Can someone give me a step by step trailer setup for a tow behind. We recently bought a 2019 GMC Yukon Denali XL (6.2) to tow our Travel Trailer (26ft) and had tons of sway while traveling. I am using distribution bars with one sway bar but I don't think my setup was correct. I am not understanding how to hook up with this AUTO LEVELING CONTROL, if someone can give me a step by step by tomorrow I would really appreciate it. Does to hook up have to occur with the ignition off so the auto leveling doesn't kick in? Someone please help!!
HELP TOWING WITH 2019 GMC YUKON DENALI XL 6.2
- Thread starter Ryandh3
- Start date
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swathdiver
Full Access Member
Welcome to the forum Ryan. Did you only attach one bar to one side? Lots of sway makes me think you did not have enough tongue weight. Do you know your weights? Have you been to the scales?
Bob and Pete and others can explain the process better than I, they'll be along shortly. @Galante @intheburbs
Havent been to the scales yet. Trailer gvw is 7745 but haul with tanks empty. I pulleehpulled previously with 1/2 ton Chevy. Yeah it struggled but got us to where we needed to go. I currently runs one sway car. It's a husky setup and husky recommends two bars if hauling over 24 feet, so that's a change I will be making when I get home too. I haven't been able to find much info online. When I did my hookup I placed the trailer on and let it self leveled. Once it self leveled I placed the distribution bars on without raising the hitch as you normally would before putting on bars, so I'm thinking maybe that was my issue. I did go out and mess with it this evening since we leave tomorrow. I was able to place the trailer on and let it self level. Turned the vehicle off and raised the hitch as if I was going to set the distribution bars on and the auto control leveling didn't start until I turned the ignition back on. So is it safe to hook up in that sequence?? I can't find anything, anywhere. Tried calling GMC and they are clueless.
hcvone
Full Access Member
I towed boats and large enclosed snowmobile trailers for decades, I fould with my Suburban's, Escalade's and Tahoe's that they all felt more planted to the road with HD sway bars, my Escalade's all had Hotchkis front and rear, made a huge difference, my Callaway Tahoe has their sway barss
swathdiver
Full Access Member
Yes, put the trailer on the truck and let the Automatic Level Control do its thing and then make your adjustments.
That GVW of 7745 sound like a maximum rating and not actual curb weight. You wouldn't want to really tow that much anyhow. What is the trailer's advertised tongue weight? 745 pounds?
When you go to the local CAT scales, first weigh your truck over two scales to get your front axle and rear axle weights. Then hook up the trailer and put each axle on it's own scale. You can then subtract the weight from the drive axle to get your tongue weight. Put as much stuff as you can in the trailer, keep the truck as light as possible.
Read your owner's manual chapter on towing including the section on the ITBC.
sealandsky
Full Access Member
I'll take a guess that your 1/2 ton pick up didn't have load leveling, resulting in a lower tongue height and thus shifting weight forward. With your Yukon having load leveling it's likely resulting in the tongue being higher and shifting weight rearward. Not that you don't also have sway linage issues, but the cheap and easy experiment might be to borrow a hitch with a drop that gives your trailer a slightly "nose down" attitude, thus shifting weight forward. Or just pile a bunch of crap in the front of your trailer...
bde269
Full Access Member
if your out on the road still to get home you might look into pulling the air comp fuse to make the comp stay off till you make it where you want to go don't know if this will help any but if the air shocks don't pump up any it could be like a pick up then
RobH
Full Access Member
Hi. As swathdiver said above, swaying is usually due to not enough of the trailer weight on the tongue of the trailer.
Swaying can be really scary. Fifty years ago I was towing a U-Haul from San Antonio to Oakland. I left San Antonio with a tailwind. Partway into the trip I made a turn in a town and came out of town headed in a different direction. The wind was now a quartering headwind and the trailer started swaying as I accelerated out of town. As I slowed and pulled off the road, oncoming cars were also pulling off the road. I had too little weight on the tongue. I could lift the tongue off of the ball without a lot of effort. I was younger then. I moved several boxes from the rear of the trailer to the front of the trailer, verified I could not lift the tongue off of the ball, and all was well.
You need to start out with the chapter on towing in your Denali owner's manual. Hopefully, you have the Max Trailering Package on your Denali. If you do, there will be a Trailer Brake Controller or Integrated Trailer Brake Controller (ITBC) on the dash just below the instrument panel to the left of your steering column and to the right of the headlight control. The trailer brake control should be pictured in your Owner's Manual.
You may also have an owner's manual for your trailer which tells you how to hook your trailer up to a tow vehicle, what the empty weight is, what the tongue weight is, and what cargo can be carried in the trailer. You should have a data plate on your trailer which gives some of the weight information. It should tell you if a full fresh water tank is included in the trailer empty weight or as part of the "cargo". Same with the propane in the propane tanks.
You should be using two weight distribution bars, one on each side of the tongue of your trailer. They are sometimes called "spring" bars. The back end of the bars pull down on the tongue. The "equal and opposite force" at the other end of the spring bars is "up" on the tongue/hitch ball connection. The weight distribution/spring bars should be set up so that they have some tension on them when the trailer is on the ball of the hitch. See your manual.
