Towing with Yukon Denali/Tahoe?

[JohnnieMo]

I picked up a b&m 70268 super cooler. However I haven't installed it yet. My first big trip is in June so I need it done by then.

The plate fin style seem to be reported as the best. Otherwise they are all about the same. It just comes down to surface area and air flow.

As for your other query, the heat comes from friction. The more weight you are pulling, the more friction, hence heat. You can run a bit hotter so long as your fluid gets changed somewhat more frequently.

[Z3CO23]

I know this is a really bad picture but it's the only one I can find on my computer right now. I don't own my Denali anymore but I can say that it is a great tow vehicle. I didn't town a wakeboat with it. I owned an 1985 Sea Ray back a few years ago and towed it with the Denali. That old boat was flat out heavy! The Denali with the big motor was a superb tow rig. It's not a Deisel tow rig of course but for a gas motor I give it a thumbs up. It was my first GM product purchase and I have to say it took me some time to get used to a GM suspension. GM suspension was not as rigid a ride as other manufacturers and it sort of floats (that's the best description I can give ;-). I no longer own it because it had reoccurring electrical issues that the dealer never could solve. No window power, dash going out... etc etc but it was a great tow rig.

[jzts0214]

denali 22ve.jpgI pull with a 09 denali. I would say it has the power and the brake to pull it. Im used to pulling with a diesel pick up and they sure dont compare. The denali is always shifting trying to keep the rpms up. At 75 mph there is a shift point so you either haver to go faster or slower then it. Tranny temp gets hot if I sit in traffic. With that being said its a great tow rig I'm just used to my twin turbo'd dmax.

[JCCZ1]

I have towed my 22ve with my 2007 Denali with no issues since new.. pulls up the ramp no problem.. sometimes even with the ballast still in.. Gas mileage is another story.. It depends on what you want to tow.. my Denali has been bullet proof.. although the Escapade's air conditioned seats are pretty nice.

[Dan C]

My dad have a '08 denali
Towing his 25' pontoon
My uncle have an Explorer
Towing his 25' doral
I have a '11 sport ram
Towing '13 z1

All three are satisfied of our truck

[c_hotshot]

I also have a Denali - 2010 with the 6.2 litre. I've towed the 22Ve across Texas and averaged 10.5 MPG...and it towed it just fine holding 75mph. The auto level rear end really helps. Without the boat, I avg 17 MPG per tank. Pure Highway trip (Texas to Florida) we averaged 20 MPG at 75mph without the boat of course. Also agree with others, go with the XL version - the longer wheel base and interior space will be appreciated.

Denali and Tige.JPG

[ChrisBarnes05-12-84]

I was towing with a 2008 Tahoe. But I decided to trade off for the new 2014 crew cab half ton. Chevrolet increased the towing capacity to 11,500 pounds on the new models. The truck still has the 5.3, but the power was increased by I believe 55 horse power. This new truck seems to pull the boat much better than the Tahoe. I am also pretty sure the new Tahoe comes with the same tow rating and added power.

[1sicktige]

Although it seems that you have had many helpful posts that have prob. answered your question, figured one more wouldn't hurt. I tow my 2013 Z1 with my 2008 GMC yukon 5.3 flex fuel. Truck is also dropped 2 inches in the rear and is on 24" rims.... no problems towing AT ALL. Plenty of power to tow the boat around, i have towed for 6-7 hour trips with some steep hills and no issues keeping the truck at 55-60mph. Trans temp usually runs about 200F however also really depends on weather outside and what kind of road your on (hills = higher temps). I would recommend making sure trans services are done and differential services too. here is a pic of my set up.

[Obama4President2016]

Whats with the ugly black rims these days??

[Booms]

What is ugly to you is a thing of beauty to me. Those are snice!

[Cloud]

Glad I found this thread. Was thinking of picking up a 2015 Yukon Denali this year and was wondering if the XL mattered in towing and seems like it would help.

[Dandy]

Hi All. Thanks for your feedback. I am sorry that I haven't acknowledged anyone since posting...I had been traveling and away from computers for a while...that was nice. By the way, thanks for sharing all the pics, you guys have some great looking rigs. It floors me to look at these pictures that a new Denali with a boat behind it runs $110K+ going down the road. Just seems as the cost on everything keeps going up.

Dandy I'm in the same dilemma as you are.

I'm watching this closely as well. We have the opportunity to upgrade from a 5.3 chevy pu to a 6.2 Denali.

Glad I found this thread. Was thinking of picking up a 2015 Yukon Denali this year and was wondering if the XL mattered in towing and seems like it would help.

