2016 Tahoe - Boston

[Garandman]

We have three kids and a Labrador Retriever, and often take friends on trips. Along with other vehicles I have a Subaru Outback 3.6R and my wife was driving a 2011 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite, which had a set of rims with Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 winter tires for ski trips.

We have a 21’ RibCraft and had a Melges 24 sailboat, both easily towed by the 6 cyl Outback. But my wife wanted to sail a heavier bost called a Thunderbird, which is about 5,000 lbs on the Trailer, and we have to tow it back from Canada, 600 Miles. That’s more than most unibodies can handle.

We’ve always towed bigger boats with cargo vans (most recently a Chevy Express 2500 and a Ford Transit T250 with. EcoBoost 3.5) but as we live in Boston it would be another vehicle to park. So I told my wife she was going to have to get an Expedition, Sequoia or Tahoe. We rented a Sequoia for a week to see what it was like in the city and on trips, and while you give up a lot of cargo room and utility and mpg compared to a minivan, it would still hold 6-7 people and wasn’t a lot bigger footprint than the Odyssey (203” Long, 79.6” wide). Suburbans (and most pickups) don’t really work in the city because they are 224” Long and city parking spaces are 20’ - 240”.

We started looking for used SUV’s with tow packages, and a 2016 Tahoe LT with Max Towing popped up locally and I made the deal with the owner. We’d checked out complaints about excessive oil consumption in 5.3’s and that seems to have been remedied 2014-on and we are assuming the rusting brake lines of older models have been remedied as well. While the Ford has the terrific 3.5L EcoBoost and independent rear suspension, we know lots of people who used Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban for heavy towing for well over 200,000 Miles with few serious problems.

Frankly the Odyssey can drive rings around the Tahoe while having more useful space and getting 3-4mpg better mileage. But we have to tow what we have to tow so that’s what we have and I’ll keep driving the OBW.

We’ve put about 200 Miles on it so far and the Trip computer shows 15.4. Bought some drawbars and plug converters, WeatherTech floor mats, mirror extensions, etc. Also bought some 18” Z71 rims (takeoffs) for winter tires as it came with 20” polished rims with “ All Season” tires and that doesn’t work very well for Ski country.

We depart for Ontario first week in October. Boat will get towed to Boston for a once-over than to a Boat Shop, then to Winter storage and get launched next spring. Maybe I’ll get an enclosed snowmobile/motorcycle trailer in the meantime!

 

[Vanquish Auto]

That's an awesome setup. Hope you share some pictures of the new boat and Tahoe. Welcome to the forum!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Miami-Dade]

Welcome from Miami Beach&Brooklyn N.Y Dana!! You made the right move buying the 16 Tahoe.

 

[Garandman]

My wife likes it thus far. Leave to pick up the Boat next week.

 

[Fosscore]

Welcome.

 

[gat0r]

howdy
sounds like a good purchase

i take it you like garands too?

 

[2011SSVHOE]

Dana, Welcome from NC. How about some pics of your rig, and your toys?

 

[PG01]

Welcome

 

[Garandman]

Drove the not quite 600 miles to pickup the boat in Whitby, Ontario. We’d paid a local mechanic to grease the wheel bearings and check the tires. Brought magnet mount Trailer lights we used in lieu of the trailer lights, which were trashed.

Total weight was probably about 5,400 lbs. Like most keelboats you are moving a lot of air, but like most this trailer tows bow first.

Our Chevy Express van had a 4.8 and wasn’t great over 5,000 lbs, but the additional power of the 5.3 and more speeds made it a lot better and I’m OK with it: was concerned that we would miss the 6.0 in the Yukon.

IIRC the towing mpg was 12.5. That’s actually pretty good as our vans would be down around 11 for this size trailer.

Left Whitby around noon and stopped several times to check everything. Wound up adding to heavy duty ratchet straps to keep the keel in place. Hit the border around 4 and paperwork was 45-60 minutes. Drove until dark, spent the night in upstate NY and hit Boston Harbor that afternoon.

 

[Garandman]

Dana, Welcome from NC. How about some pics of your rig, and your toys?

Boats, cars, motorcycles, or snowmobiles? Garands all look alike at some distance....

 

[Goodinblack]

Welcome

 

[Garandman]

Purchased some 18” Silverado Z71 takeoff rims for winter tires: barely more than steel rims.

They are at the dealer to have Nokian Hakkapeliita R2 winter tires installed. Should be mounted next week.

 

[Garandman]

And here they are, though hardly novel.

Here’s what the Nokian R2 SUV tread looks like. Along with a lot of sipes, they mold the tread depth into the Center rib so you can see what is left.

 

[Garandman]

Not at all a fan of the roof racks, which have three fixed locations.

Probably should have just purchased the OEM bars, instead got the hellaexpensive Thule aerodynamic bars. But you do not hear them at all on the highway.

