I am very new to the travel trailer idea and really close to making our first RV purchase. We are moving up from tent/cabin camping and are very excited.
I have a Chevy Tahoe two rated at 7200lbs and I'm looking at a travel trailer that is 26.1 feet ball to bumper and dry weight on sticker of 4410lbs. I will have a good sway control installed, but I can't remember the name. In the tahoe will be about 500 lbs for driver and passengers.
Is this a good match up???? I don't trust dealers!
I would think that you would be fine with that setup. I would suggest visiting DavidG's excellent website on towing that is pretty easy to read and very informative:
The Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) of the Tahoe is important. That is the most that the vehicle, trailer, and everything and everyone can weigh going down the road.
This number may be in your owner's manual.
Have fun!
MFinCA
2004 Homestead Settler 255RS
1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500
We had a 2002 Aerolite 25FBSL for two years, and a 2004 Aerolite 30BHSL for two years, and both were a dream to pull with our 1500 Suburban. Although our '99 Suburban had a 5.7 liter engine and your Tahoe has a 5.3, and the Suburban is about 18" longer, your Tahoe is more than capable of pulling the Aerolite 24RBSL and will make a great combination. If you have a premium sway control/equalizer bar setup, such as a Reese Dual-Cam or an Equal-I-Zer, you should have NO problems with this combination.
If your Tahoe has a 3:42 axle ratio, it should be adequate, although in the mountains it might feel pretty "maxxed out". If it has a 3:73, it will be better in the mountains. Our Suburban 5.7 w/3:73 would pull either Aerolite at 70 MPH in OverDrive, seldom unlocking the torque converter in OD on level ground or slight grades. Only 2 places in Colorado was it necessary to go down to second gear while towing our Aerolites in order to keep up with other traffic, both mountain passes.
Not having a tow/haul feature, if the torque converter did unlock in Overdrive, and I could see that the grade would cause it to stay unlocked for quite a ways, I would manually pull the trans down into "Drive" (3rd), and ease off the gas and let the torque converter lock up. I would keep the torque converter locked up in Drive, if possible, until the grade had been topped, and would then let off the gas and manually shift the transmission back into Overdrive without any load.
When driving in mountains or continuous hills, I would manually shift to Drive and keep Overdrive locked out. Just a couple of tips from a long-time RVer who has an automatic transmission business in the family, but has never had to have the GM Overdrive trans in any of our various Suburbans repaired or replaced, even though each one, from 1984 to 1999, was bought new and was driven to 100K miles or more. Heat is a transmission's worst enemy, and an unlocked converter generates a lot of heat, even with the extra coolers provided with a tow package.
If you don't know what axle ratio your Tahoe has, look on the option code sticker in the glove compartment. The code "GU6" is a 3:42 axle ratio. "GT4" indicates a 3:73 axle ratio. "G80" means a locking rear differential. "Z82" means your vehicle has the HD towing package, which comes with engine oil and transmission coolers, HD shocks and suspension, 7-wire towing harness (later models also have the trailer wiring connector factory installed below the rear bumper), underhood and underdash trailer brake wiring, 12v terminals, and fuses, factory installed receiver hitch, etc., each of which has it's own option code, which I won't bore you with here. I hope this helps.
2003 GMC Sierra Crew HD; 6.0L; Prodigy
2006 Thor Tundra 30RL-DSL; Reese Strait-Line & Dual-cam HP
2001 Honda Elite Scooter
Jim & Gayle Bryant
Murphy's Law: "Anything that CAN happen, WILL."
Bryant's Law: "31 years of RVing? Probably already HAS."
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