Chevy Tahoe

[calamari racer]

My wife and I are looking for a 00 or 01 model Tahoe with the 5.3l motor and tow package to pull our 23ft toy hauler. The empty weight is 3800lbs and max weight is 6000lbs. Anyone have info our experience they can share? I've noticed on Tahoe hitches it says towing capacity 5000lbs(I think), and weight distributing at 12000lbs. Thanks for any info.

 

[Highbeam]

The hitch ratings you read on the hitch are only for the hitch, disregard.

You need to do more work. Disregard the max tow rating in the owner's manual, it assumes a lot of unrealistic things. The tahoe will most likely be limited by its gvwr rating which is stamped in the driver's door jamb. The tongue weight on the toyhauler is probably dang high but to be safe you should assume at least 15% of the gvwr of the trailer which is also stamped on the trailer somewhere. The LOADED weight of the tahoe, that is hitch, gear, people, and fuel added to the 15% of the trailer gvwr should not exceed the truck gvwr. Do not use any published numbers for the weights, only the weight ratings.

To be even more accurate, you should weigh the trailer tongue when the trailer is loaded. You will be weighing several things so you might try to find a closed weigh station or a CAT scale somewhere to spend some time.

What you will probably found, and what I have found with a half ton truck is that you can not haul a toyhauler legally.

 

[calamari racer]

Well, I guess when I towed it to California with my F150, I was doing it illegally. I chose this particular TH because it was lighter than most. So, does anyone have a tahoe that they pull a travel trailer with?

 

[Highbeam]

Perhaps you were illegal. Each vehicle is different and the only way to know is to do the math. My chev half ton happens to be pretty poor and there is a big difference in legal vs. safe.

 

[Gardener]

I think you'd be legal. A Pathfinder for example has a row rating of 5000# with its anemic V6. Check your owners manual to be sure. Your Tahoe won't pull like a diesel but it'll get the job done. If it has a factory hitch, you'll have a tow package with larger cooling capacity etc.

 

[BCR-Bob]

Legal or not, you will need to be careful towing 6000# with a Tahoe. I owned a 97 and the trans is the same as a 2000, 4L60. As long as you pay attention to your speeds and gear selection, you will most likely be allright. I had to have 2 trannys done in mine under warr. I really liked the Tahoe and plan to get another new one this coming year. The trailer I tow grosses out at about 5000-5500 loaded and the Tahoe towed just fine, except for the trans. One other thing, I did have to install air bags to get it to tow level.

 

[Highbeam]

Gardener. Really, tow rating is nearly meaningless. You have to do the math. Per the "tow rating" my truck can tow 6500 lbs. But I am over my gvwr with as little as 400 lbs of tongue weight. Have you ever seen a 6500 lb toyhauler with 400 lbs of tongue weight?

 

[Gardener]

Highbeam, I'm confused (not unusual). So, what your saying is that if you put 400#s in the box of your 1/2 ton (3/4 ton?) you exceed the GVWR? Or, do you mean the weight of the truck and trailer combined w/all fluids, loaded etc.?

 

[dirt bike dave]

If he fills the cab up with heavy people, has a full tank of fuel, has extensive factory optional equipment and some weighty aftermarket items like a hard tonneau and a hitch, it wouldn't surprise me if he is within 400 pounds of the manufacturer's GVWR. You would be surprised how close some trucks are to the GVWR if you fill the cab up with big folks.

 

[Gardener]

So then how does GVWR correlate to towing capacity? It's only the maximum weight of the truck, including tongue weight, not what you can tow, correct?

 

[dirt bike dave]

If you are towing a heavy load, you are going to need to examine your GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating), GAWR (Gross Axle weight rating) and GCWR (Gross combined weight).

I think the point highbeam is trying to make is that the max trailer weight shown in you owner's manual is meaningless, as attempting to tow that can easily exceed the GCWR or the GAWR.

I don't tow much, but let's use my vehicle for an example.

