Posted by AustinTX on August 03, 19100 at 20:05:55:
Seems everyone wants to know what their 'Burb will REALLY tow......even I had asked the question a few months back.
So here's a very long example:
Last weekend I hooked my '96 K1500 5.7L (3.42 rear and auxillary coolers) to an Illuminator tandem axle boat trailer (1,000lbs) with surge disk brakes on one axle.
Loaded ONTO this trailer was a '99 Bayliner 2355 cabin cruiser. Manufacturer's specs indicate 4,850 pounds dry. Add in all the options (air conditioning, etc.) and liquids (half a tank of fuel, fresh and gray water systems) and the weight of the boat calculated out at 5350 lbs.
TOTAL WEIGHT: 6350 lbs.
BURB RATING: 5000 lbs.
Pulling the combo out of the water (slight grade, crushed aggregate) in 4WD LO was nothing - barely had to push the pedal to pull the entire thing out of the water and up 400 feet of ramp.
Then I stopped and went back to 2WD. Now it felt like I forgot to pull up the boat anchor.
On the way back to the house, hills on a windy backroad that I can't normally reach 65mph on empty dropped to 20mph in first gear with me hoping I'd reach the top before I ran out of steam. My contingency plan would have been to come to a complete stop, go to 4wd LO, and creep up all the way.
Once on the main road, grades that I would normally hit at 70mph and drop to 55mph before the crest (without an increase in throttle) had me slowing to 45mph in second gear. I should add that I NEVER floored the gas, out of consideration of torqueing the transmission too much.
On flat grades, 60 - 70 in 3rd seemed okay, but not much reserve power left.
Acceleration from stop lights made me the recipient of many single finger Austin waves. Slow. Very slow.
Braking didn't seem to be as much of a problem as I anticipated, probably due to the trailer brakes. It's definitely wise to keep PLENTY of distance from the vehicle in front.
The entire trip was only 20 miles, but enough of an experience to convince me that I'll probably trade my good old 'Burb in for a K2500 or (God forbid) an F350 diesel. Blub..blub...blub....
Anyway, I hope that's given some insight to those who have been considering towing more than 4 or 5 thousand pounds of weight behind them.