Towing questions...

[wrangler]

I got to thinking about our towing situation the other day and thought I would post something here for any feedback...

We have a '99 1/2 ton suburban that we have towed our past boat with and plan to tow our new Tige 24Ve with. The weight of the Tige is about 4000 pounds. The weight of the trailer must be in the 1000 pound neighborhood. That puts me at 5000 pounds or a little more and I think the towing rating on the burban is 5k.

Has anyone torched their transmission towing the heavier Tige's?
Any special care that you have taken to avoid problems?
Has anyone used one of the differential covers with the fins and increased oil capacity? Any recommendations there?

I am thinking that an additional trans cooler is in order...Any thoughts there?

At some point, this will lead to enough justification that I can convince my wife we need a 3/4 ton Suburban...but having just received delivery of our new boat...a new truck is probably not in the cards for the next six months to a year....

thanks...wrangler

[johnbandrews]

Wrangler,

I'm no expert, but you should be careful towing that heavy boat with your 1/2 ton Suburban. The trailer is probably more like 1500 lbs, and once you load all of your "stuff" and some gas in the boat you're likely well over 6000 lbs.

If the Suburban is rated for 5K, you may have issues, even with tranny cooler, etc. Again, I'm no expert, but the guys at Trailer Boats Magazine really harp on not exceeding your towing rating.

We had a 3/4 ton Suburban which towed our Tige great, except we had major issues with the Big Block 8 liter engine, and ultimately turned the car in under the CA lemon law.

We now have a GMC Denali - Not because I'm into the whole Denali thing, but it drives WAY better than a 3/4 ton Burb and has the 6 liter engine on the 1/2 ton frame, which was unavailable in the 1/2 ton Suburban. Ride is great, turning circle is about 1/2 that of the 3/4 ton Suburban, and it has a tow rating of 8000 lbs.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck, and be safe!

[wrangler]

The Denali sounds interesting and I hadn't thought about that option going forward... Thanks for the thoughts John... I will also double check the tow rating for the suburban...but I think the 5k number is right... Thanks again...wrangler

[wrangler]

6500...

I just went and checked the Trailer Life tow ratings and the numbers on a 1/2 ton 99 Suburban with the 5.7 are 6500 pounds. Given this scenario, I am getting close to the tow ratings, but at least not exceeding them... So the same questions apply as above in terms of some short term measures to make sure I don't "over do it" with the suburban...

[bneub]

Wrangler,

I suppose you already know this, but I would suggest that you keep your transmission out of overdrive. I have been told that the constant shifting in and out of overdrive while towing does the most damage to an automatic transmission.

Sweet looking boat by the way! We just got an '06 20i and it looks small next to a 24ve!

[wrangler]

bneub...thanks...I had heard that about keeping it out of the overdrive. Makes sense. I went prowling around at lunch today for new differential covers and trans pans with fins and more fluid. Seems like a pretty reasonable route.

Thanks on the boat...we are very excited. Given the weather over new years around here, it looks like next Saturday will be the maiden voyage with the whole family. Thanks again...wrangler

[bneub]

Our Expedition has a transmission cooler that looks like a baby radiator mounted up front. Maybe you could have one installed.

Hopefully Saturday will be our maiden voyage also. Hopefully the ice will be off of the lake by then.

It was 11 deg. and snowing the day we picked up our new boat. I had to wash the road salt off of the boat and trailer before I even got to put it in the water.

[Paublo]

I think that with a 6500# towing capacity, you are pushing it. An '06 24Ve is 4320# empty. By the time you add 47 gal. of fuel, gear, and the trailer is closer to 1500#- you are at 6500#. All of the trailer towing capacities for vehicles are with two people and no gear inside. I think that if you were packing for a bigger trip (more than just for the day), you are over 7000# easy.

My concern would not be for the engine size, but with the transmisson and brakes. The 1/2 ton burb is pretty light weight when compared to the 3/4 ton version. Also look at the conditions when you tow- outside temps, mountains or grades, etc.

I don't want to make this too long, but when I started to go to Powell each year in '97, I used a 1/2 ton van and went thru a transmission each of those first two years. Then I got a 3/4 ton burb and never had a problem. The last two years I used a 3/4 ton crew cab with the Duramax and Allison transmission and I think that I have died and gone to heaven. I am not positive about the Denali with the 6.0, but I thought it had the smaller transmission. Maybe with the 8000# rating they did it right.

Good luck, if you watch temps carefully and take it easy, you may get by until you can talk the boss into upgrading.

