Grreg et Al.
Say what you will, but about ten years ago, I had a clubmate who bought a
brand new Suburban and specifically ordered all of the trailer towing packages
based on the weight of his car and trailer. His goal was to eventually go to
Nationals. He did the following year towing a Honda Civic (1989 I think) on
an open aluminum trailer behind the Suburban. He got from Pittsburgh almost to
Columbus Ohio and discovered that his truck was on fire.
Once the fire was out, he discovered that the transmission had overheated blew
out the dipstick and burped Dexron onto the Catyclismic diverter. Of course it
lit up in a cheery fire which burned the wiring looms that ran across the back
of the engine bay as well as some engine wiring. It didn't do the paint any
good either.
GM didn't want to cover it under warrenty. They told him that if he was towing
he needed to install an aftermarket transmission oil cooler. He showed them
all of his paperwork that proved that he had ordered the approved GM equipment
the dealer said he needed. They finally repaired the truck. He sold it and
went with a different brand.
Now those TrailX aluminum trailers are only about 1500 pounds. One of those
early Civics may be 2500 pounds soaking wet. So he was pulling a little over
4,000 pounds behind his Suburban. A bare bones 1/2 ton pickup with no
equipment can tow 5,000 lbs. so one would think that this Suburban "should"
have been able to drag that Civic to the ends of the earth without a hitch.
Given his experience, I wouldn't regularly tow anything without installing the
biggest tranny oil cooler I can find. No matter what claims are made by the
manufacturer.
Larry Steckel
> Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:36:43 -0800
> From: magazine@pacbell.net
> To: autox@autox.team.net
> Subject: [Autox] (no subject)
>
> Hi John,
>
> No dog in this fight.... but do you really think an employee of GM "quality
> control" is going to say... yea your right, extra equipment is needed for
our
> product to meet what we say it can do? Nor will he address longevity beyond
> the warranties period if used at rated limits.
>
> I think the two statements are at the extremes, no it probably doesn't need
> "everything" upgraded just to do what its rated for. Also, the longest life
> will probably not be met without any upgrades.
>
> Lets face it, almost all of us who tow push the boundaries of what our
trucks
> are rated for, that is if we don't just jump right over them. Iif the
> questioner is like most of use who push the weights, push the posted, push
the
> hours of constant running at the aformentioned limits on straight through
> drives.... over time some of these upgrades will make a longevity
difference.
>
> Then again if he is one who sells before the warranty expires... well thats
> more likley to be the next owners worries/problems.
>
> Craig
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:07:48 -0500
> From: "John A. Carriere" <jacarriere@jacircuits.com>
> Subject: Re: [Autox] Suburban 6.0 2500, how do they tow?
> To: autox@autox.team.net
> Message-ID: <7.0.0.16.2.20091119215607.038b8920@jacircuits.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi Larry,
>
> I do not know how recent your experience with towing with Chevy
> products is, but I have to disagree with your statement about needing
> extra equipment.
>
> I had no problem towing an enclosed trailer with a Chevy Express van
> with a 6.0l six speed. Don Elzinga and I towed from Michigan to
> Lincoln on-cruise control and never opened up the torque converter
> clutch!! We got 13 MPG!!
>
> Regarding Suburbans, I thought I'd ask someone who does trailering
> validation testing at GM. Here's Greg's reply:
>
> John,
> The 2010 3/4 ton Suburban with the L96 6.0L engine has a maximum
> vehicle weight of 8,600 pounds. With the curb weight for the 2WD
> model, C20906 around 6,040 pounds there is a maximum payload of 2,560
> pounds for the vehicle. The maximum trailer weight for this truck is
> 9,600 pounds. The maximum combined weight (trailer and vehicle
> combined) has been evaluated in some of the most extreme conditions
> in North America, including Townes Pass in Death Valley, CA. during
> the hottest summer months. This evaluation is considered the most
> extreme for worse case grade and temperature conditions. These
> evaluations are conducted with only factory installed components.
> This vehicle is more than capable to towing the 5,000 to 6,000 pound,
> high frontal trailer mentioned below with out any additional,
> after-market cooling components. If you have any questions feel free
> to give me a call.
>
> Greg P. Martuch
> Energy, Drive Quality
> GMT900
> Hope this helps,
>
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