Hello from Northern IL!

[erincmathews]

Deleted post.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by erincmathews

Hi! I just got my 2021 Micro Lite 21DS home, and it's been a blast just getting everything set up. So far, I've only used it in my driveway, but with the amount of road trips my mother and I go on (we leave the guys behind and antique shop all over the country!), it'll be getting plenty of use very soon!

Excited to learn from you all

Welcome to the forum! I love going to antique shops.. if you have a microlite trailer I’d be careful how much antiques you try to bring home unless you have a capable tow vehicle. Don’t want to get overloaded ..It’s a great forum with a lot of knowledgeable members

[Gary R.]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Congrats on the new Micro Light, and have fun traveling around to the antique shops!

[notanlines]

Erin, welcome to the forum, plenty of good info here. Along the same lines as Jasin said, your weight capacity of the Yukon is in the neighborhood of 1800 pounds. The real world tongue weight of the MicroLite is about 900 pounds. Let's remember I said 'real world,' not 'off the lot.' Let's add in 100 pounds for an excellent weight distribution hitch and you have eaten up 1000 pounds of that 1800 available pounds. With the weight of you and your mother (fill in the blank, I'll not go there) also to come off the remainder it doesn't leave a lot of spare antique room.
The Yukon is not an excellent tow vehicle. Capable yes, but not excellent. You have chosen an RV that is certainly in the realm of towability, but be very careful. Trucks and winds will make your driving quite stressful.
Good luck to both of you and be sure to let us keep up with your travels and how you find the experience.

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.

[erincmathews]

The Yukon XL with the tow package will work just fine for what we're doing. We researched quite a bit so I'm not worried We've done this in the past with other vehicles and travel trailers. The Max capacity for the Yukon Denali XL is well over 1800lbs, which is why we bought it a few months ago. We wouldn't be storing any breakables/antiques in the trailer either. With only two of us in the vehicle, there's plenty of room.

Not quite a warm welcome but thank you for the info!

Originally Posted by notanlines

Erin, welcome to the forum, plenty of good info here. Along the same lines as Jasin said, your weight capacity of the Yukon is in the neighborhood of 1800 pounds. The real world tongue weight of the MicroLite is about 900 pounds. Let's remember I said 'real world,' not 'off the lot.' Let's add in 100 pounds for an excellent weight distribution hitch and you have eaten up 1000 pounds of that 1800 available pounds. With the weight of you and your mother (fill in the blank, I'll not go there) also to come off the remainder it doesn't leave a lot of spare antique room.
The Yukon is not an excellent tow vehicle. Capable yes, but not excellent. You have chosen an RV that is certainly in the realm of towability, but be very careful. Trucks and winds will make your driving quite stressful.
Good luck to both of you and be sure to let us keep up with your travels and how you find the experience.

[erincmathews]

Thank you!

[erincmathews]

Thanks so much!

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by erincmathews

The Yukon XL with the tow package will work just fine for what we're doing. We researched quite a bit so I'm not worried We've done this in the past with other vehicles and travel trailers. The Max capacity for the Yukon Denali XL is well over 1800lbs, which is why we bought it a few months ago. We wouldn't be storing any breakables/antiques in the trailer either. With only two of us in the vehicle, there's plenty of room.

Not quite a warm welcome but thank you for the info!

Erin please don't take members' concern for your safety as not being "warm". We see new members join daily without any idea of the critical role weights play in the towing experience. When you say you are towing with an SUV a red flag goes up immediately to those that have towed for a long time; SUVs are not known as optimal tow vehicles so caution is suggested.

As far as the Yukon XL Denali the max payload listed anywhere for any variation of the vehicle is around 1600lbs and could be less depending on the drive train of your particular vehicle - it will be listed inside the driver door on the yellow/white sticker. Starting at page 23;

https://www.gmc.com/content/dam/gmc/...ng%20Guide.pdf

Also note that depending on what drivetrain you have the gvw of the vehicle can vary substantially which will then affect your actual payload.

Your trailer will have a GVWR of 6774lbs. Here's the link;

https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/trave...-lite/21DS/893

You said you have investigated these numbers and you will be good. We find that much, if not most, of the time new members are looking at the wrong numbers, ie; max tow rating of a vehicle and dry weight of the RV. Those numbers have no bearing on what your actual weight or towing situation will be. Also realize that your weight distribution hitch, the people and every ounce of "stuff" you put in the vehicle comes directly off that payload number. It will disappear rapidly with approx. 880lbs. lost due to the tongue weight of the trailer (6774 x .13% = 880) leaving you with approx. 720lbs. for all the things I listed above.

We want you to feel welcome and hope you have a great time with your new RV, but we also want you to be safe and aware of where you stand with weights just as much.

