Need Guidance Please - Preparing for New Travel Trailer - Questions

[brucemac]

2022 Suburban Z71 6.2L with Max Tow Package - 7900 tow, 790 hitch as optioned.

Getting ready to buy a new travel trailer. It's a ~25ft living space / 29ft 11in overall with tongue. It's 6295lbs dry with a dry/unloaded hitch weight of 632lbs. GVWR is 8250lbs.

I have four questions:

1. Weight/load wise I should be good, right? As long as I don't overload the trailer or the rig?
2. Can anybody recommend a good WDH? Dealer is recommending/selling Equalizer (spelling that wrong I think) at a cost of ~$850 installed.
3. Do I need to do anything to adjust the stock airbag system so that the combo sits/rides level? I believe I have to make an adjustment?
4. Anything I need to know/understand with regards to the trailer brakes and the harness at the rear of the rig?

Appreciate any advice and/or guidance here. We pull a boat regularly, but it's probably 4500lbs dry. This is a whole new thing for us.

 

[jforb]

I'd shop for a smaller trailer or a bigger truck. But that's just me.

(we have a 4000ish pound Airstream we tow with our 2022 Tahoe)

 

[TollKeeper]

7900-6295= 1605lbs of available weight..

You have to include all passengers (including the driver)
Luggage
Food
Pets
Laptops
Water in ALL holding tanks
Propane tanks
etc..

Hate to say it, I am with @jforb here.

Lets say its for you, your wife, and 2 kids. You weigh 220, your wife weighs 170, your kids weigh 100 lbs each. Then you have 50 gallons in your water tank (thats 415lbs), a couple laptops (20lbs), food (100lbs including canned goods, fridge goods, dry goods), 50 lbs per person is misc, spare tire 35lbs, 2 propane tanke (60 lbs)

Thats 1420 of your 1605 lbs.. and I am sure there is stuff that I have not included in the math here.

 

[genestoy]

Same here, I would opt for a smaller lighter trailer as these newer platforms with the independent suspension do not like heavy loads. My friends own a 23' Lance with one slide and I have towed that with my 22 5.3 SLT Yukon and would not want anything larger as far as the suspension goes. The 5.3 towed it fine as far as power goes.

 

[DenaliCountry]

2022 Suburban Z71 6.2L with Max Tow Package - 7900 tow, 790 hitch as optioned.

Getting ready to buy a new travel trailer. It's a ~25ft living space / 29ft 11in overall with tongue. It's 6295lbs dry with a dry/unloaded hitch weight of 632lbs. GVWR is 8250lbs.

I have four questions:

1. Weight/load wise I should be good, right? As long as I don't overload the trailer or the rig?
2. Can anybody recommend a good WDH? Dealer is recommending/selling Equalizer (spelling that wrong I think) at a cost of ~$850 installed.
3. Do I need to do anything to adjust the stock airbag system so that the combo sits/rides level? I believe I have to make an adjustment?
4. Anything I need to know/understand with regards to the trailer brakes and the harness at the rear of the rig?

Appreciate any advice and/or guidance here. We pull a boat regularly, but it's probably 4500lbs dry. This is a whole new thing for us.

1.) We have a Passport GT 2951BH that is about 100lbs under your estimated dry weight. The trailer is 34' tip to tail so it is longer. Admittedly we do not travel with it much but I have hauled it a few times and it handles great on the highway but I'm not going over 65mph typically. It is definitely on the high end of the spectrum of what these trucks should be hauling. Your longer wheel base will help with sway. I am pulling mine with a 2022 Yukon Denali with Max Tow and Air ride, similar to your setup.
2.) Don't short change on the hitch. We have an Equilizer as well, it works great.
3.) Make sure the truck is off and settled before setting up the hitch with the trailer. Once it is settled into standard parked height (not the lowest easy entry height, just standard height) open one of your passenger doors so it doesn't start leveling the truck as you hitch up the trailer. You want air ride disabled during the hitch setup. You can also pull the fuse, I opted to do the former. Once you have everything setup properly on the hitch the truck will do it's thing and level off accordingly. There are tutorials online that you can follow that deal with setting up a vehicle with air ride.
4.) I like to set the gain by coasting the entire rig under 5mph and ease into the brake gain until completely closed. Once the trailer tires start to drag back off the gain by .5 so they don't drag when fully locked up. Better if done on a gravel road.

