Suburban towing stuff

[jniolon]

did my first real trailer trip towing my truck this past weekend and was generally pleased but found several things I need to address.

first... the rig is
2008 Suburban 5.3 L 4 speed auto with 3.73 axle and 20" tires
towing package installed stock from factory
GCWR is rated at 13,000 (from the manual)
Stated max trailer weight is 7,000 (from manual)
trailer is a 18' Anderson car hauler weighing 2,400
Load is a 53 F-100 weighing 3,840 with the engine end ahead
of the first axle... (truck front end weight is 2300 per the county scales)
total trailer load 6,240

163K on the truck and 30k on engine.


I did the bathroom scale tongue weight thingy and got

575 # without my wife's mobility scooter mounted in front off the truck
715 # WITH " " " "

I think I'm within acceptable tongue weight range either way. But defer to wiser minds

While on a trip to Tennessee I encountered several large hills in North Georgia and Tennessee. On the normal rises and falls the rpm ranged from 1900 to about 2300 with trailering option on. On the steep hills the trans would kick down a gear or two and rpms were around 4000-4200. During those times I’d get dings and a display on the Driver info display that traction control was off, service traction control and Stabiltrak was off, service Stabiltrak system and a check engine light. It would settle back down after topping hill and was fine on normal roads. I checked codes on return and got a P0300 (misfire) code.. I cleared that and haven’t seen a check engine light since then… this happened several times over 600 mile round trip I did the tow with just the stock receiver, no WDH... had a good bit of bounce and some sway... I've bought a WDH now which should delete those problems.

So, What would give the weird displays on traction and stabil trak when I was on dry roads.?? Is this normal ??

Thanks
john

 

[wsteele]

did my first real trailer trip towing my truck this past weekend and was generally pleased but found several things I need to address.

first... the rig is
2008 Suburban 5.3 L 4 speed auto with 3.73 axle and 20" tires
towing package installed stock from factory
GCWR is rated at 13,000 (from the manual)
Stated max trailer weight is 7,000 (from manual)
trailer is a 18' Anderson car hauler weighing 2,400
Load is a 53 F-100 weighing 3,840 with the engine end ahead
of the first axle... (truck front end weight is 2300 per the county scales)
total trailer load 6,240

163K on the truck and 30k on engine.


I did the bathroom scale tongue weight thingy and got

575 # without my wife's mobility scooter mounted in front off the truck
715 # WITH " " " "

I think I'm within acceptable tongue weight range either way. But defer to wiser minds

While on a trip to Tennessee I encountered several large hills in North Georgia and Tennessee. On the normal rises and falls the rpm ranged from 1900 to about 2300 with trailering option on. On the steep hills the trans would kick down a gear or two and rpms were around 4000-4200. During those times I’d get dings and a display on the Driver info display that traction control was off, service traction control and Stabiltrak was off, service Stabiltrak system and a check engine light. It would settle back down after topping hill and was fine on normal roads. I checked codes on return and got a P0300 (misfire) code.. I cleared that and haven’t seen a check engine light since then… this happened several times over 600 mile round trip I did the tow with just the stock receiver, no WDH... had a good bit of bounce and some sway... I've bought a WDH now which should delete those problems.

So, What would give the weird displays on traction and stabil trak when I was on dry roads.?? Is this normal ??

Thanks
john

It is very common when you have a persistent misfire(s) to get the Stabilitrak and Traction Control messages. They are most likely related to the P0300 Random/Multiple Misfire code.

 

[avalonandl]

The first thing is to use PREMIUM FUEL when towing, second: the codes you are experiencing lead me to believe your having Battery or Battery cable issues. Stabilitrak kicks on when t senses a traction issue. How new is the battery and are connections tight?

Were you using Tow/haul mode?

When were plugs and wires changed ?

 

[jniolon]

thanks WSteele
I had new engine installed 35K ago due to the great idea chevy had with the V-4 - v-8 mode and he did new plugs since the old ones had 130K on them... hard to believe it was a plug misfiring but I've seen stranger things... so, you think this nothing to worry about or is there something I need to do ? BTW, you have any kin around Bham, Al ??

 

[jniolon]

The first thing is to use PREMIUM FUEL when towing, second: the codes you are experiencing lead me to believe your having Battery or Battery cable issues. Stabilitrak kicks on when t senses a traction issue. How new is the battery and are connections tight?

Were you using Tow/haul mode?

When were plugs and wires changed ?

Battery is ab out 13 mts old.... plugs have abt 35K on them but not sure if he changed the wires when he did the engine swap. And yes I was in tow/haul mode and I will use premium in the future ! that trip was during the Colonial pipeline hack and I was lucky to find regular... never saw any premium available

 

[Geotrash]

Could also be that your fuel pump is starting to have trouble maintaining or regulating pressure. I had the same messages in my '07 when towing, and also had the stabilitrak disabled messages. Turned out to be the fuel pump finally going out at 200K.

 

[avalonandl]

I would put WDH bars on pulling that much weight.

 

[Geotrash]

I would put WDH bars on pulling that much weight.

Agreed. He said he bought one in his post.

 

[jniolon]

Agreed. He said he bought one in his post.

after that trip I realized I needed WDH bought a Fastway E2 trunnion bar set up 800 # TW 8000 MTW

should make a lot of difference in bounce and sway.

john

 

[jniolon]

Could also be that your fuel pump is starting to have trouble maintaining or regulating pressure. I had the same messages in my '07 when towing, and also had the stabilitrak disabled messages. Turned out to be the fuel pump finally going out at 200K.

any real test for fuel pump problem other than checking pressure... and that is a static snapshot test and not real time during the tow, right ??