Can a 2001 Suburban 1500 pull a 31' toy hauler?

[Jay]

I've found what I think may be a killer deal on a 31' Play-Mor bumper-pull toy hauler. My only concern is whether my vehicle can pull it safely. I have a 2001 Suburban 1500 with the 5300 small block.

The trailer is within the tow rating (pretty sure), but I wonder just how much this beast would struggle getting on the highway and up hills. Anybody with experience with a similar combo, please let me know.

Originally posted by Jay
I've found what I think may be a killer deal on a 31' Play-Mor bumper-pull toy hauler. My only concern is whether my vehicle can pull it safely. I have a 2001 Suburban 1500 with the 5300 small block.

The trailer is within the tow rating (pretty sure), but I wonder just how much this beast would struggle getting on the highway and up hills. Anybody with experience with a similar combo, please let me know.

NO WAY!!!

Sorry to be so adamant, but it's not going to be:

a. safe
b. comfortable
c. good for the motor/trans (it will endlessly downshift and rev to the moon on hills)
d. safe

5.3 7,600 lbs. with the 3.08 gearing
5.3 8,600 lbs. with the 3.73 gearing

That trailer is probably 5-6000 lbs. dry! Plus quads plus water tank plus grey/black tanks plus gear plus food plus gas if it has a fillup station.

Listen to David: (LOL)
http://www.rvtowingtips.com/about-me.htm

Rule of thumb (me personally) never tow more than 2/3 of your max weight unless it's a VERY short distance with no hills and little traffic.

You better look at a different hauler or a diesel... :(

By the way we are in the same boat I have a silverado 00 with 4.8 and no way would I tow a hauler. We have to buy a diesel first which even bargain basement is 32k...

:shock:

Great website by the way:

http://www.rvtowingtips.com/index.html

I agree. I've been pulling trailers of all shapes and sizes for many years. And 764 is right. That size of trailer should DEFINITELY be pulled with a large displacement gas engine, or a turbo-diesel. The life of your drivetrain would, I'm afraid, be very short if you started reefin' this big trailer with that poor small block. :cry: And, RPM, The newer computerized turbo diesels shouldn't have much probs with the ULSD Fuel, as they've already been built for LSD, and have valves and rings already designed for the lower lubrication. It's mainly the older, Pre-LSD engines that, especially if worked very hard, could wear rapidly. Even then, there are relatively inexpensive additives you can dump in the fuel to counteract this.

[Jay]

Settle down, Dave. I ask the questions so that I don't go out and kill myself. It's OK. :P

Thanks for all the good info, guys. I've never towed anything bigger than my utility trailer, so I needed a frame of reference for how big is "too big". I was pretty sure the 31 is too big, but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

It begs the question why Chevy gives it a tow rating of 8600 (I have 3.73 gears) if towing that much is going to kill it.

Anybody know where to get a good deal on a rebuilt GM 6.2L diesel? I have, well, let's just call it a project truck, that was given to me by my father-in-law. It's an 80-something 1-ton regular cab with a work bed. Perfect for pulling a 5th wheel.

If anybody is in the market for a 31' Play-Mor Motorsport, I know where you can buy a new, leftover 2005 model for $18,500.

I think something else to consider is where you are located. If you read, most of these guys posting are west coasters. They travel through mountainous regions, and Like Enigma said, that is where he struggles most.

I live in Ohio, and have moderate hills, but nothing rediculous. I have an 03 Durango with the 230HP 4.7 with 3.55 gearing. I used to pull my race car all over Ohio, and surrounding states with it. I had a tandem axle trailer that weighed around 1800 pounds, and the car was 3100 at the time. Factoring tools, and other gear, I would say I easily had 5500 pounds of cargo being towed.

I never had problems with this arrangement. It would downshift on the hills, but was never out of power. I usually just presed the button to shut off the overdrive before I would hit the hills, no big deal. This way, it wouldn't try to take overdrive, and constantly upshift/downshift. Traveling at 65-70 on the highway, I used to see around 13-14 MPG with it. If you are traveling on roads that are not packed full of mountainous areas, I would think you would be ok. I have seen an inline 6 in a ford F-150 flareside tow an 8400 pound enclosed trailer all over the US for one season because someone had to.


Biggest question for me would be how much of a compromise do you think you are making using the burban to tow every other weekend, versus paying for alot more truck.

[Jay]

Frequency of use is definitely a factor here. If I am LUCKY.. very lucky.. I'll get to use it about once a month. So, I'm not that worried about wearing out my tow vehicle. Hell, it has a lot of miles already.

I'm in Oklahoma. What we call a hill most of you would call flat. So far, I have never gone anywhere mountainous, but I suppose one day I might want to. However, perhaps by then I could get a more powerful tower.

My concern is strictly safety - Will it go, turn, and most importantly stop? Yes I know the trailer has brakes, but still..... Aside from stopping, I'm also concerned about being able to merge with freeway traffic. Fortunately, in this state we don't have much traffic, but getting on the highway can still be a bit nerve wracking.

Maybe HondaJohn will chime in. He's a friend of mine and used to tow a pretty big cargo trailer full of demo units for United Motors behind a Z71 with a 5300. With a weight distributing hitch he said it worked just fine. He put thousands of miles on that rig covering Oklahoma, Kansas and some parts of Texas. I don't know how big that trailer was, but it was pretty big.

Sorry for the soapbox Jay...

I'm glad people are thinking about stopping power these days instead of focusing on strictly engine power.

Sure a lot of rigs have the juice to get that load moving, but can they stop it going downhill? Panic stop in the flats? Power enough to merge safely? Etc, etc.

I guess the point is, think through the route you will be taking to your riding areas then consider the worst possible spot where you would have to panic stop. Could you do it safely? Sometimes the sheer mass and length of the tow vehicle becomes a factor.

And enigma has obviously thought this through talking about wind resistance (v-nose cargo's are awesome) and braking and corners.

rpm: "My new 06 F150 will tow 9100lbs and I am looking at nothing bigger than 23 to 24 feet MAX."

what's your total tow weight with 2 occupants, a full tank, gear in the truck, the trailer, gas if you have a fuel station, generator, black/grey/regular water tanks, 2 quads (about 1000 lbs alone for a v and kfx400), etc.

Geez there I go soapboxing again, sorry.

Dave

========================================
"

Originally posted by Enigma
<snip>
In your viewing of these units how big do you have to go to fit 4 ATV's in??

fyi Artie can get 4 in his 31 foot raptor with about 1" of room to spare he said. That's the banshee, two 700r's and Joe's YFZ. So they are lined up (have to turn them sideways) from kitchen counter to rear door.

Nice hauler Roger. Decided against the Hobby? I like the grey vinyl (leather?) interior couches/bench seats in the extreme. That looks really comfortable and easy to clean.

[Jay]

The cargo room is part of my dilemma. Starting out I'll only need to haul 2 adult ATVs. In a couple years I'll be adding two youth ATVs. I wonder how big I will need for to full-size and 2 youth? Found a nice 18' that I think will do the job.