3/4 ton Suburban vs pickup for towing

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
How heavy do you tow? How long is the trailer?

I have an 02 3/4 Silverado with 4.10's and the 6.0. Does much better than my old TBI 454, never did have to do a fuel pump in that.

I tow a 32 foot travel trailer that weighs in at 7500 to 8000 loaded. Truck has no porblem keeping up with traffic. The 6 speed would be nice, but the 4L80E with 4.10s does good.

Thing about a full size van, is while a capable tow vehicle, they are hard to come by, parts are different, and they just have a different feel with the shorter wheelbase.


The 6.0 will easily pull a house with those gears, and anybody who knocks a 4l80E doesn't know a good trans. EXCELLENT tow rig in a van or pickup. The six speed 6l90 is a great box with a super low first gear which means you can have a 3.42 and cruise 60 mph at 1300 rpm like we do in our new Express 3500's.

Yearly replacement of fuel pumps? Nutty comment, doesn't happen in the real world. And 155 inch is a huge wheelbase whether a Suburban or van, older ones can be had with 4.10 but newer 6 speeds have 3.42 and 3.73 gears.

 

[hattaresguy]

Anything new will out tow your 99 by a mile.

They still make 3/4 ton Suburbans I know someone who just bought a 13.

 

[rationull]

Thanks guys, lots of great feedback here!

To respond:

Re. a camper shell on a pickup: That's essentially the backup plan. We could easily find a pickup (probably an extended cab, not a crew cab) and put a shell on it unless/until we decide to get a gooseneck trailer. This is probably what we'll do if we can't find any reasonable Suburbans around by the time we don't want to wait anymore.

One thing I didn't mention in my original post is that we currently park the vehicle in a garage, and a newer model Suburban will pretty much max out that space with only inches to spare. IIRC a shortbed extended cab pickup might barely squeak in too, but that doesn't afford any wheelbase advantage over a Suburban. Continuing to park inside would be nice but if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out.

Re. a full size van: I've brought it up before, but the wife doesn't want a van

Not really interested in a diesel given the extra expense (for purchase and potentially for maintenance) given we don't put many miles on this thing and won't on the new one either (~1500 miles per year). That's also why the big block MPG doesn't bother me.

Nothing against the Excursion except that it won't fit in the garage anyway and seem to be the only thing rarer than 3/4 ton Suburbans around here. Would more likely just go for a pickup instead.

Originally Posted By: WishIhadatruck
First, I would scratch the 2007 model year off your list of Suburbans. They have the new body style, which means an integrated hitch, which limits you to 1,000 lbs of tongue weight but they still have the old 4-speed auto trans. At least with the 2008+ Suburbans you get the 6-speed auto with the 3.73 gears which will tow nearly 10,000 lbs pretty well.

...



Thanks for all that. We did look at a 2002 8.1 a while back with the 12k lb tow capacity and almost went for it. But it was in a little rough shape and we decided it wasn't worth the trouble at that point. I almost regret that. It drove pretty nicely.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
How heavy do you tow? How long is the trailer?

I have an 02 3/4 Silverado with 4.10's and the 6.0. Does much better than my old TBI 454, never did have to do a fuel pump in that.

I tow a 32 foot travel trailer that weighs in at 7500 to 8000 loaded. Truck has no porblem keeping up with traffic. The 6 speed would be nice, but the 4L80E with 4.10s does good.


The trailer is about 4200 lbs empty (so probably 6-6.5k loaded with 2 horses and gear) and I would guess around 18' long. It's not a huge trailer relatively but feels pretty big attached to this truck. It's a 3 horse so it can get heavier but no way would we put 3 horses in it with this tow vehicle I don't think, even though technically the capacity is 10k lbs.


It's entirely possible that the suspension is a large part of the problem. The motor could be tired too although I think it has enough power. We bought it well used and while it seemed to be well maintained I don't really know how the first 150k of its life went. I'm a little afraid that if I put in the time and money to refurbish the suspension that it still won't be quite as "comfortable" as a newer one would and we'll end up replacing it anyway. OTOH I'm guessing it doesn't even need to be lifted to replace the shocks so it should be really easy in theory... I'm sure it would at result in a much tighter ride, but it probably wouldn't do anything for steering or brake feel.

