Is My Math Right?? tow vehicle and Trailer

[Specialk81]

Hello everyone. Im looking in to getting Wilwood X-lite 254RLXL. I drive a 2004 Chevy Suburban Z71. Its gonna be just my wife and I and 2 small dogs. The suburban says it can tow a max of 8,200 lbs. but help me with my math please.
Suburban GVWR is 7,200 lbs.
suburban curb weight is 5,546lbs.
which leaves me 1,654lbs payload

Wilwood 254RLXL GVWR 7,000lbs fyi it says tbd but jayco has a jayflight 245rlsw similar floor plan and has a gvwr of 7,000 lbs.
So lets say i have a tongue weight of 13 % of 7,000 lbs GVWR of the trailer. that leaves me with a tongue weight of 910 lbs.
1,654 lbs payload
- 910 lbs tongue weight.
= 744 lbs left of payload for my wife and I and pets and gear.


so after all of this does this seem that my suburban will be able to tow this without an issue??? keep in mind i will have a WD hitch as well. brake controller and all of that good stuff. i cant see me hauling 744 lbs of gear in the Suburban because most of the gear will be in the trailer. please let me know thanks!!

[fonzie]

If you can post he two sticker on your door jam, that would help members provide more help....

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by fonzie

If you can post he two sticker on your door jam, that would help members provide more help....

Correct.
The sticker will account for vehicle options.
Your math is assuming your have a base model Burb.

[Specialk81]

here are the images

[rockfordroo]

Just looking here, it says dry weight is 5635 lbs and cargo weight is 2033 lbs for a total GVWR of 7668 lbs. So you're a little low.

New 2016 Forest River RV Wildwood X-Lite 254RLXL Travel Trailer at Fun Town RV | Cleburne, TX | #137376

FR website also says UVW (dry wt) is 5635 lbs and cargo wt is 2033 lbs. It also says the tongue weight is 668 lbs. Battery, propane, other stuff you put in the TT and your WDH will increase the tongue wt.

Also, your second pic shows your Suburban's payload is 1393, not 1654 lbs.

I'm thinking you won't be happy.

[asquared]

According to your sticker you actually only have 1393 lbs payload before passengers, pets etc.

[asquared]

With a tt dry weight of 5635 you will likely be 6600-7100 lbs loaded (based on average amount people tend to add to campers). This means you are looking at a low tongue weight of 858 to a high of 1065 lbs. I think that is going to be really tight. I would be concerned about handling any hills with that setup.

[Shamrockthecasbah]

Originally Posted by Specialk81

Hello everyone. Im looking in to getting Wilwood X-lite 254RLXL. I drive a 2004 Chevy Suburban Z71. Its gonna be just my wife and I and 2 small dogs. The suburban says it can tow a max of 8,200 lbs. but help me with my math please.
Suburban GVWR is 7,200 lbs.
suburban curb weight is 5,546lbs.
which leaves me 1,654lbs payload

Wilwood 254RLXL GVWR 7,000lbs fyi it says tbd but jayco has a jayflight 245rlsw similar floor plan and has a gvwr of 7,000 lbs.
So lets say i have a tongue weight of 13 % of 7,000 lbs GVWR of the trailer. that leaves me with a tongue weight of 910 lbs.
1,654 lbs payload
- 910 lbs tongue weight.
= 744 lbs left of payload for my wife and I and pets and gear.


so after all of this does this seem that my suburban will be able to tow this without an issue??? keep in mind i will have a WD hitch as well. brake controller and all of that good stuff. i cant see me hauling 744 lbs of gear in the Suburban because most of the gear will be in the trailer. please let me know thanks!!

I have the same truck as you just a year older. I think your tow rating is more like 7100-7400. The only way you get over 8000 lbs. is with a 410 axle ratio. I thought all Z71s came with the 373s.

You are right to be looking at payload though and you will have to scale the truck to see what your actual weight is. My 2003 Z71 scaled 6000 lbs with me behind the wheel (200lbs) and 3/4 tank of fuel. That left me with 1200 lbs of additional payload for additional people, hitch, luggage and tongue weight. Keep in mind that your W/D hitch will transfer some weight back to your trailer axles which helps some (maybe 100-150 lbs).

After readjusting my hitch my suburban towed my 6600+ GVW trailer fine in terms of handling and control. I did add air bags and LT tires. The limiting factor is power. I think you will tow the 7000 lbs fine on flat land, but you will struggle in the mountains.

[Specialk81]

thanks for your help guys see i was confused because the sticker said a lower weight and i didnt know which one to use as payload. so i knew i was getting close to max payload. so u guys suggest a smaller travel then i assume. because i wanna be safe.

[Shamrockthecasbah]

Originally Posted by Specialk81

thanks for your help guys see i was confused because the sticker said a lower weight and i didnt know which one to use as payload. so i knew i was getting close to max payload. so u guys suggest a smaller travel then i assume. because i wanna be safe.

