TV is a 2003 GMC Yukon XL 1500 with 3.73, 7100#s Tow Capacity and will be equipped with WDH & Sway Bars. Passenger total body weight will be 600#s + a 70 # dog. Most everything else will be packed into the trailer.
Passport 280 BH (fully loaded) is 6040#s.
Is anyone doing something like this?
Price is right, trailer is quite nice, Tow Vehicle is paid for.
You will most likely exceed the GVWR and/or Axle ratings long before you reach the max towing capacity. Load the family and the dog into the Yukon and head to the scales. This will help you determine what carrying capacity left for tongue weight.
I pulled a trailer with the same weight with an 04 Burb (3.73). We were usually within 50 lbs of exceeding the GVWR and the rear Axle rating (on P tires). The burb could not hold highway speed (55 - 60) in 3rd gear and shifted to 2nd often.
We had this set up for 2 years, but stayed relatively close to home (usually not more that 3.5 hours towing each way). I always felt like I was sending the Burb to an early grave.
It MAY work for you depending on how you use the rig and how far you travel.
If you pull the trigger, make sure you have a very good hitch (Equal-i-zer or Dual Cam) and that it is set up properly. Weigh the combined rig and pack accordingly. You may be comfortable with it - or you may be shopping for more tow vehicle after a few pulls.
Animal Planet wrote: Thoughts on this combination?
TV is a 2003 GMC Yukon XL 1500 with 3.73, 7100#s Tow Capacity and will be equipped with WDH & Sway Bars. Passenger total body weight will be 600#s + a 70 # dog. Most everything else will be packed into the trailer.
Passport 280 BH (fully loaded) is 6040#s.
Is anyone doing something like this?
Price is right, trailer is quite nice, Tow Vehicle is paid for.
Thanks to all for your replies!
Darren
Check out our pics in our signature...we are pulling a 2008 Passport 240qs..dry weight about 4400lbs with our 2002 Chevy Tahoe 5.3 V8 rated at 7200lb tow capacity. Does fine. We slow down on the bigger hills out in western Maryland, but she does just fine. We are getting an average of 10.5 MPG towing. One note: ours is 26.1 ft ball to bumper..that's the maximum length we feel comfortable towing with the wheel base of our tahoe...the trailer you are asking about is considerably longer and we wouldn't be comfortable with that length...that's a HUGE sail behind you!
* This post was
edited 07/17/08 11:40am by hugsfamily *
Hugsfamily
(DH-Phil, DW-Mindy, DD-Amanda, DS-Spencer and our Shelties-Polly and Spirit)
For clarification, the "Fully Loaded" weight I provided above of 6040#s is a combination of the trailer weight (dry and empty) and the max suggested weight of the trailer when fully loaded with 1255#s worth of stuff (food, linens, pots/pans,LP, water, etc.).
The trailer itself weighs 4785#s (dry and unloaded). 1255 pounds of "stuff" can be loaded in this trailer. The hitch weight is 445#s.
Occupants of the vehicle weigh around 575#s.
The one over-sight I made was not adding 10% of the "stuff" weight to the total hitch weight. So, if you were to add 125#s to 445#s, you come up with 570#s of tongue weight from the trailer and 575#s of people/dog weight for a grand total of about 1145#s. Removing the rear seat (which we do every time we camp) would relieve about 80#s or so (that rear seat is a beast). Putting us about 60#s over the tongue weight - but I have to ask, doesn't the wdh provide some relief against this weight concern (doesn't it have some effect of lightening the trailer hitch weight?)
My point boils down to this... The trailer (independent of the tow vehicle) is about perfect for us. The irony is a "smaller travel trailer" - say a 24 footer - would reduce the tow-weight by 300-400#s (of which I'm already 1100#s under that limit) and would effect the hitch weight by (maybe) 200#s.
Is an additional 300#s of towing weight and 200#s of hitch weight really going to be that noticeable? For goodness sake, if it would, I could enforce a "super lite weight" packing rule in the travel trailer and reduce the weight concern a bit more...!
