# New TV



## bulldogfamily6 (May 28, 2004)

We bit the bullet and bought a new TV. We didn't see putting $2,000 or $3,000 in a vehicle with 151,000 miles on it.

The new Burb has:

5.3L V8 
complete tow package 
Stabiltrac Stability Enhancement
7000 lbs. GVW rating
3.73 Rear axle ratio

Since we have more towing capacity, we are now looking at a larger Outback. Please let me know if y'all think we could pull either of the following units with no problems. I'm sorry to keep bothering all of you, but we really want to do this right and do it with an Outback. Thanks in advance for all your help.

26RS - Gross Dry Weight - 4480, Hitch Weight 600
28BHS - GDW - 4930, HW 560
28RSS - GDW - 5270, HW 460

Thanks,


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## JimWilson (Feb 24, 2004)

bulldogfamily6 said:


> Since we have more towing capacity, we are now looking at a larger Outback.


Uh oh, you seem to be in the "cycle"!







Now, you want a trailer that's perhaps a bit too big for the new truck, so 2 years from now you'll upgrade the truck. And then you'll probaly start eyeing those 5th wheels, which means the current trailer has to go. And after that... well, you get the idea.











bulldogfamily6 said:


> Please let me know if y'all think we could pull either of the following units with no problems.
> 
> 26RS - Gross Dry Weight - 4480, Hitch Weight 600
> 28BHS - GDW - 4930, HW 560
> 28RSS - GDW - 5270, HW 460


Out the door, none of them should be a problem. But then, "out the door" is a relative term. If those are the base weights you need to know what YOUR trailer will weigh with all the options you get. That could add a couple of hundred pounds, in some cases. But let's use the 28RSS as an example.

If 5270 is what it really weighs then that leaves you around 1700 pounds of capacity (what your truck can tow - what your trailer weighs = your "extra" capacity). From that number you have to subtract the weight of all the gear, supplies, food, firewood, etc. you put in the TV and the trailer. Let's say that's 250 pounds, which is perhaps conservative. Now, you're at 1450. I'll take a guess and say your family weighs, all told, 500 pounds. Now, you're under 1000 pounds. A full tank of gas probably weighs a good 200 pounds, which puts you at 800 or so. Add some fresh water to your holding tank? You can subtract... and on and on it goes.

As a rule of thumb you never want to get too close to your stated maximum, for any reason, because the towing experience can often become a struggle (and that's not fun). You will also be working your truck hard, so it might reward you with expensive repairs quite often (and that's not fun either).







Being conservative is often a better choice.


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## Webmosher (Jun 28, 2004)

Well, I started writing this, and then finished while Jim posted, but hopefully it is still useful:

Published tow ratings are a really inaccurate method of true towing capabilities of a vehicle. An experience last year with sway and lack of power in our older Suburban made me rethink my vehicle's "rating". What I found through a great deal of research was that the real world tow rating can differ considerably from the published one. As an example, my 1500 Suburban has a published rating of 7500lbs, while my calculated real rating is actually only 4770lbs. The dry weight of our 28RSS is 5190, so we are actually not towing 100% safely.

Overall, what I found was that all 2500 (3/4 ton) Suburbans from 1999 forward are suitable for towing up to a 28RSS. Real ratings on these vehicles accomodate tow weights of 7100 for 1999-2001 models and 9300 lbs. for 2002-2004. This is based on a loaded vehicle weight of 1333 lbs (2 adults, 4 kids, 2 pets, loaded equiptment and fuel). Ford Excursions also did quite well in the 3/4 ton class, but the 5.3 liter in the Ford is a bit light on HP.

The next big factor to consider is HP, power or torque, which is a key consideration when hauling up hills. Note though that horsepower is only an accurate measure of comparitive power for gasoline engines (not diesel). I've found all the 2500 Chevy engines leave enough HP to maintain 60mph up a 6% grade. My 1500 tends to bottom out on even an 8% grade. However, I am in the process of evaluating my math to ensure that I can determine a proper calculation that can effectively compare towing capabilities between diesel and gasoline engines.

Most of this is all compiled in a spreadsheet. I will try to put this up on a website later tonite so that I can provide you a link to download it.

Hope this helps,
Fred


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

It's too bad that you guys could not have gone to a 3/4 ton (maybe 1-2 years old to save some cash) if you really wanted to tow a trailer of this size. That said, yes you will be OK with these trailers but performance won't be impressive. Acceptable, yes. Also, be conservative on how much load you carry in the Burb as this is a limiting factor for the 1/2 ton.


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

3/4 ton diesel is in the future for my 28BHS. I manage now, but there is not much room left in the numbers game and the performance category. I get there and back, but so far I have been 3 hours or less from home.

