Yukon Denali 6.2 towing Travel Trailer

[avalonandl]

I had a gmt 800 and it was great for towing. 2004 Avalanche 2500 towed 11k .

never heard of brake lines “expanding” and will drop the bs flag on that. The lines may fail after many years. Seen that.

the 800 s did have low speed abs issues due to corrosion. Not all and mostly in rust belt.

 

[wjburken]

Yeah, I’m calling complete BS on this line of thinking as well.

I had no issues with my 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007 Silverados when it came to towing or braking. I had no issues with my 2007 Yukon XL Denali with towing or brakes either and I had it until 300K.

 

[intheburbs]

GMT800s had the ABS wheel speed sensor/corrosion TSB/recall, and they also have brake line rusting issues.

And personally, I believe the GM half-tons are underbraked. Had all 3 issues on my 2001, now owned by a friend with 290k on it. Have had to do brake work several times on my '09 Denali, and it only has 110k miles.

But the brake lines "expanding?" Never heard that one before.

Meanwhile, my 2500 Suburban has 198k miles, I beat the crap out of the brakes, and they're the original pads from when I bought it back in 2013 with 100k on the odo. Zero brake issues.

 

[avalonandl]

Burbs- I agree the 800's were under specced.... But much better than the 400's !!!! LOL

The corrosion was a known issue- I had to replace one of my ABS sensors also...

My current 900 is OK.... I would love to upgrade the brakes all around. I just dropped 200 on new rear rotors and pads. Autozone had a deal on rotors and ceramic pads and I was grinding...

Really may look at bigger front rotors....

 

[Trailer leader]

Anyone on here tow a decent sized (23+) foot trailer with their Yukon? I’ve got a 2008 Yukon Denali XL and I’m trying to figure out if it’s feasible to tow a trailer with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes,

I've got a 2015 Denali w/ the 6.2L and tow a 27 ft lance which typically weighs around 6400 lbs loaded. I get up to 13 mpg @ ~ 62 on level ground in the southwest. The Yukon has no trouble pulling the load.

 

[kbuskill]

Lots of '15+ guys posting in here... you realize that the K2xx platform has DI engines (LT) and is quite different from the GMT900 platforms engine (LS), right???

 

[Klewis]

I have a 30ft TT, but I have installed a thee core radiator and a bigger transmission cooler on my 2011, AWD Yukon XL Denali. I only tow once to twice a year, from Central Texas to Arizona. First time I towed, I towed about two hours to a lake and I didn't like the temps. Transmission jumped to 230 and engine to 225. I called GM and was told it was normal for a AWD to be that high. I didn't like it and now, when I tow transmission only goes to 195-200 and motor stays at about 210 like it should. I tow with no issues and never let my RPM'S go above 3000rpm. Above all, ensure you do regular maintenance on your vehicle!

What radiator and transmission cooler did you install on your Denali? I have same year Denali and wanted to make same improvements.

 

[Costal_Cat]

I have a 30ft TT, but I have installed a thee core radiator and a bigger transmission cooler on my 2011, AWD Yukon XL Denali. I only tow once to twice a year, from Central Texas to Arizona. First time I towed, I towed about two hours to a lake and I didn't like the temps. Transmission jumped to 230 and engine to 225. I called GM and was told it was normal for a AWD to be that high. I didn't like it and now, when I tow transmission only goes to 195-200 and motor stays at about 210 like it should. I tow with no issues and never let my RPM'S go above 3000rpm. Above all, ensure you do regular maintenance on your vehicle!

I will add that I have a 28ft TT weighs in right around 6,000 lbs. No trouble towing and do it a lot up and down the East Coast. (2012 Denali XL) What I did not like were the high engine and trans temps. I replaced my Back Shocks (Arnott shocks) and Brakes, new rotors, and pads. Flushed the trans and radiator but summertime was still too high and I get that GM says it is normal. With that said she pulled like a champ no issues at all but last May when we had the early heatwave in NC & SC my temps went through the roof and that was enough for me. I added a Tru-Cool 40k and things have been great ever since. Water temp is never above 200 and even on the honest days the Tran Temp barely hits 190 now. One final thing I do not like is the tire availability in our 20in. I wanted a tire that could take a little more cold pressure in the back when towing but did not want the added weight of a true towing tire (d or e) since that will impact comfort when not towing. I got the Goodyear wrangler sr-a p275/55r20, under 500$ delivered to my house from Walmart 45$ for mounting and balancing and lifetime rotation and balance at any Walmart. The load range is 2,400 lbs and max cold tire pressure is 51 and they weigh below 40lbs. I run them at 42 cold in the back when towing which is 10 lbs over the recommended for the truck. I run 38 in the front. This combination to me runs like a top

Short answer

• get your PM out of the way
• make sure your shock system is in top notch conditions
• add bigger and better bumpstops in the back
• get the Tru-Cool
• get some appropriate tires

 

[donjetman]

That Tru-Cool is BIG

 

[Costal_Cat]

That Tru-Cool is BIG

Yeah, man. At first, I thought it would be to damn big. But managed to get it in there. I had to work that bottom right connector a little to make it to my liking but it is making all the difference. Feel like it was the final piece to my towing puzzle but I'm a methodical guy on changing things and wanted to evaluate everything else first to get a feel for how it effected the truck. My view now is, as I said, I think those combinations of things in total have it running like a top...​