 

[Garandman]

We’ve now had this vehicle for a year. It’s about to turn 36,000 miles. We just returned from a 1,200 mile round trip so thought a review was in order.

Pros:
- New platform is very refined for a pickup/body-on-frame SUV. There are no rattles, it’s quiet, and suspension is relatively well controlled for a beam axle truck with a lot of unstrung weight.
- Styling is conservative but appealing: GM has done it better than competitors.
- Towing capacity and range are very good. I didn’t expect the 5.3 to be much better than our 4.8’s, but it towed a 6,000# trailer with a lot of windage without issue.
- My wife and daughters like being up above traffic (except for other SUV/Pickups).
-I personally like the infotainment center compared to Ford, Honda and Subaru.
- Many friends have towed a bunch with over 100K so longevity/durability seems a strong point. Knock wood ours has been trouble free.

Cons:
-really high load floor.
- shortest family member is 5’8 and no one wants to sit in the 3rd row. After a 600 mile return trip with the two shortest back there, they were ready to walk home. IRS equipped Crossovers have much more room there.
- Getting in and out is a step, even with running boards.
- Ride and handling compared to any IRS Crossover is lousy. Pushing this vehicle on twisty roads results in a lot of body roll, understeer, numb steering and low cornering limits.
- I consider fuel economy neutral. It’s not very good: 13-14 in the city, 17.5 on the way back at 72mph with a Yakima roof box. But it is what we expected. Trip computer is haunted: from dead nuts accurate to 16% optimistic compared to actual se. Our MPG is right in line with Fuelly averages.

Our boat trailer can be stripped down to 5,000-ish lbs. I’ve suggested we look at Traverse or another three row Crossover. My wife and kids are undecided. As they drive it most of the time, I’ll let that dog sleep.

 

[Garandman]

Dana, Welcome from NC. How about some pics of your rig, and your toys?

1944 manufacture Remington Rand M1911A1 with WWII ammo but field jacket is later.

New track bike, Suzuki GSX-R750.

L

Kubota L3200

 

[Garandman]

We started looking at alternatives and it looks like we will be keeping the Tahoe.

Friends have a Mercedes GL450 and the 3rd row isn’t very big either. They suggested the big Infiniti but they are too garish for my tastes. We rented a Sequoia for a week and my wife prefers the Tahoe. Expedition has IRS and 3.5L EcoBoost but my wife and kids find them unappealing.

 

[Kpwweb]

"Garandman, post: 1283689, member: 64008" =We’ve now had this vehicle for a year. It’s about to turn 36,000 miles. We just returned from a 1,200 mile round trip so thought a review was in order.

Pros:
-I personally like the infotainment center compared to Ford, Honda and Subaru.

Amen. Can't figure out why I have to go through three screens just to go fromFM to XM?


Cons:
-really high load floor.

Remove the storage compartment and it is lower--especially if you leave the third row up all the time?

- Ride and handling compared to any IRS Crossover is lousy. Pushing this vehicle on twisty roads results in a lot of body roll, understeer, numb steering and low cornering limits.

There are fixes for that as well...These can handle really well for their size! I lowered mine 1"-2" and used a Spohn adjustable track bar and larger tires--it handles extremely well for a vehicle this size.

- I consider fuel economy neutral. It’s not very good: 13-14 in the city, 17.5 on the way back at 72mph with a Yakima roof box. But it is what we expected. Trip computer is haunted: from dead nuts accurate to 16% optimistic compared to actual se. Our MPG is right in line with Fuelly averages.

Its gets better as the engine and drivetrain get broken in. I consistently get 25mpg on the highway at 65-70 on cruise, 15-17 in town.

 

[Garandman]

This vehicle already has far too much unstrung weight so bigger wheels and tires would only hurt the ride and handling on our lousy road surfaces. It’s a lot better than older trucks: it’s just a lot worse than modern Crossovers, which have stiffer chassis, fully independent suspension, lower COG, etc. We knew it was going to suck when we bought it. Lowering it is out of the question, in fact we are probably going to remove the front spoiler before a snow bank does.

Is yours 2WD or 4WD? Do you have the Max Tow Package? Our mpg is right in line with what is reported on Fuelly - 16.4 average for LT’s. And that includes 2WD models. The Max Tow includes a 3.42 rear axle ratio so we knew it was going to be great.

Are you calculating actual fuel consumption? This trip computer is the most optimistic we’ve seen. On our recent 600 mile trip back from Canada we recorded 17.6, while the trip computer reported 19.5. That’s 11% higher than actual but some tanks have been as high as 16%, and it’s never below actual, it’s always high.

Thst was with a roof box with the cruise set at 72, so we can do a little better.

 

[Garandman]

Bought a Sprinter which can tow the boat so we debated getting rid of the Tahoe. I don't like driving it at all. My wife likes being high up but doesn't like the large footprint.

We've had to replace some AC parts and transmission lines, but everything else is holding up OK. As we already have a set of winter wheels and tires. we'll keep it until Spring then reexamine our choices.