Yukon Xl is the longest GM suv out there before going up to a pickup. I wouldnt go much over 30ft.

 

[3girlsfun]

I didn't even think about the length. I have never heard anything about that. I will look into that as well. Thank you again!

 

[~Kristina~]

I just traded in my Pilot for a Suburban because I didn't want to cut it too close with the hybrid we wanted. That said, now we've gone up to a larger sized hybrid because we have the larger tow vehicle.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

I just traded in my Pilot for a Suburban because I didn't want to cut it too close with the hybrid we wanted. That said, now we've gone up to a larger sized hybrid because we have the larger tow vehicle.

Which hybrid do you have?

 

[rebelstand]

Would you try to stay closer to a conservative weight to pull since the truck is older, and such, or would you go closer to the max. weight knowing it can pull the weight, and that eventually we will have a bigger truck.

Seems that you have gotten some really good advice so far, so i'll only add this:

We tend to follow my father-in-laws advice:
Just because you can tow it doesn't mean you should.

It's not towing power you need to worry about so much as stopping power. The safety of the occupants is more important than anything else.

By the way, I would guess that over half the sales people in an RV dealership don't actually have an RV. When we went to one dealership the Sales Manager didn't even know how to hitch up a trailer and told us things we knew to be untrue.

 

[~Kristina~]

Which hybrid do you have?

We'll be getting the Rockwood Roo 233s next month. We originally were looking at the 183.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We'll be getting the Rockwood Roo 233s next month. We originally were looking at the 183.

sweet. We tow a Kodiak 25QB with ours. It only has 1 canvas wing but has quad bunks in the back. The light weights are nice to tow. roo's are nice.