 

[brucemac]

1.) We have a Passport GT 2951BH that is about 100lbs under your estimated dry weight. The trailer is 34' tip to tail so it is longer. Admittedly we do not travel with it much but I have hauled it a few times and it handles great on the highway but I'm not going over 65mph typically. It is definitely on the high end of the spectrum of what these trucks should be hauling. Your longer wheel base will help with sway. I am pulling mine with a 2022 Yukon Denali with Max Tow and Air ride, similar to your setup.
2.) Don't short change on the hitch. We have an Equilizer as well, it works great.
3.) Make sure the truck is off and settled before setting up the hitch with the trailer. Once it is settled into standard parked height (not the lowest easy entry height, just standard height) open one of your passenger doors so it doesn't start leveling the truck as you hitch up the trailer. You want air ride disabled during the hitch setup. You can also pull the fuse, I opted to do the former. Once you have everything setup properly on the hitch the truck will do it's thing and level off accordingly. There are tutorials online that you can follow that deal with setting up a vehicle with air ride.
4.) I like to set the gain by coasting the entire rig under 5mph and ease into the brake gain until completely closed. Once the trailer tires start to drag back off the gain by .5 so they don't drag when fully locked up. Better if done on a gravel road.

First off, thanks everybody for the replies. and thank you DenaliCountry for the insight. Super helpful.

I understand we're reaching upper limits here and a 3/4 or 1-ton would be ideal, but with the kiddos getting older, odds are high it will typically just be my wife and I with 2 small dogs. I also am still in honeymoon phase with my Suburban and have zero desire to buy a new rig--especially in this market. Knock on wood, thus far (18K) it's been the best rig I've ever owned.

We don't have plans to do much boondocking so majority of towing will be without a full load of freshwater. This will be a PNW setup and don't have any plans to do any long/cross country trips. Primary use case over the next several years will be to visit kids at college across state and a couple long weekends here in the NW.

Appreciate any additional opinions or advice. Thanks again.

 

[justchecking]

I also use an equalizer hitch and it works great. It is easy to set up but be sure to watch the videos and understand how to do it. The dealer had ours out of whack when we picked it up.

 

[15burban]

There is no such thing as "dry weight." Usually those don't include propane tanks, battery(s), awning(s) etc. Always go by the gross weight. Or at least I would. My guess is the camper as it sits on the lot is 6,500-7,000 lbs.

Your current hitch has a max tongue weight of 790 lbs? If so you will be pushing that without even putting anything in the camper.

With the weight distribution hitch don't rely on the dealer to set it up right. Being on the upper end of your towing limits I would take it to a scale and get it dialed in. If you do end up a little over on payload it's not the end of the world. The main number to not go over is your rear axle weight rating along with what your hitch is rated for.

 

[swathdiver]

2022 Suburban Z71 6.2L with Max Tow Package - 7900 tow, 790 hitch as optioned.

Getting ready to buy a new travel trailer. It's a ~25ft living space / 29ft 11in overall with tongue. It's 6295lbs dry with a dry/unloaded hitch weight of 632lbs. GVWR is 8250lbs.

I have four questions:

1. Weight/load wise I should be good, right? As long as I don't overload the trailer or the rig?
2. Can anybody recommend a good WDH? Dealer is recommending/selling Equalizer (spelling that wrong I think) at a cost of ~$850 installed.
3. Do I need to do anything to adjust the stock airbag system so that the combo sits/rides level? I believe I have to make an adjustment?
4. Anything I need to know/understand with regards to the trailer brakes and the harness at the rear of the rig?

Appreciate any advice and/or guidance here. We pull a boat regularly, but it's probably 4500lbs dry. This is a whole new thing for us.

Yeah, that's going to max out your some of your numbers, especially if you keep it a while and both the truck and trailer accumulate stuff. However, the 6.2 can pull that and much more with ease, you are taxing the chassis and suspension over time with that load. Consider a ProPride hitch, you get what you pay for.

The more stuff in your truck, the less it can pull. Put as much possible in the trailer and go to your local CAT Scale to weigh the truck and trailer and make sure they are properly loaded and balanced and do not exceed your maximums.

Plan carefully when going through the mountains. If the Suburban doesn't have an integrated trailer brake controller, get a good aftermarket one, stopping that load is more of an issue than pulling it.

I have yet to understand this new rating system by GM with regards to the tongue weight rating. It's better to put more than 10% on the tongue for stability, most like 12% to 15%. The hitches on our older trucks are rated like this and I suspect that you could easily put 1100 pounds on your hitch like we can.

