Towing woes

So after many miles I finally got my ass beat by my truck.

Preface, I have a 18' car hauler, towed this ***** many miles, no real issues other than being too light on tongue weight when unloaded. Towing with the suburban before, and 3 of the NBS tahoes, no issues, smooth and clear when loaded from 1k to 5k on the trailer. All my trailers I have ever owned have balanced trailer tires, this helps make them tow smooth, and helps the MPG out a bit.

I bought the Esky last December area, loved it, Towed with it a few months ago and noticed it beating the shit out of me, I thought I was at a weird loading point, maybe not enough tongue weight, NOPE did it worse, so slid it back and was back to where it was before. This car on the trailer is a touch over 2k and was very easy to tow, hell I got 14 mpg to 15 loaded.

1 pic from that trip, notice the tow rig good and level, air suspension doing what It should and bumping up the back a bit, but front of trailer a bit nose high as they should be, not stupid high.




Today I sold the c10 I had acquired recently, and bought a Buick. Heavier car by 1500-2k lbs, instantly was the most beat down I have ever received from a truck. The steering wheel and shifter were shacking up and down, we were getting thrown up and down in the seats. The beating I got today has my whole body sore, my right hand numb a bit from trying to hold on to her. So it seems the Esky does not like this trailering stuff. Only from 70-80 mph, worse on asphalt roads that are smoother, concrete and bumpy seems to make it a bit less pronounced. The drivetrain does wonderful, and power is great... This is so bad, I am strongly considering selling both and starting from scratch.



So does anyone else have any insight on this beat down I got today? Anyone else had similar issues towing with their K2 platform? Is it the air suspension and MRC maybe fighting eachother?

Sounds like magride not operating correctly or just being too aggressive to me. I towed my drift car a couple of times now with my 2015 I just picked up and it was great overall. I don't think I jive with the magride well as I just upgraded the front to Fox coilovers and it's a FAR better experience. I plan to remove it from the rear as well and keep only the air leveling.

What drop do you have on your drawbar?

To me, both pics look like the trailer is too high in the front. That may not be the problem though. Do you have another vehicle you could hook the trailer to and drive a few miles just to test and make sure there's nothing wrong with the trailer?

I would agree with the trailer tongue height as @gooffeyguy stated. I have the Z95 suspension on my Denali of rhe same Era as yours and it tows fantastically. The air suspension works great - firm, but stable.

Shaking possibilities:
1. Bad balanced tires that act up with different front end geometry from loaded ass end.
2. Bad u-joint that is now at a different angle and binding (know this from experience)
3. Trans shudder? Did it vibrate all the time, or mainly when under throttle?

B-train said:

I would agree with the trailer tongue height as @gooffeyguy stated. I have the Z95 suspension on my Denali of rhe same Era as yours and it tows fantastically. The air suspension works great - firm, but stable.

Shaking possibilities:
1. Bad balanced tires that act up with different front end geometry from loaded ass end.
2. Bad u-joint that is now at a different angle and binding (know this from experience)
3. Trans shudder? Did it vibrate all the time, or mainly when under throttle?

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All tires 100%, new, road force balanced.
U joint, weird but plausable if the rear was sagging real bad, but it didnt sag as the air suspension brought it back up to normal height.
Shudder, I would expect it to change if lowering a gear as I was in 7th, and going to 8 did the same junk as well as 6th.

I'm on a 6" drop bar right now, I may need to go to 10" or just lower the truck it to get the trailer level.

gooffeyguy said:

What drop do you have on your drawbar?

To me, both pics look like the trailer is too high in the front. That may not be the problem though. Do you have another vehicle you could hook the trailer to and drive a few miles just to test and make sure there's nothing wrong with the trailer?

Click to expand...

When I pulled with the suburban it was lowered and the trailer was level, it had MRC and didnt bat an eye lash, one thing I did find is the Burb when loading a car, that thing went down a bit and the air suspension pumped it back up, the escalade, its not dropping all that much when putting a load on the trailer, so that has really got me thinking its this truck, all problems started when towing with the Escalade. My buddies pickup the trailer hammers a bit on the tongue when empty just as it does on my tow pigs. But loaded it pulls fine on his and my dads truck. I have been thinking of getting a steel floor car hauler, maybe this is how I justify it to myself. But The tow pig issue needs to be sorted for sure.