[raythompson]

Towing Considerations

I tow my 2005 22V with a Ford F-150 which has the factory towing package rated at 6500 pounds. The factory package puts in the 4.55 rearend, transmission cooler, heavier duty transmission, bigger brakes and the often overlooked engine oil cooler.

I have seen much posted about a transmission cooler and that is a given when towing. You need the external cooler that is not integrated into the radiator. You also will benefit from an engine oil cooler that gets cooling deeper into the engine than the water system.

Oh, and don't forget the tires on the tow vehicle. Use truck tires, really good tires. There is additional strain on the tires when towing from the weight and the torgue.

It is very important that you stay well within the towing limits of the vehicle. Exceeding for an extended time will not be safe and will markedly reduce the life of all the components in the system. It is not fun to loose a transmission 50 miles from home. The tow charge for the tow vehicle and the boat can be significant.

[CP3]

Wranlger
I have an 04 silverado with 5K and a 5.3. My truck has a tow/haul mode. I think yours may be called OD off.

Make sure you have the OD off, on. What it does is it not only turn of the overdrive but it lets the transmission slip more so that it does not overheat.

The only thing I am worried about is the weight on the hitch because like I said it is rated for 5k and with the 22V weighing almost 4 and trailer over 1, I am more worried about the hitch.

[Zacky]

One thing you might want to check into that will make towing, handling, and breaking a whole lot easier are air bags for the rear suspension. It your Suburban is anything like my Yukon, then it severly sags in the rear end when the boat is hooked up. This will drastically alter the way the vehicle tows. With the Denali, it auto-levels, thus helping the towing. I checked into the system, and they run around $650-$800 installed. You might want to look into it...

Either that or roll all of the windows down and keep the AC off

[teachercop]

I have a 98 Expedition 4x4 EB with a 5.4 Triton. The one I parked next to your suburban the day you picked up your new ride at Tige. I have a 99 22i.

I filled the boat gas tank and left our gear in the boat and took it to a scale. individually weighed the boat, the Exped, and then both hitched up and then determined the tongue weight. The Exped with full tank and some 'stuff' weighed 6,060lbs, the Tige with full tank and 'stuff' weighed 4,800lbs tongue weighed was 480lbs (Extreme Trailer). I added air lift bags as the Exped has coil springs which addressed the sagging and added stability. K&N air filter and stock everything (17inch wheels with I believe 3.30 rear gear ratio if my memory serves). I run synthetic everything and have the trans and differentials changed around 15k. Exped has 80k.

Seems to tow allright for us. Run to Havasu/Mohave frequently and Lake Powell and Lake Tahoe annually. We are based in Southern CA. New trucks are nice but pricey. I might add that for the first year we actually towed he boat with our 93 Toyota 4Runner with a 3.0L V-6 5 speed. I bit underpowered on the long uphills but we still made it to a lot of lakes.

I see a new suburban in your future,,in fact,,when we saw you hitching up my wife and I mentioned that you might seek a new horse....

[wrangler]

Thanks for all the thoughts... I'll have to start "circling" on the new tow vehicle... I also run synthetic oil and trans fluid...I'll have to pay more attention to the differential for the time being. It doesn't sound like anybody has gone to the finned trans pan or the finned differential cover with additional fluid capacity?

I also like the air bag idea... We have those on all four corners of our motor home and they make a huge difference... Never really thought of them for the burban...

Thanks again and I'll look forward to any more thoughts from the assembled! wrangler

[ddutcher]

Wrangler,

I tow my '05 24V with a 2004 Yukon XL 1500. My average drive time to the lake is 1 1/2 hours. I have not had any problems towing with this vehicle. I have towed this boat using an Escalade with the 6.0 and I will tell you it was nice to have a bit more power but it is not necessary. If and when you get a new Suburban l would suggest getting the Auto Ride option from GM as well. It includes the tow package and auto level package and a few other things that make the ride nicer even when you are not towing. Deffinitely take your truck out of O/D.

[gman]

wrangler,
I believe the suburban has a higher towing capacity than 5000 lbs. That may be the tow ball. Look it up rating in your manual. I believe its closer to 7000lbs. but I may be wrong. We tow with a 99 Yukon 4 wheel drive and a 350 engine. No problem. Its rated well above 6000lbs. I think its around 7000lbs. The vehical barely makes it to 210 on the temp gauge and that is on a hot day! I need to look it up the tow capacity in the manual. your suburban should be in the same ball park. What gear ratio do you have 3.73 or 4.10? I've towed it with a 2003 Silverado 4.8L , 3.73 gears and its not a problem. I believe the Silverado with 3.73 gears is around 7000lbs. I need to check this also, but these numbers should be pretty close because I looked them up a few months ago. You may want to put on a 6000lb ball.
Have a great day!