# 1500 Suburban To Haul A 28rsds????



## meritage98 (Jun 24, 2007)

We are looking to buy the new 28rsds. Anyone know if our 2007 1500 Suburban can pull it without any issues? Please advise asap.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi meritage98
















to Outbackers! 

You will probably hear that your Suburban will be able to tow the 28rsds, but it won't be very happy with any kind of hills. We towed our 28krs with a 1997 3/4 ton Suburban before we upgraded to our Dodge 
one ton diesel. I'm sure you will get plenty of good advice in the morning when there are more members here.

What area are you from?


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## Calvin&Hobbes (May 24, 2006)

Up side, Suburban has the wheel base for that trailer length.

Down side, She is a 1/2 ton chassis-

Unknown- What size engine you have? Trailer tow package? 2 or 4 wheel drive? any improvements chassis-wise? Number of family camping?

On Paper, it would probably look like you'll be OK, with the base numbers....but then factor in the weight of all camping gear, family, fuel, etc.., and you'll find those numbers change quickly. Then add in weather, terrain, etc... Just remember, the dealership will tell you your vehicle will be OK to haul anything- I had one dealership tell me I would be OK hauling a fifth wheel (28 foot) with my super crew f-150. He used only dry weights to try and sell the trailer. Then, I found out that fifth wheel trailering was discouraged by Ford, as the bed area is too short to properly distribute the weight, unless I bought a 3K sliding fifth wheel hitch. I'm sure some Burb owners will chime in, as I am really a Ford guy- maybe you'll be Ok with some mods to the truck...

Good luck!


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## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

Hi,

We have an 05 Suburban with the 5.3 and 3.42 gear and tow a 26KBRS which weighs about 700 pounds less than the one your looking at.

My experience has been that we are underpowered. I have to be in 3rd. gear when towing and inclines
work the truck pretty good. My setup is fine for where we live and travel which is mainly flat (Ohio) but
my Sub would not be any good towing in the mountains and eventually you may want to travel to places
that have some hills along the way.

I would suggest a larger TV or smaller trailer.

Good luck,

Mark


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## cookie9933 (Feb 26, 2005)

Several more things to be aware of:

* Your Surburban is rated by GM to carry a specific amount of weight on each of its axles, known as Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR). Front and rear axles each have a separate rating.
* The entire Suburban when fully loaded with gear, fuel, pasengers and the trailer tongue weight must not exceed its Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR).
* The fully-loaded weight of truck and trailer must not exceed the Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR).

Those ratings are in your Suburban owner's manual and also on a plate or sticker attached to the driver's door jamb. Even if you meet the weight maximums, you should know that you will be better off the more you are UNDER the maximum wieghts your Suburban can carry. Where you plan to tow is also a major factor, if you have big hills or mountains to climb you will certainly wish for more truck or less trailer. Finally, do you know your rear axle ratio? Anything less than a 3.73 ratio would not work well for even flat terrain, let alone for hills or mountains.

Good luck.

Bill


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## wildwood2ob (May 29, 2006)

I have a 1500 '05 Suburban with 3.42 rear end. Towed the 26rs from Wisconsin to Yellowstone last summer. I would have loved more power, especially on the hills, but our trip was without incident. 
After that trip I got a 1500 '07 Tahoe with a 4.10 rear end. Little more power.
If you plan long trips, I would suggest a smaller trailer or a larger TV. If you typically stay close you should be ok. Obviously you will need to take it easy on the Interstate.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

As others have stated, your '07 1500 Burb will tow the 28RS-DS, but you'll be going slow and the tail will be somewhat wagging the dog, so to speak. You can do the math for yourself after downloading these documents: RV and Tow Vehicle Weight Calculations Demonstrator and RV Towing Tips

I had an '03 1500 Suburban when we bought our 29BHS, and soon learned that power and handling was less than I liked. (And the 28RS-DS has 50 more lbs. of tongue weight, although total capacity is similar.) By this spring, I upgraded to a 2007 2500HD Crew Cab with 6.0L engine, HD transmission, and 4:10 rear end (photo below). The difference is like night and day. Power and handling are much improved and our trip to Disney World proved the upgrade to be worthwhile, considering the hills in Tennessee and Georgia. I'll have no worries about towing it west to my sister's in Idaho.