It's a '99 F150 Super Cab 4.2L, 3.55 gears, automatic tranny.

The max trailer weight per the manual is 5,600 pounds. BUT... the GCWR is 10,000 pounds and the truck (empty) weighs 4,530. I weigh 200 pounds, probably have 70 pounds of misc. tools. The truck holds 25 gallons, or 150 pounds of fuel. With just me in the cab, we are talking 4,950 pounds, so anything over a 5,050 pound trailer is exceeding the gross combined weight limit. No way I can leagally tow 5,600 pounds unless I take the spare off, remove the tail gate, go on a diet and have no fuel in the tank.

My truck's max. gvwr is 6,000 pounds, 3,100 max front axle, 3,200 max rear. If I add passengers in the cab and some gear in the bed, the toungue weight of even a small trailer could push me over the GVWR or GAVR. This is the situation with many SUV's and light duty trucks.

With a heavy trailer, the math works against you in a hurry if you are carrying passengers or stuff in the back, so you really have to take the max trailer weight rating with a grain of salt.

I know, people overload all the time with no problems, but you could be in deep manure if you cause an accident.

 

[calamari racer]

O.K. My trailer weighs 3800lbs empty, and I've got around 1000lbs loaded which would give me 4800lbs. So, I guess I'll check the numbers on a Tahoe and see if the figures work out. With the 5.3l motor, tow package, and weight distribution hitch, it should be alright. Highbeam, I may pm you when I get all the info and get your calculations so I can better figure out this stuff in the future.

 

[Gardener]

Thanks DBD. Not much room to work with is it. It makes me shudder when I see 28' trailers being pulled by Grand Cherokees.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks dirt bike dave. You were correct on what I was getting at.

The most important thing, and most difficult thing to do, is to weigh your vehicle. The very first thing you should do is load up the tahoe with all the people, gear, fuel, and anything else you might bring along on a trip while towing. To be more accurate, you should even throw all the hitch gear in the back. Weigh this full rig. Record this number.

Record the GVWR rating found inside the drivers side door jamb.

Subtract these two numbers. The difference is the maximum tongue weight legally allowed.

To figure out what tongue weight your trailer applies to the hitch you need to load up the trailer as full as you might ever get it for a vacation. Somehow tow it to the weigh station and unhitch with the hitch jack right on the weigh pad. Step off the scale and record this weight.

An alternative to the above paragraph is to weigh the whole truck (not the trailer axles) with the trailer hitched and then weigh the whole truck (not the trailer axles) without the trailer hitched and subtract. The difference is the tongue weight. You can do this with any tow vehicle as the tongue weight form the trailer is constant.

The published hitch weight as described in your trailer literature is measured with an empty trailer and is not useful unless you tow empty.

Most likely you will exceed the gvwr of your 1/2 ton tow vehicle when you add the above determined true trailer tongue weight to the above determined true tow vehicle weight. This is exactly what the state patrol will do if you are in a wreck. They will use the scales used for commercial enforcement and I guarantee will not care what the "tow rating" is.

If your tow vehicle is within the gvwr when fully loaded and hitched to a trailer, you're not out of the woods yet.

Refer to your towing guide or the dealer to find the GCWR or the maximum allowed total weight of your rig going down the road. Now add the trailer's GVWR to your trucks GVWR. This sum must be less than the GCWR found above.

If both the GVWR and the GCWR are within the ratings, you're not out of the woods yet.

Refer to the sticker on your driver's side door jamb. You will find axle weight ratings or GAWR for the front and rear axles. With the trailer and truck connected and fully loaded hit the scales again. Weigh each axle. Record these numbers. Compare them to your limits. You should be fine with a trailer but a fifth wheel can get close.

One more thing.... you're not out of the woods yet.

Take that axle weight you just measured and cut it in half. Now look at your tires and find their weight rating. Note this is at a pretty high pressure that you need to use to get the weight rating. Your wheels also have a weight rating stamped somewhere inside of them, this may be tougher to find but you must also be with in this rating.


