Suburban as a tow vehicle?

Anyone towing with a Chevrolet/GMC Suburban? I'm looking at picking up
a well used one for glider trailer duty only, so I'm interested to hear
how well they tow, suggested engine size, 2wd vs 4wd, things to look out
for, etc. Replies to the newsgroup or private responses are both OK.

Didn't Charlie Spratt run his tow business with a Suburban?

Thanks,
Ken

What are you wanting to tow? A glider trailer? I
don't have a 'burb', but it probably won't know a glider
trailer is back there.

My father had two 'burb's'; one with a 350 cu. inch
and the other with the 454 cu. inch engine. Both were
two wheel drive. He towed his camping trailers with
them and really liked the way the 454 version towed
the longer and heavier trailer. The 350 towed a camping
trailer well, too, but not with as much 'ease' as the
one with the 454. Now, this is back in the 80's and
early 90's, so there have been changes to the 'burb's'
but probably won't have any deterious effects on towing
capacity since then. The larger trailer he towed was,
I think, a 26' long tandem axle camping trailer (caravan
in the King's English?). So, it's a lot heavier than
a glider trailer and the 454 'burb' towed it just fine,
even through the mountains of North Carolina. Gas
mileage sucked.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
(tow and current commuter vehicle: 2000 Honda Accord
V-6)

At 06:00 01 March 2007, Ken Ward wrote:
Anyone towing with a Chevrolet/GMC Suburban? I'm looking
at picking up
a well used one for glider trailer duty only, so I'm
interested to hear
how well they tow, suggested engine size, 2wd vs 4wd,
things to look out
for, etc. Replies to the newsgroup or private responses
are both OK.

Didn't Charlie Spratt run his tow business with a Suburban?

Thanks,
Ken

I used to tow a 2 1/4ton sailboat with a 454; it was
a pleasure. Gas mileage around 13 without boat and
8 with it. You surely don't need anything that big,
but it will do a wonderful job and it is a comfortable,
roomy ride that will carry everything you need for
a two-week contest.

At 12:12 01 March 2007, Ray Lovinggood wrote:
What are you wanting to tow? A glider trailer? I
don't have a 'burb', but it probably won't know a glider
trailer is back there.

My father had two 'burb's'; one with a 350 cu. inch
and the other with the 454 cu. inch engine. Both were
two wheel drive. He towed his camping trailers with
them and really liked the way the 454 version towed
the longer and heavier trailer. The 350 towed a camping
trailer well, too, but not with as much 'ease' as the
one with the 454. Now, this is back in the 80's and
early 90's, so there have been changes to the 'burb's'
but probably won't have any deterious effects on towing
capacity since then. The larger trailer he towed was,
I think, a 26' long tandem axle camping trailer (caravan
in the King's English?). So, it's a lot heavier than
a glider trailer and the 454 'burb' towed it just fine,
even through the mountains of North Carolina. Gas
mileage sucked.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
(tow and current commuter vehicle: 2000 Honda Accord
V-6)

At 06:00 01 March 2007, Ken Ward wrote:
Anyone towing with a Chevrolet/GMC Suburban? I'm looking
at picking up
a well used one for glider trailer duty only, so I'm
interested to hear
how well they tow, suggested engine size, 2wd vs 4wd,
things to look out
for, etc. Replies to the newsgroup or private responses
are both OK.

Didn't Charlie Spratt run his tow business with a Suburban?

Thanks,
Ken

I have used a Tahoe (Suburban with one less row of seats, shorter
wheelbase, fits in standard garage) to tow. Found out that I prefer
the Subaru Outback for all but:
Visibility over trailers, something you get used to.
Starting on a hill, the Subaru has 2.5 liters and manual gearbox.
Off-field landings in difficult access areas.
Extra room to fill with rubbish.
The Tahoe uses much of it's 350 Cubic Inches to drag itself around.
The Subaru handles cross-winds and passing trucks better than the
Tahoe.
The Subaru handles better in any situation other than hill starts.
I have comfortably towed Nimbus 3 and AS-H26e, both heavy gliders,
with the Subaru, usually in the 70MPH range. 15M and Std gliders are
not an issue with most cars.
Unless you need high ground clearance and room for two to sleep in
the back, it's a bit of a waste.
Jim

On Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:57:25 GMT, Ken Ward
wrote:

Anyone towing with a Chevrolet/GMC Suburban? I'm looking at picking up
a well used one for glider trailer duty only, so I'm interested to hear
how well they tow, suggested engine size, 2wd vs 4wd, things to look out
for, etc. Replies to the newsgroup or private responses are both OK.

