Can I Tow It

[David Smith]

It is right. Read the bottom of your own picture you posted. "Tow vehicle trailer rating may be less." Read your owner's manual, and for the love of god, don't try towing that much with your Tahoe.


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haha I do not ever tow over 2-3k with mine.

Well, according to your owners manual, you can't. That same hitch is used on the Suburban, so that's why it says 12k.

They should probably change that!

 

[HiHoeSilver]

It is right. Read the bottom of your own picture you posted. "Tow vehicle trailer rating may be less." Read your owner's manual, and for the love of god, don't try towing that much with your Tahoe.


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No, it's not. you're confusing the GCWR with trailer weight.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Either way, the GCWR of a 2008 Yukon 14,000# so that is really the most important number.

With my setup even though I am 3800 pounds below my tow weight, I am only 3000 pounds below my GCWR since the Yukon is loaded with gear, people, and fuel.

At the beginning of this season I actually went through a CAT scale to get my per axle weights, loaded truck weight, and gross weight with the trailer. It was helpful, and I actually needed to adjust my weight distributing hitch down a little since it was transferring too much weight from the rear to the front.

Do you still have your ticket from the scale? Can you post a pic of it?

 

[swathdiver]

Well, the OP still hasn't obliged us with the information we need to help him make an informed decision.

Since joining, in most of these types of posts, these tenderfoots are always asked the various weights and most never respond, presumably because they haven't a clue. One wonders how many even know what the maximum towing capacity of their own transmissions are?

Staying within all the limits keeps us good with the laws of physics and government.

 

[mals]

Oh my god, this thread is terrifying.

Every piece of equipment that is used to tow something, between the engine, tow vehicle frame, vehicle axles, hitch receiver, hitch tongue, tow ball, trailer hitch, trailer frame, trailer axles, and trailer tires all have their own tow rating. When you're towing your tow limit is only as high as the weakest link in that chain. The ultimate cap is the GCWR for the loaded tow vehicle and trailer. Even if you have upgraded your breaks and springs and other components, if you get into an accident and you are found to be over the OEM weight limit good luck getting your insurance to cover any of the damage or injuries you cause.

For me in my current setup, when the Yukon is fully loaded with gear, people, fuel, and the trailer tongue weight I am only 200# from exceeding the 4000# rear axle capacity. The next weakest link in my chain is the 5,000# trailer weight / 750# tongue weight distributing bars I use with my hitch. After that it is the 6000# rating of the 2" tow ball in the hitch, and so on after that.

@HiHoeSilver - I'll try and take a look for the slip when I get home.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Heres a post with load calculations.

Friday was a sad day RIP Avalanche

 

[schaffer05]

No, it's not. you're confusing the GCWR with trailer weight.

You're confusing posts. He said the 8300lbs can't be right.


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[HiHoeSilver]

You're confusing posts. He said the 8300lbs can't be right.


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For the combined total of his truck and loaded trailer he said.... And it's not.

 

[schaffer05]

Oh my god, this thread is terrifying.

Every piece of equipment that is used to tow something, between the engine, tow vehicle frame, vehicle axles, hitch receiver, hitch tongue, tow ball, trailer hitch, trailer frame, trailer axles, and trailer tires all have their own tow rating. When you're towing your tow limit is only as high as the weakest link in that chain. The ultimate cap is the GCWR for the loaded tow vehicle and trailer. Even if you have upgraded your breaks and springs and other components, if you get into an accident and you are found to be over the OEM weight limit good luck getting your insurance to cover any of the damage or injuries you cause.

For me in my current setup, when the Yukon is fully loaded with gear, people, fuel, and the trailer tongue weight I am only 200# from exceeding the 4000# rear axle capacity. The next weakest link in my chain is the 5,000# trailer weight / 750# tongue weight distributing bars I use with my hitch. After that it is the 6000# rating of the 2" tow ball in the hitch, and so on after that.

@HiHoeSilver - I'll try and take a look for the slip when I get home.

I can tell you, from a LEO standpoint, the only time a vehicle and trailer involved in a crash would be weighed, would be if the crash involved a fatality.

By no means am I advocating, or would I ever, tow over the threshold. Just saying scare tactics of insurance not paying isn't factual. You should be more worried about your, your family's, and the motoring public's life. You could potentially get sued civilly as well.


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[mals]

I can tell you, from a LEO standpoint, the only time a vehicle and trailer involved in a crash would be weighed, would be if the crash involved a fatality.

By no means am I advocating, or would I ever, tow over the threshold. Just saying scare tactics of insurance not paying isn't factual. You should be more worried about your, your family's, and the motoring public's life. You could potentially get sued civilly as well.

Sorry if my message came across as a scare tactic. I was just shocked that some one actually thought that they could tow a 12k load with a 1/2-ton vehicle. People seem to find a number somewhere on their rig or the internet and use that to justify whatever item they are looking to tow, when in reality every piece of the chain is just as critical.