All of this jive is the only way to be sure you are legal. Some folks even refuse to tow above 80% of their ratings. There are other rules of thumb, but these are the laws that I am aware of.

One more thing, if you tow overloaded it is illegal and you made a mistake. If you run a red light it is illegal and you made a mistake. If you kill another driver as a result of either of these mistakes does your insurance company care which mistake you made? Ask them before you tow overloaded.

 

[Pvt Joker]

This is all very useful information as I consider towing a TT or toy hauler with my Tundra.

I don't want to exceed legal or safe limits and after considering all kinds of 5th wheel, trailers and my options, I'm narrowing on the super light model of weekend warrior toy haulers. But I have a question regarding tongue weight that I'm hopeful someone can shed some light on.

Is the tongue weight on a toy hauler (spec'd by weighing when empty) going to actually be lower with weight (bikes, gear and such) in the back?

 

[Highbeam]

Excellent question.

I suspect every lb you add behind the axles takes some weight off the tongue. But did the manufacturers take this into consideration?

 

[Pvt Joker]

Dunno, I suspect they don't, but I'll definitely try and find out. The tongue weight for these is disproportionately high for toy haulers as opposed to other travel trailers.

Thanks for the helpful info.

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by Pvt Joker
I'm narrowing on the super light model of weekend warrior toy haulers.

got any links to the ones you're looking at. i might be able to get one in late '03 but i'm not going to buy some big rig to pull it with.

my sister-in-law has stated that she will buy me a tahoe when she wins the lottery. i'll let you know how well it tows. ;)

 

[Pvt Joker]

Sure nuff

Weekend Warrior Super Light

Try that.

 

[*william*]

Originally posted by calamari racer
O.K. My trailer weighs 3800lbs empty, and I've got around 1000lbs loaded which would give me 4800lbs. So, I guess I'll check the numbers on a Tahoe and see if the figures work out. With the 5.3l motor, tow package, and weight distribution hitch, it should be alright....

We've got a 99 Tahoe and a 18" Thor Wanderer TB. Tahoe's got the old 350 (5.7L) auto-tranny w/cooler, but no tow package.

These are all estimated weights, as listed by manufacturer or common knowledge. The trailer weighs about 3500 lbs, +500 lbs of bikes, +800 lbs of fresh water (100 gallons), + 80lbs of fuel (10 gal.), + 100lbs of food and gear. So that's 4980lbs, probably more. The "tow rating" for our Tahoe was about 5000-6000lbs (I can't remember). We towed about 7 times, averaging between 200-300 miles each round trip.

First we toasted the alternator. $80 for a rebuilt one and popped it in. That was trip 3 I believe. Trip 5, in the mountians, I overheated the brakes - boiled the brake fluid, warped the rotors and drums, and glazed the rear pads to the point I had to replace them. And the electric trailer brakes were working every trip. About $400 and my sweat to fix that. Next to the last trip I noticed that the truck was pulling badly to the right and had weird vibrations. Then I noticed big bubbles in the sidewalls - the tire belts were seperating because they were not the correct rating for the load we were towing. $600 for new "E" rated tires that could handle it. Thankfully we never toasted the tranny. Pulling was pretty weak and the trailer tended to push the Tahoe around the corners because of the soft suspension.

Two months later we got a '02 Ford F-250 crewcab with tow, camper and 8800lbs GVWR pakage and it's soooo much better. It's even got the 330 gas V8 and it pulls better then the Tahoe's 350. Stops way better too.

I'd go with a 2500 Surburban with tow and the big motor. If you must have a Tahoe get the tow package and lower gearing at least, the bigger motor would be best.

Good luck!

 

[lawman]

1 more thing, besides weight, that ya'll might consider if you are thinking of pushing the limits of a tow vehicle: the toy haulers are tall & wide, making for a big profile in the front. that makes a lot of wind resistance, which can make a huge difference in the towability of your rig.