Chevrolet Suburban 3500 Questions

calsdad said:

The Chevrolet towing document I referenced - gave a GCWR for the 2017 Suburban as being 14,000 pounds. Your 3500 Suburban has a GVWR of 11,000 pounds - ergo ..... what's leftover from that 14,000 lb GCWR - is 3000 pounds - which is how you end up with the 3000 pound FACTORY tow rating for your 3500.

Basically it sounds like GM punted on coming up with an actual tow rating for the 3500 Suburban - likely because whatever spec came down from .gov for what they needed out of a Suburban that can be up-armored - had no requirements for an actual tow rating. So - as 15Burban said: they likely didn't bother running the tow rating tests and since the "regular" Suburban is already certified to have the 14,000 lb GCWR - and the 3500 Suburban has a rated 11,000 lb GVWR - you've got 3000 pounds of extra capacity to do something with - so they just throw that under tow rating.

Honestly I think people are taking the factory ratings on the 3500 too "seriously". Like I said before - look at the components used in the truck and look at what they're rated for in other trucks the very same components get used in - by going thru that you can come up with a realistic rating of what the 3500 is going to be capable of towing.

For example: (from the GM brochure for 2010 Silverado)
L96 6.0L engine with 4.10 gearing in a 2010 Silverado 3500HD SRW Crew Cab 2WD with 8ft box: Max trailer weight 12,200 lbs

2003 Suburban with the 8.1L gas V8 and a 4.10 rear end ratio tow rating is 12,000 pounds.

Now you've got a FACTORY rated tow rating on the exact same drivetrain that is your truck of 12,200 pounds , and a FACTORY tow rating for pretty much the exact same frame that is in your truck of 12,000 pounds - ergo - your truck should have a realistic tow capability of right around 12,000 pounds.

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15burban said:

What do you plan on towing? Sorry if I missed it. Also some hitches have a higher rating when using a weight distribution hitch. Just a quick look on etrailer the first replacement hitch for my truck says 10k max but also 12k max with a weight distribution hitch.

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Bigburb3500 said:

Not sure if I specified or not but eventually planning on getting another boat and want to be able to throw it on a trailer and not pay wetslip fees all year when I’m not even at the boat. I can also haul-out and do maintenance a lot more easily and cost effectively.

The hitch has a max tongue weight of 1000lbs listed so I will want get a more robust one closer to 15klbs.

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Geotrash said:

Thank you for starting this thread. My wife and I are looking at heavier campers so I'm also now looking at the Suburban 3500HD. I'm curious about your perceptions of what it's like to drive. How are the ride and handling? Also, it looks like yours is an LT, yes? If so, where did you find it? All I can find are LS's currently.

Also, I think the towing capacity analysis that you and the others here have done is spot on. Another reference point: The Chevy Express 3500 van has the same drivetrain but a 10K towing capacity - likely because of the larger box area that they assumed will be filled with stuff. 12K for your Suburban is a safe estimate, in my opinion.

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Geotrash said:

Thank you for starting this thread. My wife and I are looking at heavier campers so I'm also now looking at the Suburban 3500HD. I'm curious about your perceptions of what it's like to drive. How are the ride and handling? Also, it looks like yours is an LT, yes? If so, where did you find it? All I can find are LS's currently.

Also, I think the towing capacity analysis that you and the others here have done is spot on. Another reference point: The Chevy Express 3500 van has the same drivetrain but a 10K towing capacity - likely because of the larger box area that they assumed will be filled with stuff. 12K for your Suburban is a safe estimate, in my opinion.

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strutaeng said:

Yeah, I was going to mention the only other comparable vehicle out there with many passenger seats are the ancient and ugly full sized Express Vans. We have a 2020 3500 standard wheelbase passenger version as a family hauler. Has the same L96/6L90. Rear leaf springs with the 14 bolt. I believe they max out at like 9500 lb towing. With a GVWR of like 9600 lbs. Payload is some insanely high number (like 3,500 passenger/4,000 lbs for the cargo for the 3500 IIRC). I think what controls on those are the GCWR. I've come to actually like ours. The turning radius is better compared to the trucks. They do sit very tall. Prices are pretty good also. We bought ours in 2022 for $34k with only 5,000 miles.

The newer ones came out with the 6.6 L8T (kept the 6 speed), although published towing numbers remained identical.

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Bigburb3500 said:

You had me thinking again about this topic and a little more digging lead me to another forum and this provided link for 2019 vehicles.

Site Maintenance

If you go down to page 11 showing max towing for several different models, I think this is the “closest” published figure I have found showing the max towing of a 3500 Suburban. Look at the line for 6.0 Vortec, 3500 CrewCab + shortbox (this is the same chassis length I believe) and has a 13k max towing. Right in line where I think we have come to general consensus of max towing ability for the Suburban 3500.

Could you get away with 14k… probably for a short, around town scoot, but I do not think I want to be towing 13-15klbs long distance without a dually. I’m wimpy and have not guts or glory lol.

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Geotrash said:

I think your analysis is correct. And I would be completely comfortable towing 12,000 pounds with a 3500 Suburban.

That said, I just drove 400 miles today with a 7500 pound camper behind our modified 6.2 L Yukon XL. I have about 460 hp and torque on tap, and we were driving over top of the Appalachians in West Virginia. Still came up short on power. With the 3500, it would be even worse. Makes me think diesel is probably the way to go for heavy loads.

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