When you are towing with your suburban I would recommend leaving the 3rd row seat at home: saves 70lbs and you can't tow with more than 4 or 5 people anyway due to payload limits. The third row out makes it easier to keep any luggage as far forward as possible to help with rear axle weight.

[Specialk81]

yeah i was planning to take the 3rd row seat out. i really like this floor plan because of the rear window and recliners. my goal was to take this set up to the rockies once a year and to texas and just local as well.

[asquared]

You will definitely not be happy towing that in the Rockies. You will want to go much lighter if towing in the Rockies... or if you can afford it, get that tt and trade the burb for either a more capable truck with a crew cab or a 3/4 ton burb.

[Specialk81]

Originally Posted by asquared

You will definitely not be happy towing that in the Rockies. You will want to go much lighter if towing in the Rockies... or if you can afford it, get that tt and trade the burb for either a more capable truck with a crew cab or a 3/4 ton burb.

My burb is my baby! lol ill look for a smaller travel trailer then. at least my thoughts were correct that this trailer was getting close to my limits.

[asquared]

I understand. It is always a compromise. Some compromise on the tt, others compromise on the tv. Which one is always personal preference.

By the way, do you have the towing package with the heavy duty transmission cooler? If not then definitely get that added to your burb for the mountains.

[Specialk81]

Originally Posted by asquared

I understand. It is always a compromise. Some compromise on the tt, others compromise on the tv. Which one is always personal preference.

By the way, do you have the towing package with the heavy duty transmission cooler? If not then definitely get that added to your burb for the mountains.

yeah, my burb will have all of that installed before i even get my travel trailer. so question for you. would it be safe to say i need to look at travel trailers under GVWR of 6,000 lbs? which would keep me safe for my payload for my criteria???

[asquared]

What we are looking at is loaded, not dry tongue weight. Ideal loaded tongue weight is 13-15% of loaded tt weight. On average people tend to add 1000-1500 lbs of stuff to their trailers. All the food, clothes, chairs, tools, propane, battery etc really adds up quickly. To give you an idea, we are a family of 3. Our old tt was 5700 lbs dry and 7300 lbs loaded (it had a 7700 lb gvwr). Our loaded tongue weight ended up at about 1000 lbs.

So let's look at some numbers for you...
6000 lbs gvwr x .15% tongue weight would give you a high end 900 lbs tongue weight. I would shoot for no more than a loaded weight of 5500 lbs which would net you a high end tongue weight of 825 lbs.

Also remember heavier will stress your vehicle more on the mountain passes. You will be running high rpms and need to run low gears up and down the mountain passes.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Specialk81

yeah, my burb will have all of that installed before i even get my travel trailer. so question for you. would it be safe to say i need to look at travel trailers under GVWR of 6,000 lbs? which would keep me safe for my payload for my criteria???

I have a few tools at http://www.towingplanner.com that should help if you're looking to stay within payload.

Here's a write-up that I did that should help:
http://learntorv.com/what-can-i-tow/

[Specialk81]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I have a few tools at Towing Planner - towing capability calculators that should help if you're looking to stay within payload.

Here's a write-up that I did that should help:
What Can I Tow? | Learn To RV

yeah i found that website about an hour ago so im using that calculator alot to figure out what travel trailer i like and to see if its a good fit for the burb. btw i read that article 1st then went onto the calculator. great write up though!!

[itat]

One caution about trying to figure out what your Suburban can handle. RV manufacturers' brochure "dry weights" are notoriously optimistic because they don't seem to account for a lot of options including "mandatory options". Try to find a picture of the yellow actual weight sticker from a unit like you're interested in. That'll give you a more realistic picture that you can work with in doing your calculations.

For your Suburban, get the trans cooler and hitch installed and then take it to a scale with a full tank of fuel and the 2 of you and the dogs on board to get your unloaded curb weight. Compare that to your GVWR and that's what payload you have left to work with. You'll probably exceed your GVWR before you exceed your rear axle's rating.

Good luck with your search!

[Shamrockthecasbah]

Perform your due diligence with tow planners etc. and try to determine what you would be comfortable with on paper. As an RV'r with real world experience with YOUR tow vehicle I can tell you that the suburban 1500 Z71 5.3/3.73/4sp with tow package tows my 23IKSS 6700 lb GVWR very well in terms of handling, with a properly dialed in W/D hitch, and adequately in terms of power. The steeper eastern mountain grades will require 2nd gear and 4k RPMs to maintain speed. I don't have any experience with the western mountains and the effect of higher elevation and the corresponding reduced engine power.

Unless you have the 4.10 axle ratio I wouldn't even consider going heavier than what I tow. I am able to keep all of my numbers within limits by packing trailer heavy and tow vehicle light.

If you plan to keep your Suburban as your TV I would recommend that you replace your factory hitch with a better aftermarket hitch. The factory GMT-800 hitches were poor and will deflect when you install your weight distribution bars which doesn't allow for the proper weight distribution. I installed an excellent Curt hitch in about 30 mins, cost about $150.00.