Anyone tow with a V8 4WD SUV?

[Bichon Barb]

For those of you who tow with V8 4WD SUV's, I'd like to hear what you have and if you are happy with your vehicle, it's towing capabilities, gas mileage (yeah right LOL).

We tow a 25 ft. camper with a 1998 GMC Yukon. Because of all the great rebates and incentives out there, we are thinking about trading in. I have an ad here for a '03 Durango, 5.9L, V8, tow group, etc. for $26,800! A business friend just bought one and let me drive it. It feels more manageable than the Yukon, probably because it's a smaller truck. But it seats seven. :0)

Anyway, we'll probably look at:

Yukon
Yukon XLs (Suburbans)
Durangos
Envoy XLs

 

[aldebnj]

We tow with a TrailManor 3023 with a V-8 Expedition. We love the room and towing capability. Around town mileage is low. Highway we get 15-17 when towing it drops to 13-15.

Hope this helps.

Al

 

[Disney Campers]

is there ANY possible chance of a trailer upgrade in the future?? if so i would say go with the Yukon XL, maybe even the 3/4 ton version, The envoy and durango are not optimum tow vehicles in MY opinion - maybe for a pop up but not a full size trailer.

 

[Bichon Barb]

We just bought the Outback this summer, and I don't foresee any upgrade for quite some time. I'm trying to remember what the Outback weighs. It's 25 feet with a pull out bedroom in the back and a couch pull out on the side. I want to say around 6,000 lbs., but don't quote me.

I see your point on the Envoy. But I was really surprised to find that the Durango comes in a 5.9 liter engine!

 

[Disney Campers]

The durango probably will tow your trailer but you most likely will not be satisfied with the performance, the frontal area of a full size trailer along with the relatively short wheel base of the Durango will factor into your towing experience.

 

[tiggereyore]

Hi
We tow a 25' mallard 25A with the toyota Sequoia. rating for this Suv is 6200lbs, camper is like 4300 unloaded (don't quote me on this it's late and I'm bummed it's pput away for the winter) loaded i think the rating was 5800. Most of the time we us cruise conrol because you'd hardly know its back there. Yes this drops the milage to about 8mpg(urgh) but we've hauled the miles to disney and back through Pa and VA and all those mountians both ways, did many side trips (DEI, Hunting island SC, okefenokee swamp) in 21 days only 8 at disney we used just under $800 in gas. Thats about 180-200 miles to a 26 gal tank. Around town I get almost 300 to a tank. not great but not awful. It a trade off, I can haul around 8 people (do this alot) take the kayaks on the roof stuff the kids bikes in the back. I love a f150/250 4door but this works fine and I can bring more people. I do find hauling hills we have to take off the cruise and overdrive or it shifts to much.
Hope this helps.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Originally posted by Disney Campers
The durango probably will tow your trailer but you most likely will not be satisfied with the performance, the frontal area of a full size trailer along with the relatively short wheel base of the Durango will factor into your towing experience.

Thanks for this info Disney Campers, my DH had some suspicion that the body size of the car might be a problem. And I would guess that many car salesmen might not be so quick to tell you this.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Okay, here are the specs for the Outback 25 RS-S:

Total Dry Weight - 4655 lbs.
Carrying Capacity - 1345 lbs.
Hitch Weight - 440 lbs.
Ext. Length - 25' 10"
Ext Width - 8'
Ext Height - 9' 11"

I must have gotten the 6,000 lbs. from the combined dry weight and carrying capacity.

 

[Disney Campers]

I must have gotten the 6,000 lbs. from the combined dry weight and carrying capacity.

thats the weight you want to go buy, you would be surprised how much all the Stuff add up in weight, i was a bit surprised how much our trailer weighed.

We started with a 25" traile and an Astro Van, noe have the HD truck and 31 foot trailer with super slide, wish i had gotten the correct set up the first time around.

 

[LostBoyinVA]

I have an Outback 25RSS I tow with a V8 AWD Mountaineer. Its only a 5.0L engine and while it tows ok I could use more power. I know I'm at the edge of my capacity and drive accordingly. (I'm that guy in the slow lane on I-95 only doing 60-65) I'm looking to upgrade to something in the Expedition and/or Yukon class soon.

I would not recommend going with the Envoy. Your salesman who has never towed anything in his life will happily tell you that since the tow capactiy is 7000lbs and you only have a 6000lbs trailer that you will be just fine, but tow it more then 50 miles and you won't be happy with it. I know the Durango is slightly bigger then the Explorer/Mountaineer and a 5.9L would certain be bettern then my 5.0, but I'd really consider a Yukon or even a the Yukon XLs.

