Towing a trailer

Hello fellas. Got a question. Got a 2011 yukon denali xl awd. What is the largest camper I could tow with this vehicle. The one I was looking at weighs 7555 pounds. It is the Kodiak Ultimate 3321BHSL.
Any experience is welcome. Thanks.

At 37 feet long and that being the dry weight it would be a hard pass especially if you're new or newer to towing.

Never go by dry weights for a camper.

Gcwr minus how much your suv weighs will give you your max towable weight.

some guys here tow some really big ones. seems from reading it's all in the correct hitch and adjustments.

@j91z28d1 is right there are a lot of heavy towers on here but most have the 3/4 ton Suburban. They really are built a lot more stout than the normal Burbs and Yuks. You are correct a good hitch setup will make a difference but keep it legal and keep it safe.

Denali GMC 87 said:

Hello fellas. Got a question. Got a 2011 yukon denali xl awd. What is the largest camper I could tow with this vehicle. The one I was looking at weighs 7555 pounds. It is the Kodiak Ultimate 3321BHSL.
Any experience is welcome. Thanks.

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7555 before your wife loads it up! Then it will be like 9,000 pounds.

Your maximum tow rating is 7,800 pounds. The most your truck and trailer can weigh together is 14,000 pounds.

If you were to tow a trailer that weighs 7,555 pounds with your rig, the most weight you could have in the cab of the truck would be about 400 pounds.

Do a search for Dave's Denalis and towing. @Geotrash He drags a 7,200 pound travel trailer (loaded weight) all over the country with his Yukon XL Denalis. I think the trailer actually weighs somewhere around 6,400 pounds empty.

I think it best to keep the length of the trailer at no more than 32 feet or so. A high sail area is going to blow you all over the road with that 1500 chassis. A Pro-Pride hitch will help with that though. Unless of course you are making short trips on relatively flat land, then pull what you feel comfortable with. I know of guys that haul 65 foot speedboats to and from the boat ramp with their Denalis and Escalades, the short ones!

Get a smaller camper. Or larger truck.

swathdiver said:

7555 before your wife loads it up! Then it will be like 9,000 pounds.

Your maximum tow rating is 7,800 pounds. The most your truck and trailer can weigh together is 14,000 pounds.

If you were to tow a trailer that weighs 7,555 pounds with your rig, the most weight you could have in the cab of the truck would be about 400 pounds.

Do a search for Dave's Denalis and towing. @Geotrash He drags a 7,200 pound travel trailer (loaded weight) all over the country with his Yukon XL Denalis. I think the trailer actually weighs somewhere around 6,400 pounds empty.

I think it best to keep the length of the trailer at no more than 32 feet or so. A high sail area is going to blow you all over the road with that 1500 chassis. A Pro-Pride hitch will help with that though. Unless of course you are making short trips on relatively flat land, then pull what you feel comfortable with. I know of guys that haul 65 foot speedboats to and from the boat ramp with their Denalis and Escalades, the short ones!

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Thanks James. Yes, we tow an Alpha Wolf 26DBH-L, which was 7360 lbs the last time I pulled it across the CAT scales, loaded up before a trip. Tongue weight was 1100 lbs.

I agree that the trailer the OP is interested in is too much trailer for a stock Yukon XL Denali. The tongue weight would put him at or over the rear axle weight rating, even with a weight distributing hitch, before he adds any people or gear. The primary limiting factors on the 1500's are the rear axle and suspension, followed by the cooling system and brakes. I added a larger transmission cooler and the cooling fans from the K5L package, which helps, and if I was planning to keep towing with the Yukon, I would upgrade the rear axle to the 14-bolt from the 2WD Escalade/Denali as you have, James. That said, we have a couple of guys here pulling similar weight trailers with theirs, but all have made heavy modifications to handle the weight. @Foggy

We purchased a 2018 Suburban 3500 HD in July of this year and it's made a big difference. They were only sold to fleet buyers but occasionally show up on the used market. It has another 2000 lbs of rear axle weight rating, plus the larger brakes and rear axle from the 1-ton SRW pickups, along with the 6L90 transmission and HD cooling. It's much more stable and we can throw 4 kids and a dog, plus all of the gear we want in the Suburban without coming close to the GVWR or GAWR's.

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That dry weight of a camper is such BS imo.. Doesn't really tell you
what is really weighs going down the road.. Just use it as a comparison between
campers.
It doesn't include: battery, propane, any water, any contents at all, even any
additional options like upgraded fridge or water heater or AC unit...
You generally count on the dry weight + about 1500 lbs worth of "stuff" in
this size of a camper. Of course the larger the camper, the more of said "stuff"
you'll fit into it . Plus the batteries, propane tanks, water holding tanks are lots
bigger as well.
For reference my camper is a Cougar 321RES. It was one of the first "lightweight"
full size campers ever built. It's 7750 lbs DRY WEIGHT.. So def at least 9000 lbs
heading down the road , prob more.
Even with all my mods, It's too heavy... To much white knuckle driving .. Just
not fun getting to the destination. I've been looking for something around 6000 lbs
DRY weight for a while now. But just can't find what I'm looking for (as we are
spoiled by the 3 slides and 2 AC units currently)

Denali GMC 87 said:

Hello fellas. Got a question. Got a 2011 yukon denali xl awd. What is the largest camper I could tow with this vehicle. The one I was looking at weighs 7555 pounds. It is the Kodiak Ultimate 3321BHSL.
Any experience is welcome. Thanks.

Click to expand...

DON'T DO IT
easy explanation... Find something 6000 lbs or lower DRY WEIGHT

I towed a 7000-lb trailer with a half-ton Suburban. I broke stuff. The rear axle. Several times. While on vacation.

The weak link in these half-tons is the rear axle. It's, frankly, just weak. It doesn't like to be at max load, and it gets hot if you're on a long trip.

Are you going to be towing 60 miles up to the lake? Go for it. Or are you talking about cross-country road trips? That would be a big "no."

Unlike a pickup, the SUVs have a lot more weight on the rear axle - lots more body and glass. This in turn ends up overloading the rear axle before you get anywhere near the vehicle's "tow rating." Don't forget, people, pets and gear also add to the rear axle weight.

Look for "half-ton towable" trailers. They'll be light enough that you'll be less likely to overload that rear axle. Personally, I'm less concerned about the length, because there are hitch setups like the Hensley Arrow that eliminate sway, as opposed to a simple friction sway brake.

Last thing - more tongue weight means more stability and less sway. Of course, that runs completely afoul of trying to keep from overloading that rear axle. So it's a bit of a tightrope walk. The main reason I upgraded to my 2500 is because the rear axle can carry DOUBLE the weight of the half-ton trucks. As opposed to being the WEAKEST link on the half-tons, the rear axle is the STRONGEST part of the 2500 powertrain.