[erincmathews]

We bought the Yukon XL Denali with the 6.8L v10 engine and tow package because it was among the highest rated vehicles out there for towing trailers 8k and less lbs. We actually looked into it for months, and then had to search quite a bit to find one that fit our specifications. Even our previous campers were towed by larger SUVs.

I understand wanting people to be safe, of course. It's hard to read tone sometimes, so I apologize. We're new to the Micro Lite, but not new to towing or trailers in general!

Originally Posted by sourdough

Erin please don't take members' concern for your safety as not being "warm". We see new members join daily without any idea of the critical role weights play in the towing experience. When you say you are towing with an SUV a red flag goes up immediately to those that have towed for a long time; SUVs are not known as optimal tow vehicles so caution is suggested.

As far as the Yukon XL Denali the max payload listed anywhere for any variation of the vehicle is around 1600lbs and could be less depending on the drive train of your particular vehicle - it will be listed inside the driver door on the yellow/white sticker. Starting at page 23;

https://www.gmc.com/content/dam/gmc/...ng%20Guide.pdf

Also note that depending on what drivetrain you have the gvw of the vehicle can vary substantially which will then affect your actual payload.

Your trailer will have a GVWR of 6774lbs. Here's the link;

https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/trave...-lite/21DS/893

You said you have investigated these numbers and you will be good. We find that much, if not most, of the time new members are looking at the wrong numbers, ie; max tow rating of a vehicle and dry weight of the RV. Those numbers have no bearing on what your actual weight or towing situation will be. Also realize that your weight distribution hitch, the people and every ounce of "stuff" you put in the vehicle comes directly off that payload number. It will disappear rapidly with approx. 880lbs. lost due to the tongue weight of the trailer (6774 x .13% = 880) leaving you with approx. 720lbs. for all the things I listed above.

We want you to feel welcome and hope you have a great time with your new RV, but we also want you to be safe and aware of where you stand with weights just as much.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by erincmathews

We bought the Yukon XL Denali with the 6.8L v10 engine and tow package because it was among the highest rated vehicles out there for towing trailers 8k and less lbs. We actually looked into it for months, and then had to search quite a bit to find one that fit our specifications. Even our previous campers were towed by larger SUVs.

I understand wanting people to be safe, of course. It's hard to read tone sometimes, so I apologize. We're new to the Micro Lite, but not new to towing or trailers in general!

Couple statements have me concerned with your investigations?
I'm fairly certain GM does not have a V10 engine available!! Which then is understandable why it was difficult to find one....
"Our previous campers were towed by larger SUVs"! Where & who makes a "larger SUV" than a Yukon XL or a Suburban? Was it school buses?

[wiredgeorge]

Welcome Erin, GM doesn't make a V10 nor do you have more than 1660 lbs payload. You can open the driver door and on the inside frame will be a payload placard. Many times when folks "research" they consult the OEM website and look at information that will have a bunch of fine print. The real number is your payload although the 5.3L gas engine in your SUV will not like towing a lot either because while it is OK on horsepower, torque not so much. Folks are very concerned about safety of other forum members so don't take all this well intentioned advice the wrong way. What does your payload placard state?

[notanlines]

Erin, I had no intention of making your welcome anything less than warm. I have tried to slide away from warning newbies for just what happened here.
You seemed to be a down to earth individual who would take what I say to heart.
Those commenting are very knowledgeable individuals who have nothing but your (and their) safety at heart.
It would be good if you actually investigated what was mentioned.

[erincmathews]

If I investigated? Yeah, done here. We DID investigate before buying anything. For months.

You're all quite condescending.

This forum was clearly not what I expected at all.

Originally Posted by notanlines

Erin, I had no intention of making your welcome anything less than warm. I have tried to slide away from warning newbies for just what happened here.
You seemed to be a down to earth individual who would take what I say to heart.
Those commenting are very knowledgeable individuals who have nothing but your (and their) safety at heart.
It would be good if you actually investigated what was mentioned.

[erincmathews]

A quick Google search (and run to my garage) says otherwise but sure.

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Welcome Erin, GM doesn't make a V10 nor do you have more than 1660 lbs payload. You can open the driver door and on the inside frame will be a payload placard. Many times when folks "research" they consult the OEM website and look at information that will have a bunch of fine print. The real number is your payload although the 5.3L gas engine in your SUV will not like towing a lot either because while it is OK on horsepower, torque not so much. Folks are very concerned about safety of other forum members so don't take all this well intentioned advice the wrong way. What does your payload placard state?

[erincmathews]

SUVs that weren't small. Not SUVs larger than the Denali Yukon XL.

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Couple statements have me concerned with your investigations?
I'm fairly certain GM does not have a V10 engine available!! Which then is understandable why it was difficult to find one....
"Our previous campers were towed by larger SUVs"! Where & who makes a "larger SUV" than a Yukon XL or a Suburban? Was it school buses?

[sourdough]

OP has deleted her posts. It appears this thread is no longer of any benefit so I am closing it.