The weakest link you have is the transmission. And the 760 lbs of dry tongue weight won't give you much wiggle room for storing much of anything in your front pass-thru storeage area. (the 760 lbs does not include the weight of the propane tanks and the battery.) I believe the max. tongue weight for your Burb is 1000 lbs - so you see what I mean. (You'll be overloaded if you fill your fresh water tank.)

Like wildwood2ob said, you might want to consider a smaller trailer. If you're like me, you would take too much of a beating on your new '07 Burb to upgrade the TV right now. But if you live in a relatively flat area and don't plan on traveling too far from home for the first couple years, you may be able to handle the 28 RS-DS until upgrading your TV becomes a little more affordable.

Remember - even though you have that nice 5 yr./100,000 mile powertrain warranty, GM will probably refuse to honor it if you have a problem and they determine that you overloaded, according to their specs.

This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but they are the cold, hard facts.

Good luck with your decision.

Mike


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## Zymurgist (Apr 2, 2007)

Hi and welcome!

We have the 28 rsds, and an 04 Yukon XL 1500. Our GVRW is 7200 (5.3L and 3.73 ratio). We have upgraded our batteries to two 6V's so that added to an already heavy tongue weight.

The short of the story is that we are pushing the limits of our Yukon with the trailer, so we are in the process of trading up to a Yukon XL 2500, (hopefully picking it up Monday). Could we tow it, yes, we have proven it, could maintain speed on hills and control the trailer well in braking. But we were flirting with too many limits and the long term effect on the motor and trans we felt would be bad.

On the trailer, we spent over a year looking, researching, trying to figure out what would be best for us. the 28 rsds made it to the top of a pile of brochures that was at one point over an inch or two tall. Is it perfect? Is it perfectly built, a marvel of modern engineering? Probably not, but it is probably built better than a lot of others that we looked at. Plus it doesn't come across as a flashback to the 70's.

Hard news to take, but I've got 4 other people that I have to take care of when I'm behind the wheel, so like you I had to make the decision. Keep the trailer, try to upgrade the Burb.

Disclaimer. If you have the 4.1 rear end and 2WD you should have a higher GVRW and also a higher Max trailer weight. (If you don't have the 4.1 rear, you can get that changed, might be cheaper than taking the hit on the new truck.)

Best wishes, I hope you can find a solution that will fit your puzzle.

Carl


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## Humpty (Apr 20, 2005)

I am not sure about the ratings on the 07 Burb, but after towing an 05 28BHS for 2 years with an 04 Burb (5.3, 3.73), I will say that 28RSDS is at the Extreme Upper Limit of what you can handle.

You would most likely be right at or over the Burbs GVWR and/ or the Rear Axle rating. If you have similar engine and gear ratio, you could expect to have to tow in 3rd gear and average 8.5 â€" 9 MPG towing at 65 MPH in Flat areas. Hills and head winds would not be your friend. You would most likely avoid mountains at all costs, and limit your trips to relatively close to home. You would probably feel like you were sending your Burb to an early grave.

We enjoyed our 28BHS and did not want a smaller trailer. We were not in a position to upgrade tow vehicles. Being a Newbie, I did not know enough to even think I was getting too much trailer.

I had too much trailer


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## burleson (Jun 14, 2007)

I myself have been wondering if I am pushing the limits of my '05 Suburban's towing capacity. We have our maiden voyage over 9K+ foot passes in the Colorado rockies this weekend.
One thing that would help me know how well (or sick) I can expect the performance to be would be the gear ratio on my Suburban. Where do I find what was placed on my vehicle? I know it had the towing package, but don't know if that included the different gear ratio...


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## Zymurgist (Apr 2, 2007)

If you call your dealer with the VIN number they can pull the "build sheet" that will have a lot of good detailed info that went into your truck. You can also do it via the GM website but it takes a while to get a response.

Good Luck
Carl


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