Towing our 2010 jayco jayflight 26 bh

[campcarney]

Hey ya'll!

Would love anyone's opinion or first hand experience.

We bought a 2012 Chevy Tahoe (3.42 Axel Ratio & HD Tow package) last month so we can tow a bigger camper.
The axel ratio allows the truck to tow up to 8200 lbs, and our camper dry is just shy of 5,000 lbs, but the GW is 7200, I believe.

I'm just wondering if any of you tow with this truck, and what kind of a job it does. We haven't towed with the truck yet.

Thanks in advance!!

[Nick Haas]

Every now and then I would tow our 5500# TT with my wifes '06 Suburban. It has the 5.3/3.42/4speed auto, and it towed great. Nice and stable with plenty of power! I think you you have a nice, safe combo. Just be sure to get your WD setup and you should be golden.

[campcarney]

Originally Posted by Nick Haas

Every now and then I would tow our 5500# TT with my wifes '06 Suburban. It has the 5.3/3.42/4speed auto, and it towed great. Nice and stable with plenty of power! I think you you have a nice, safe combo. Just be sure to get your WD setup and you should be golden.

forgive me- not familiar with abbreviations- what is WD?

[Nick Haas]

Originally Posted by campcarney

forgive me- not familiar with abbreviations- what is WD?

Just your weight distribution hitch.

[campcarney]

Originally Posted by Nick Haas

Just your weight distribution hitch.

thank you! we've got that!

[Skaling]

What is the GCVW max for your Tahoe? What is payload on truck? How many people will be in the truck? 6 speed tranny?Approx how much weight of gear will you put in trailer? Do you plan on traveling with full fresh water tanks( how big are they? Approx 9 pounds per gallon).. Lots of things to consider..
For the most part you should be ok I would think if you keep your trailer and cargo @ 6000 lbs with 4 average sized people in truck.

[xtruckerbob]

We had a 03 Tahoe with only 125,000 miles and 5.3 and 3.42 with the tow pk like yours. We tried to pull our White Hawk home from the dealer with a dry weight 6045. It would not pull it (in tow mode) with the cruise set above 65 MPH with out constance shifting. This was on flat interstate with no wind. I hear other use Tahoe and have no problems. If we did not use the cruise it pulled ok, but still kept hunting the right gear, but the engine seemed to have plenty of power. I hope you all the best with your Tahoe. We replaced our with a new Chevy 2500 Duramax because we plan to tow ours a lot.

[pawpaw]

Our previous tow vehicle was a 2002 Yukon with the 5.3L engine and towing package, and we used it to pull our Swift 264BH (very similiar to your 26BH). It did a great job on the flat or semi hilly terrain here in Texas, but it did struggle a bit on our trip through Colorado last year. It did the job, it just had to work hard on some of the higher elevations. I'm pretty sure that your later model vehicle has more power and torque than mine did.

[Iraqvet05]

I hear folks that went from the older 4 speed GMs to the newer GM's with the 6 speed transmissions are happier with their towing ability. That 5.3 has to rev high to make power and the 4 speeds (like the 2007 Silverado 5.3 I sold) constantly shifted gears to maintain speed.

[RedHorse1]

IMHO the real answer is "payload, payload and payload".
Hitch up and pay a visit to a CAT Scale and get your "real world" weights. Of highest interest (IMHO) will be the weight you add to the rear axle. We pulled a 4400# hybrid with an '03 Expedition that had a 8500# max tow weight. No problems, right? Almost. The visit to the scale showed I was within 200# of the rear axle max weight.
The CAT Scale is your friend.