 

[brucemac]

Thanks again for the feedback and guidance. I do have an integrated trailer brake controller as part of the tow package. We've received best and final from dealer and are going to sleep on it for a few days. We feel like we've done our due diligence, but are still slightly concerned about the load. Unfortunately, we're pretty much in love with the floorplan, fit and finish and decor of this specific model, so downsizing or looking at other models, doesn't appeal to us at the moment.

 

[swathdiver]

Thanks again for the feedback and guidance. I do have an integrated trailer brake controller as part of the tow package. We've received best and final from dealer and are going to sleep on it for a few days. We feel like we've done our due diligence, but are still slightly concerned about the load. Unfortunately, we're pretty much in love with the floorplan, fit and finish and decor of this specific model, so downsizing or looking at other models, doesn't appeal to us at the moment.

Then run it and learn its limitations and work with that. I reckon you'll be fine but consider that since you are towing near maximums, things will wear out sooner and definitely change the fluids at about 1/2 the interval of the severe service schedule when towing regularly.

I have Gen IV 6.2 engines in my pickups and they can pull 10K pounds with ease and were regularly used to rescue people stuck in the mud/sand. Yours with more power and better gearing is even more capable.

 

[BacDoc]

jforb is correct - look for a bigger tow vehicle or a smaller trailer. Also you should realize that trailers tow better with at least 10% of the load as tongue weight. Sure you can tow with less but the smoother ride depends on balance of weight and the more you are at the maximum limit the more balance is important.

I trailer frequently and I was always told by smart experienced mechanics that you never want to tow at the max limit. Besides the safety issues the brakes and transmission will wear a lot faster. But I also change oil less than 5k miles too.

Choose wisely!

 

[DontTaseMeBro]

I swear by Blue Ox hitches. On the heavier side, but boy, do they make things so stable. I've towed 2 tt's behind 5 different vehicles. Here is our Sundance 241bh behind our XL. The trailer has a GVWR of 7500lbs(2200 lbs of cargo) but I'm pretty sure we don't exceed 6500lbs most of the time.

 

[DontTaseMeBro]

7900-6295= 1605lbs of available weight..

You have to include all passengers (including the driver)
Luggage
Food
Pets
Laptops
Water in ALL holding tanks
Propane tanks
etc..

Hate to say it, I am with @jforb here.

Lets say its for you, your wife, and 2 kids. You weigh 220, your wife weighs 170, your kids weigh 100 lbs each. Then you have 50 gallons in your water tank (thats 415lbs), a couple laptops (20lbs), food (100lbs including canned goods, fridge goods, dry goods), 50 lbs per person is misc, spare tire 35lbs, 2 propane tanke (60 lbs)

Thats 1420 of your 1605 lbs.. and I am sure there is stuff that I have not included in the math here.

FYI, the campers dry weight usually factors in full propane tanks from the factory. Ours did, and after doing some research on a few RV forums, this appears to be the norm. Btw, I'm referring to the dry weight sticker that's located on the travel trailers door frame, not the mfg's web site.

 

[EvergreenZ71]

I had a 2’ shorter toy hauler that I initially towed with my 2002 Tahoe. Yes, the engine was part of the issue but stability isn’t dictated by the engine. I didn’t recognize how bad it was until my Tahoe was in the body shop and I needed to get something to tow the trailer to get winterized and decided buying an older suburban made the most sense.

I took a 2 hour drive to get a 1995 1500 Suburban but drove away from the same dealer with a 1992 2500 Suburban and figured out on the first drive to get the trailer winterized that it was a night & day difference.

I reinforced that lesson 2 years later on a summer trip when the 2500’s transmission overheated and I had my wife (who was going to meet us there) what happened and bring my Tahoe and meet us at the pass to finish the trip. We did, but ended up bending the rear axel on the Tahoe.

My honest recommendation: don’t buy the trailer and instead put that money (and all the subsequent money you’d spend outfitting & winterizing it) in a savings account and just rent a full RV with their insurance when you take your vacations.

 

[MyChevy]

Hi,

We have a 28' Salem with 2 Slides a dry weight of 6,500#. The overall length Tip to Tip is 31'. We tow it with a 2022 Tahoe with MaxTow Package and 5.3 Engine. We use a Hensley Arrow Hitch which is the difference maker in my opinion to handle these longer trailers with short wheel base SUVs. There is no sway when pulling. 65MPH would be the maximum speed for us which is where this combination is the most comfortable. Braking is good with the Integrated Controller. I would expect that with the longer wheelbase Surburban with a 6.2 and the proper hitch you should have no issues.