Since you have a new vehicle, I wouldn't push it to the max and make the towing possibly uncomfortable. I would find a floor plan that meets what you want and need then go from there, I wouldn't try to buy the biggest camper the vehicle can tow by the numbers game.

I would do what you feel is right. Just buy an Outback....

Good luck

Kevin


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Here is my thoughts after pulling our 23' Kiwi with our Av and now our 28' Outback. The Av with the 5.3L and the 4.10 rear axel does well, but not amazing. It cruises well on the Freeways at about 60MPH, higher than that and it wants to shift a lot. On the hills it slows down a lot, I try not to work the engine hard so I take it slow. The Av, and the burbs have soft rear ends, hence why they ride nice. I am debating between getting a 2500HD/250 or adding air bags to the rear end to stiffen it up. This past trip I felt a HUGE amount of sway due to the cross winds, enough that I stopped and moved a lot of weight to the front of the camper - it helped but the winds still pushed me around a great deal. Though the Burb will pull any of the trailers, and as Jim says if you stay conservative you'll be okay. Now that we have our 28' and want to carry people and stuff I am wondering if we should upgrade our truck. My suggestion, is go with the 26' rather than push the limits further with the 28'.


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## bulldogfamily6 (May 28, 2004)

Thanks for all the info. Since I posted the first message, we have thought about the 28 footers and think they are too much for us. We would like the 25RSS, 26RS or 23RS. Now, here's the big problem. I can find the 25 RSS within 250 miles of home. (Early '04 model with lighter floor and trim and cream colored cabinets with Equalizer hitch and Prodigy for $17,500.) The 26RS and 23RS are not to be found. I called Bonners (I can't remember which of you bought from them, but I seem to recall someone did.) They have all of them, have a good price on them, and will even deliver them all the way to Mississippi for only $900.00 (Sounds like a good price to me considering the distance from MI to MS!) We are afraid to take delivery on a trailer without ever having seen it or had a walk through. The dealer about a 100 miles from here says they can order the trailer we want, (they only have the 28BHS in stock) but it will be mid-September before it arrives. We have even started looking at the Jayco Jay Feather because of availability. I'm about ready to say forget it and get on with life - since searching, investigating, and going to see trailers has taken up a large part of my summer! Thanks again for the input - and I really took note of your input, Kevin, to do it in an Outback! I just wish they weren't so hard to find. We are ready to buy, but I'm tired of searching. Maybe I'll feel better about it tomorrow morning. Any additional input is always welcome.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

BDF6, I tow a 26RS with a 2002 1/2 ton Avalanche, which has the same engine/rear end spec's as your 'Burb. Like Steve said, it tows it, but the hills slow us down, and 60-65 seems to make it happy.

If I were in the same boat, I would concentrate my search on the 26RS or the 25RSS. My 26RS, which has everything except the oven has an unloaded wgt of 4780# from the factory. I have not had it weighed loaded yet, but I imagine I am pushing 5000# now, with all the blocking, wheel chocks, tools, chairs, the battery, etc., etc., and so on that I have put in the front pass thru storage. This has actually helped the handling, as it has added tongue wgt, but I wouldn't want to tow something bigger with this truck.

Tim


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

Ditto what Tim says. We have the Yukon XL, same 5.3 liter engine, but with the 4.10 gears. The Yukon tows the 26 RS GREAT on moderate inclines, but it drops to second gear and about 4,000 RPM on the big hills, even with the 4.10s. And we are a full 2,000 pounds under towing capacity.

Randy


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## campingtom170 (Apr 26, 2004)

Howdy All,

We are leaving tomorrow for a 2 week trip. Our 28RSS is loaded and ready to go. So I felt that this was a good time to get it weighed. So off we went to the local public scale. The trailer weight was 6,860 pounds. Very close to its 7000 GVWR. The hitch weight was 920 and the axle weight 5940. The excursion weighed 6,820 so I was well within its 11,000 pound tow rating and 20,000 pound GCVWR.

Our previous towing experience with this combination has proven to be very succesful. the excursion has all of the factors necessary to tow a trailer the size and weight of the Outback. While the fuel economy is non-existant, about 7 MPG, the performance is outstanding. Hills both up and down are no problem. On a recent trip we were forced to a dead stop in traffic on a 6% grade. I was able to get back up to 55 with little effort. The outside temp was over 100, I was running the AC and the oil and tranny temps never moved.

Our previous vehicle was a Tahoe with a 6,800 tow rating. Once we decided to buy the 28RSS I felt that we also needed a new tow vehicle. In hindsight, this was a good decision. IMHO the tow vehicle should have a tow rating that exceeds the trailer's maximum GVWR by at least 20%. If you work the tow vehicle hard all the time you will be spending a lot of money on parts.

Happy Camping,

Tom sunny

ps loved that Chev, considered the 25RSS but the wife wanted that slideout sofa.


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