I realize this trailer is 6 feet longer than a 24 footer. Doesn't the sway bar have SOME effect at minimizing that additional length?
I want to be conservative and safe, but I don't want to be conservative to a fault of buying a trailer that doesn't really meet the needs/wants of the campers...
I know many of you will say "you've already sold yourself", but its just SO hard to imagine getting back into payments on a tow-vehicle because I was 100-200#s over the manufacturers weight ratings...
No flames from me. I think you are taking the right approach - asking the questions and doing the research before you buy.
If the 30 footer is the perfect one for your family, then go for it. Run the combo over the scales empty give you an idea of how much other stuff you can pack
The length of the trailer should not be an issue if you have a good hitch that is properly set up. You will also need to maintain enough tongue weight to avoid sway. With our travel trailer, I found that I had to run with the fresh tank ¼ to ½ full (it was at the front of the trailer). This was especially true if the grey and black tanks were not empty (they were at the rear of the tt).
I do believe that you will be right at the limit of GVWR and Rear Axle rating. You may need to change to LT tires if you are running the typical “P” rated tires that come on the Burbs/Yukons. I would try to be sure I wasn’t exceeding any of the Yukon’ ratings, GVWR, GCWR, Axles, Tires.
I would usually lock the tranny in 2nd gear, run 55 mph and watch the gas gauge fall. You would have the option of changing the gear ratio to 4.1’s. That would probably help off the line and keep the tranny from searching for gears. I would have done that if we didn’t move up to a 5th wheel. I would also recommend a tans temp gauge if your Yukon does not have one. You can us an after market gauge or have one added to the OEM Cluster.
You may end up very comfortable with this combination and the 30 footer may be all you ever want or you may also decide you need more TV. Only time will tell.
I will caution you that big campers lead to bigger tow vehicles which lead to even bigger campers. It can be a very slippery slope.
When we first got our TT, we felt like we had all we would ever want. After the 1st year, we began to admire the extra space (interior living space and external storage space of 5th wheels). After 2 years, we made the mistake of going to the local RV show where we saw the 5er that is in my sig. After the show, I listed my TT for sale and started shopping for used trucks. 3 months later, we had the truck, sold the TT and took delivery of the Challenger (May 2007) and absolutely love it.
The Burb has been promoted from TV to full time grocery getter and trip truck on those rare occasion that we are not dragging a camper behind us.
My fully loaded weight on basically the same rig with a smaller TT is about 5350lb. It's perfect for this TV, and a real joy to tow. We're getting ready to do 10000 miles in 3 months.
I would think with a decent WD hitch, another 700 lbs wouldn't make a huge difference.
The one favorite upgrade on my burb was switching out the 1500 dash panel with a 2500 one so I now have the tranny temp display. Adds some peice of mind for me.
I think I'd want a test tow to be sure. Make sure you're including all of your crap, full of water, etc. in the total weight.
KD
Trip of a Lifetime Blog - 10372 Miles, 88 Days, 4 Humans, 1 Mini Daschund...FUN!
Wildwood LE 23BH
2003 Chevy Suburban 4x4 Z71 5.3L 3.73
I have a similar setup right now, although my trailer is a bit heaver and the rating on my 'burb is the same as yours. If it is perfectly flat it will stay in overdrive. A small grade will be 3rd and it will drop into 2nd on a bigger grade (in flat Illinois). This is traveling at 60-65mph.
Since that post I've gotten the friction sway control working and I could tell it helped. I had a pretty good crosswind (6-10pmh) on the way home last time and barely got pushed around.
I'd go for it if I were you.
* This post was
edited 07/17/08 08:05pm by snarfattack *
My brand new PUMA 27FQ is 5,350# dry and I think I'll be adding close to 800# to it when loaded for a trip. I've only towed the TT twice and my '04 Yukon XL 5.3L acts exactly as snarfattack describes. I'm hoping things go well this weekend towing fully loaded. Wisconsin is fairly flat in my neck of the woods. I hope I don't end up wishing for more TV...
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