 

[chuckf6823]

I would definitely stick with theYukon over the Durango. A vehicle with a longer wheelbase makes a better tow vehicle. I was towing a 3500lb. boat with a V6 Explorer, and recently upgraded to an Expedition w/a 5.4l V8. More power and a longer wheelbase make for a better towing experience. If you're not happy with the Yukon you should be going larger not smaller. Look for a good deal on a Suburban. I have a friend who was shopping for a Tahoe recently, and while at the dealership decided to try the Suburban. He was able to make a deal for the Suburban instead. Like I said, DON'T go smaller, you won't be happy.

 

[Disneycamper5]

We have a Chevy Suburban with a V8 350 engine. We only pull a pop up camper with it when we go camping. We got back from WDW in October and we went between 68 and 73 mph all the way down and back. Used cruise control and never had a problem with any hills. We got outstanding gas mileage (around 16 mpg). The biggest reason we purchased this size vehicle is the room inside. Our family has 5 people in it. We had room in the vehicle to have 2 coolers, pillows, tv, playstation, books and games. The kids had room to stretch out without "touching" each other.

Other posters are correct that the bigger the tow vehicle the easier it will pull any size trailer. We also pull a four place snowmobile trailer through all kinds of road conditions and again have no problems. Yes, gas mileage should be a concern but not a primary reason for purchasing a vehicle. Peace of mind while traveling is more important in my mind.

Good luck in you decision.

 

[SouthernBoyBlue]

I currently own a Sunnybrook 30FK. Its dry weight is 4400 #'s but when I loaded it and had it weighed it weighed in at 6850#'s. We used to tow it with our 99 Suburban. It had the Vortech 350 and the towing package with 3.73 gears. It pulled it ok and only got 8-9 mpg, I only ran about 65mph. My wife and I regretted not getting a 3/4 ton Suburban or Excursion. I then bought a 2001 Ford F250 Superduty Crew Cab Long Bed 4X4 with the 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel and the 6 Speed manual. It too has the 3.73 gears. It is night and day difference in towing. My truck has the longer wheel base and rides alot smoother as well as helps fight sway. The crew cab seats 6 no problem. That diesel chugs along like the trailer isn't even behind it. I can run 70mph now while towing and I average about 14.5 mpg. Solo I average 18.5 mpg and this truck weights 8200#'s and has a 6.5" lift kit with 37" Pro Comp Xterrain tires.

So what I would suggest is at least a 3/4 ton Suburban with the 8.1 V-8 and the Allison 5 speed auto or the Excursion with the 6.8l V-10 or the 6.0l Powerstroke Diesel with the 5 speed Auto.

I hope that this helps you out.

Another thing to keep in mind is your vehicles Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). This is the maximum allowable weight for the truck and trailer combined. Remember that your towing capacity is reduced by the amount of weight inside the vehicle.

Let me know if I can help you further.
Todd

 

[mudnuri]

the 8.1 or the V10...if you want to talk about poor gas mileage!

The 8.1/Allison combo- which my brother in law has in his 2500HD silverado quad cab, 6ft bed averages 9.5 MPG EMPTY...

the V10, Father in laws F350, quad cab, 6 ft bed, averages 7mpg EMPTY...if you add a 6000 trailer, your not going to be going too many exits without a fill up!...they both remind me of the ol Chevy 454!!!

If your looking for comfort, and mileage, go with the Suburban or Yukon XL, or Tahoe/Yukon with the 5.3 ltr. this "replaced" the 350 Vortec. You can't get the Allison transmission with these, but the old faithful 350 tranny isn't too shabby....just get the right gears!

We have a 2500HD Duramax/Allison crew cab, short bed, that averages 21.5 mpg highway without anything...we don't tow a travel trailer, but a dual axle trailer with 9 quads on it (and two small 90s in the bed) I'm sure weighs pretty close, and we were able to run 70-75 with cruise down to PA last year, our MPG was 18.5 average...We have 4.11 gears in this...the Allison transmission is a mean tranny- built for towing, and the Duramax is tough to beat, especially since it's only a hair louder than a gas jobber...

On a side note, when you compare the Durange/Envoy/Mountainer to a Yukon/Tahoe/XL or Suburban, your comparing apples to oranges...the 1st are midsized SUVS, while the later are full size.

do your research before you sign anything...it would be horrible to sign the dotted line for 5 years, and hate the way it tows!

Brandy

 

[Bichon Barb]

Thanks for all the great advice (even though some of it went completely over my head ). I definitely won't consider the Durango or the Envoy now!

Looks like we are going to stay with what we have for now (1998 GMC Yukon). As I mentioned on another post, DH has a second job interview in Florida on Friday, so that's enough on our plate for now. LOL. Heck, if we move down there, we wouldn't even need 4WD!