doing little research for family member. they are shopping campers and have been looking around the 25'length, but not sure the weight range they should be around. I figured 7000lbs would be a comfortable size. I dont care what the dealer.or sticker says, who has a tahoe and can give me a safe.comfortable weight they could pull? thanks for any info.
08 raptor 299
06 duramax 2500
bacardi rum
14k superglide
I towed my TrailLite 8230 23'7" and empty weight of 3800 lbs with my 2001 Tahoe. The weight of the trailer when loaded was 4900. The
Tahoe did the job but I wouldn't have wanted anything heaver.
7000 lbs GVWR maybe, but definitely not 7000lbs dry.
The owner's manual will tell you the tow rating for the Tahoe, but that's only a starting point. Everything you put in the Tahoe will reduce its available payload capacity and in turn, its tow rating. If it's typical, has the 5.3L engine and 3.73 axle ratio, it probably has a tow rating of around 7000lbs, and a usable payload of around 900lbs with the driver in the driver's seat.
Wife and two kids will add 300lbs to the Tahoe, leaving you with 600lbs for the trailer tongue. Since the MINIMUM tongue weight on a trailer is 10% of its total weight, and most have 12% or more, they'll overload the truck with a trailer that weighs 7000lbs.
The 5.3 is a powerful engine, but they also might not be happy with how it performs pulling the equivalent of a billboard broadside in the wind.
Steer them toward the lightest trailer possible that suits their needs. Needs, not wants. They're camping in it, not living in it. They need a place to sleep, poop, cook, and clean up. For "typical" summer camping, that is, at a commercial campground, you can get a lot of space in a lightweight hybrid travel trailer. Avoid models with slides, as they make the trailer very heavy.
Towed our 28 foot Jayco TT, ONCE, with the wife's 05 Tahoe (5.3L, 3.42 gears), I had taken out most of the gear to lighten it up, no water, food, drove by myself, ect., but still at probably 7000# it was right at the top of the capacity.
I know the 3.42's hurt quite a bit, but this was definitely way too much to regularly tow with that Tahoe. 3.73's would definitely be better, so watch the rear-end gearing if you are looking at SUV's as they sometimes come with lower (or higher, depends on how you look at it) gearing.
2002 Tahoe and we towed a Arctic Fox 19B with a GVWR or 7000 pounds. Would not want any more behind one if it is being pulled in the mountains at all. Did Ok on the flats, but in the hills the speeds dropped like a rock unless you kept your foot on the floor board all the time. IMHO 5000 GVWR would be about right for that SUV.
Donn
Finally able to camp again after a two year hiatus.
We had a 01 Tahoe, 5.3, 3.73, and towing package. We towed a TT that was too long and heavy for the Tahoe to handle comfortably - it was 31" and about 8500 lbs empty.
The Tahoe is cursed by two factors - a relatively short wheel base and a soft suspension. Neither is conducive to hauling a larger trailer. The wheelbase and soft suspension make trailer sway an issue. We had this issue, especially in cross winds and when getty passed by larger vehicles. It made towing a handful.
Choose the trailer carefully. With a smaller TT, you should be OK. We tried to go to big and were not happy.
I have seen a formula that converted the TV wheelbase to a trailer length but cannot recall where. The Tahoe was a very comfortable vehicle and the wife wishes she still had it. But, for the TT that we had, it was not something that should have been attached to the front of it. Good luck with your decision, Mike
Wife, 3 navigators/social instructors - 22, 18, 10
2006 2500HD LT CC - Oh yeah - Max and Allie
2005 Jayco Eagle 323RKS
I can't get lost with so many telling me where to go.
We pulled a 25'(ball to bumper), 5,500 lb (loaded for use) trailer with our 2001 Tahoe with 5.3L engine and 3.73 gears. We used an 'Equalizer' (brand name) WD hitch. We pulled a lot of miles over mostly flat terrain. We felt some 'push-pull' everytime any vehicle passed us but nothing too serious. We never had any sway issues. We did have some porpoiseing but finally corrected that by replacing the GM hitch. WE had the tow package on the Tahoe so it had a transmission cooler of sorts. We were pretty satisfied with the overall performance but were a little worried about lack of power for a trip into the mountains. We ran across a good deal on a 3/4 ton Suburban and that replaced the Tahoe as our tow vehicle. I suggest go with a short and lightweight trailer, a good WD hitch, and replace the GM hitch on the Tahoe.
We recently replaced our ’99 Expedition with a ’05 Tahoe having a 5.3 engine and 3.42 axle ratio. I believe it has 7,500 lb towing capacity. Our Rockwood 23ss HTT probably weighs in around 5,500 lbs loaded. Engine and transmission perform much better towing than our Expedition did around the New England region and the gas mileage is better too. The ride of the Tahoe is more car like than truck and as such we also find the suspension to be very soft. Although we can feel the turbulence when trucks pass by us, it’s not excessive and doesn’t result in any sway issues. When hitching up with the properly setup Equalizer WDH, the Tahoe’s rear wheels look like they’ll come off the ground, but don’t. I wouldn’t ask the Tahoe to haul much more than we do now. Better to consider a 2500 series Suburban than a Tahoe. A 7,000 lb camper with much more length than ours would surely be pushing its limits to the very max.
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