Didn't Charlie Spratt run his tow business with a Suburban?

A Suburban will TOW perfectly well, but if you have to BACK into
narrow places it can be a bit of a challenge. The difficulty of
backing goes up with the ratio of tow vehicle length to trailer
length. That's why a trucker can back an 18-wheeler into a loading
dock between two other trucks with inches to spare -- short tractor,
long trailer, easy backing.

Remember, YOUR driving skills are only part of the equation...you
have to consider every driver who gets drafted to come out and
retrieve you!

rj

Heck, I do fine with an old '95 Toyota Pickup with the 2.4L. I put a
cap on the back so I have room for stuff out of the weather, plus I
get much better mileage that way. I get 30mpg in normal driving, and
got something like 20-25mpg dragging a trailer last year. It is a
little slow on long uphills, though.

It seems to me that Charlie usually tows with big vans, from what he's
said. I do have a minivan, but I've heard too many horror stories
about transmission failures to tow with it at this point (130K miles).

On Mar 1, 10:30 am, "mattm" wrote:
Heck, I do fine with an old '95 Toyota Pickup with the 2.4L. I put a
cap on the back so I have room for stuff out of the weather, plus I
get much better mileage that way. I get 30mpg in normal driving, and
got something like 20-25mpg dragging a trailer last year. It is a
little slow on long uphills, though.

It seems to me that Charlie usually tows with big vans, from what he's
said. I do have a minivan, but I've heard too many horror stories
about transmission failures to tow with it at this point (130K miles).

I get by pretty well using my 99 Olds Alero with a 6 cylinder engine.
I only push it to about 55 though as Ive got a big ole Gehrlein
trailer that is draggy as hell. Its way too much trailer for my
glider but oh well its what I've got. I think a suburban will work
fine.

If you have to back-up a trailer with precision, nothing beats a front
mounted receiver hitch. Doesn't have to be strong enough for road towing.

bumper

"Ralph Jones" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:57:25 GMT, Ken Ward
wrote:

Anyone towing with a Chevrolet/GMC Suburban? I'm looking at picking up
a well used one for glider trailer duty only, so I'm interested to hear
how well they tow, suggested engine size, 2wd vs 4wd, things to look out
for, etc. Replies to the newsgroup or private responses are both OK.

Didn't Charlie Spratt run his tow business with a Suburban?

A Suburban will TOW perfectly well, but if you have to BACK into
narrow places it can be a bit of a challenge. The difficulty of
backing goes up with the ratio of tow vehicle length to trailer
length. That's why a trucker can back an 18-wheeler into a loading
dock between two other trucks with inches to spare -- short tractor,
long trailer, easy backing.

Remember, YOUR driving skills are only part of the equation...you
have to consider every driver who gets drafted to come out and
retrieve you!

rj

On Mar 1, 8:47 am, "bumper" wrote:
If you have to back-up a trailer with precision, nothing beats a front
mounted receiver hitch. Doesn't have to be strong enough for road towing.

bumper

Incidentally, I have for sale two front mount class 2 receivers (one
for each side) that fit Chevy Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon, etc. It's
actually a complete hang glider front rack, with aircraft "pip pins"
to assemble it.
Installation: Remove the two bolts for each towing hook. Bolt on the
receiver.
Jim

Ken,
I use a Tahoe and it is a great tow vehicle.

On Feb 28, 9:57 pm, Ken Ward wrote:
Anyone towing with a Chevrolet/GMC Suburban? I'm looking at picking up
a well used one for glider trailer duty only, so I'm interested to hear
how well they tow, suggested engine size, 2wd vs 4wd, things to look out
for, etc. Replies to the newsgroup or private responses are both OK.

Didn't Charlie Spratt run his tow business with a Suburban?

Thanks,
Ken