Hmmm, where to begin without sounding like a nitwit? I have a 1990 4X4 1500 GMC Suburban with a 3.72 rear. The old girl has been towing a 1988 Jayco 2450BH T.T. of an undetermined weight to various northern Michigan campsites for nearly 18 years.
Now the missus'wants a new/newer trailer and I'm stumped. The "Burb" is mechanically sound (114K mi.)so I plan on keeping it a few more years but any manual I may have had appears to have escaped the glovebox. My problem, I'm clueless as to what the Suburban is capable of towing.
The wife prefers a T.T. slightly larger than our previous 24.5 ft. Jayco and oh, did I mention, with a slide? I've just started shopping for that new trailer but I get a little glossy eyed when I look at the trailer weights. Is there a realiable website out there or is there someone in the Forum who can come to my aid?
My 99 1500 sub kept overheating trying to tow a 6000 lb TT. I have come to the conclusion that 1/2 ton subs are not meant for towing, just loading to the gills! It had a 350 with 3.55 I think. I now have a C2500 with a 350 and 3.73 but haven't towed yet. I have been using a Big Ford dually that was way overrated for what I am towing. Gas bill was killing me due to daily commute.
* This post was
edited 06/23/08 10:21pm by CharlyG *
Assuming you have a 350 in her, the GCWR for a 3.73 geared rig is 12500 lbs total, truck/burb and trailer.
I personally do not know how hilly vs flat Mich is, but compared to here in the NW, you're probably pretty flat relatively speaking, going up a 1000-2000 lb will probably not kill you. What WILL kill is the additional frontal area of the slide rig, which will be about 1-1.5' higher or 8-12 sq ft of frontal area, which is wind/aerodynamic HP needs, equal to about 4000-6000 lbs of additional wt in your current trailer. That is where you TBI 350 will not be happy!
On the other hand, if you do not mind being a bit slower in grades etc, stay where it is flatter, you should do reasonably well, but if I was in your shoes, a larger motor, and chassis'd rig should be in the future, ie a 2500 burb with a BB or a 6.0 V8. Even a newer 2500 with a vortec 350 will be far and away better power wise than you TBI 350. Having driven carb'd/tbi and currently own a vortec 350, the V350 is pretty close to driving TBI/4 bbl 454 performance wise.
marty
05 Chev CC D/A LS Dooley
92 Navistar dump truck, 7.3L 7 sp, 4.33 gears with a Detroit no spin
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92 Red-e-haul 12K equipment trailer
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I pulled a 30', 6200 lb. Aerolite thousands of miles, including in New Mexico and Colorado, with a '99 1500 w/3:73 and multi-port fuel injection, and had no problems, overheating or otherwise. That Suburban did, however, have the option code Z82 HD towing package, which includes the coolers, hitch, and suspension mods. I also used a '92 Suburban to make several long trips hauling a diesel tractor on a steelbed car hauler, and the throttle-body 350 and 3:42 axle pulled it fine, too, although the '92 did not have the Z82 HD towing package. With both Suburbans, when driving up grades I made sure I paid attention to the tach and didn't let the torque converter unlock in Overdrive and stay unlocked, which builds up a lot of heat due to the slippage when the converter clutch is unlocked. Once it unlocked itself on a grade, I manually shifted the transmission into 3rd, eased off the gas to let the torque converter lock up, and held it in 3rd until I was over the grade (if possible, and 2nd wasn't needed) where I backed off the throttle and shifted the trans to Overdrive so that it could make the shift without being under load. Although the coolant temp guages never approached the red zone, even without downshifting to 3rd, I followed that procedure, recommended by my cousin, who owns a transmission shop, in order to avoid the extra heat and the reliability problems it can bring. I never had transmission problems with either Suburban, and I kept both of them to well over 100K miles. In terrain where there was one hill after another, I kept Overdrive locked out and used Drive (3rd gear).
By the way, a 3:42 rear end is option code GU6 on your option code sticker, and GT5 is the code for a 3:73. The trailer weight limit was 7000 lbs. on the '99 w/3:73 and Z82 HD towing package, and I believe that the limit for the '92 w/3:42 and no HD towing package was somewhere between 6000 and 7000 lbs, possibly 6500. I haven't had the owner's manual or GM trailering brochure for that one since I traded for the '99 Suburban 9 years ago.
2003 GMC Sierra Crew HD; 6.0L; Prodigy
2006 Thor Tundra 30RL-DSL; Reese Strait-Line & Dual-cam HP
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Jim & Gayle Bryant
Murphy's Law: "Anything that CAN happen, WILL."
Bryant's Law: "31 years of RVing? Probably already HAS."
My 1990 pulled my old 7000lb 30 foot Sunline all up and down the east coast, I81 to Tenn, lots of big pulls. I never had a power pulling issues with it. Tow in 3rd gear the sweet spot for power was in the 2500-3000rpm range. If the cooling system is in good shape heat will not be an issue, Get a good trans cooler and install a lockup switch for the Torque Converter.
1993 GMC Suburban K2500 4X4, 454, 4:10 gears
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