I feel like we have this thread about 4 times a year.... but I love talking about it, so I'll chime in again. :P

I am glad that this thread is providing some value to others, even if JohnnieMo gets a little dig in. By the way, I did see a different thread that was similar, but more about truck talk, I was looking for feedback on the SUV's

Dandy - good thing you got rid of the Passat. Ours was the worst vehicle we have ever purchased. I will never buy a VW product again. We are so happy we got ride of it a year ago.

Wifey had a 2006 Passat 2.0T. I have had a few VWs in the past and it seems they tend to get a little quirky around 60-80K. For us it was alot of little stuff. The sad thing was our VW dealer was GREAT and took care of alot of extra stuff for us, its too bad they carry VW and Mazda and not Subaru's as the Outback was the car she liked best. Now we hope for good service from them. If you have seen my posts, I am a believer that service sells the dealership...that is part of why I am not looking to stay in a Ford, the local dealer is a piece of work.

I currently own a 2012 Yukon Denali XL. It has the 6.0L in it and I believe 400HP.
It is great for the family. I had a short version before this and would never go back.

I never gave any thought to this. Thank you. I don't know if I want to give up the garage space. The Yukon/Tahoe are almost the same length as my Flex and I have 3.5' between the back of it and my workbench the get across the garage. Thinking I may have to reconfigure the garage to accomodate the longer wheelbase based on all the feedback.

I also have a Denali - 2010 with the 6.2 litre. I've towed the 22Ve across Texas and averaged 10.5 MPG...and it towed it just fine holding 75mph. The auto level rear end really helps. Without the boat, I avg 17 MPG per tank. Pure Highway trip (Texas to Florida) we averaged 20 MPG at 75mph without the boat of course. Also agree with others, go with the XL version - the longer wheel base and interior space will be appreciated

Thanks for all of this, it is all good info. I like the mileage comparrison. They 2015s are supposed to be picking up a few MPG over the previous version.

But if you are buying a Yukon Denali XL you should not complain about having to fill the 26 gallon tank with premium

Thanks for noting this, I didn't know that they required premium fuel. Do you know if this holds true on the new engines for 2015?

Thanks again all - it looks as if I may have to get out and take a few for test drives. I hope the local dealer won't mind me hooking up a 6000lb (est) rig behind a new vehicle to see how she does.

[JohnnieMo]

None of the engines need premium, but I've found it helps for mileage. The new engines have direct injection, so they certainly don't need premium. Ask to be sure however.

Testing is a great idea. Good luck!

[Booms]

When I ran regular through the engine I notice more knocking and lower fuel economy. Then I started to follow the suggestion on the fuel door. Milage went up and the engine runs smoother. image.jpg

[Dandy]

Hey everyone -
I wanted to thank you all again for sharing your opinions as well as all of the great pics of your tow rigs w/ & w/o boats.
After looking into things further and noticing the significant price increase for the 2015 over 2014 GM products, I decided to look back at the Ford/Lincoln line up, mainly since the Lincoln Navigator is very similar set up to my Flex other than size. Things didn't progress with our Lincoln Dealer fast as our sales rep have a vacation scheduled while we were trying to work out a deal. In the mean time, a few friends asked if I checked out the Toyota Sequoia...I hadn't. I contacted Ewok on here and asked him about his Sequoia and he was kind enough to respond with a lot of information. Turns out our local Toyota dealer had a 2013 with 7000 miles on the lot...also turns out it was never registered and driven by the GM, so it is still new with full warranty....just a lot of "test" drives. We worked out a deal to just below book for a 2013 used, contingent on our satisfaction of towing out boat - I had some reservations due to the soft rear suspension. Our boat is currently getting a new sub/sub enclosure/kick panel for the driver speaker and custom WS420 mount being installed, so it would be a while to get the boat to the dealer. The dealer has been just awesome to work with...no pressure and they offered to load up a 4 Runner on their car hauler trailer for me to tow around. The 4 Runner is about 4600 lbs and they loaded it more to the front to add tongue weight (most likely higher than our boat). They hooked it up...the air suspension system leveled it out and they sent me off down the road encouraging me to take it on the interstate at interstate speeds - talk about confident in their product. WOW....plenty of power, torque and breaking. Hardly even knew it was there other than some cross wind. Long story short, I will not end up with a GM this time around. We should be picking it up this week following a few things we requested the dealer take care of prior to delivery. We bought our Tige from the dealer that provided the best service and our local Toyota dealer appears to be for real and top notch (I am still waiting to catch them in a lie). I have never had such a pleasant purchasing experience...they have been patience, put the vehicle on the lift and had a tech walk me through the underside and the towing thing. SERVICE SELLS.

THANKS AGAIN for all of your feedback. This forum has been so helpful for me over the past year while shopping for and working through our 1st Tige. I never thought I would get so much help with vehicle/trailer related questions.