RV Towing

[jerry455]

We have a 2021 Suburban with a 6.2, no air ride just magnetic and no max tow. We pull a Grand Design 22' MLE with a slide. It is approx. 5,270 lbs as delivered and probably 5,500-6,000 lbs. loaded. I use a weight distributing hitch and it pulls like a dream. I used to pull with a 2018 Colorado Crew Cab with a 3.6 and 8 speed. It did okay but this is quite a bit better. I might raise the hitch a little to get things a little more level but I am truly impressed with the job it does right now.

 

[tagexpcom]

We bought a used 2021 Yukon Denali 6.2L a year ago to tow our 7 x 14 Cargo Trailer -> Camper conversion. It weighs 5300lb with 650lb tongue weight. Didn't have towing package or air suspension so added a Curt brake controller and we need the WDH due to poorly balanced trailer. The WDH reduces rear sag from 2" to 1" and it's rock solid up to 70mph with cross-winds.

We're in Oregon and lots of mountains! Towed ~6000miles so far including many 6%, 10mile grades at warm temps. It's just *a real pleasure* to tow/drive this rig!

Here's my thread if interested in more detail - https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/thr...lb-trailer-with-and-without-stablizer.143763/

5.3L vs 6.2L comment. We have 6.2L in Yukon but prior to this we were using our 2004 Cadillac SRX V8 to tow and it's Northstar V8 is in the same ballpark horsepower as the 5.3L and it had plenty of power to tow. Not as responsive as 6.2L of course but no issue with basic power to keep up with traffic or maintain 60-65mph on 6% grade. The Achilles heal for the SRX was overheating on any mountain grade if temps >60F whereas the Yukon didn't break a sweat at 107F on the same grade.

 

[Big Mama]

The 5.3 does better than I expected and I think the 10 speed I now have is a big part of that. I previously towed with my 07 Yukon Denali and she handled my boat at 5k loaded like a champ. I wish the Sierra had auto leveling in the rear.

 

[olyelr]

Gotta pic of the setup, the truck and trailer?

What kind of suspension out back does the Tahoe have? Hollow coil springs?

All the modern irs rigs have coilovers out bag or just air bags (full air suspension rigs)…so no option of stuffing air bags in open coils. Also, to my knowledge, absolutely no kit available yet to add air bags. Kinda sucky

 

[Pressureangle]

I worked in the RV industry for a few years, installing hitches and mostly chassis work.
The two most common issues with towing were both tongue weight lol
But seriously, there is never a downside to using a weight distributing hitch, and they're laying in every Facebook marketplace garage for $150. You *must* learn how and why it works, and don't back around corners with the bars attached.
Here's the most important thing; travel trailers are long, and there's a thing called 'moment of inertia'. If you don't know it, learn it. Distributing weight inside the trailer is more than just about tongue weight, it's about how much leverage the trailer has against the tow vehicle when it sways. If you load it over the axles, the moment is as low as possible and sway effect on the tow vehicle is minimized. Load it over the tongue and to the rear, moment is maximized and although the scales can't tell the difference, your steering wheel can. A lot of the trailers you see upside down are people returning from a camping trip with the the gray & black tanks full up, a half-full water tank, all their gear and all the stuff they bought on the trip, and all the stuff that was in the tow vehicle when they left but were too tired to repack before returning home. You will always suffer windage, and if that wind-induced sway gets the mass moving on a large moment it's hard to stop.
Have the trailer weighed dead empty and dry, so you know exactly how much you're overweight when loaded- I've never seen a travel trailer that wasn't overloaded when wet and loaded. Keep the tires well aired, and keep 2 spares. If you lose a tire on a tandem, it overloads the other axle and the second tire will go shortly after. Ask how I know. Buy a tongue weight scale, they're ~$150 for a nice one. If you don't know the hitch weight, you can't adjust accordingly.