I hope from the rest of my messages on this thread and other similar ones that have come up you understand that safety in towing is the main reason that I contribute to these threads. Before I purchased either my camper or my Yukon I researched each. Once I found the trailer that I wanted, I set out to find my tow vehicle. That is how I ended up with my Yukon. Last year was our first year out in and the first thing I did was go to a CAT scale to find out my weights and calculate how each of my axles was loaded, the tongue weight, and total combined weight. This past winter I made modifications to my camper, installed larger batteries, installed A/C, flipped the axles for more ground clearance. This year the first thing I did was go get the rig reweighed. Since the geometry and load had changed a little I ended up needing to adjust my weight distributing hitch a little as compared to the previous year.

I hope my input is taken in the spirit that it was given.

 

[PG01]

We love you @mals

 

[swathdiver]

I've used an excel spreadsheet to calculate my own vehicle and trailer weights and limits. When I clean it up for consumption it will be offered to the public for all to use.

 

[schaffer05]

Sorry if my message came across as a scare tactic. I was just shocked that some one actually thought that they could tow a 12k load with a 1/2-ton vehicle. People seem to find a number somewhere on their rig or the internet and use that to justify whatever item they are looking to tow, when in reality every piece of the chain is just as critical.

I hope from the rest of my messages on this thread and other similar ones that have come up you understand that safety in towing is the main reason that I contribute to these threads. Before I purchased either my camper or my Yukon I researched each. Once I found the trailer that I wanted, I set out to find my tow vehicle. That is how I ended up with my Yukon. Last year was our first year out in and the first thing I did was go to a CAT scale to find out my weights and calculate how each of my axles was loaded, the tongue weight, and total combined weight. This past winter I made modifications to my camper, installed larger batteries, installed A/C, flipped the axles for more ground clearance. This year the first thing I did was go get the rig reweighed. Since the geometry and load had changed a little I ended up needing to adjust my weight distributing hitch a little as compared to the previous year.

I hope my input is taken in the spirit that it was given.

I wasn't trying to say you're not right. I get where you're coming from in the safety standpoint. I constantly (on this forum and in the Tundra community) see people mention insurance as a reason why people shouldn't do it. I was just saying that's the last reason, which I'm sure you agree with. Add to the fact that the insurance companies likely would never know the vehicle was overweight.

If I came off as rude or anything, I apologize.


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[PWMac]

Here are some good links with definitions about vehicle weight and tow ratings that helped me.

https://www.your-rv-lifestyle.com/vehicle-weight.html
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle /gvwr11.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle /curb-weight12.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle /gawr11.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle /curb-weight12.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle /towing-capacity-chart10.htm

I gathered some numbers from my setup and after towing my TT that weighed around 4500 lbs through the mountains of AZ and CO I wouldn't want to go much heavier. The weak link in my chain was my transmission cooler and going up the 6-8% grades the transmission temp got up to 241 and I had to pullover to let it cool down. I ordered a Hayden 679 cooler to install. I would also recommend a brake controller and really like the Hopkins Insight because the manual control was easy to mount within reach and was nice for going down the mountains.

2008 Yukon XL Denali AWD 6.2L 3.42 gears

Yukon XL Gross Vehicle Weight Rating GVWR 7200 lbs
Yukon XL Gross Combined Weight Rating GCWR 13,000 lbs
Yukon XL Gross Axle Weight Rating GAWR Front 3300 lbs Rear 4200 lbs
Yukon XL curb weight 5608 lbs
Yukon XL towing capacity 7100 lbs
Yukon XL max cargo 1300 lbs

Trailer Gross Vehicle Weight Rating GVWR 5000 lbs
Trailer Gross Axle Weight Rating GAWR 5080 lbs
Trailer unloaded vehicle weight UVW 4012 lbs
Trailer cargo carrying capacity CCC 705 lbs

Weight Distributing Hitch tongue weight 1000 lbs
Weight Distributing Hitch max weight 10,000 lbs
2" ball 7500 lbs

Yukon xl curb weight towing capacity would be 7100 lbs.
If yukon xl loaded to GVWR of 7200 lbs towing capacity would be 5800 lbs.

For me I think the max I would try towing any kind of distance or grade would be 6000 lbs and probably try to stay closer to 5000 lbs.

 

[M3kanic]

This was over a 2500 mile trip a few months back.

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[swathdiver]

That rig sits perfect!

 

[M3kanic]

It still sits a little tounge high but I'm at the bottom of the hitch. One of these days I will get it in a scale to find out all of my axle wieghts.

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[swathdiver]

Yep, I see that now, move some camp chairs and cast iron cookware towards the front? Or whatever is in back of your truck to the front of the trailer?