As was noted, you should plan a stop at the scales and get the REAL weights. I'll bet your Jayco is about 1000 lbs on the hitch and at least 6500 lbs overall when it's packed to go camping, and that's without a full fresh water tank. You'll have no trouble pulling it with the Suburban, but you will be right at the edge of your ratings as Humpty indicated.
As Bryan said, the new recievers are a different design and not problematic (so far...) like the previous generation design.
WOW! I thought it was all ok now im a little leary... Time to find a scale and get the real numbers! Thanks for the input, keep it coming I will continue to monitor this thread.
T_S_L wrote: WOW! I thought it was all ok now im a little leary... Time to find a scale and get the real numbers! Thanks for the input, keep it coming I will continue to monitor this thread.
I guess I just don't understand since it looks like you've had this trailer for over 8 months and have already towed it several times with I assume a different TV. You should have already know what all the weights were way before you bought your new TV.
If your research started out based on what is back there on the bumper about Weight Carrying Maximum: 5,000(lbs) and Weight Distributing Maximum: 10,000(lbs), then your research was seriously flawed from the get-go.
Those numbers relate to what the receiver platform can handle and have absolutely nothing to do with what the rest of the truck is capable of.
And if you started with the bogus "tow rating" you saw in the sales brochure, you're not much better off there either.
The trailer probably weighed in at close to 6000# when you picked it up at the dealer, and 7000# by the time you get all your stuff in it.
Tongue weight from a 7000# trailer will be close to 1100#, almost all of which will end up on the rear axle. Actually, it will be more than that because that much weight ends up leveraging weight off the front end and back to the rear thanks to the way GM designed the frame. And it won't matter how good the WD hitch setup is.
Since the TT is a BH, I'll assume you have kids, which means you're going to be real close, if not over, your GVWR, GCWR and RAWR.
How do I know all this? Been there, done that, with a 1500 Suburban with 5.3L/3.73 combo, family of 4 and a 7200# trailer, all of which had been weighed several times to see exactly where I stood weight wise, which was about 200# over every weight rating. And to top it all off, towing performance sucked in the hills and any time there was a good headwind.
Because of all of that, we upgraded to our current Suburban and it worked out great! Even with our newer 1300# heavier trailer, it still does just fine.
So, what to do now? Well, load it all up and go camping, with a stop at a local scale to see what it all weighs. Check out my website below for instructions on how to weight it, and other information that you should have found elsewhere as part of your research. Let me know if you have any questions.
BTW - I used to have almost the exact same Jayco, but without the slide-out. It was nice to pull. My actual empty weight was 6400 pounds which is 1,000 more than the "dry" weight (which doesn't even include the microwave or AC). My tongue weight was actually around 1,200 if I was loaded for a long trip. This was due to the kitchen being ahead of the axles, propane and batteries up front, and the large storage bay up front.
If you still have the van, and it has the 5.4L with 3.73 gears, it may actually be more suitable for that trailer, since it has more payload than the 'burb (not by much), and has a longer wheelbase and less rear overhang, so less tongue weight will end up on the rear axle.
Bryan
2000 Ford E350 DRW Wagon (14-pass all captains chairs)
V10 w/ Banks PowerPack, Diablo Predator, 4.56 LS, 250,000+ miles
Had: Weekend Warrior 41' FSW
TSL, I have the exact same TT as you (mine is G1 though), I never weighed it, but my guess is 7000#.
I now live in Northeast Wisconsin and have also lived in the Chicago suburbs like you. You are in the midwest without any mountains to worry about.
I towed my TT with a 2000 F150, 5.4 liter.
You will be fine in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, they are just rolling hills, and if there are steep hills they are very short, usually less then a mile climb. Even Galena would be fine. The wind is the only thing you will struggle with.
My suggestion would be to get a tranny temp gauge and make sure you have a tranny cooler if they offer one on a suburban. This is really just to monitor on the longer pulls in hot summer weather on hot pavement. My guess would be you wouldn't overheat too often, but if you start getting too hot you know it and you can remedy the issue.
I did pull the TT to South Dakota a few summers ago, that is where you will wish you had a more robust TV. I did it, and we got there and back, I pretty much kept up with the diesels in my group. BUT!! I was uncomfortable with what I probably put my tranny through, since I didn't have a gauge I'm not sure how hot it got. My guess is, it wasn't good. The worst thing was the wind, the mountains were not as big of an issue. Bucking a 30+ mph head wind for 200 miles is much different then climbing an 8% grade for 10 miles. I went through an entire tank of fuel with the gas peddle all the way to the floor, running 2nd gear at 60 mph, not good!
I usually travel in a group with mostly 3/4 tons, diesels and big block gassers, so they like to GO! If I was by myself I could have taken it a little easier, gotten there a couple hours later, instead I chose to upgrade to a 3/4 ton. But it isn't necessary, just better.
ENJOY that camper!! We love ours!!! I've looked at upgrading to a bigger 5er, but I gain nothing but open space and bigger expense.
You'll be just fine! You're not going to race it to the campground, are you?? Many would have a 350, 450, or 550 series to pull the trailer you bought. Then you could travel at 70 mph up 10% grades.
Drive it like you're pulling a trailer and enjoy your new rig!!
Yes, I have been enjoying my trailer for almost a year now! The funny part about this is I pulled this trailer with my 2000 E150 conversion van 4.6L/3.55 gear! Like no_bytes said I do live in the Midwest and it is pretty flat around here except for the small hills. I do have a trans temp gauge and a trans cooler on the TV so I will just have to keep an eye on it.
You should be good we had the same trailer untill june of 08 when a tornato tookit from us. We pulled it with a 07 suburban set up like yours but had a hensley. No problems at all. Now we have rockwood 8317 and it tow it fine also.
Well, I couldn't agree more with hams hog. Have fun, FYI, I tow a 2007 Jayco 31 BHS Jay Flight, no problems whatsoever with my 2007 Silverado 1/2 ton vortec max. You don't need a 350 + to haul that trailer like alot of people will tell you. I drive close to 60mph and
am very careful. I do feel my trailer behind me and drive accordingly.
You should have already know what all the weights were way before you bought your new TV. 
Offline