As described in posts above, the trailer should be weighed when it is loaded as you plan to tow it. Tow it onto the scale, and then remove it from the Denali, and drive the Denali off of the scale, leaving the trailer tires and the tongue jack stand on the scale. This will give you your "Total Trailer Weight". Then reattach the Denali, and pull the trailer forward so that only the trailer tires are on the scale. This gives you the "Weight on the Trailer Tires".
Calculate the "Weight on the Tongue" which equals "Total Trailer Weight" minus "Weight on the Trailer Tires".
The "Weight on the Tongue" should be 10-15% of the "Total Trailer Weight". If it is not, move some things in the trailer or fill the fresh water tank so that the "Weight on the Tongue" equals 10-15% of the "Total Trailer Weight". In still air, with no crosswind, with a proper amount of weight on the tongue, you should not need friction or hydraulic sway control. But with a crosswind and/or trucks going by in the opposite direction, sway control is your friend.
Hope this helps.
Swaying can be really scary. Fifty years ago I was towing a U-Haul from San Antonio to Oakland. I left San Antonio with a tailwind. Partway into the trip I made a turn in a town and came out of town headed in a different direction. The wind was now a quartering headwind and the trailer started swaying as I accelerated out of town. As I slowed and pulled off the road, oncoming cars were also pulling off the road. I had too little weight on the tongue. I could lift the tongue off of the ball without a lot of effort. I was younger then. I moved several boxes from the rear of the trailer to the front of the trailer, verified I could not lift the tongue off of the ball, and all was well.
You need to start out with the chapter on towing in your Denali owner's manual. Hopefully, you have the Max Trailering Package on your Denali. If you do, there will be a Trailer Brake Controller or Integrated Trailer Brake Controller (ITBC) on the dash just below the instrument panel to the left of your steering column and to the right of the headlight control. The trailer brake control should be pictured in your Owner's Manual.
You may also have an owner's manual for your trailer which tells you how to hook your trailer up to a tow vehicle, what the empty weight is, what the tongue weight is, and what cargo can be carried in the trailer. You should have a data plate on your trailer which gives some of the weight information. It should tell you if a full fresh water tank is included in the trailer empty weight or as part of the "cargo". Same with the propane in the propane tanks.
You should be using two weight distribution bars, one on each side of the tongue of your trailer. They are sometimes called "spring" bars. The back end of the bars pull down on the tongue. The "equal and opposite force" at the other end of the spring bars is "up" on the tongue/hitch ball connection. The weight distribution/spring bars should be set up so that they have some tension on them when the trailer is on the ball of the hitch. See your manual.
As described in posts above, the trailer should be weighed when it is loaded as you plan to tow it. Tow it onto the scale, and then remove it from the Denali, and drive the Denali off of the scale, leaving the trailer tires and the tongue jack stand on the scale. This will give you your "Total Trailer Weight". Then reattach the Denali, and pull the trailer forward so that only the trailer tires are on the scale. This gives you the "Weight on the Trailer Tires".
Calculate the "Weight on the Tongue" which equals "Total Trailer Weight" minus "Weight on the Trailer Tires".
The "Weight on the Tongue" should be 10-15% of the "Total Trailer Weight". If it is not, move some things in the trailer or fill the fresh water tank so that the "Weight on the Tongue" equals 10-15% of the "Total Trailer Weight". In still air, with no crosswind, with a proper amount of weight on the tongue, you should not need friction or hydraulic sway control. But with a crosswind and/or trucks going by in the opposite direction, sway control is your friend.
Hope this helps.
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RobH
Full Access Member
For what it is worth, in my 2016 Tahoe manual, it says to adjust the spring bars so that the front of the vehicle "body to ground distance" at the front wheel well is "the same after coupling the trailer to the tow vehicle and adjusting the hitch".
Also, "weight of additional optional equipment, passengers, and cargo in the tow vehicle must be subtracted from the trailer weight rating." So my 2WD trailer weight rating of 8,600 pounds is only for when I am alone in the vehicle without a flashlight in the glove compartment. If I have my Tahoe loaded to 7,000 pounds, then a trailer loaded for traveling can only weigh 7,000 pounds. Otherwise, I will exceed my Gross Combination Weight Rating. Hmmm. I guess I don't have a three-quarter ton tow vehicle. A "Heavy half", maybe, with my 3.42 rear axle ratio. Fortunately, it will serve my purposes for hauling a loaded trailer weighing a max of 6,000 pounds.
Also, "weight of additional optional equipment, passengers, and cargo in the tow vehicle must be subtracted from the trailer weight rating." So my 2WD trailer weight rating of 8,600 pounds is only for when I am alone in the vehicle without a flashlight in the glove compartment. If I have my Tahoe loaded to 7,000 pounds, then a trailer loaded for traveling can only weigh 7,000 pounds. Otherwise, I will exceed my Gross Combination Weight Rating. Hmmm. I guess I don't have a three-quarter ton tow vehicle. A "Heavy half", maybe, with my 3.42 rear axle ratio. Fortunately, it will serve my purposes for hauling a loaded trailer weighing a max of 6,000 pounds.
