Flat towing a Suburban?

[mcarlo86]

I have been thinking about towing our Suburban behind our motorhome when we go camping so that we have a vehicle to drive around if needed. I have some questions though. First off, would there be any concerns with the transfer case if towing at highway speeds for long distances? I have towed pickups before by putting the transfer case in neutral and I assume this should be ok with a NP241? Second question is about weight. I haven't ran our Suburban across a scale, but I would assume it is probably in the neighborhood of 5,000 lbs? My motorhome is a 25 ft class A with a 454, so it is a smaller class A and it seems to have plenty of power. Would I need to set things up so the Suburban brakes would activate to help with braking? Any suggestions on a good tow hitch?

 

[Grit dog]

Whew that’s alotta toad! IMO that’s not enough rig to tow a Burb around long distances, or stop it.
Depends how long you have to get there I suppose.

 

[HotRodPC]

I'd agree with Grit Dog. Even with a 454, that's alot of weight and wind drag for a 454. It'll get by but what happens when you hit a slight hill? I think you'll be down to about 30-40mph climbing a small hill. Something like a Suzuki Sidekick or Geo Tracker would pull alot better.

 

[mcarlo86]

Thanks for the replies. We have 5 boys, so our family doesn’t fit in smaller SUV’s....thus why I was toying with the idea of towing the suburban.

 

[Matt69olds]

I know next to nothing about transfer cases, I know some have oil pumps, others have gears that splash lubricant the internals. As long as whatever lubricants the inside is still turning with the case in neutral I think you would fine.

Id be surprised if the suburban weighs 5K, I would think it would be heavier. This article says 5700 for the 2wd diesel, I’m guessing a small block would be a little lighter. https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a25683438/1986-chevy-suburban-diesel-an-economical-giant/


Either way, the slightest hill will have the 454 with its tongue hanging out.

 

[mcarlo86]

Yeah, I should run it across the scale and see for sure. I pull my toy hauler ice fishing house with the motorhome quite a bit loaded with stuff and I don’t hardly know it is back there, but I’m sure it is lighter than the ‘burb.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

I'm hesitant to pull anything with a transfer case, long distances, without pulling driveshafts.

 

[mcarlo86]

I'm hesitant to pull anything with a transfer case, long distances, without pulling driveshafts.

That is my biggest concern.

 

[Vbb199]

I think my r1500 suburban weighs about 4500 or so, i dont know about 5 or more. Maybe im just wrong.

 

[mcarlo86]

I googled 1990 V1500 suburban weight and it said 4700 lbs. I would imagine curb weight would probably be close to 5k.

 

[Vbb199]

I googled 1990 V1500 suburban weight and it said 4700 lbs. I would imagine curb weight would probably be close to 5k.

I need to find my landfill ticket, i can give you actual weight of my suburban.... give me a minute.

 

[Vbb199]

Ok. Ticket said 7740, with my trailer, with me and dad, nothing else. (After dumping garbage)

Trailer is about 1900 pounds... me and dad both weigh 250 individually...

So rheres an approx weight of an empty, 2wd, 3rd row seat 1/2 ton suburban.....
Around 5300


You add your t case (maybe 120 pounds), a front driveshaft, (80 at the absolute max, exaggerated), and exchange all the IFS **** for leaf springs, and a solid front axle, i would bet a 10 bolt front axle with leafs is about 150 more pounds than a complete IFS crossmember, A arms, and coils.

So youre looking at like what matt69olds said.... 5700 for a 6.2 4x4... probably 5500-5600 for a 4x4 sbc burb

 

[mcarlo86]

Thanks for looking that up!

 

[Bextreme04]

My 1980 K25 pickup with 350/TH400/NP205 is right at 6000lbs with me in it and full dual 20 gal tanks. It will matter quite a bit if you have a 3/4 ton or 1/2 ton, as well as the drivetrain combo. You can take away a few hundred pounds if you don't have a 14 BFF and at least 100lbs less from the 205 since you have the aluminum 241. Also less weight from the springs and you probably don't have 35's on there either so that's a bit less weight also. Add a few hundred pounds for it being a burb instead of a pickup and I'd say I agree with Vince, somewhere around 5500lbs

 

[mcarlo86]

Hey Vince, I need to borrow that 502 for the summer camping season. You can have it back in the fall.