GMC Acadia as a TV

[lovinglife15]

Some of you will remember my post a week ago about our hybrid TT and towing with a Chevy Uplander extended cab max towing 3500 lbs. Our TT is a Coachmen clipper 15 foot hybrid. It's dry weight is 2600 lbs max weight approx 3500 lbs.

So we have taken small trips around the area towing with the Uplander with tranny cooler stabilizer bars brake controller etc. it seems to be handling the towing part well but we can smell something burning from the exhaust when we are hitting the higher rpms going up hills etc. not all the time but sometimes. We were towing in D and not 3rd and my father in law suggested we tow always in 3rd.

I don't know how well that would work??? The burning smell seems to be coming from the exhaust area and not under the hood.

We have been looking at Acadias with factory towing. We have two kids and a dog so a truck is not what my wife wants as her daily driver. The max towing on Acadia is 5200 lbs. so my question is: how are these vehicles for towing and more specifically a trailer the size as ours?

I would hate to trade in our Uplander for a vehicle that isn't meant for towing TTs either.

Any advice or input would be much appreciated.

[pappcam]

Originally Posted by lovinglife15

Some of you will remember my post a week ago about our hybrid TT and towing with a Chevy Uplander extended cab max towing 3500 lbs. Our TT is a Coachmen clipper 15 foot hybrid. It's dry weight is 2600 lbs max weight approx 3500 lbs.

So we have taken small trips around the area towing with the Uplander with tranny cooler stabilizer bars brake controller etc. it seems to be handling the towing part well but we can smell something burning from the exhaust when we are hitting the higher rpms going up hills etc. not all the time but sometimes. We were towing in D and not 3rd and my father in law suggested we tow always in 3rd.

I don't know how well that would work??? The burning smell seems to be coming from the exhaust area and not under the hood.

We have been looking at Acadias with factory towing. We have two kids and a dog so a truck is not what my wife wants as her daily driver. The max towing on Acadia is 5200 lbs. so my question is: how are these vehicles for towing and more specifically a trailer the size as ours?

I would hate to trade in our Uplander for a vehicle that isn't meant for towing TTs either.

Any advice or input would be much appreciated.

I'm not sure about the Acadia as a tow vehicle for anything other than a pop-up.

Any front wheel drive unibody vehicle is usually not a very good tow vehicle for a high sided trailer in my opinion.

[PSUFan1]

Acadia's are awd


2012 Ford F-150 EB Crew FX4 3.73 gears
2012 Micro Lite 23lb

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[martinto]

Towed a 26 ft TT at 3700lbs in Texas with a Buick Enclave. Fine on flats, but was a bit stressed in the Texas Hill Country. Had the towing pkg with tow/haul feature and used it always when towing. Same basic vehicle as the Acadia, but was front wheel drive and was rated at 4500 lbs towing. Front struts had to be replaced under warranty...not sure, but maybe due to towing that size TT. As we were retiring to the North Carolina mountain area, I upgraded to a GMC Yukon. A full size SUV configured for towing may be a better choice.

[B and B]

If you are trading get a Vehicle suited for the job. If you stuck on non truck GM products look at the midsize Pick Up, GMC Canyon. With a V 6 and tow package it will tow 7000 lbs. It might suit the DW non towing needs but tow when needed.

The burning smell is most likely the transmission torque converter. in D you are using overdrive and it is probably slipping, tow in 3. I owned one of these vans in a previous life, I would never tow anything with them.

[pappcam]

Originally Posted by DisDad01

Acadia's are awd


2012 Ford F-150 EB Crew FX4 3.73 gears
2012 Micro Lite 23lb

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

When they require it. It's basically front wheel drive 99% of the time just like most other crossovers.

All I was saying is that unibody crossovers aren't the best tow vehicles as they're quite often based on a car/minivan chassis.

[rockfordroo]

When we bought our Roo 19 (probably ~4000lbs loaded) we pulled it one season with our 2011 Chevy Traverse (basically the same as the Acadia, although you probably have 7 more hp, and ours is FWD).

I wasn't happy with it. We're in the mid-West and even on the flat interstates, it ran in 4th gear at ~3100 rpm. Any little increase in slope would make it drop into 3rd. Once in a great while it would go into 5th, but not very often. It wouldn't let me force it into 5th with the manual shifter. There are people on the Traverse forum who pull heavier trailers than my Roo and don't seem to mind running at 3100 rpm in 4th gear all day, but I sure wasn't.

The problem really isn't the weight, it's the drag.

So I bought a Silverado with a 7500 lb tow rating and I'm a LOT happier. Even moved up to a Mini-Lite and I'm still good.

[Canadiancrew]

You may want to look at the towing specs for the frontage. As someone already stated it may be more of a problem with drag as opposed to frontage. Some vehicles like this may have a 5200 lb capacity but frontage may be limited to 32 square feet.

[lovinglife15]

Thanks everyone for responding so far. I kind f expected your answers but I was hoping it would be okay. I guess our only answer is a Yukon or Tahoe.

[lovinglife15]

I do have a lead on a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4. What would that be like as a TV?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by lovinglife15

I guess our only answer is a Yukon or Tahoe.

i think you'll be surprised how close the Tahoe/Yukon mpg is to the Acadia/Traverse.
their v-8 has the v-4 feature, often called Displacement on Demand, which can enable them to get 20-21 mpg on the highway.

i have the same type of engine but in a bigger longer vehicle and i can get 20 mpg highway.

[aceinspp]

If you are not buying new look at a Avalance half suv. Later RJD

[martinto]

A Jeep Grand Cmif outfitted with the appropriate tow pkg. should handle your TT.

[PSUFan1]

I've seen others on here talk about the VW Touareg as a good tow vehicle. Just another suggestion


2012 Ford F-150 EB Crew FX4 3.73 gears
2012 Micro Lite 23lb

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[jhoppmann]

Originally Posted by lovinglife15

I do have a lead on a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4. What would that be like as a TV?

Which engine?

[wickedwyrm]

Originally Posted by DisDad01

I've seen others on here talk about the VW Touareg as a good tow vehicle. Just another suggestion


2012 Ford F-150 EB Crew FX4 3.73 gears
2012 Micro Lite 23lb

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Touareg is good as is BMW X5, just get the diesel versions and you'd be surprised what they tow.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Rodgers]

I will never understand why! thats all I will say.

[bruane]

I would suggest if you are going to stick with a SUV you have the following options available on the configuration and be looking at towing up to a ROO19 size trailer with the slab front:
Factory tow package including the extra transmission cooler
AWD vv 4 wheel drive as a minimum
A manual shift ride override/selector on your gearbox to manage the transmission and shift process when in hilly country
Load sharing stabilizer hitch
To cut down wind effect a wind deflector such as in RV Fuel Savings Guide
This also stops snow accumulation on the front slab and picking up bugs.

I had a Hyundai Santa Fe configuration and this coped most things OK and regularly crossed the Appalachians in the winter until I moved up to a 5th wheel and a fully configured F150 with a 11K tow capacity. If you want to do serious towing a truck is the only way and I get the same gas mileage as I did with the SUV pulling over 2+ X the weight.

[lovinglife15]

I really appreciate all your advice. We went to the dealership yesterday and walked out with a brand new truck max towing 11200 lbs

We were surprised with how big the back seat was for the kids and dog and really fell in love with all the bells and whistles.

Your doses of reality when towing with an SUV helped us immensely. Thanks!

[tipakajohn]

What did you drive out with??