Towing with Suburban

[8ptspike]

I upgraded my 2012 Suburban with a new 2014 Suburban LTZ with the HD trailer package. I'm planning on getting a Bullet 287QBS. I like the 308BHS but think it may be a little much. "Pushing the limits". There are six of us but two are small.
Who tows with a Suburban and what do you pull?
Thanks for any input.

[paoutlaw]

my opinion on this is you need a 3/4 ton suburban. I had a 331bhs open range rv. slightly heavier and it was wight knuckle driving. we had a 2012 3/4 ton suburban. weight distributing hitch friction anti sway. it did it but hold on with both hands. you hitch weight is 500lbs. the bullet is claimed 695lbs unloaded you will be 800 lbs hitch weight in no time.max tailor weight for the 1500 suburban is 5000 lbs. bullet 287qbs is 5485 shipping weight. just guessing it will be 7000 lbs with all your stuff in it. just saying don't rush in make shore you know what the weights are. I do not know what the tow package will gain for you.
remember this just my opinion you asked
I just looked quickly on what info i could find on the internet.:wlcm:

[GaryWT]

My friend tows with a 3/4 Suburban. He tows an Outback 260. Outbacks are heavier than Bullets for sure. His Outback is shorter than my Premier but weighs a lot more.

[{tpc}]

Well you did right by asking first. Looking at the trailer life towing guides, I'm having a difficult time deciphering the vehicle differences. For instance I show 3 4WD 'burbs all with 5.3l v8. The 3:08 gear ratio says 5k. The 3:42 gear ratio says 5500. That makes sense to me.

Then the 3:42 gear ratio with "Cooling or other accessory package required" says 8k. I'm not sure exactly what that means so hopefully someone will chime in. I can't think that just adding a trans cooler would afford you 2500 more lbs in towing capacity.

FWIW, there seems to not be any difference between the 1500 burbs from 2012 to 2014 in towing capacity. At least from what I can see. Even if you end up ok by the means of the 8k rating (still need to find out what gets you here) I think your biggest issue will probably be payload, as most of it may be used up be the 6 people your toting around. That and the trailer length in general...that's just about a 33 foot trailer, right?

[jkohler70]

According the Trailer Life Tow Guide, a 2014 Suburban 4X4 with 3.42 gears and tow package can tow 8000#. 4X2 is 8100#. With 3.08 gears it's only 5000#.

[{tpc}]

According the Trailer Life Tow Guide, a 2014 Suburban 4X4 with 3.42 gears and tow package can tow 8000#. 4X2 is 8100#. With 3.08 gears it's only 5000#.

Whats the difference between the "tow package" and non-tow package? Because like I said, I see a 4x4 with 3:42 gears and nothing more being listed at 5500.

I guess what I am wondering is, does the 8k classification come in play with a WDH or something like that? Or maybe its a different transmission or something?

Just trying to wrap my head around the increase in ability. Surely they use the same receiver and the rest of the vehicle is the same, I just can't see how adding the factory trans cooler increases the ability to 8k lbs from 5500 lbs.

[8ptspike]

It has the 3.42 ratio, auto air adjustable suspension, transmission cooler as well as a larger engine radiator plus a d additional smaller one. The hitch is rated for 10,000lbs but the Suburban is rated at 8,000, 14,000 combo, and 7,400 gross vehicle weight. The GVW seems to be my limiting step with all this.
I had to go with the Suburban to comfortable haul around the family of 6. An honest combined weight of all 6 passengers is 670lbs max. Got two little ones that are well under 100 combined, and wifey and teenage girls aren't to heavy(LOL) No comfortable way to say that but they wont be here to read this stuff anyway.
I'm cutting GVW close. Even thought of putting spare tire in the trailer to take weight out of the Suburban.

[Hercules1978]

These are the very reasons we bought a crew cab Silverado instead of a suburban. Granted, we don't have a family of 6, but the higher seating capacity didn't win over towing capacity.

[shufflesf15]

Concur with jkohler70 on the numbers for the 1/2 ton (around 8100 with tow package). I went with a 2013 2500 (3/4 ton) Suburban which gets you up to 9400 lbs 4x4 (9600 4x2). 2013 was the last year for the 3/4 ton Suburban, by the way. Our Cougar 29RBKWE grosses out at 8100, which is just a little too much for the 1/2 ton burb IMO. The 3/4 ton pulls it very well.

[JRTJH]

8ptspike,

You say that you've got about 670 lbs of "passengers" and two of them are "little ones" I'd suspect that with a 2014 Suburban that you're not planning to trade in the near future, those little ones are going to grow, and if you keep the truck for a couple of years, they may well be adding 75-100 lbs to your "passenger load" before you're financially able to trade for something bigger....

Have you thought about a 3/4 or 1 ton diesel van? That would get you more "passenger load", a bigger tow capability and a bit more room than even the suburban.

From what I see, you're going to be pushing payload (GVW) on the suburban and depending on the trailer's tongue weight, hitch weight and how many batteries you install, you may be significantly over the payload with even an empty trailer.

[LittleJoe]

3.42 gearing is pretty tall for that kindof weight with gas (especially). I would want 3.73 at the very least and preferably 4.10's

[E597283]

I pull a Keystone 2910BH (dry weight 5400 cargo 1700) with a 2007 Yukon XL Denali. I have 4 kids and it pull fine. The towing capacity is listed at 7,900 for the Yukon and I've gone up and down the east coast with no issues. Just updraded to an equalizer hitch and that eliminated the sway that using only friction anti way bars couldnt stop.