We don't tow incredibly often but the goal here is just to be able to tow comfortably and without worry whenever needed. Neither of us have varied experience so I don't have much of a reference as to whether this vehicle is a little off or maybe we're just expecting more of a solid driving experience while towing than is fair. I will say that the difference WITHOUT a trailer between this truck and the few newer ones I've driven is quite noticeable though.

Regardless it sounds like any newer Burb (appropriately optioned) should be plenty good for this application vs a pickup, aside from wheelbase and gooseneck concerns.

 

[rslifkin]

The brake feel might be helped by a different choice of pads. Steering feel is what it is, unless the steering linkage is worn. New (good quality) shocks can make a world of difference in how a vehicle handles with a trailer. Make sure the rear leaf springs are in good shape as well.

I've pulled a bit over 6k lbs with my Jeep (which is much shorter wheelbase, much lighter and more under-braked) and it did ok. I wouldn't want to do it regularly, but it wasn't uncomfortable on the highway, despite not using a WD hitch and having arguably too-soft springs. It was solid and planted, just a bit weak in the brakes department and you could definitely tell the trailer weighed more than the tow vehicle, especially around turns. I don't see a reason why your Suburban wouldn't be a reasonable tow vehicle for a trailer of that weight if everything is in good shape and set up correctly.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: morepwr
Why don't they offer the Duramax in a 3/4 ton Suburban? That seems like it would be a great combo.


The Allison transmission will not fit.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
How heavy do you tow? How long is the trailer?

I have an 02 3/4 Silverado with 4.10's and the 6.0. Does much better than my old TBI 454, never did have to do a fuel pump in that.

I tow a 32 foot travel trailer that weighs in at 7500 to 8000 loaded. Truck has no porblem keeping up with traffic. The 6 speed would be nice, but the 4L80E with 4.10s does good.

Thing about a full size van, is while a capable tow vehicle, they are hard to come by, parts are different, and they just have a different feel with the shorter wheelbase.


Hard to come by? Seriously?!?! Fullsize vans are dirt-common!

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
How heavy do you tow? How long is the trailer?

I have an 02 3/4 Silverado with 4.10's and the 6.0. Does much better than my old TBI 454, never did have to do a fuel pump in that.

I tow a 32 foot travel trailer that weighs in at 7500 to 8000 loaded. Truck has no porblem keeping up with traffic. The 6 speed would be nice, but the 4L80E with 4.10s does good.

Thing about a full size van, is while a capable tow vehicle, they are hard to come by, parts are different, and they just have a different feel with the shorter wheelbase.


Hard to come by? Seriously?!?! Fullsize vans are dirt-common!

Maybe by you but here in the Pacnorwest? Happy hunting. Few and far between to find a nice 3/4 ton or better van. If he wants a 1/2 ton that maybe easy. He does not want a 1/2 ton.

However the Duramax equipped vans had the 4L80E, but are detuned. There are two of the them running around base. Not sure what they do with them, but they idle...ALOT.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Give me a city near you, and I can probably dig up half a dozen by tomorrow!

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Give me a city near you, and I can probably dig up half a dozen by tomorrow!

Knock yourself out. 3/4 ton NON CARGO Van, that means ones with windows and seats.

Seattle Vans

 

[Jarlaxle]

I found seven HD (8 lug) passenger (two 5.4 Econolines, a V10 Ford, a 460 Ford, a GMC with undisclosed motor, & two 6.0 Chevys) in the first five minutes!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Around here the vans are beat to death before they show up on CL. Companies around here hold onto their vans!

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Around here the vans are beat to death before they show up on CL. Companies around here hold onto their vans!


The van market is actually quite small, especially for the heavy duty 3500 models. Low production numbers and high demand make for great resale!

 

[xxch4osxx]

Originally Posted By: morepwr
Why don't they offer the Duramax in a 3/4 ton Suburban? That seems like it would be a great combo.
There is a company that advertises on youtube called Duraburbinc, they swap Duramax diesels into suburbans and make it look like it was built that way from the factory.