Towing a travel trailer with a suburban

AdamSexton101 · August 25, 2020

Hello Everyone,

I have a 2010 Suburban LTZ without the heavy duty tow kit so it is given a tow rating of 5,000lbs versus 8000lbs if it had a factory tow kit installed. With this being said , the only difference I can find between the two is that that unit with the tow package comes with a trans cooler. If this is the case could just install an aftermarket cooler on my existing suburban and tow a travel trailer weighing 6000lbs? I drive like a grandpa and the area I live in is relatively flat, I am not looking to drive though the mountains or anything.

dieselfan1 · August 25, 2020

What's your gear ratio?

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AdamSexton101 · August 25, 2020

11 minutes ago, dieselfan1 said:

What's your gear ratio?

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3.42

ember1205 · August 25, 2020

You can tow whatever you want, regardless of what changes you make to the vehicle. At the end of it all, what matters is what you're officially rated for. No matter what you do to your vehicle, it will not change the official rating that it received from the factory. And, if you are in an accident, expect a smart lawyer on the other side to dig up details showing that you were towing beyond your rated capacity.

Will anything happen? Overly, not likely. If something does happen, are you definitely "screwed"? Not necessarily. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

dieselfan1 · August 25, 2020

Throw a cooler on it and get a good weight distributing hitch and don't worry about the legal police. You're good to go at that weight.

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newdude · August 25, 2020

On the factory K5L HD cooling package, the radiator and the aux cooler are what is different so you'd have to change radiators and add the aux trans cooler to achieve the 7900lbs tow rating of a Suburban that had the package installed from the factory.

amxguy1970 · August 25, 2020

1 hour ago, dieselfan1 said:

Throw a cooler on it and get a good weight distributing hitch and don't worry about the legal police. You're good to go at that weight.

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Until something happens where the actual legal police say otherwise. The truck can tow it no question about it, they are just letting him know the ramifications if he does go beyond and what can happen as well as it isn't just about adding a few pieces of equipment and you are good at the highest factory rated amount. Way to word your input though!

Tyler