I guess the only 2 things that would do the rear staying pumped up is the air shock links being too long from factory? or the MRC not wanting to give any under load.

Hell, I feel like I got into a fight and got rear ended after a simple 1.5 hr tow with it loaded.

Would it be worth pulling the fuse to the air ride and then seeing how it sits loaded. I've read people complaining that the air bladder does make a difference in ride quality.
Also to note, BWI shocks bleed air after they sit. Not sure why but they do. Arnott passive air ride shocks do not bleed down after they sit. Just checking to make sure you have GM BWI shocks in the Escalade?

Thrust said:

Would it be worth pulling the fuse to the air ride and then seeing how it sits loaded. I've read people complaining that the air bladder does make a difference in ride quality.
Also to note, BWI shocks bleed air after they sit. Not sure why but they do. Arnott passive air ride shocks do not bleed down after they sit. Just checking to make sure you have GM BWI shocks in the Escalade?

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the oem shocks should not be bleeding air, if they are then they are defective and need to be replaced (or) the pump is bleeding air (it can be either one), a soap and water mixter sprayed all over will show you which is the case.

another possibility is if the relief valve on the air pump is not working properly it will just fill those shocks up until they are rock hard and make the ride hell.
you could try using a scanner and look at the level control and see what it shows for psi, you can also load it up and then have it running ready to drive then reach under there and feel the bladders, then shut it off and be right there by the pump and listen carefully you should hear it release some air within a minute after the key is off. then you can auto start it and be right there beside the air pump, you should hear it expell some air briefly just before the pump kicks on, then it should pump it up and again expell some air but just a tiny bit. (what you are listening for is a "click" then a air exhale sound)
or load it up and drive it, pull over and feel those bladders again while it is running, they should have at least some give and not be super rock hard.

Doubeleive said:

the oem shocks should not be bleeding air, if they are then they are defective and need to be replaced (or) the pump is bleeding air (it can be either one), a soap and water mixter sprayed all over will show you which is the case.

another possibility is if the relief valve on the air pump is not working properly it will just fill those shocks up until they are rock hard and make the ride hell.
you could try using a scanner and look at the level control and see what it shows for psi, you can also load it up and then have it running ready to drive then reach under there and feel the bladders, then shut it off and be right there by the pump and listen carefully you should hear it release some air within a minute after the key is off. then you can auto start it and be right there beside the air pump, you should hear it expell some air briefly just before the pump kicks on, then it should pump it up and again expell some air but just a tiny bit. (what you are listening for is a "click" then a air exhale sound)
or load it up and drive it, pull over and feel those bladders again while it is running, they should have at least some give and not be super rock hard.

Click to expand...

Unloaded the pump, pumps up and releases works fine.

I have felt them once while towing, they are hard like a football inflation maybe basketball, but still able to compress but deff hard.



Really I am leaning to a MRC issue. Tire issues I have tons experience with, and the shake was deff, wasn't an isolated one side or side to side, whole rear up and down kind of feel like an off balanced washing machine on spin cycle. And it was more pronounced on smoother roads like asphalt, and less on concrete bumpy roads.

I do agree now looking at photos, I need to get the front down or I need to drop the escalade a few inches to fix this issue of trailer not being level.

Last thing I can think of is maybe a belt in the tire is failing on the trailer and causing a harmonic? Weird shot in the dark, but may have to try to take it over to the tire shop and get them checked out.

I appreciate everyone's input here.

Bigkevschopshop said:

Unloaded the pump, pumps up and releases works fine.

I have felt them once while towing, they are hard like a football inflation maybe basketball, but still able to compress but deff hard.



Really I am leaning to a MRC issue. Tire issues I have tons experience with, and the shake was deff, wasn't an isolated one side or side to side, whole rear up and down kind of feel like an off balanced washing machine on spin cycle. And it was more pronounced on smoother roads like asphalt, and less on concrete bumpy roads.

I do agree now looking at photos, I need to get the front down or I need to drop the escalade a few inches to fix this issue of trailer not being level.

Last thing I can think of is maybe a belt in the tire is failing on the trailer and causing a harmonic? Weird shot in the dark, but may have to try to take it over to the tire shop and get them checked out.

I appreciate everyone's input here.

Click to expand...

if you have a scanner that can read the shocks you could see what it shows on the road, say 20% activation versus 100%