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Old 05-27-2017, 06:26 AM   #1
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Advice on if I need a new tow vehicle

Hi! My amazing husband bought me an X213 for my birthday. Yeah! We are moving from a very light pop-up into this light, but much heavier trailer. I have a 2017 Chevy Suburban with the Max trailering package. Of course, the trailer dealer told him we would be fine. I think we're going to be under the max trailer weight for the Chevy of 8300 pounds, even if we load the trailer up with a ton of stuff, and even under our payload of 14,000lb. Are we going to struggle going up hills? Even if the Chevy can do it, am I going to be doing massive wear and tear on the engine? I am contemplating a 3500 diesel GMC pickup, but is this total overkill for the trailer we bought? The dry weight is supposed to be 4200 lb, and I've read to add 1500 pounds to that for a realistic trailer weight. I just want to be safe, but don't want another car payment if not necessary. I have a family of six, and all together we weigh about 750 lbs. Plus the dogs... I'm nervous. Any advice is appreciated!! Thanks.
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Old 05-27-2017, 06:32 AM   #2
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Those suburbans are a beast. I think you will be fine.
Please post your numbers for the Suburban.
Max trailer towing weight
Max Payload rating
V8 or V6?

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Old 05-27-2017, 08:34 AM   #3
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I had a 2015 Suburban that had a payload capacity of about 1500lbs. Our family of four plus dog is closing in on 500lbs, so that left us with 1000lbs for tongue weight and all gear in vehicle. There was no way we could have made it with the trailer we bought, so had to bite the bullet and get a new truck. Adding 3 years to my car payment sucked but piece of mind is priceless.


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Old 05-27-2017, 08:37 AM   #4
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And I should add that, now that we are 6 months post purchase, I realize my dealer is the absolute worst place to get information from. Take anything they tell you with a grain of salt.


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Old 05-27-2017, 09:18 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bearcat77 View Post
I had a 2015 Suburban that had a payload capacity of about 1500lbs. Our family of four plus dog is closing in on 500lbs, so that left us with 1000lbs for tongue weight and all gear in vehicle. There was no way we could have made it with the trailer we bought, so had to bite the bullet and get a new truck. Adding 3 years to my car payment sucked but piece of mind is priceless.


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Ouch,
I thought those Suburbans had better specs than that.
Hmm, not good.
If GVWR for TT = 5700 = tongue weight 5700*.15 = 855
If cargo = 800lbs you are above 1500 at 1655

You may look at the specs for a 2500 and see if that will work.

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Old 05-27-2017, 10:36 AM   #6
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I've never met anyone that has complained about having too much tow vehicle. You are not going to be unhappy upgrading to a HD truck in the long run.

However, I think it would be best to see exactly where you are with the Suburban before making any decision. Get your combo loaded as you would for your trips, set a good baseline on your hitch, and head to the CAT scale near you. Weight the trailer with the Suburban and the Suburban alone if you can. Those scale tickets will tell the story for you. As mentioned above, you are likely going to be very close on your payload. But, there is no use deciding anything before you know for sure.
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Old 05-27-2017, 10:49 AM   #7
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I just looked up the specs. on that model in the jayco web site and show that the gvw of that model to be 5500lbs. I have a GMC 1500 p/u and pull a jay feather 25Z with it. My trucks payload is 1608lbs and my trailers gvw is 5800lbs. I cat scaled my trailer and am at 5280 lbs with a full fresh water tank (we dry camp). I have only 13% hitch weight which is lighter than I would like to be. With 3 adults a shell and running boards I am right at the max payload on my truck. I have a 5.3 liter in my truck and drive thru your city up highway 74 to Hurkey Creek a number of times each summer and have no problem going up that hill. I live in the high desert and any local camping I do I have to climb Cajon Pass to get home. If the traffic allows I can set the cruise control at 55 mph and have no trouble maintaining that speed up the pass. The only time I run out of power is on a couple of short 8% grades in San Diego County. The limiting factor is what your payload sticker inside your drivers door says. You may or may not need a 2500/250 but I don't think you need a 3500.
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Old 05-27-2017, 05:15 PM   #8
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Congratulations and Happy Birthday!

Our 2016 Feather 23RBM has a GVWR of 5995. With a tow rating of nearly 10,000 lbs., towing/pulling that weight is no issue for our 1/2 ton. The issue we have is our 1,616 CCC/"payload" rating. With a full tank of gas, the two of us, our stuff in the bed, the TT tongue, and the WDH, we are right there on the the TV's max payload. We are going back to the CAT soon to reweigh with our new Jack It bike rack, redistributed weight (moved some things to the trailer), and new setting of WDH brackets. When you get down to the brass tax on the numbers, it is true that it does not take much to max a 1/2 ton chassis and suspension.

You sounds like you have a similar issue with your "payload" capacity, not the same as "tow rating." Payload is the weight your TV is designed to safely handle on its chassis, suspension, and brakes. You should have a white sticker in the door jam that states the maximum payload or cargo capacity for your Suburban (as equipped). That is what you must adhere to in your decision making. I would go for a 2500 or a 3500 if you think you may want "room to grow" beyond the 2500. We cannot do much more with our 1500. Moving forward, we will either stay where we are, downsize, or get a bigger TV for a bigger TT someday. Or we may wind up in a MH - Who knows. Happy Camping for Now Kids!
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Old 05-27-2017, 06:21 PM   #9
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Thanks!

Thanks for all of the help! We will load up and weigh out rig, as advised. The thought of loading all four kids, plus two adults into a pickup truck is not very appealing. I hope we can make do with the Suburban
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Old 05-27-2017, 07:40 PM   #10
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The sub is a nice rig, there is a sticky in one of the sections that give direction on how to go about three cat scale measurements.

For those who ate surprised about the lower payload of a suburban, it is due to all the added weight to fully enclose the back end and all the other stuff that goes with it.

How old are the kids? As the kids get older they weigh more, and ofter bring more stuff. However, as they get older they tend to go camping less, as school and work get in the way.
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