First Towing Experience 2021 Yukon Denali - 5300lb trailer, with and without stablizer

[tagexpcom]

Thought I'd share our first experience towing our 5300lb 7 x 14 dual axle trailer -> camper on a 400 mile round trip over 5800ft mountain and back.

We have a 2021 GMC Yukon Denali 6.2L with middle package 22" wheels but no air suspension. Installed a Curt brake controller.

Starting with ordinary hitch. Tonque weight ~650lbs. Rear sunk from 33" to 32" (ground to top of wheel well) and you can see the front is 'up' a bit.

We got SWAY!!! at anything >57mph. It would drive normally but then for no reason start swaying - I could see the trailer swaying in the mirror - maybe 2" back / forth looking in mirror at front of trailer. I've towed about 4,000miles - some experience but not a lot. Even a little sway causes me to tighten on the steering wheel as it moves unnaturally - doesn't feel like I can correct and have to slow down immediately! Not a pleasant drive. Not sure if there's any safe amount of sway.


Heading back we put on the Blue Ox anti-sway, weight distribution hitch that we bought for our previous vehicle (2004 SRX V8 in pic above). The Yukon seems level (pic below) and had no sway up to 70mph cruising. The Curtis break controller worked well to give me good stopping capability.


Not pushing weight distribution / anti-sway, just sharing our hands-on experience. 5000lb trailer seemed like it might be light enough but turned out to be absolute game-changer for 65/70mph travel. Made a tense drive into a boring drive.

Don't understand what causes sway. This trailer is top heavy with solar panels and 7ft tall - maybe that contributes?


FYI - Ambient was 70F to 80F and went over 6000ft mountain without a care. Transmission temp was 185F tops. Acceleration was 'normal' for merging, passing even, like no trailer in a slower car. Very cool.


Before purchase we did a 107F ambient test up over 4,300ft mountain with this trailer - https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/thr...200-210f-engine-and-199f-transmission.143309/

Really like the vehicle for our towing needs and sooo much room for camping/traveling.

 

[StephenPT]

Cargo/Travel trailers are basically a huge wind sail. The wake coming off the back of the tow rig and other rigs passing you along with any amount of cross wind will induce sway. I don't think I'd tow any "box" trailer without some form of sway control. Flat bed or boat trailer will be OK, but sway control and weight distribution are a must beyond 5K.

 

[swathdiver]

Not enough weight on the tongue and or too much weight behind the rear trailer axles. Basically, the trailer isn't loaded right for towing.

 

[tagexpcom]

Not enough weight on the tongue and or too much weight behind the rear trailer axles. Basically, the trailer isn't loaded right for towing.

Good vid but... my tongue weight is 650lbs which is 650lb / 5300lb = 13.3% of trailer weight - which is in the proper zone. So my sway must be coming from additional factors.

Without weight distribution, the rear was down 1 inch and the front was up at least an inch. The vehicle is high / hitch is 22 inches above the pavement , using 8" of drop hitch. The sway didn't occur because of semis passing or wind - it was perfect driving conditions in that regard. The uneven (2-lane mountain highway) initiated sway a couple times but it also just seemed to occur spontaneously >57mph.

The same thing happened on the 2004 Cadillac SRX at ~53mph without sway control - which makes me think trailer rather than vehicle as the key common denominator.

 

[Chad G 1979]

I wonder if the sway somehow is coming from the trailer length being fairly short and a decent amount of weight. I would think longer trailer and wheelbase of trailer axles being farther from the tow vehicle would help decrease the amount of sway. Just from thinking about it. The farther away the trailer axles are from tow vehicle the more it would take to get it swaying as the pivot point is farther away and needs more leverage to get sway going. I could be completely wrong as i dont tow often (just small trailers loaded full of firewood about 50 miles) and just using my limited experience and some deductive reasoning or at least it makes sense in my mind.

 

[NothEastTahoe]

I towed a similiar trailer up and down the east coast when moving back north years back. I did it in a truck, but I went 70mph most the way and never had any sway. These yukons, are basically trucks with beds, and should easily tow 2k under the limit without a ton of issues. I would look at your wheels, have you greased the bearings lately? Maybe they are a little loose, that has happened on smaller utility trailers I have owned in the past. I have only towed about 2k with my denali and it was a joke, couldn't tell the thing was there.

Either way, I appreciate the post and information, but I would check that trailer, either how you are loading it, or something may be loose. I don't think you should get sway under 60 with those weights.

 

[swathdiver]

Good vid but... my tongue weight is 650lbs which is 650lb / 5300lb = 13.3% of trailer weight - which is in the proper zone. So my sway must be coming from additional factors.

Without weight distribution, the rear was down 1 inch and the front was up at least an inch. The vehicle is high / hitch is 22 inches above the pavement , using 8" of drop hitch. The sway didn't occur because of semis passing or wind - it was perfect driving conditions in that regard. The uneven (2-lane mountain highway) initiated sway a couple times but it also just seemed to occur spontaneously >57mph.

The same thing happened on the 2004 Cadillac SRX at ~53mph without sway control - which makes me think trailer rather than vehicle as the key common denominator.

Nope, you need more tongue weight and or weight moved from behind the trailer axles moved forward. It's that simple.

Watch the video. If you did, watch it again.

What do you think Bill, Pete? @intheburbs @PG01

These fellas have forgotten more than I'll ever know about towing.

 

[Fless]

The trailer tongue needs to be slightly lower than level, or at least no higher than level. Pics look like it's up.

 

[tagexpcom]

The trailer tongue needs to be slightly lower than level, or at least no higher than level. Pics look like it's up.

Without stabilization I measured 11" from edge of trailer to the road at both front and back - it was level within 1/4 of an inch.

With stabilization I agree it was up - maybe 11.5" front and 10.5" back. I have read that 1-2" is acceptable variance? I can adjust the stabilization hitch ball to get it a little closer.

 

[tagexpcom]

Nope, you need more tongue weight

Tongue weight is OK.

and or weight moved from behind the trailer axles moved forward. It's that simple..

This could be something.... It's a camper with water(30g)/full-kitchen/bath in front and garage in back end. While it's balanced overall, the weight is not concentrated over the axles but more front/back. Directly over the axles are chairs and TV - light compared to front/back.


It's not intuitive to me that this would make it more susceptible to sway... but hey I want to learn and is why I put this out