 

[tagexpcom]

I worked in the RV industry for a few years, installing hitches and mostly chassis work.
The two most common issues with towing were both tongue weight lol
But seriously, there is never a downside to using a weight distributing hitch, and they're laying in every Facebook marketplace garage for $150. You *must* learn how and why it works, and don't back around corners with the bars attached.
Here's the most important thing; travel trailers are long, and there's a thing called 'moment of inertia'. If you don't know it, learn it. Distributing weight inside the trailer is more than just about tongue weight, it's about how much leverage the trailer has against the tow vehicle when it sways. If you load it over the axles, the moment is as low as possible and sway effect on the tow vehicle is minimized. Load it over the tongue and to the rear, moment is maximized and although the scales can't tell the difference, your steering wheel can. A lot of the trailers you see upside down are people returning from a camping trip with the the gray & black tanks full up, a half-full water tank, all their gear and all the stuff they bought on the trip, and all the stuff that was in the tow vehicle when they left but were too tired to repack before returning home. You will always suffer windage, and if that wind-induced sway gets the mass moving on a large moment it's hard to stop.
Have the trailer weighed dead empty and dry, so you know exactly how much you're overweight when loaded- I've never seen a travel trailer that wasn't overloaded when wet and loaded. Keep the tires well aired, and keep 2 spares. If you lose a tire on a tandem, it overloads the other axle and the second tire will go shortly after. Ask how I know. Buy a tongue weight scale, they're ~$150 for a nice one. If you don't know the hitch weight, you can't adjust accordingly.

Yes! It's hard to quantify by annecdotal experience but we built out a 7 x 14 cargo trailer -> camper with kitchen in front and garage in back but 'only chairs' in the middle over the wheels. So even though the overall weight is 5300lbs and tongue is 650lbs (within recommendations) we get sway at 55mph! The WDH took care of this and it's now solid up to 70mph (fastest I'm willing to drive - even on 1st class roads) but 55mph sway was unexpected and I believe this post is the primary explanation.

Over 3 years of experience now I've come to believe that 55mph for 7 x 14 dual axle cargo trailer is not inevitable if I had say built heavy kitchen in the middle instead of front as an example. The WDH solve my problem but that doesn't take away from understanding that proper loading affects sway *noticeably* (and increases danger).

Armed with this, I added a 150lb battery bank and put it right over the axles - in the middle of the trailer and I 'think' it reduces sway 'a little' - just that 150lbs (5300->5450lbs) seems like it was enough for me to feel a little difference? Maybe I'm just making it up

 

[Pressureangle]

Yes! It's hard to quantify by annecdotal experience but we built out a 7 x 14 cargo trailer -> camper with kitchen in front and garage in back but 'only chairs' in the middle over the wheels. So even though the overall weight is 5300lbs and tongue is 650lbs (within recommendations) we get sway at 55mph! The WDH took care of this and it's now solid up to 70mph (fastest I'm willing to drive - even on 1st class roads) but 55mph sway was unexpected and I believe this post is the primary explanation.

Over 3 years of experience now I've come to believe that 55mph for 7 x 14 dual axle cargo trailer is not inevitable if I had say built heavy kitchen in the middle instead of front as an example. The WDH solve my problem but that doesn't take away from understanding that proper loading affects sway *noticeably* (and increases danger).

Armed with this, I added a 150lb battery bank and put it right over the axles - in the middle of the trailer and I 'think' it reduces sway 'a little' - just that 150lbs (5300->5450lbs) seems like it was enough for me to feel a little difference? Maybe I'm just making it up

The science goes very deep, desperately so. Adding weight directly over the axles changes moment to the better because it's a lower percentage of total weight. Here's the trick, though; if you'd added the batteries all the way at the back of the trailer, thinking to lighten the tongue and be better balanced (I used to think this way, before a white-knuckle trip down the WV turnpike with a 20 foot box trailer) and that math stacks, but the moment is increased as well as the mass and the trailer becomes a barbell. I've also made the mistake of loading heavy in the front, having a tow rig with a lot of hitch capacity and found myself moving weight rearward in the trailer before too long, as weight between the trailer axles and hitch is also mass with moment, even without the compliment of mass behind the axle. Imagine that mass as hanging on a hitch carrier the same distance behind the bed, unsupported; that gives a visualisation of the effect on the tow vehicle, even if partially/mostly mitigated by the trailer axles. It's second-best, but having the mass centered over the axles as much as possible is *always* the preference in loading.
With long trailers, I tend to think 27'+, there is so much space between the axles and ends that it's quite possible to have enough moment to be a problem even with a mathematically reasonable percentage. The Army has a policy that a towed vehicle can *never* exceed the weight of what's towing it (5th wheel excluded) precisely because the towed mass can overpower the tow vehicle. All of us who've towed Cowboy loads know exactly how frightening that feels, and what luck got us to our destinations.