Tell me what I need to look for in a tow vehicle ... yes I still need more info.

John Welsh said:

Do the tow mirrors.  Nothing better than having a lot of mirror.  I was curious on what they cost, aftermarket.  $126.99 for a pair seems cheap.   There might even be sources for $99/pair?   That's new, aftermarket.  I don't know if you can find what you want in JY.  Maybe slightly cheaper. 

 

When you get a chance, maybe after tire install, how about some genuine, full body pictures of this rig?  So far just some partial pictures. 

I agree.  You can't have too good of mirrors.  Highly underrated.  My '99 Super Duty has updated 2008? towing mirrors.  I thought they were pretty good.  Then I rented a brand new Ram 1500 at DFW this week.  Now those mirrors just blew me away.  Best mirrors I've ever had.  By a lot.  And they weren't even tow mirrors.  I've driven a newish Ram with the tow mirrors and wasn't impressed.

Stampie said:

Doing more tow things. 

 

Get an adjustable drop hitch. That excavator trailer would tow better with a lower ball height for more tongue weight. 

In reply to John Welsh :

I actually need to change all my hitches.  Should just need to flip them.  The Suburban is higher than the old Silverado.  The hitch I used today I accidently stole from Tom and we both keep forgetting to exchange it back.  Came in handy today.

In reply to John Welsh :

I don't see how changing the ball height has much to do with tongue weight.  Tongue weight is all in the trailer and how the weight is distributed, unless it is extreme, with the distance between axles to hitch on that trailer.  That trailer itself looks fairly level from the wheel to fender gap that I can see, these trucks (I have one) do tend to sag the front end more over time than the rear.  

In reply to Sonic :

I didn't have any tongue weight issues for a good reason.  One never got over 35 as there was an accident on the expressway so the quickest way home was back roads for 5 miles or so.  I will say that I could feel the ~8000lbs I was towing.  It was way different on acceleration and braking than the C3 at ~5000lbs.

I really want another gmt900 based Chev. But I'd sure settle for a 2500 gmt800. Really liking your shenanigans with this one. Carry on. 

Sonic said:

In reply to John Welsh :

I don't see how changing the ball height has much to do with tongue weight.  Tongue weight is all in the trailer and how the weight is distributed, unless it is extreme, with the distance between axles to hitch on that trailer.  That trailer itself looks fairly level from the wheel to fender gap that I can see, these trucks (I have one) do tend to sag the front end more over time than the rear.  

With a dual axle trailer changing the hitch height places the trailer load more on one axle or the other which moves the piviot point that controls tongue weight.  That's mitigated somewhat by equalizer spring setups (as opposed to torsion bars) but it's still a factor.

This one still tows pretty well. 

Another trip down. I was asked by Michael and Brotus7 how I liked it. It does it's job. That's the best way to describe it. Does apparently have an oil leak. I was low last night. Also I went the last 75 miles loaded totally wrong as I forgot I was picking up a hoist in Gainesville. 

I could feel the trailer a little more bouncy and hard to describe but more resistance to turn. I guess because of the weight out back having to move?  Anyway I never would have done that with the pickup. I was able to run the same speeds after as I did before. 

Good Suburban, good Suburban. 

First time putting down both rear seats to fit something inside. 

I like having my tow straps and stuff inside. We did use the trailer yesterday to get a load of wood but since it included some 16 foot 2x8s I would have even with a pickup. Not finding much downside and finding a lot of upside to getting the Suburban over another pickup. 

John Welsh said:

Do the tow mirrors.  Nothing better than having a lot of mirror.  I was curious on what they cost, aftermarket.  $126.99 for a pair seems cheap.   There might even be sources for $99/pair?   That's new, aftermarket.  I don't know if you can find what you want in JY.  Maybe slightly cheaper. 

 

When you get a chance, maybe after tire install, how about some genuine, full body pictures of this rig?  So far just some partial pictures. 

I finally got around to this. Can't see around the new 8.5 wide trailer. I think I might start calling the Suburban "Dumbo".

Glad it's serving you well, I still haven't bought one yet. Still on my list, but there's a lot of other life needs.