cwlwpb@aol.com Report post Posted February 20, 2011 We are taking our first RV on a 2400 mile trip this summer, and we plan on towing our '05 Suburban, which is 4WD and towable. It has a curb weight of 5500 lbs. Our coach is an '03 Itasca Suncruiser with a Ford V10. I recently weighted it on truck scaled fully loaded with fuel and fresh water at a little under 19000 lbs. The GCVW is 26000 lbs, which will accomodate our Suburban, but is toward the outer limit. I'd prefer to tow something lighter, but don't want to buy another vehicle now. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has towed a similar rig or from anyone with thoughts or guidance on the matter. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BillAdams Report post Posted February 20, 2011 That sounds pretty scary to me, towing 5500 pounds with a 19,000 lbs rig! The experts will have to chime in here but you had better be dang sure you have a very good braking system installed in the Suburban before you try to tow it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lmsooter Report post Posted February 20, 2011 My question would be if your hitch on your motorhome is rated for 5500 pounds. My rig is similar to yours in GCVW rating and has the same engine. I know my hitch is rated at 5000. Most are usually 5000 or 10000 pounds. Is that 5500 pounds with a full fuel tank and any other things you might put in there that you do not have room for in the motorhome? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted February 21, 2011 We tow a 2003 GMC Yukon XL. It has the same weight as your Suburban. We have a 10,000 pound rated Blue Ox. I don't think I would tow that weight with your MH. Road trip fine, Safety First. Good Luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vincentcampisi Report post Posted February 21, 2011 We are taking our first RV on a 2400 mile trip this summer, and we plan on towing our '05 Suburban, which is 4WD and towable. It has a curb weight of 5500 lbs. Our coach is an '03 Itasca Suncruiser with a Ford V10. I recently weighted it on truck scaled fully loaded with fuel and fresh water at a little under 19000 lbs. The GCVW is 26000 lbs, which will accommodate our Suburban, but is toward the outer limit. I'd prefer to tow something lighter, but don't want to buy another vehicle now. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has towed a similar rig or from anyone with thoughts or guidance on the matter. Thanks. We recently purchased a 2011 Entegra Anthem Coach with a 450HP Cummins Engine. This is our fourth motorhome and it is the only one that I have towed a vehicle with. We had a choice of towing our Chevy Suburban which weighs 5500 lbs or our Dodge Durango which weighs about 4500 lbs. Even though our Hitch and the coach are rated to tow a 10,000 lb vehicle we chose the lighter Durango. We also have a Brake Bufddy system installed in the Durango. The combination of our MH and the Durango is excellent we have towed the Durango on three trips ranging from several hundred miles to more than 3000 miles over various terrain including flat coastline and mountainous regions. We have not experienced any hesitation or vehicle sway on any of these trips. Our previous three motorhomes were powered by Chevy Workhorse 8.1 l vortec engines. This engine develops more torque than the Ford V10 engine even though it is only 8 cylinders. I did not tow a vehicle with any of these motorhomes which had GCWR weights of 26,000 lbs and weighed in at approx 21,000 lbs. My aversion to towing with these vehicles was due to my previous experience of many years of towing travel trailers which were approx. 24 feet in length and weighed around 10,000 lbs loaded. I towed these travel trailers with Ford and Chevy big block engines, 390 HP; while the vehicles towed straight and at a reasonable RPMs on the tow vehicle engine; going up grades was not a pleasurable experience when you feel big rigs climbing up behind you. Because of these experiences I decided not to tow and instead rent a car when we got to our destination. That has changed since we got our new MH which has ample power to tow. In my opinion you will probably experience difficulty in towing the Suburban with your MH. I would expect that it would also lead to possible power train problems. It is a costly experiment to have the Suburban fitted with a proper tow package to see how it would handle and then not have it tow properly. My advice would be to go for a lighter tow vehicle after getting advice from Itasca on what they would recommend. Vince Campisi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmonroe Report post Posted February 21, 2011 I'll bet my pension that your MH is rated to tow no more than 5k lbs. What you propose is not safe, from a number of different perspectives. Get a bigger MH, or a smaller toad. I may be next to you when that Suburban breaks free. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BillAdams Report post Posted February 21, 2011 I'll bet my pension that your MH is rated to tow no more than 5k lbs. What you propose is not safe, from a number of different perspectives.Get a bigger MH, or a smaller toad. I may be next to you when that Suburban breaks free. While clearly tongue-in-cheek, the possibility of breaking free is the least likely of scenarios with the proper hitch (on the coach) and the proper baseplate and tow bar. The other possibilities for coach damage, loss of control, loss of brakes, excessive braking distance, etc. are likely very real. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cwlwpb@aol.com Report post Posted March 6, 2011 Thanks to all who replied. We have taken the advice to heart and purchased an 2008 Saturn Vue with a curb weight of slightly under 3800 lbs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BillAdams Report post Posted March 6, 2011 That sounds like a great choice! Have fun and enjoy your travels. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
